Poverty

I'm thinking about sharing more thoughts and questions here. I really think that society has the capability to solve all sorts of things if we work together to share what we know, collaborate on how to solve problems, and coordinate the solutions in our communities.

I will get more statistics later, but here are some examples.

I think we live in a world where we can figure out how to get everyone access to clean water when they wake up this morning, instead of just two thirds.

I think we live in a world where no child needs to die of hunger tonight, instead of 8,000.

I think we live in a world where 0 girls need to be prevented from attending school today, instead of 30,000,000.

With all of the ingenuity and strength and determination that society has, I think we live in a world where these problems are solvable. We've done far more impressive things.

We've travelled to the moon.

We've travelled to other planets.

We've sent space ships out of our solar system.

We've mapped out the galaxy.

We've photographed the entire earth.

We've created the technology to store nearly every piece of information electronically.

We've created a network of satellites to make nearly every piece of information available to anyone with access to a computer.

We've created societies in parts of the world where less than five percent of the economy needs to be devoted to providing for the basic needs and the other 95% can focus on whatever society puts a value on.

With so much potential that society has, I think there is plenty of room to make big changes with only a little coordination. I don't think we need new laws. I don't think we need a revolution. I don't think we need the media to scare us. I don't think we need a war to stop the problem or to fix the problem. I don't think we need economic growth. I don't think we need more debt. I don't think we need less debt.

I think we need some one to believe in us and remind us that we have so much potential.

I believe in you and you have so much potential.

Gatsby Curve

Chris Hayes on the news this morning was talking about the Gatsby Curve and the relationship between income equality and social mobility and how that relates to a progressive tax system. He then went on tho say,

"If you look at the countries that are the most equal, the thing that makes them have reduced inequality isn't the progressivity of their tax system. What it is is taxes as a share of GDP. You line up the OECD countries on one side and you rank them by how equal they are. You line them up on the other side and you rank them by what share of GDP in taxes they pay. And what you see is if everyone is paying taxes, and everyone is sharing in universal benefits, you have more equality."

Well, I was curious about how this relates to GDP per capita. Is income equality correlated with GDP per capita? If more taxes go in as a percentage of GDP, and more taxes go out to the mutual and equal benefit of everyone, then everyone will get the benefits of more income equality, but will they also get the benefit of a higher income overall per capita?

This data seems to suggest, ... kind of.

http://visualizingeconomics.com/blog/2006/01/04/gdp-per-capital-vs-gini-index

The L-shape of the data seems to put countries into 2 groups -  Countries with Gini indices below 40 and countries with Gini indices above 40. The lower group (more income equality) have GDPs per capita that span the whole range. The upper group (less income equality) tend to have only low GDPs per capita.

The US seems to be an outlier in this, with less equality, but one of the highest GDPs per capita.

What's causing this?

Fiscal cliff

I think a part of the reason why the negotiations on a budget are difficult is because people have different opinions about what is best for the economy. Your approach to a budget will probably be very different depending on what your goal is.

Is the best economy the one where the most successful individuals have the most control over what happens with the money?

Is the best economy the one where the largest number of the people have the most number of opportunities to contribute to it?

Is the best economy the one that uses the majority of it's resources on non-governmental items?

And to make things more complicated, does what is best for the economy depend on the state of the economy?

Wish I had the answer. Or at least someone did.

Representative Barickman - Weekly update 04-29-2011

Jason expands on the HMO issues a little more in this week's email:

 By some accounts, this was a short week in Springfield.  We were only in Session on Tuesday through Thursday.  That said, I gladly sat through a 5-hour hearing that started on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.  I still made it home for supper with Kristin, although it was more like a midnight snack by the time I got home...

I sit on the Higher Education Committee, and Wednesday's hearing focused on the elimination of the Health Alliance HMO under the state health insurance plan for state employees.  To anyone that isn't directly affected by this decision, it seems easy enough to ignore it.  They shouldn't.  This is an excellent example of why our state is in the financial condition it is in today.  In a nutshell, the Quinn Administration is attempting to move thousands of state employees to an insurance plan: (1) that the employees don't want, (2) that doesn't have an HMO network in place and has no plans to put it in place, and (3) that costs the employees more money.  The kicker is that this switch will cost the state millions of dollars more than the existing plan.  Why would we want to be spending more money, rather than explore opportunities to cut costs?  At the hearing, I was more than willing to advocate on behalf of the taxpayers of Illinois, as well as the thousands of constituents in my district that are directly impacted by this decision.  You can hear some of my remarks on my Facebook page.  Stay tuned for Gov. Quinn's response.

I try to reply to your personal emails at least weekly.  Please let me know what's on your mind.

Jason

I'm still not sure how this change is costing the state millions of dollars more than the existing plan. Anyone have the details?

More from Jason Barickman! Finally a politician that will answer questions!

So after Jason sent out his weekly email on 4/17/2011, I asked him the following:

I don't know much about the "Health Alliance contract." Can you tell me more about it?

Also, I strongly agree that, "if more employees made quarterly payments - rather than having their money automatically deducted from their payroll check before they "see" it - then we'd have more people arguing for lower taxes in Springfield and Washington".  Seems unlikely that we would move in that direction. Any alternatives?

He responded to the first question, but didn't mention anything about alternative methods of collection income taxes.  Here is his response:

The Quinn Administration terminated an HMO contract that effectively requires 100,000 state employees to change from an HMO plan to an Open Access Plan.  While devastating to thousands of state employees, it's also going to cost the taxpayers upwards of $40 million.  I can't believe the Guv is making this decision, impacting these people's lives in such a dramatic way, and costing us all more money.  I'm obviously opposed to it...

Thanks for the note!

 It's great to have a representative that actually responds to questions.  With my sincere hope of better understanding the issues, I replied once again:

Why is switching from an HMO to an Open Access Plan devastating and dramatic? How did you calculate the $40 million cost?

I will let you know Jason's response when I get it.

Representative Barickman - Weekly update 04-17-2011

Below is Jason Barickman's weekly email update that he sends out.  I don't know too much about the Health Alliance contract.  If anyone has more information, feel free to share.

He makes a really good point about the way taxes are collected and I strongly agree that "if more employees made quarterly payments - rather than having their money automatically deducted from their payroll check before they "see" it - then we'd have more people arguing for lower taxes in Springfield and Washington".  I do that with my county taxes, and it makes a pretty big difference. 

Scott,

Everywhere I went this week, people talked to me about the State's decision to terminate the Health Alliance contract.  I continue to believe that this was a bad decision on the State's part, especially because it will cost our State more money, and I'll continue to be a voice for those concerned about this.  As I touched on this issue last week, I'd simply encourage you to reply with any specific questions you have on this.

Tomorrow is April 18, and my taxes are due.  Being self-employed (outside my State Rep job), I pay quarterly tax installments to the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue.  Generally, I don't like spending money.  (Ask Kristin or anyone who knows me.)  And while I don't mind paying my fair share, writing out these checks causes me a certain amount of discomfort.  I strongly believe that if more employees made quarterly payments - rather than having their money automatically deducted from their payroll check before they "see" it - then we'd have more people arguing for lower taxes in Springfield and Washington.  You wouldn't believe how many bills the Legislature has voted voted on since January.  Rest assured, on each and every vote, I try to think of the taxpayer and my pledge to restrain government spending.  I've voted accordingly every time.

All's well at home.  Kristin spent much of the day cleaning.  She's says she's nesting.  If you're a single guy, you'll have to look up why nesting is one of the most best kept secrets for expecting husbands.  Here's a link if you want to know more: (http://facebook.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4283b0d0b256ff99c9fb2b540&id=4d41cc6b45&e=49012b6848.

Jason

Communities and Local Politics

Great talk by Dave Meslin on ted.com about local politics. 


http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-04-12