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Trump complains. And signs the business-as-usual spending bill into law anyway
President Donald J. Trump speaks about the $1.3 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill before signing into law. (Official White House photo by D. Myles Cullen)
Indian Health, Bureau of Indian Affairs see a budget increase
Mark Trahant / Indian Country Today
The federal government's newly enacted budget is a massive "omnibus" act that spends $1.3 trillion and makes some members of Congress pleased and others angry. It's a document that reflects a broken budget system. And, at the same time, it's a business-as-usual document in a presidential administration that has promised structural change.
"There are a lot of things I'm unhappy about," President Donald J. Trump told reporters at the White House Diplomatic Reception room. "But I say to Congress, I will never sign another bill like this again. Nobody read it, it's only hours old."
But the negotiations were not hours old. The back and forth between Democratic and Republican lawmakers was essentially a year late. This spending bill only funds the federal government between now and the end of September. But the process took so long because neither side had enough votes to pass the document on their own; Republicans needed votes from Democrats and to get those votes there had to be deals. Lots of deals. Business as usual.
And business as usual is good for Indian Country. Federal Indian programs, some of which had been slated for either elimination or deep cuts, continued on course.
The omnibus spending bill increases funding for the Indian Health Service by 10 percent, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education by 7 percent to $3.064 billion. The IHS budget line s $5.5 billion. When the budget is compared to the president's request, the increases are even sharper, more than 16 percent for the IHS and 23 percent for the BIA.
At the BIA, according to an analysis by Amber Ebarb at the National Congress of American Indians, "Overall, the eliminations and reductions proposed in the president's budget were rejected."
Other budget items:
The bill includes a 3 percent set aside for Indian tribes within the funds available under the Victims of Crimes Act. The cap for these funds was set at $4.4 billion, which amounts to $133 million. As Ebarb wrote: "This is an important step forward for Indian Country, which has the highest rate of criminal victimization and had up until this point been left out of this funding. This funding will address the long standing inequity and meaningfully improve the landscape of victim services in Indian Country."
The bill provides $50 million for grants to Indian tribes or tribal organizations to address the epidemic, and $5 million for tribes in the Medication-Assisted Treatment for Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction program.
Infrastructure spending would increase for BIA and IHS construction, BIA road maintenance, and a $100 million competitive grant program is added under Native American Housing Block Grants in addition to the $655 million provided for the NAHBG formula grants.
President Trump said he signed the bill into law because it increased military spending. "I looked very seriously at the veto. But because of the incredible gains that we've been able to make for the military, that overrode any of our thinking."
(The National Congress of American Indians is the owner of Indian Country Today and manages its business operations. The Indian Country Today editorial team operates independently as a digital journalism enterprise.)
Mark Trahant is editor of Indian Country Today. He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter: @TrahantReports (Cross-posted on TrahantReports)
Posted on March 24, 2018 March 24, 2018 Categories #NativePolicy, #NativeVote18, Budget, Climate change, Congress, Indian health, Infographic, President Donald J. Trump, Public policy, Republicans, US SenateTags CongressLeave a comment on Trump complains. And signs the business-as-usual spending bill into law anyway
#NativeVote18 Candidates are boosted by an electorate ready for change
Cross posted on Indian Country Today.
A special election in Pennsylvania is a good sign for Native American #NativeVote18 candidates running for office. Why? Because this cycle is already favoring out-of-power Democrats and, quite possibly, independents. It's hard to peg any constituent group more out-of-power than those who would represent Indian Country in the Congress of the United States.
First, the news from Pennsylvania, then we will look at the map. Democrats are claiming victory in a special election for that state's 18th Congressional District. Perhaps. Officially, the race is too close to call between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone. It's a practical tie with Lamb holding a tiny lead. But Lamb has claimed victory and Democrats are celebrating no matter what happens next because this is a district that favors Republicans, it was won by President Donald J. Trump by 20 points. So even normally red districts are up for grabs come November.
Or as Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (New Mexico) posted Tuesday night: ""These results should terrify Republicans. Despite their home field advantage and the millions of dollars … We have incredible candidates with deep records of service running deep into the map this year, and it's clear that these Republican attacks are not going to stick."
Back to the map: Sharice Davids, who is running in Kansas fits that storyline precisely. She is running in a district that Republicans should win easy. Rep. Kevin Yoder won re-election in 2016 with an 11-point margin. But remember the Pennsylvania 18th favored Republicans by 20-points.
Davids is Ho-Chunk, an attorney, and she worked in the Obama administration. This is pretty much an anti-Trump-agenda resume'.
The most immediate boost from Tuesday's vote should be more campaign donations.
Another #NativeVote18 candidate who could benefit from a re-imaging of the election landscape is Amanda Douglas in Oklahoma. After Lamb claimed victory in Pennsylvania she tweeted: "Yes! his is exactly what I'm talking about!!! I can't wait to work with newly elected Congressman@ConorLambPA!"
Douglas, Cherokee, is running in the state's 1st Congressional District. Two years ago Democrats did not field a candidate in that race. It's rated as a "plus-17" Republican district — in other words, awful similar to the Pennsylvania 18th.
In another part of Oklahoma, two Cherokee Nation citizens could both potentially be on the fall ballot. Rep. Markwayne Mullin is running for his fourth term as as Republican. Democrat Jason Nichols, the mayor of Tahlequah, is running as a Democrat. Mullin won 70 percent of the vote in his last election bid.
Rep. Tom Cole is also running for re-election as a Republican in Oklahoma's 4th congressional district. Cole, Chickasaw, also earned more than 70 percent of the vote in the last election.
One #NativeVote18 candidate who had a good week before the Pennsylvania election was running in New Mexico.
Haaland's challenge is to win the Democratic primary in June because, unlike most Native candidates, she's running in a district that favors Democrats.
Last weekend Haaland was the top-vote getter at the state's party convention, winning nearly 35 percent of the vote in a crowded field. She told delegates: "Congress has never heard a voice like mine."
Haaland, is Laguna Pueblo. Congress has never elected any Native American woman to its ranks since voting began in 1789.
Haaland, Davids, or Douglas could be the first.
The Pennsylvania race also raises questions for the #NativeVote18 candidates who are Republicans. Former Washington State Sen. Dino Rossi would be at the top of that list. Rossi, Tlingit, is hoping to succeed a moderate Republican, Rep. Dave Reichert, in Washington's 8th congressional district. That district has been trending Democratic.
The president's popularity is reflected by Rossi's own words. He told The Seattle Times that he is "not running to be 'The Apprentice.' I am running to be the congressman from the 8th Congressional District. The way I am going to treat Donald Trump is just the same way I would have treated George W. Bush or Barack Obama. If I agree with them I agree with them, and if I don't, I don't."
One #NativeVote18 candidate who is not running away from President Trump is Gavin Clarkson in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District. His campaign website proclaimed "the best way to help President Trump stop the swamp and protect New Mexico is to run for the Republican nomination to make sure we retain this Congressional seat in November."
Then this Southern New Mexico district is changing too. The seat is now held by Rep. Steve Pearce is running for governor — making this an open seat. Pearce won easily, capturing 60 percent of the vote. But the district is now 54 percent Hispanic and in a wave election, it could be the ideal seat for a Democratic pickup. Trump won the district by 10 points, half of the margin in Pennsylvania.
There are also three #NativeVote18 candidates running as independents or on third-party lines. Eve Reyes Aguirre is running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona on the Green Party ticket. Aguirre is an Izkaloteka Mexican Native.
She recently tweeted that she is an "unconventional politician" and is rounding up signatures to make the ballot. Henry John Bear is running as a Green Party candidate in Maine's 8th Congressional District. Bear is a citizen of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. And, finally, in Minnesota, Ray "Skip" Sandman is running in the 8th Congressional District as an independent. Sandman is Ojibwe.
Can an independent or third party candidate win in this environment? It's hard to say, there is no real evidence yet. But as the Pennsylvania results show, this is an election cycle where anything is possible.
Mark Trahant is editor of Indian Country Today. He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Follow him on Twitter @TrahantReports
Posted on March 14, 2018 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativeVote18, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Arizona, Congress, Democrats, Donald Trump, Elections, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, President Donald J. Trump, US Senate, WashingtonTags #NativeVote182 Comments on #NativeVote18 Candidates are boosted by an electorate ready for change
Trump budget is a 'messaging document'
National Economic Council discusses White House infrastructure plan. (White House photo)
Budgets are statements: This is what "we" care about. It's money that reveals priorities. The "we" could be, and ought to be, the country. Or the "we" could be a presidential administration that's not really equipped to govern. So there will be lots of stories this year, like last year, about the Trump's administration's desire to cut federal Indian programs, wipe out public broadcasting, end student loan forgiveness, wreck Medicaid and Medicare, food stamps, housing programs, and generally just about every federal program that serves poor people.
As Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters: "This is a messaging document."
And what a message: Rich people face tough times so they deserved a huge tax cut. Poor people are poor because of their own failures. And more money is needed for a wall that's not needed, for the largest military in the world, and the Republicans no longer believe that deficits matter.
But Mulvaney has a different version. Here is what he says are the messages.
"Number one, you don't have to spend all of this money, Congress. But if you do, here is how we would prefer to see you spend it," he said. "And the other message is that we do not have to have trillion-dollar deficits forever."
Ok. So the action is in Congress. Even Republicans on Capitol Hill know that this budget cannot be. It's chaos as numbers.
Perhaps the best line of nonsense was written a line written by the budget director to House Speaker Paul Ryan saying domestic spending at the levels Congress has already approved would add too much to the federal deficit. That's funny.
For this budget to become law (and overwrite the current spending bill) the House and Senate would have to agree to a budget. That's unlikely. As I have written before there are lots of votes against any budget but not enough votes to pass any budget. A budget resolution would allow the Senate to move forward with a spending plan with only Republican votes (and even then only one to spare). But unless the rules change (which President Trump wants) the Senate needs 60 votes for regular appropriations bills. That means a lot of compromise before federal spending.
The most popular part of the president's budget is infrastructure spending. But most of his plan would be funding from state, local, and tribal governments. That's a problem. Congress will not be eager to follow this approach, especially in an election year. Members of Congress love announcing new roads and other projects. It means jobs back home.
It's telling that in the White House statement on infrastructure tribes are not mentioned (something that was routinely done in the Obama White House).
Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, wrote: "Our infrastructure is broken. The average driver spends 42 hours per year sitting in traffic, missing valuable time with family and wasting 3.1 billion gallons of fuel annually. Nearly 40 percent of our bridges predate the first moon landing. And last year, 240,000 water main breaks wasted more than 2 trillion gallons of purified drinking water—enough to supply Belgium."
So the Trump administration's answer is to fund this with local government dollars because, as Cohn puts it, "the federal government politically allocated funds for projects, leading to waste, mismanagement, and misplaced priorities. The answer to our nation's infrastructure needs is not more projects selected by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C Instead, the President's plan designates half of its $200 billion for matching funds to stimulate State, local, and private investment."
Another thing for a broken Congress to fix. If the votes are there. In theory that should be easy. This is an area where Republicans and Democrats agree (actually anyone who looks at the crumbling state of infrastructure can figure this one out). But in this Congress? We shall see.
At the State of the Indian Nations Monday, National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel said: "Native peoples are also builders and managers of roads and bridges, and other essential infrastructure. These projects are often in rural areas. They connect tribal and surrounding communities with each other, and the rest of the Nation. Tribal infrastructure is American infrastructure. In 2018, NO infrastructure bill should pass, UNLESS it includes Indian Country's priorities."
Back to the budget as a messaging document. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says this budget "violates the spirit of the bipartisan agreement that congressional leaders negotiated just a few days ago." That's going to make it much more difficult to come up with the next agreement in Congress (unless the law is ironclad, stripping the administration of some of its governing authority).
The budget assumes that Congress would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a block grant formula. The votes are not there for that. It's fantasy.
The current bipartisan agreement "calls for adding $2.9 billion per year over the next two years to the discretionary Child Care and Development Block Grant, boosting this key federal program to help make child care affordable for low- and modest-income parents. But the budget reneges on that and proposes essentially flat funding for the program. The Administration's blatant dismissal of a major bipartisan agreement on which the ink is barely dry may make bipartisan agreements harder to reach in the future," the budget center reports. "And then, in years after 2019, the budget calls for cuts of unprecedented depth in non-defense discretionary programs even though that's the part of the budget that contains many federal investments in long-term economic growth. By 2028, funding for non-defense discretionary programs would fall 42 percent below the 2017 level, after adjusting for inflation. Indeed, by 2028, total NDD spending, measured as a share of gross domestic product, would be at its lowest level since Herbert Hoover was president."
Where federal money is spent. Source: Congressional Budget Office.
To me that's the key point. Domestic spending, the programs that serve Indian Country, are already dropping and have been for a long time. All domestic discretionary programs add up to about 4.6 percent of the budget — and federal spending on Indian Country is a tiny fraction of that.
And, as the budget center points out, that means Trump budgets would actually "go below the 2019 sequestration levels, which Congress just agreed is too low to meet national needs."
The messaging document (the budget, remember?) has another problem. It's based on assumptions that are even more of a fantasy than repealing the Affordable Care Act. The budget assumes a 3 percent growth rate this year and 4 percent next year. So lots more people earning more and paying more income taxes (since corporations will be paying less). Not. Going. To. Happen.
Even economists think this is nonsense. The crackdown on immigration, for example, is shrinking the economy, not growing it. And the Congressional Budget Office projects a long term growth rate of just under 2 percent. Last year the economy grew at 2.6 percent, below what Trump said would happen and even below the consensus of economists.
This 2019 budget will accomplish one thing: It will serve as a mile post for the fall election. Republicans can make the case for defense spending and, I suppose, that they used to be against deficits. And Democrats will make the case for protecting health care and other domestic priorities.
Mark Trahant is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On Twitter @TrahantReports
Reposting or reprinting this column? Please do so. Just credit: Mark Trahant / TrahantReports.com #IndigenousNewsWire #NativeVote18
Posted on February 13, 2018 February 13, 2018 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativePolicy, #NativeVote18, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Austerity, Budget, Congress, Democrats, Medicaid and Medicare, President Donald J. Trump, Republicans, US SenateTags Federal budgetLeave a comment on Trump budget is a 'messaging document'
Make 2018 the year we fight about policy (instead of tweets from Donald J. Trump)
Correction: The chart I originally published was misleading. The CBO score for the tax bill (and most of the other measures) looks at the cost over ten years. Appropriations are made in a single year. So that made the tax bill appear more costly in visual form. I am working on a new version now, something that illustrates the downward pressure on federal spending but uses an apple-to-apple comparison. (I also added a sentence in the report below to stress that the tax cuts are measured over a decade.)
Funny thing: I was so intent on getting the area of the bubbles correct that I completely spaced the CBO's measure of ten years as opposed to a single year for appropriations.
Two take aways. First. I still want to illustrate, visually, the downward pressure on the budget. The balloons I used were misleading, but the point remains the same. The pressure to cut is going to grow in intensity. Second: The reconfigured bubbles (which take up too much space because of their relationship) really show the problem of entitlement spending, such as Medicaid. That's a whole different topic … but visually, wow.
Elections should be fought over policy not nonsense
Elections in America are usually fought over nonsense. Trivial topics. Stuff that grabs headlines. Or issues that remind voters why they are in Political Party A or B. (And for good measure there is always contention about the personality of a So So Candidate who does (or does not) connect with voters.)
This problem is particularly acute in the Trump era. The recent news cycle pits President Donald J. Trump versus Steve Bannon. The White House statement that Bannon "lost his mind" is attention grabbing. Our political minds want to know what this means for the next election and the Trump coalition (which still defies logic because it subtracts supporters, rather than reaching out and finding new ones).
But politics ought to be more about policy. What choices are being made in our name? What's the best way to improve the lives of children, the next generation? How do we invest public resources, that means tax dollars, into making life better? These are questions that get far less attention than the latest presidential tweet.
Then the president and Congress have already set the rules for this debate when they passed tax cuts. Now, every act of Congress, every budget from the administration, will set out to justify (and pay for) that law.
This is the problem: The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the federal deficits will increase to $1.8 trillion over the next decade. "As a result of those higher deficits, debt held by the public would increase from the 91.2 percent of gross domestic product in CBO's June 2017 baseline to 97.5 percent," CBO said. That means that the annual budget deficit will be nearly equal to the entire economy.
But CBO is on the conservative side of this argument. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warns that after adding interest costs the tax plan would be enough to "increase debt to 111 percent of gross domestic product … That would be higher than any time in U.S. history, and no achievable amount of economic growth could finance it."
A federal debt that's bigger than the entire economy. And, key phrase here, "no achievable amount of economic growth could finance it."
Already leaders of the Congress — the same bunch who did proposed this tax legislation — are now saying the country cannot afford to spend money on social programs.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (who is soon to retire) said he was one the earliest sponsors of the Children's Health Insurance Program — "I invented it," he said on the Senate floor. He says he doesn't know anyone who doesn't support its reauthorization. Yet. So he preaches that this country must live within its means.
Congress gave corporations a tax break worth $1.3 trillion. And another $425 billion was rewarded to small businesses that pay their taxes on individual returns (so-called pass through taxes). On top of that (for desert, perhaps) the Congress gave the very wealthiest, those few who pay estate taxes on inherited wealth, a break worth $83 billion. Even though those numbers reflect a decade of revenue, it still means that many in Congress say there is not enough money to fund the government.
That's a rotten framework. But it's more complicated when you add one more layer: The Budget Control Act of 2011. That law was passed to limit Congress' power to spend freely. It sets in place budget caps for domestic and defense spending. If the caps are exceeded, then an automatic sequester (remember that?) kicks in unless Congress passes a waiver. That deal linked spending for defense and domestic programs.
Now it's a problem because the Republicans want to spend a lot more money on the Pentagon. They want that part of the budget to go up. But because it's linked to domestic programs — such as those that impact Indian Country — that cannot happen without an agreement with the Democrats. Wednesday the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate met to try and make that happen. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described the meeting as "positive and productive."
Democrats, for once, have some power to bargain. More spending for defense cannot happen without their votes. (Republicans remain divided over all federal spending.) So Democrats are trying to see how much leverage they have and over what issues. It's likely that domestic spending will be a part of any deal, and possibly the Children's Health Insurance Program. Several Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have said they will not vote for any budget unless it includes a provision to protect immigrants who were brought to this country as children, the so-called Dreamers. (President Trump removed Obama-era protections for this group and it's a moral imperative for Democrats (and many Republicans) to protect some 800,000 people from deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, began under President Obama.)
That's a huge agenda. It's likely that Congress will again push it forward past its deadline of Jan. 19. Even if there is a deal, say today, then the actual writing of the budget will have to go back to the Appropriations subcommittees to be put into legislative language. That will take time.
Federal spending on Indian Country ought to be in a different category, one that does not yet exist. There should be a line item for treaty obligations. Should.
So far the budget numbers are hard to know for federal Indian programs. The Trump administration's budget was largely ignored. And the House and Senate committee numbers look lean, but fine. But the thing is until there is an actual deal, none of these numbers matter. After a deal each committee will have to go back and determine what money can actually be spent. If it's a good deal, the numbers will stay the same or even improve. The alternative? No words.
Of course the bigger issue in Congress is about priorities. This Congress has already decided that tax cuts are the most important thing that had to be done. So every fight over the budget has to somehow go through that filter. There is not enough money because Congress is giving corporations $1.4 trillion so they can be more competitive and profitable. (Funny: thought they were both.)
As economist William G. Gale wrote for the Brookings Institute: "… tax cuts are not free; they eventually have to be financed with higher taxes or lower spending. And once those financing requirements are taken into account, most low- and middle-income households are likely to be worse off than they would have been without the tax cut in the first place."
Worse off. Then Indian Country knew that before the tax bill ever reached the president's desk.
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Posted on January 4, 2018 January 5, 2018 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativeVote18, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Budget, Congress, Democrats, President Donald J. Trump, Republicans, US SenateTags Budget, CongressLeave a comment on Make 2018 the year we fight about policy (instead of tweets from Donald J. Trump)
Republicans get their tax bill passed, and a shout out to the spirit of Andrew …
Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon championed tax cuts for the wealthy — and sharp budget cuts — in the years before the Great Depression. (Treasury Department photo)
Turns out we've been worried about the wrong, Andrew. The Republican tax plan, President Donald J. Trump's signature legislation, would make Andrew Mellon proud.
Andrew Mellon was a wealthy industrialist who served in government as the Secretary of Treasury. Here's what Trump's own Treasury Department says about Mellon: "As the Nation embarked on the most materialistic period in its history, Mellon's philosophy was one of debt reduction, tax reduction, and a balanced budget. His tax reform scheme, known as the Mellon Plan, reduced taxes for business. His theory was that big business would prosper in proportion to the lightening of its tax load and its profit would be transferred to the rest of the Nation. During much of his tenure, general prosperity and times of peace enabled Mellon to implement his measures. The Great Depression, however, beginning in 1929, undercut Mellon's prestige and brought him under increasing criticism. Despite the downturn in the economy, Mellon continued his policy of balancing the budget by cutting spending and increasing taxes, which worsened the effect of the Depression on the ordinary citizen."
History is prologue. Damn. You hardly have to change a word to know that this sentence is about now. Swap today's Treasury Secretary Steven Terner Mnuchin for Mellon and the story still answers, what's next?
Both the House and the Senate have now passed the legislation to cut taxes so that business will prosper by the lightening of its tax load and its profit would be transferred to the rest of the nation. The funny thing is that people really believe this load of crap. Then self-delusion was a common thread in the Senate debate. Maine Sen. Susan Collins voted yes because Mitch McConnell promised her budget cuts (including cuts to Medicare) would not follow. She even tweeted proof, a McConnell letter saying Congress has the power to waive such acts. But, does he have the will or the votes to do so?
The conservative wing is, at least, honest about this. When the tax cuts result in a massive expansion of debt they want sharp budget cuts. This is a core belief. And has been since Mellon's time. Or as the Treasury Department puts it: "Despite the downturn in the economy, Mellon continued his policy of balancing the budget by cutting spending and increasing taxes, which worsened the effect of the Depression on the ordinary citizen."
Or there was Arizona's John McCain, the so-called champion of regular order, voting for a 479-page bill with handwritten amendments. A bill that will add (by Congress' own estimate) about a trillion in debt was passed in a few weeks without the usual hearings or independent scoring. The maverick did not care about process. Get it done.
How bad is this bill? It's right up there as one of the most unpopular bills ever. An average of polling shows its popular support at about one-third. And, get this, FiveThirtyEight reports that this bill is even more unpopular than tax hikes.
A couple of things about Indian Country: So many of our tribal citizens are the low end when it comes to earning. This bill does nothing to lighten that tax load. Indeed a late night effort to increase tax credits for children, making them refundable. (Remember nearly half of all Americans don't pay income tax, it's the payroll tax that is the burden. This would have helped.)
And instead of turning the dial back on fossil fuels this bill aligns the tax code for more development. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has made this part of the legislation her signature, not health care, and certainly not climate change (as she so eloquently talked about during the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in October.) She owns this.
The Atlantic magazine says this bill "could forever alter Alaska's Indigenous communities" by development. "The issue still divides Native villages, counties, and Native nations in Alaska. It also sets tribes with differing claims to Alaska's North Slope against each other."
This bill also strips the mandate to buy insurance. A win for freedom, right? Perhaps. But it also means that healthy people will not buy as much insurance leaving sicker, older people to pay the bills. It will weaken the insurance framework. At least 13 million fewer people will carry health insurance as a result.
However there are winners: Big corporations, rich would-be heirs (like the Trump children) and religious schools (an amendment by Ted Cruz expands tax-free savings for this purpose).
The process ahead: This bill will still have to be reconciled with the House. There are differences, such as taxing graduate students and deducting medical expenses.
But cutting taxes (and then the budget) is something Republicans have championed long before Andrew Mellon. So this bill is likely to become law soon. President Trump can make both Andrews proud.
Posted on December 2, 2017 December 2, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativeVote18, Austerity, Budget, Congress, President Donald J. Trump, US SenateTags President Donald J. Trump, Senate, Tax policyLeave a comment on Republicans get their tax bill passed, and a shout out to the spirit of Andrew …
Tax cuts? Hell. No. Thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native children will lose health insurance
Congress has yet to reenact the Children's Health Insurance Program and states will soon run out of funds to prop up the program. That will mean that thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native children will lose their health insurance. And, the result is the Indian Health Service will have to stretch its already thin dollars to try and cover the budget hole.
The Children's Health Insurance Program expired Sept. 30. This federal program insures young people and pregnant women who make just enough money not to qualify for Medicaid (but can't afford private insurance). The idea is to make sure that every child has the resources to see a doctor when they are ill.
It's hard to break down precise numbers because agencies lump funds from the Children's Health Insurance Program or CHIP into Medicaid data. But we do know that the law worked really well. We also know there are more than 216,000 children that have health insurance because of Medicaid and the CHIP. Indeed, Native American children rely on Medicaid and CHIP at much higher percentages than other population groups. A study by Georgetown reported that 54 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP as compared to 39 percent of all children. "Even though much progress has been made in extending Medicaid coverage to American Indians and Alaska Natives, the uninsured rate for American Indian and Alaska Native children and families remain unacceptably high," the report said.
Source: Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Coverage Trends for American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Families.
Overall the uninsured rate among non-elderly American Indians and Alaska Natives fell by 7 percentage points from 24 percent to 17 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
This is a big deal and here's why: The Indian Health Service is a health care delivery operation that works best when insurance (third-party billing in government-speak) pays for the medical costs. Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, and other third-party billing now accounts for 22 percent of the IHS' $6.15 billion budget.
But if Children's health is no longer funded (because Congress did not reauthorize the legislation) then the Indian Health Service will have to make up the difference. That means taking money away from other patients and programs. It will be a critical problem for clinics because by law dollars from third-party billing (or Medicaid and CHIP) remain local.
Alaska is the state most impacted by Congress' failure to act because two-thirds of the children in the Native health system are covered by Medicaid or CHIP. Other states where there will be significant hits: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and California.
Source: Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
The House of Representatives passed a CHIP reauthorization in early November. But that bill included a $6.35 billion budget cut to other health programs, including the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which provides money for vaccines, smoking cessation, and other initiatives to improve public health. The House would also ban lottery winners from being insured by Medicaid, tighten the timetable for people to sign up, and to change other rules.
It's unlikely the Senate will agree. But the Senate is not moving quickly to pass its own legislation. The Senate is too busy working out tax cuts that will benefit large corporations and the very wealthy. (Previous post: What matters? Tax fight is about seven competing values.)
Across the country, some nine million low- and middle-income children rely on CHIP for health coverage. And, according to The Hill newspaper, States have asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for funding to hold them over in the interim, and the agency has awarded about $607 million in redistributed funds to states and U.S. territories. Tribes will also lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in CHIP-related grants.
Last month, Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, who chairs the Senate committee responsible, called CHIP a "top priority" that had bipartisan support. The committee passed the bill October 2. But it's up to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, to bring the legislation to the floor for enactment. Then the House and Senate would have to iron out and agree on their differences before the bill can become law.
Posted on November 27, 2017 November 27, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativePolicy, #NativeVote18, Alaska, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Arizona, Budget, California, Congress, Democrats, Health, Indian health, Medicaid and Medicare, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Republicans, South Dakota, State Legislatures, US Senate, Washington, WisconsinTags Children's Health Insurance Program, Congress, Indian health, Senate1 Comment on Tax cuts? Hell. No. Thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native children will lose health insurance
What matters? Tax fight is about seven competing values #IndigenousNewsWire
Original federal tax return in 1913.
Why Indian Country should have a voice in this debate
There is no better way for any legislature — be it a tribal council, a state assembly, or a Congress — to telegraph what's most important to a society than through tax policy. How a government collects revenue says what constituent groups are seen to matter. And, conversely, what groups and issues are insignificant. And, that of course, is Indian Country.
As Adrian Sinclair wrote in Cronkite News: "Indian Country once again does not have a seat at the table." Tribes "aren't treated the same as state and local governments across the board on a whole series of issues," John Dossett, general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians, said after the hearing. "Tribes are … either ignored or they're an afterthought." He said there are many cases where state governments have more power than tribal governments, like the federal Adoption Tax Credit, which gives a credit to parents who adopt a child with special needs. But the credit only applies when a state court, not a tribal court, rules that a child has special needs.
So Indian Country is a perfect illustration for my larger point: A country's tax policy shows what it values. The key to this idea is simple when a nation wants more of something, then taxes it less. And, other hand, if a nation wants less of something? Tax it more.
All interest on debt was deductible when the first income tax was created in 1894. Why? Because Americans did not like to borrow. It was almost immoral. As a writer for Harper's Weekly warned a man in debt "must smile on those he hates, he must extend his hand where he would strike, he must speak pleasantly with a curse in his throat … He wears dependence like a yoke."
But Congress made debt a better deal. You could borrow money for that new farm, or especially a home, and the government would subsidize the loan by making it a tax deductible transaction. By the 1920s car loans were the bigger deal. Americans were borrowing, buying and deducting. Congress created a monster with that policy and today debt is one of America's great loves. Then in 1986 Congress switched gears: Today individuals can only deduct mortgage interest. But even that single benefit was generous. You could buy a big house. A bigger house. A ginormous house. And deduct 100 percent of the interest up to the cost up to $1.1 million of debt. And that tax deal includes second homes.
So as a policy the Congress was telling we the people buy bigger houses. And go ahead, get that second house in the woods or on the lake.
That's what tax reform is, setting parameters for what the elected leaders think important for a national policy. So, if it becomes law, this tax reform will change the way we consumers spend money. Perhaps we'll buy and build smaller houses and rent a cabin on the lake instead of purchasing one. This might be a good outcome for all of us. This is actually a pro-climate policy (please don't tell Congress.)
This same priority process is true for renewable energy. Congress created incentives for wind, solar and other renewable energy. But, now the Republican plan is to reverse course, and reward oil, gas, and especially coal. Tax policy will favor fossil fuel development and renewable energy will therefore cost more. But will companies still invest? Who knows? We do know the calculations will be way more complicated. And, did I mention, renewable energy will cost more.
Let's consider the overarching messages, the narrative, that will form policy in the tax bill before the Senate and the one already passed by the House of Representatives.
ONE: The bigger the corporation, the bigger the break
The tax bills paid by corporations are driving the legislation in both the House and the Senate. Republicans argue that if taxes are lower, companies will invest more in the United States (instead of other countries) and hire more people at higher wages. This debate is complicated because the current tax code is full of loopholes (something that Republicans say will be fixed). But the bottom line is that U.S. companies have a higher tax rate than what other countries charge, but, and this is huge, the companies actually pay less in federal taxes than what other other countries charge.
As the Harvard Business Review says: "First and foremost, corporate taxes are important because they help pay for government services. While they don't account for as much U.S. tax revenue as they once did, they remain one of the central ways the government raises funds. According to the Tax Policy Center, "The corporate income tax is the third largest source of federal revenue, after the individual income tax and payroll taxes."
The House bill cuts the top rate that large corporations pay from 35 percent to 20 percent. It would be the largest one-time drop in the big-business tax rate ever. And it's a permanent change (the individual rates expire after a decade) at least until there's another tax bill.
Companies will also get more deductions for purchasing new equipment. And there is an incentive for companies to move their profits back to the United States from low-tax countries.
The Senate bill is evolving. It also rewards big business. But in order to reduce the cost of the entire package, it delays reducing the corporate rate until 2019. (Imagine every business in the country holding off on just about any new activity because the tax laws changed next year.)
The metaphor: Multinational corporations rule.
TWO: It's tough being rich
The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof writes that it's hard being a billionaire these days. "Why, some wealthy folks don't even have a home in the Caribbean and on vacation are stuck brooding in hotel suites: They're practically homeless! Fortunately President Trump and the Republicans are coming along with some desperately needed tax relief for billionaires."
One way this works is be reducing the tax when someone inherits a wealthy estate. Both versions start this tax at $11 million. The House eliminates the so-called "death tax" in 2024 while the Senate keeps the tax but raises the exemption.
A second provision changes what's called the Alternative Minimum Tax. The way that works is that after a tax return is completed, and there's a whole slew of deductions, there is a calculation to see if that taxpayer should still pay something. The idea is to make sure that people earning more than $130,000 a year still pay an income tax, even if they find deductions in every corner. That goes away.
And there is one more goody for the rich. Charitable contributions can still be deducted.
The metaphor: Wealthy families so need our help. OMG.
THREE: Why work?
This part of the debate starts with the corporate tax rates. The Trump administration argues that cutting corporate taxes will benefit workers because companies will reward workers with better wages.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claims that "many, many economic studies show that more than 70 percent of the burden of corporate taxes are passed on to the workers." However economists are divided. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities points out "this claim is misleading … the evidence indicates that most of the benefits from a corporate rate cut would go to those at the top, with only a small share flowing to low- and moderate-income families. Mainstream estimates conclude that more than one-third of the benefit of corporate rate cuts flows to the top 1 percent of Americans, and 70 percent flows to the top fifth. Corporate rate cuts could even hurt most Americans since they must eventually be paid for with other tax increases or spending cuts."
The bottom line is that the tax bill will not make life easier for people earning under $75,000 a year. The income tax portion might go down (depending on family size, smaller in this case is better) but costs will go up for education and health care.
And, on top of that, this tax policy will sharply reduce federal spending across the board. Last week the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) came out against both the House bill and the Senate Finance Committee bills in part because of this point. "NCAI and NAFOA view it as deeply regrettable that neither the House nor the Senate bill takes seriously Indian Country's priorities for tax reform," a news release said. "With respect to tribal nations, unless tribal provisions are included, the current tax reform legislation amounts to little more than a $1.5 trillion increase in the federal deficit over the next ten years. This deficit increase will inevitably create pressure to cut federal programs and services that are extremely important to tribal communities. Deficit-financed tax cuts that lead to austerity budget cuts would affect all Americans, but would disproportionately impact American Indians and Alaska Natives who rely on federal funding of the trust responsibility as well as social programs."
The metaphor: Workers don't matter.
FOUR: Help mom and pop sell stuff
Most people who own a small business structure their entity as Limited Liability Corporations, S-Corps, or a partnership. This means that the income generated is reflected on the individual's tax return. The House lowers the taxes on profits from 39.6 percent to 25 percent and has a 9 percent increase on the first $75,000. The Senate goes a different route with a new incentives for small business. This is "pass through income" because of the structure. And this part of reform really does solve a problem. Small business is critical — especially in Indian Country — but does not get the attention (or the breaks) that large corporations do.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said last week, "As a former small business owner, I understand firsthand how burdensome the current tax code is on Main Street. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivers relief to mom-and-pop shops in our communities so that they can hire more individuals, grow their business, and invest more in our local economy."
The metaphor: Small business is cool, too.
FIVE: Elite colleges? Or is it, college only for the elite?
The House bill is an all-out attack on higher education. This is nonsense. Especially when the country needs to be competitive in a digital, knowledge-based world.
First up: Tax private universities' endowments with a tax of 1.4 percent on portfolios that exceed $250,000 per full-time student. Only about a hundred schools would be affected, and it penalize colleges that have resources. Since those university operating costs will not go down, it's not likely that this will result in more financial aid for students. The House also makes it impossible for tax-exempt bonds from private — and some public — institutions. This will make campus construction projects more expensive.
The House bill eliminates the deduction of interest for student loans. Americans now owe more than $1.4 trillion on student loans. It already is making it more difficult for young college graduates to buy homes, and transition into the middle class. This provision will be just one more thing. (And student loans are already stacked against the borrower. You can't get rid of them in bankruptcy.) So instead of solving a problem, Congress is making it worse.
The House bill also repeals the Lifetime Learning Credit, eliminates the Coverdell savings accounts, but does expand the American Opportunity Credit.
The House bill would also classify tuition waivers as income (making a graduate student wealthy for tax purposes.) Imagine a "bump" in student's income that is equal to tuition, some $30,000, $40,000 or even more.
Laurie Arnold, Colville, director of Native American Studies and an Assistant Professor of History at Gonzaga University, remembers trying to explain this to Congress when she was in graduate school. "Many members of Congress had children enrolled in large/research universities, yet had no idea that graduate students teach the majority of introductory classes at those institutions. In general, the disconnect about this was broad, and many Members fell back on the language that not taxing the stipends was simply another tax break."
Stipends are now taxed. And Congress is keen to add tuition waivers to the tax revenue pool. This will make it more difficult for people to pay for graduate school, and increase the debt levels for those who do. As a national policy this makes no sense. None.
As UCLA neuroscientist Astra Bryant told Wired magazine: "I mentor two underprivileged undergraduate women, and my concern for them is that an increased tax burden would make it financially impossible for them to afford to pursue a PhD."
And for Indian Country? There is already a shortage of graduate students and PhDs. Why should it be made more difficult?
The metaphor: College is stupid.
SIX: The growing gap between rich and poor
The gap between rich and poor is growing wider. "The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from the proposed tax changes. The poorer you are, the less likely you are to leave poverty," writes Camille Busette for the Brookings Institute.
"Let me distill that: over one third of American households had trouble putting food on the table, putting a roof over their heads, or getting medical care; blacks and Hispanics are falling further behind whites in net wealth; and 99 percent of Americans hold a diminishing 76 percent share of income in the U.S. These are all alarming trends, but to have one-in-three consumers report that they cannot regularly put food on the table in the U.S., one of the wealthiest countries in the world, is the most deeply disturbing," Busette writes. "Such a miserly budget, in combination with the tax reform plan, could mean the loss of some very important services for low-income and poor Americans."
The tax reform measures will require massive budget cuts. Soon. Tribal governments will be hit hard. We already know how difficult sequestration was for tribes a few years ago. The kinds of cuts that will be needed to pay for these tax cuts will cost significantly more than sequestration.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities pegs these coming budget cuts at $5.8 trillion, $800 billion in cuts below sequestration levels.
The metaphor: You can't afford to be poor.
SEVEN: Obamacare? Really? Again?
A serious question: Which house of Congress hates healthcare more?
The House kept the Affordable Care Act insurance mandates, but eliminates medical deductions. So a family that is dealing with a catastrophic, expensive medical event won't be able to offset any of those costs from their tax bill. Already this provision is limited to higher income taxpayers. It's only open to people who itemize their deductions, an estimated 8.8 million claimed it on their 2015 taxes, according to the IRS. But for those families that need this break, it's a big deal.
Then the best thing Congress could do to help people with medical debt is to legislate another expansion of Medicaid. As Kaiser Health News reported: "A study from the Urban Institute may shed light on why Medicaid eligibility remains a pressing problem: medical debt. While personal debts related to health care are on the decline overall, they remain far higher in states that didn't expand Medicaid. In some cases, struggles with medical debt can be all-consuming."
The Senate is using tax reform to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act. Again. The Senate would "save" money by ending the requirement to purchase insurance. It saves tax dollars because the government would not have to pay the subsidies for those who sign up under the plan (including those from Indian Country who get no cost plans under the exchanges).
And, repeating myself here, should a form of these bills become law there will be cuts across the board. The Indian Health Service (as well as Medicaid) will need to restructure because it will have so many fewer dollars.
The metaphor: Healthcare is only for those who can afford it.
A cold December
Congress wants to wrap up this debate before the end of the year and begin the provisions in the new tax year.
One more thing about values. The two tax bills define what's important to a society. Alaska's Sen. Lisa Murkowski was a champion on health care and was a key vote to stop the last Affordable Care Act repeal effort in the Senate. But this time there are competing values. She has also been a longtime supporter of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. That's in the bill. It's her provision. So is she willing to give up on health care for more oil? And what about climate change? Murkowski was eloquent at the Alaska Federation of Natives saying that she is witnessing first-hand the impact in northern communities. This tax bill gives fossil fuels a boost — at the expense of the climate.
What's really important? We are about to find out.
Posted on November 19, 2017 November 19, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativeVote18, Alaska, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Arctic, Congress, Democrats, Medicaid and Medicare, President Donald J. Trump, Republicans, US SenateTags Climate justice, Congress, Tax policy, U.S. Senate3 Comments on What matters? Tax fight is about seven competing values #IndigenousNewsWire
Here we go again: The congressional attack on health care, higher education #IndigenousNewsWire
Here we go again. The Congress is hell bent on wrecking the Affordable Care Act.
This time the mechanism is the so-called tax reform bill that will be voted in the U.S. Senate. The logic is rich (and, yes, "rich" is absolutely the right word and sentiment) because this tax cut will wreck the individual health insurance market so that the rich will pay less in taxes. But the problem gets at the core of insurance itself. How do you make sure there is a large enough pool to cover high cost patients? The Affordable Care Act did this by requiring everyone to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. Without that provision people who are healthy are free to skip out. But sick people always want coverage. And that creates an imbalance that does not work.
Senate Republicans added the provision because it saves money, some $338 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. It estimates 13 million people will drop health insurance.
"We're optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.
The Senate bill is now being shaped into its final form. Wait. That's funny. That's what they say. But both the Senate and the House will change these tax bills all the way up until the final vote (unless it's a sure thing, anyway). One of the reasons the bill will evolve is what's called the Byrd Rule. This Senate is using the reconciliation process, like the Affordable Care Act repeal bills, so only 50 votes are required to pass. But that means the bill has limit of $1.5 trillion in new debt over 10 years and cannot add more after that. None of the bills, so far, accomplish that.
So the health care fight is back. And the Senate majority is confident this time they have the votes to pass the legislation.
There are other provisions in Senate tax bill that will impact American Indians and Alaska Natives.
One of the key ideas is to increase the size of the standard deduction so that fewer taxpayers will have to itemize. But to pay for that the simplicity the Senate bill is getting rid of some popular deductions, including the ability to deduct state and local taxes from your federal tax return. The bill also gets rid of deductions for dependents. The math works out so that families with fewer than three children will pay about the same. But if your family size is larger, then you will pay more. This is Indian Country. The average American family has 3.2 children, but in Indian Country it's 4.2 children per family.
Update: The Joint Committee on Taxation released its findings on Thursday. Its research shows that taxes will increase for those earning less than $30,000 per year. And by a wide margin. The calculation is based, in part, on the current subsidy to purchase health insurance.
And this is where it gets weird. The Senate bill does increase a tax credit, from $1,000 now to $1,650 per child. But, and this is huge, the additional $650 credit is only available to those who owe federal income taxes. It's not refundable. This is important to people who are not rich because so many pay more in payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) than in income taxes.
Add it all up and the Senate bill would increase taxes on 13.8 million moderate income households. But, hey, at least the rich get a break, right?
The House of Representatives passed its version of tax reform Thursday by a vote of 227-205. No Democrats voted for the bill, while 13 Republicans opposed it.
The House bill is similar but takes a different tack on mortgages and the deduction of state and local taxes. The House would also eliminate the ability of families to deduct medical expenses. (Think about that when matched with the Senate's plan to mess up health insurance.)
And the House bill really goes after university graduate students.
Many graduate students earn a small stipend for working on campus, doing research or teaching, and get a break on tuition. The stipend is already taxed. But the House would tax the tuition waiver, thousands of dollars. The average cost of graduate school is $30,000 a year at a public university and $40,000 at a private school. The Washington Post explains the problem this way: "Say you're a married graduate student at Princeton. Your spouse has a full-time job and makes $50,000 a year; you have two school-age children. You're filing a joint tax return. For sake of simplicity, you have no other deductions beyond the standard. According to H&R Block's tax calculator, you would owe about $5,000 under the current law. Under the proposed Republican plan, you would owe about $15,000."
The House bill also eliminates the deduction for interest on student loans and it eliminates tax credits for higher education.
This is terrible public policy. The digital age demands more education, not less, and the tax code should be in alignment. The House bill does the opposite. It will make higher education more expensive and less likely for too many people.
And just to make sure that higher education gets the message about what the country values, the House bill also would tax the larger university endowments, such as Harvard, Princeton, and even smaller colleges that have reserves of more than $250,000 per student.
But both the House and Senate do have one group in mind when writing this new tax code, business. The total "tax cuts" in the bill add up to $1.4 trillion over the next decade and of that amount, $1 trillion goes to businesses and corporations. It does this by reducing the corporate tax bracket from to 20 percent.
The other side of this tax debate is that it will reduce the amount of revenue that goes into the federal treasury. That means that soon after one of these measures passes, Congress will be required to look again at cutting spending.
Already the Congressional Budget Office estimates the tax bill will require $136 billion cuts from Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlement programs. "Without enacting subsequent legislation to either offset that deficit increase, waive the recordation of the bill's impact on the scorecard, or otherwise mitigate or eliminate the requirements of the [pay-go] law, OMB would be required to issue a sequestration order within 15 days of the end of the session of Congress to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 by the resultant total of $136 billion," CBO said Tuesday.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities pegs these coming budget cuts at $5.8 trillion. "These include $1.8 trillion in cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, and other health care entitlement programs and $800 billion in cuts below the already austere sequestration levels in 'non-defense discretionary' programs, the budget area that includes education and training, transportation, scientific and medical research, protection of the food and water supply, child care, low-income housing assistance, services for frail elderly people, and much more," the center reports.
So we are just at the beginning of the debate. The conservative dream is to sharply cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy — and then to shrink government. The House and Senate tax bills do just that.
ICYMI: Trahant Reports on Soundcloud.
Posted on November 15, 2017 November 16, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Budget, Congress, Democrats, Medicaid and Medicare, President Donald J. Trump, Public policy, Republicans, US SenateTags Budget, Congress, Tax cutsLeave a comment on Here we go again: The congressional attack on health care, higher education #IndigenousNewsWire
Three lessons from last week's elections, Time to add names, ideas #NativeVote18
Green Party candidate Eve Reyes-Aguirre is running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona. She is co-chair of the Global Indigenous Women's Caucus. (Campaign photo)
Three lessons from last week's election results.
First: Gerrymandering can be defeated. The election districts in Virginia were designed to support incumbents, and especially Republicans. The Atlantic described the "well-documented" Republican operation to gain "control of the mapmaking process in 2010 (and) saw their share of legislative seats steadily grow, even as their actual vote shares decreased. In other words, these maps helped Republicans retain majorities even when they earned substantially fewer votes."
That changed Tuesday. Voters swamped the supposedly safe districts and Democrats gained significantly. Perhaps even control of the legislature (votes are still be counted and will be recounted in a key race). So turnout beats districts drawn by one side to win. (The definition of gerrymandering.)
Second: Minority parties can win in this election cycle. It's always tough to run as a third or fourth party candidate in the United States. The deck is stacked. The system is rigged to favor the two established parties. However some twenty-plus self-described Democratic Socialists (ala Bernie Sanders) won on Tuesday, including Denise Joy in Billings, Montana. Joy was elected to the city council.
This could be an interesting trend.
Some states, California and Washington, have top-two primaries. That means a candidate can win even without party affiliation. But in most states — unless the rules change — the biggest opportunity for socialists, independents and Green Party candidates is for offices such as school boards and city councils. Another mechanism that makes it easier for third party candidates is ranked choice voting (where you pick your favorite, second favorite, etc.) Several cities, such as St. Paul, Minnesota, now use that approach. Maine also voted to adopt ranked choice, but has not yet implemented it because of opposition from the legislature (and entrenched parties).
In Arizona, Eve Reyes-Aguirre (Calpolli) is running for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket. She is a co-chair of the Global Indigenous Women's Caucus and a co–founding Mother of the newly formed World Indigenous Women's Alliance. She was also a representative at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women for the American Indian Law Alliance- 2015, 2017. Reyes-Aguirre is also running against the two-party system. Her web site says: "The two-party system has allowed wealth inequality to skyrocket to it's highest point since the 1920's. Eve is committed to developing an economy that promotes a equal sustainable quality of life for more families through the enactment of a living wage, limitations on corporate tax incentives, and a truly progressive tax structure. We must all be treated equal to live equal."
That brings to eight the number of Indigenous candidates running for the U.S. House or Senate so far in 2018 election. Three Republicans — Rep. Tom Cole (Choctaw), Oklahoma; Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee), Oklahoma, former state Sen. Dino Rossi (Tlingit), Washington — and four Democrats — former state NM state Democratic Party chair Deb Haaland (Laguna), Carol Surveyor (Navajo) in Utah, Tahlequah Mayor Jason Nichols (Cherokee), and J.D. Colbert (Choctaw) in Texas.
Lesson three. This is the "when" to jump and run in 2018 races. So much about politics is timing. Good candidates sometimes, no often, lose because their timing is off. It's not the right cycle. There are too many headwinds. Barack Obama generated turnout that encouraged Native voters and candidates. The chaos of 2016 with Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump did just the opposite. Turnout was down, especially in Indian Country. But we know most Native American candidates are already outsiders. So we need a little luck. And good timing.
The 2018 election ought to be that. President Trump and his Republican Party have to defend infighting plus legislative failures from healthcare to possibly taxes. And the president's popularity is only about a 38 percent approval rate. Awful numbers. On top of that, even popular presidents lose midterm elections. Democrats lead in the average of generic polls, 47 percent to 38 percent.
But Indian Country needs more candidates, especially in districts that can be won in this climate.
My top pick: Alaska's at large district. Several Alaska Natives have challenged Rep. Don Young for this seat over the years, including Willie Hensley (Iñupiaq), Georgianna Lincoln (Athabascan), and Diane Benson (Tlingit). And Young seems invincible. He was first elected in 1973 and is the longest serving member of the House. But, if this is a wave election, then no member of the House is invincible. And, even better, there are some really strong potential Alaska Native candidates.
Alaska will already have an interesting election field that includes Gov. Bill Walker and his running mate Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott (Tlingit).
And in Minnesota another high profile race will feature state Rep. Peggy Flanagan who is running for Lt. Gov. with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.
At one point during the 2016 election cycle (which we now know was not good timing) there were more than a hundred Native American candidates. We need those kind of numbers again. Especially this time around. There are more than 62 Native Americans serving in state legislatures around the country and many of those will be running for re-election.
So that brings me back to rule 3, part A. It's my favorite rule in politics because it's so simple: You gotta run to win.
ICYMI: Podcast election special is on iTunes or Soundcloud. Download here.
Posted on November 12, 2017 November 13, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativeVote18, Alaska, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Arctic, Arizona, Bernie Sanders, Congress, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Infographic, Minnesota, Montana, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, President Donald J. Trump, US Senate, Utah, WashingtonTags #NativeVote18Leave a comment on Three lessons from last week's elections, Time to add names, ideas #NativeVote18
#NativeVote18 — A night of election firsts and a rejection of all things Trump
Roxanne Murphy beat hate at the ballot box by winning nearly 80 percent of the vote in a race for Bellingham City Council. (Facebook photo)
A year ago ballots from across the country were being examined by citizens, journalists, and politicians, who were all wondering, "What the hell just happened?" The nation woke up to a President-elect Donald J. Trump.
And this morning? The Trump brand is like an overpriced hotel where you would never, ever stay a second time.
Voters from Maine to Washington and all points in between rejected Trumpism. They voted for Democrats, flipping legislatures in Washington and possibly Virginia. They voted for Medicaid. Medicaid! They voted for higher wages. And there is a clear message to Congress (if members pay attention) that governing still matters.
It was a good night for Native American candidates, too.
In Washington, Roxanne Murphy, Nooksack, won a second term on the Bellingham City Council with nearly 80 percent of the vote. What's striking is that she ran against the ugly words of an opponent who called on hate instead of discourse. Murphy wrote on Facebook: "Got through so much racism and misogyny during this run for office. But that was all worth it for me to defend our Bellingham community, the work of our current Bellingham City Council, to mutilate a deplorable person at the polls, get more people to vote the whole ballot, and it proved that love can win over hate. Thank you for RoxingTheVote!"
Several other Native candidates won office in Washington. Chris Roberts , City of Shoreline, Zachary DeWolf, Seattle School District, and Candice Wilson, to the Ferndale School Board.
Washington voters also flipped the legislature from red to blue. The entire West Coast is now governed by Democrats.
Renee Van Nett, Leech Lake Ojibwe, won a seat on the Duluth, Minnesota, city council. She will be the first Native American woman on that body. She told the Duluth News Tribune that her victory was a credit to "traditional issues that people are worried about … they want someone who's accessible, someone they can call and talk to, someone who will address their needs. They want economic development. They want to be heard."
Across the country "diversity" was a theme from election night. The "first" is a phrase that seems odd in 21st century America. Yet the first African American Lt. Governor in New Jersey. Another in Virginia. (Hint: The first Native American woman to serve in that capacity should be be next up, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota.)
The first Sikh mayor in Hoboken (who had to run against overt hate). The first immigrant from Liberia in Montana. The first openly lesbian mayor in Seattle. (Huffington Post has a list of many of the firsts.) The main take away: This was a rejection of the narrow world view of the Trump. The diversity that is the future of America, won. Bigly.
On the policy debate ahead, perhaps the most important vote came from Maine where voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of expanding Medicaid. Maine is one of 19 states whose Republican governors or legislatures have refused to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. This is an initiative — and a process — that could move to other states. "This will send a clear signal to where the rest of the country is on health care," Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of the Fairness Project, told The Washington Post. This vote is important because it could tip the scales in states where the legislature says one thing and the people another. Alaska. Cough. Alaska. Put Medicaid expansion on the ballot: And it will win.
Elections, of course, are always snap shots. It's dangerous to think this rout means more of the same a year from now. But the groundwork is there. And this election night will further divide many Republicans from Trump — as well as those who fund elections. There is now real evidence from the best poll of all that voters are not happy with the direction of Congress or the White House.
ICYMI: My first audio election special is on iTunes or Soundcloud. Download here.
Posted on November 8, 2017 November 13, 2017 Categories #DisruptIndianCountry, #NativePolicy, #NativeVote18, Alaska, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Congress, Democrats, Medicaid and Medicare, Minnesota, Montana, Republicans, State Legislatures, US Senate, Washington, WomenTags Election NightLeave a comment on #NativeVote18 — A night of election firsts and a rejection of all things Trump
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Dodgers, Scott Alexander reach agreement on…
SportsMLBLos Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers, Scott Alexander reach agreement on one-year deal
Dodgers relief pitcher Scott Alexander throws to the plate against San Francisco Giants in the ninth inning of a Major League Baseball game at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, March 31, 2018. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
By Bill Plunkett | bplunkett@scng.com | Orange County Register
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have reached agreement on a one-year, $875,000 deal with left-hander Scott Alexander, avoiding arbitration.
Alexander, 30, was one of 12 arbitration-eligible Dodgers this offseason. Monday is the deadline for teams to extend contract offers to all arbitration-eligible players or allow them to become free agents. After an injury-shortened 2019 season, Alexander was a candidate to be non-tendered.
Acquired from the Kansas City Royals as part of a three-team trade in January 2018, Alexander was 2-1 with three saves and a 3.68 ERA over 73 appearances for the Dodgers in 2018. But he dealt with thumb and forearm injuries in 2019 that limited him to just 17 1/3 innings. He did not pitch after early June, eventually undergoing nerve decompression surgery on his left elbow in September.
The Dodgers' remaining arbitration-eligible players are Pedro Baez, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Kike' Hernandez, Yimi Garcia, Julio Urias, Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Ross Stripling, Austin Barnes and Max Muncy.
Bill Plunkett
Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.
Follow Bill Plunkett	@billplunkettocr

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Loading empty form I have a page with 3 containers, the top will be used for search form, two the left side will have the adf form and the right a table view. One thing to note is that all the 3 sections will be using the same View Object or inturn the same table. When the page is loaded I want my form to come in the createInsert view. I tried using the invoke criteria for the creatInsertaction but this is messing up my search, since the form is empty and if i do a search in the search form the validators in the ADF form will fire and every thing goes for a toes.
Please suggest any solutions for this.

A: Use different view instances. Probably 1 for the search and 1 for both the form and the table.
Some basic info about view instances: http://andrejusb.blogspot.be/2011/06/understanding-adf-bc-view-object.html

A: You can use the same viewObject but add some viewCriteria for the search part, and use a CreateInsert in your taskflow before show the view.

A: use mange-Bean and do create insert pragmatically inside the constructor .

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In the second of a series of articles, first published by DIY Week, on sales and marketing in the home improvement and DIY industry, Kate from home and garden marketing agency Brookes & Co, looks at the shopping journey and its implications for marketing tactics.
Assuming you've done the research, you know your target customers and you know you have the right products and the right pricing, then the next thing to consider is the shopping journey for your product offering.
When do customers buy your kind of goods, how often, what prompts them to be in the market in the first place, how do they research their purchase options, who are the key influencers and when does the customer interact with them, what are the 'touch points' that provoke a positive intention to purchase, what happens in store, or online, or both, can a retailer sway a decision one way or another, what role might an installer play in choosing the type of product or the brand, and what might motivate that installer to push the end customer in a particular direction?
And after all of that, once a purchase is made, what can be done to ensure it is repeated and recommended to others?
So many questions might well require yet another tranche of research!
And even if years of experience mean that the answers are pretty much known, some periodic investment in some extra drilling down into what happens in the real world is never going to be wasted, just because that real world is moving so fast.
One way or another, it is vital to get the answers before committing funds to the massive choice of marketing tactics you might employ.
Not only might you be missing a trick and allowing sales to go elsewhere without realising, but equally you might be wasting money communicating the right things to the right customers, through the wrong channels or at times when they are simply never going to be in a mood for purchasing your stuff anyway. Here's a couple of examples.
There are plenty of products in the home improvement market that only get purchased at best every seven or eight years; or when the consumer moves to a new house. High spend on various kinds of traditional media exposure will work because there will always be some purchasers in the market. But there will also be plenty of wastage.
Clever use of permitted data – note here to check out GDPR issues – and even cleverer customer and prospect relationship management, preferably with some human as well as digital input, may well produce a better return on investment.
The big-ticket media spend might then reduce in proportion to how influential brand is in the category, and/or it might simply shift in favour of the peer to peer review potential of social media and online review.
It might also be that online collateral takes precedence over the in-store toolkit – or the reverse – depending where research and purchase take place, factors which may also determine the relevance of incentivising third party influencers.
At the other end of the purchase frequency scale are home improvement consumables – which might be purchased monthly, weekly or even, in the case of some professional users, every day.
Again, data which pinpoints individuals' buying habits can have exciting potential, but so can the very precise and time sensitive use of a whole mix of tactics and media.
When the shopping journey equates to a daily journey around a geographic area, with periods of time on the move, time spent in hard graft and time taking breaks, then all the following are going to have a potential role to play.
All you need to do is work out exactly when the national tabloid, the local daily newspaper, the appropriate social media platform, the printed catalogue, a range of websites, the local or national commercial radio station, the outdoor poster site or bus shelter, the counter top point of sale and the instore incentive are best going to come into play.
When you know the answer to that, then you will not only know which cards to play, but also exactly when to play them. Brookes & Co is the UK's only marketing agency specialising in the home and garden sectors.
It can help with strategic planning, websites and digital, PR, social media, design, media, exhibitions, POS & product launches. Contact Kate on 01889 598600 / kate@brookesandco.net, or visit www.brookesandco.net.


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Chief Executive Officer & Founder
+61 418 887 888 rick@raywhitemarine.com
Rick's business experience commenced from a telecommunications background building a start up company as one of the first entrants to compete with the government owned Telecom monopoly during deregulation of the industry in Australia. This led to establishing a partnership with the giant Hutchison Whampoa HK Group in 1990 as a founding Director, growing the business with 1500 employees into one of the top 3 mobile telecommunications carriers in the country which subsequently developed a national cellular telephone network under the 'Orange', '3' and now Hutchison Vodafone brand.
Following the family move to their new home on the Gold Coast after exiting the telco business, along with their 20m luxury motor yacht, Rick partnered with Princess Yachts Australia setting up the first national sales and service network for luxury European yachts in the country. After successfully establishing Princess brand market leadership during an 8 year period, a Dealership opportunity accepted with rival UK manufacturer Sunseeker International subsequently resulted in Sunseeker's dominance as the 'must have' brand in Australia, and achievement of Global Best Distributor Awards for the business over 6 consecutive years.
Rick also has extensive knowledge of the marina industry with personal management skills developed through investments and long-term operational experience in marinas and berths throughout Australia including the iconic Marina Mirage on the Gold Coast.
Now recognised as one of the most professional and skilled management and marketing experts in the Australian Marine Industry, Rick's career spanning over 25 years has formed invaluable relationships worldwide with industry associations and colleagues, manufacturers and suppliers. His latest world first initiative in establishing Ray White Marine as a founding partner with Australasia's largest real estate company, the $44bn Ray White Group, raises the marine industry to a new level, introducing professional procedures and protocols including the successful auction process, along with the 'icing on the cake' in securing the coveted leading global luxury yacht brands of the Ferretti Group, and Technohull, as exclusive distributorships for Australia and New Zealand.


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Sandra Sabattini, née le  et morte le , est une jeune femme italienne, engagée dans la Communauté Jean XXIII, au service des marginaux et des handicapés. Elle est proclamée bienheureuse le 24 octobre 2021 et est fêté le 2 mai jour de son anniversaire .

Biographie

Sandra Sabattini grandit dans une famille modeste et pratiquante. Pendant son enfance, la famille s'installe chez un oncle prêtre, don Giuseppe Bonini (1923-2019), à Misano Adriatico. Dès son plus jeune âge, Sandra fait preuve d'une vie spirituelle précoce, qu'elle livre dans son journal.

À douze ans, elle rencontre don Oreste Benzi, le fondateur de la Communauté Jean XXIII. Elle participe dès lors à des camps organisés pour les jeunes et approfondit son engagement religieux. En 1980, après de brillantes études, elle s'inscrit à la faculté de médecine de Bologne. Elle espère devenir médecin missionnaire en Afrique. En parallèle, elle devient un exemple pour ses compagnes de la Communauté Jean XXIII, dans sa pratique religieuse comme dans son engagement auprès des autres, notamment vers les handicapés. Elle organise des manifestations, des récoltes de fonds pour des œuvres leur étant consacrés, et leur donne beaucoup de temps. Le principal objectif de Sandra Sabattini : devenir sainte.

Elle rencontre au sein de la communauté un jeune homme, Guido, qui partage ses idéaux. Ils se fiancent rapidement. Le , Sandra est renversée par une voiture. Après trois jours de coma, elle meurt le 2 mai.

Vénération

Béatification

Enquête sur les vertus

Aussitôt après sa mort, Sandra Sabattini est entourée d'une grande réputation de sainteté. Oreste Benzi ne cessera d'entretenir son souvenir, jusqu'à  l'ouverture de la cause pour sa béatification, le . L'enquête diocésaine récoltant les témoignages sur sa vie se clôture le , puis envoyée à Rome pour y être étudiée par la Congrégation pour les causes des saints.

Après le rapport positif des différentes commissions sur la sainteté de Sandra Sabattini, le pape François procède, le , à la reconnaissance de ses vertus héroïques, lui attribuant ainsi le titre de vénérable.

Reconnaissance d'un miracle

En 2012 avait également débutée l'enquête médicale sur une guérison dite miraculeuse, attribuée à l'intercession de Sandra Sabattini, advenue en 2007. Il s'agit du cas d'un père de famille, atteint d'un cancer aux intestins très avancé. Don Oreste Benzi et tous les membres de la Communauté Jean XXIII prièrent Sandra Sabattini d'obtenir sa guérison. Quelques jours plus tard, de manière totale et soudaine, il n'y eut plus aucune trace du cancer chez le père de famille.

À la suite des rapports médicaux concluant à l'absence d'explication scientifique, le pape François reconnaît, le , comme authentique cette guérison attribuée à Sandra Sabattini, et signe le décret de sa béatification.

Prévue initialement le  à Rimini, sa béatification a été reportée à cause de l'épidémie de coronavirus. Elle aura probablement lieu le 24 octobre 2021

Culte

Le , 25 ans après sa mort, on procède à son exhumation, afin de transporter ses restes dans un tombeau réalisé pour elle dans l'église San Girolamo de Rimini. Toutefois, aucun reste n'est retrouvé. Le monument de l'église San Girolamo est donc vide.

Notes et références

Liens externes

Sandra
Vénérable catholique reconnu par François
Naissance en août 1961
Décès en mai 1984
Décès à Bologne
Naissance à Riccione
Décès à 22 ans
Sandra

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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americas-test-2
Pope closes Roman Catholic 'Holy Year' marked by lights and shadows
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday closed the Roman Catholic Church's "Holy Year of Mercy," a period that inspired hope among many followers but was also marred by conflicts around the world and infighting within the Church itself.
At a solemn ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, Francis closed its "Holy Door," through which the Vatican says some 20 million pilgrims walked since it was opened on Dec. 8, to seek special blessings and symbolically pass from sin to grace.
Holy Years normally take place every 25 years unless a pope decrees an extraordinary one - such as the one that closed on Sunday - to bring attention to a particular need or topic.
The next one was to be held in 2025 but the 79-year-old Francis, concerned about growing divisions and conflict in the world and polarization among Catholics, called a special one on the theme of mercy, a major part of his push for a less judgmental and more inclusive Church.
Catholics around the world were asked to forgive each other and the pope made numerous appeals to world leaders to make gestures of peace and reconciliation.
In his homily at a Mass before 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square, celebrated together with 17 new cardinals installed on Saturday, he called for the spirit of hope and mercy to continue.
"Let us ask for the grace of never closing the doors of reconciliation and pardon, but rather of knowing how to go beyond evil and differences, opening every possible pathway of hope," he said.
During the year, both Cuba and Paraguay responded to papal appeals by granting amnesties to prisoners and the pope held a historic meeting of reconciliation with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church after a rift of nearly 1,000 years..
But his many appeals for ceasefires in Syria and peace in places such as Ukraine during the year achieved little result.
Division also reared its head within his 1.2 billion member Church.
Last week, four conservative cardinals made a rare public challenge to Francis over some of his teachings in a major document on the family, accusing him of sowing confusion on important moral issues.
In Rome, the year was a disappointment to hoteliers, who had hoped for a boom similar to one during the last Holy Year in 2000.
A majority of the pilgrims who came to the capital were Italian day-trippers and many who stayed overnight did so in low-cost residences, many run by the Church, or in private homes.
Ordinary Romans were also critical of their civic leaders because most of the projects slated to improve public transportation, repair pot-holed streets and upgrade infrastructures for the Holy Year were never begun or left incomplete.
Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Clelia Oziel


We use slats as the main base to support our bed frames. Slats are connected bars we need to lie across the bed frame. Those bars can provide support. They work together with the mattress.
There are two kinds of bed slats available. First, it is solid slats and second is spring slats. We differentiate the type based on how slats fit the bed frame. Also, we differentiate based on how they support the bed.
Pinewood is the main material to create solid slats. It creates firmer and supportive option. On the other hands, the flexible beech wood is the main material to create sprung slat for a plush feel.
What are some great suggestions about how to generate a good case analyze?


Raja is a very friendly and polite individual, enjoys speaking to people, influencing and persuading them towards his point of view. His effectiveness to persuade others is due to his energy, strong speaking and communication skills, and his charismatic style. In general, he is very anxious to help and please others. Raja will be effective when responding to questions, comments and objections of others. Raja may back down when confronted directly, even when he feels he is right, because of a special desire to avoid problems and to work in a friendly, democratic and non-antagonistic environment. Raja will display a warm interest in others and will be effective communicating information to individuals especially when dealing with technical and specialized information. Raja is an intense and rushed individual. He is restless, rapidly changing and will display the need to become involved in a wide range of activities. Raja enjoys moving forward and will tend to view himself as being deeply involved in the activities he likes. He is very active and, in general, enjoys traveling and meeting different people. Although he can handle details, it is important to keep in mind that Raja might be easily bored if details become routine or repetitive. He is almost always seeking ways to change and improve methods, systems, processes and results.


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Flower & Garnet is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Keith Behrman and released in 2002.

Plot
A father finds difficulties in expressing his love to his children. Garnet (played by Colin Roberts) and Flower (Jane McGregor) have grown up in an environment of stifled grief. Since their mother died, Ed (Callum Keith Rennie), their father, mostly just lives without a goal. Eight-year-old Garnet struggles to comprehend the world around him, while sixteen-year-old Flower seeks love with her new boyfriend. Forced to become a real parent to Garnet, Ed buys Garnet a gun and shows, for the first time, his real affection for the boy.

Awards
Behrman won the Claude Jutra Award for the best feature film by a first-time film director at the 23rd Genie Awards. The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2002, and won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Canadian Film.

At the 2002 Whistler Film Festival, the film won the Audience Award.

Roberts received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor, while Rennie won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Canadian Film.

Composer Peter Allen won a Leo Award for his film score in 2003.

References

External links

2002 films
2002 drama films
Canadian drama films
Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award-winning films
Films directed by Keith Behrman
2002 directorial debut films
English-language Canadian films
2000s English-language films
2000s Canadian films


Monalisa's latest clip from Nazar proves she is ready for some exciting challenges.
Bhojpuri actress Monalisa is seen playing the role of a daayan in Nazar. Along with performing some high-octane action sequences, the lady also manages to stun the audience with her screen presence. This is known to all that she enjoys a huge fan following and keeps treating fans with her wonderful pictures. Recently, Monalisa shared a clip from Nazar in which she is seen doing some high-octane action sequences. The lady thanked the director for giving her the chance to do something new. Well, people have seen her climbing buildings and also showcasing some cool dance moves on the show.
Recently, she shot for an episode of the comedy show Kanpur Wale Khuranas. Monalisa shared picture with Farah Khan in which she was seen in her daayan avatar. Dressed in pink saree, she looked stunning.
Before this daily soap, she also participated in the TV reality show, Bigg Boss. She got married to her beau Vikrant Singh Rajpoot inside the house and her marriage ceremony was aired on the National television.


You have four options when it comes to your retirement assets: leave them with your former employer, roll them over into your new employer's retirement plan, roll them over into an IRA, or cash out. As with most financial decisions, there are pros and cons to each choice, and your specific circumstances may make one choice more appealing than the others.
Embarking on a brand-new career late in life can be more difficult than starting when you're young. Sometimes it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and the logistical barriers—not to mention age discrimination—make it easy to stick with the status quo. But if you're truly unhappy with your career, or if you'd like to pursue a passion you've been neglecting thus far, now is the time to get started.