Reflecting on the past 12 months, I offer here my resolutions
about things that shouldn’t be around (but are) and things that should remain
(please).
things that
shouldn’t be
The Republicans’ fiscal
follies. As I noted previously,
the Republicans’ hasty, nasty, damaging tax “reform” foibles will impede
growth, exacerbate income inequality, eventually hike taxes of all who aren’t
already wealthy, provide large, unneeded tax reductions for the 1% and require giant, growth-deflating
deficit-financing.
The passage of this miserable “reform” will initiate the Republicans’
long-desired slicing of Medicare and Medicaid expenses among other government discretionary
expenditure reductions; all in the hypocritical name of deficit reduction. What’s
not to loathe?
A yellow light for
autonomous cars. Call me a
Luddite, but I vote to take the “auto” out of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles
(AVs), or at least be very cautious about AVs. The wheeled techies’ acceleration
for introducing software-driving cars is foolhardy hype. Autonomous vehicles
face very large challenges (beyond mere code) that advocates underrate. It only
took one hour
for the recently-launched Las Vegas autonomous shuttle to get into an accident
that displayed an overabundance of “A” and a lack of sufficient “I” (as in autonomous-driving’s
AI). Remember the accident that killed a Tesla driver in Florida last year?
What could possibly go wrong when in the all too near future (according to
proponents), herds of AVs start sharing the road, any road, with scads of unpredictable,
entirely human drivers? I seriously doubt it will be pretty. Raising more
caution signs and yellow blinking lights for AVs now is compulsory. More on
this later.
Fees for luggage
placed in planes’ overhead bins are very
high highway robbery. This grievance is
particularly directed at you, Maurice Gallagher, CEO of Allegiant Airlines, but
unfortunately not limited just to you. Airlines’ unbundled pricing has steadily
gained altitude since American Airlines began separately charging for checked
baggage in 2008. Last year the airlines’ “ancillary revenues” totaled as
sky-high $82
billion. Such stratospheric over-monetization of services should be
permanently grounded, now.
The FICA tax wage
limit, currently set at $127,200. No one pays social security tax on
income over this wage limit. There should be no upper wage limit for the FICA payroll
tax that underwrites the Social Security (SS) Trust Funds. In October, Social
Security benefits,
totaling $77.87 billion that were provided to 67.76 million recipients. The
wage limit makes the FICA Social Security tax unnecessarily regressive and
deprives SS of millions of dollars every year. For almost one-half of unmarried
middle class beneficiaries, SS provides at
least 90% of their total income.
US median household income increased by just 3.2% last year. American CEOs got
an 8.5% raise
in 2016, their biggest pay increase in three years.
The top 16% of income-earners make $127,000 or more. They
can afford the 6.2% FICA/SS tax; why aren’t they paying their share on all
their income like the other 84% do? Oh I remember, the Republicans always protect their wealthy, VIDs (Very
Important Donors). Among several advantages, eliminating the FICA/SS wage limit
would shore up the Social Security Trust Funds that are expected to be exhausted
by 2035 and may extend
the solvency of the fund by 58 years. I know it’s a dream, but eliminate the
FICA/SS tax wage limit.
Dark new energy
subsidy. The administration has recommended
a new energy subsidy that shouldn’t happen. The Secretary of Energy recently proposed
that electric utilities operating coal-fired power plants be mandated to have an
extra 90-day supply of fuel at each plant to enhance the “reliability and
resiliency” of the electric power grid. This is utter twaddle. A decision from
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected by January 10. Extra fuel
stockpiling is unnecessary and costly for rate-payers (you and me) and everyone
else. If the FERC does its job properly (rather than taking a political
low-road), each Commissioner will vote down this bunkum proposal. Creation of
this subsidy for coal producers flies in the face of well-established plant and
grid operations, rationality and market reality. The tax-expenditures for this nasty
subsidy will cost plenty in terms of atmospheric CO2,
NOx and SOx.
Critics have called this “emergency” coal supply proposal a misguided
“cash for cronies” scheme to help the coal industry that has strongly backed
the president. Their interests as well as those of other fossil-energy producers
are well represented in the current administration’s Cabinet and senior
policy-makers. This costly change will continue coal-fueled electricity
generation that produces an unhealthier, browner future. Speaking of which…
Coal-fired power
plants. Each of the nation’s 381
coal-fired power plants (down from 616 in 2006) should stop operating tomorrow.
Burning coal to produce electricity despoils the environment and contributes to
higher personal and public health costs. Last
year, fossil fuels accounted for about 65% of the nation’s electricity
generation mix, coal accounted for 30.4%. Total renewable energy that includes
hydropower, wind, biomass, solar and geothermal accounted for 14.9%; nuclear
energy was 19.7%. My local utility, PG&E, has 30% renewable sources and no
coal. Thankfully, there is not one coal-fired generation plant anywhere in
California. The sun is justifiably rising for solar, wind and other renewable
generation; it should set ASAP for wholly horrid coal.
Removing
protections from America’s wild places.
The president’s recent removal of at least 1,143,800 pristine wild acres
within Canyonlands and Bears Ears National Monuments for private uranium,
petroleum and gas development reflects yet another misguided facet of the
president’s fundamentally mistaken priorities. Go Patagonia!
Keep America as wild as possible.
Scott Pruitt,
Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. This man and his title
is a first-order oxymoron, with emphasis on the last word’s second syllable. Remove
him.
The final thing that shouldn’t be is our zero-sum, Kylo-like
President Donald J. Trump. QED.
WHAT I’M THANKFUL FOR
Despite my listed nine “things that shouldn’t be,” there are,
fortunately, five superior items in my life that more than compensate for the
previous nine. I remain an Optimista because of them. I’m thankful for these important, valued (but usually unspoken) people,
places and things.
Upbeat Music.
Music of all sorts is a joy to listen
to. I’m thankful for this curiously surprising story
that concluded “Sad songs have become less common all over the world.” It presents
results of researchers from my grad school alma
mater that found during the past seven years English-language songs are
more upbeat than before. The media incessantly presents the world and our
neighborhoods as going to hell in a handbasket, and that the world is in
persistent “crisis” of one sort or another. Maybe we should listen to music
more and be Optimistas rather than Pessimistas. It’s a wholly worthy thought.
Are our musical glasses half-full, rather than half-empty? I hope so. Upbeat
music makes it far easier.
Good health.
With the staunch support of my family
and friends, together with my own active efforts, I’ve managed to retain
reasonably good health as I’ve become a septuagenarian. Here’s hoping it may
continue for me, and you.
Yosemite National Park
and each of the other 57 national parks. I take only Yosemite for granite. Thank
goodness for Half-Dome, Crater Lake, Valley Forge, the Grand Tetons, Zion and
the Everglades, among others. Thank you, Teddy. We need to keep all 58 vital.
My marvelous friends
and my treasured family: Courtney, Lindsay, Cody, Ainslie, Elias, Liam
and Alder. You’ve given me fun, hope, smiles, reward, satisfaction, education
and promise. Thank you.
And most of all, Patrice. Thank you dear Patrice for being the best part
of my life and for putting up with my eccentricities and shortcomings.
Great job
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