The Vine-covered Arch

The Tail of the   

VINE-COVERED ARCH

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A story is told of an arch that stood over the doorway of an old chapel.  The inscription on the arch read, “We Preach Christ Crucified.”  For that is what they did.  Over the years, beautiful vines grow up the arch.

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No one was concerned when the foliage eventually covered the word “crucified.”  By that time, the redemptive necessity of Christ’s death on a cross was less important than the moral virtues expressed in Christ’s life.  After all, they remained faithful to the message that read, “We Preach Christ.”

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Eventually, the lush vines obscured all but the words, “We Preach.”  However, the church didn’t mind, because they had long since grown weary of the “does and don’ts” of the ethical teachings of a cross-less Christ, and now preached civic obedience, self-reliance, moral armament, financial prosperity, cultural superiority, and  national exceptionalism, achieved through political reform.

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That is where the story ends, but the vine is still growing.  That is fine, I suppose, because a vine-covered arch looks perfect over the doorway of an old chapel that houses a political action headquarters.

SMELL OF TAX PROPAGANDA

 

SWEET SMELL OF TAX PROPAGANDA

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The proposed border tax is an attempt to find a new revenue source to offset tax cuts for corporations and the very wealthy without increase the federal deficit. The goal is economic vitality without adding additional burdens on the poor.  That is good…right?  My father, a great businessperson, used to say, “Every good has its own bads.”  In his case, financial growth meant prosperity but more work.  Ideal changes are those that lead to more “goods” and less “bads.”  However, when you must settle on a balance between the two, the change may not be worth the effort. 

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New Koch Brother TV ads oppose the proposed boarder tax.  Their group, Americans for Prosperity, is broadcasting the message that a border tax is bad for the economy.  They prefer an offset of federal spending.  Of course, according to the New York Times they object because a border tax, “would lead to huge new taxes on the petroleum and coal products industry, which includes some of Koch Industries most profitable subsidiaries.”  So, stopping the border tax is good.

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Other funding sources to offsets corporate tax relief include reductions in such things as the mortgage deductions, the deductibility of employer-sponsored health plans, and charitable deductions for individual income taxes, says Stanford University Hoover Institution’s tax policy expert, Tammy Frisby.  Further offsets considered are cuts to education, research, federal disaster relief, international aid, poverty assistance, food stamps, Social Security, the VA, as well as health services.  So then, stopping a border tax is bad.

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Originally, the border tax was part of multipronged tax reform effort to bring expatriated dollars and industries back home, to provide for large-scale infrastructure projects, and pay for a border wall.  Nonetheless, I thought the tax reform was a serious attempt to close tax loopholes, simplify returns, and even an odd notion of closing the IRS.  Changes of some kind are coming and they all carry a host of bads and goods.

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However it shakes-out, the worst “bad” of all is the stink these contentious changes will raise.  The next few months the air will fill with the odor of tax overhaul arguments.  An indication of how odious the results will be is the expensive public TV ads perfuming the upcoming ranker.  It must be bad, because the public has no direct say or vote on the matter.  So, get prepared for the “sweet smell” of propaganda.  Think of the perfumed stench as part of the “good” that comes with the “bad.”