Archive for November, 2008

It seems that no one is immune to the economic downtown these days — not even the Pope.

While we can’t confirm that Pope Benedict XVI is busy clipping coupons and hoarding pennies these days, his staff might be. Or at least they’re likely to be a lot more budget conscious than in the past.

Word from the Vatican is that those who work there (both the laity — non-religious personnel — and priests) have begun to use time cards to clock in and out of work.

So that’s where we are now: Priests and religious aids who work at the Vatican have been issued swipe cards. Some will say that it’s a good thing to promote the meritocracy of the Catholic Church: You know, reward those who work longer hours and do their jobs more effectively than others. That’s certainly good business, but do the words “business” and “Vatican” seem like they should go together?

Maybe in these tough economic times, nothing should surprise us anymore.

Along with choosing who should be our next President, voters in many states were confronted last Tuesday with a range of state ballot initiatives put forth by special-interest groups.

There were also proposed tax cuts or tax hikes in seven states, but in all but two of them, the measures failed to pass, in marked contrast to the call for “change” that was a constant theme in the Presidential race.

During these troubled times, you might think that voters would jump at the chance to eliminate their state’s personal income tax, or at least cut it in half. Nope. Level-headed voters, perhaps fearing the depth of cuts in state and local government programs, nixed the initiative in Massachusetts, where elimination of the property tax would cut state revenues by about 40%, and in North Dakota, where voters said “no, thanks” to cutting the personal income tax rate in half and cutting the corporate income tax rate by 15%.

Oregon voters also declined to endorse a measure that would have lifted the cap on how much of their federal income taxes they could deduct on their state income taxes. The move would have cut state revenues by about 14% by 2011.

When proposals to raise taxes surfaced in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota and Montana, voters in three of the five states said no.

Colorado voters rejected three proposed tax hikes with very different implications. They included a sales tax increase to fund programs for people with developmental disabilities, an increase in severance taxes paid by the oil and gas industry, and the elimination of rebates taxpayers get when the state takes in revenue that exceeds a specified cap.

Florida voters turned down an initiative that would let county voters approve a sales tax to benefit community colleges.

Voters in Minnesota approved a sales tax increase to benefit natural resources and the arts, while in Montana, voters gave the thumbs up to fund the state university system.

While we could argue the merits of individual ballot initiatives, it seems clear that voters were mostly reluctant to raise taxes, but even more cautious about cutting them.

Nationwide, taxpayers may be trying to walk a fine line by balancing the need for a reasonable level of municipal and state-funded services with an eagle eye toward prudent spending.

Are you following a similar approach in managing your personal household budget?

Believe it or not, you’d only have to go back about 40 years in U.S. history to learn about something called a poll tax. Yes, you guessed it: Less than a half-century ago, people actually had to pay money to exercise their constitutional right to vote. These required payments, known simply as “poll taxes,” were enacted in eleven U.S. states shortly after the Reconstruction (a twelve-year period after the Civil War, when the South was restored to the Union), and were designed in large part to suppress the vote in minority communities.

It wasn’t until 1962, actually, that the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution called for an end to these poll taxes; and not until January 1964 that the amendment was ratified. (Further, and for the sake of historical accuracy, all poll taxes weren’t officially declared unconstitutional until 1966 when law makers determined that any such tax violated the 14th Amendment — which basically says that no individual state can deny any citizen rights that everyone else enjoys.)

So what about us? You know, the modern-day “you and me”? Do you think we still have a poll tax? Maybe not in dollars in cents, but certainly in what has become an equally precious commodity. You got it; it’s time.

So how long did you wait at the polls on Election Day to cast your vote? An hour? Three hours? Do I hear six hours? Despite a record-setting voter turnout for the 2008 presidential election, many of us paid a different type of tax, one that was measured in hours spent away from our families, our additional responsibilities, and — monetarily speaking — our jobs.

So give yourself a pat on the back for helping produce the highest voter turnout in 100 years. Sure, a lot of the numbers are still being tallied, between absentee votes and the like. But early indications suggest that the percentage of eligible voters who actually made it to the polls hasn’t been this high since Howard Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan. And that was in 1908!

So this election year, the American people voted for change. And they spoke loudly.

Now maybe the powers-that-be can start working on how to speed up the voting process; either that or declare Election Day a working holiday. We’ll have to wait four years to find out.

Tuesday’s election was a defining moment in American history, one I’m proud to have been a part of. Consider who was running: One, a naval aviator, a genuine American hero who was shot down in the Vietnam War and survived six years in a prisoner of war camp. The son and grandson of four-star U.S. Navy admirals, he returned home to launch a political career spanning 25 years and service in both the U.S. House and Senate.

The other, an unlikely standard-bearer for the Democratic Party, the African-American son of a Kansas-born anthropologist and a Kenyan father he barely knew, a U.S. senator from the state of Illinois.

Obama’s victory yesterday followed record voter turnouts by millions of newly registered young voters and African-Americans, many of whom echoed the same thought: “I never thought I’d see the day.”

Many in the black community expressed astonishment, delight and the heartfelt opinion that Obama’s victory was only made possible by those who went before him. As one woman interviewed on a New York City street said yesterday, “Rosa Parks sat on the bus so that Martin Luther King Jr. could dream. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream so that Jesse Jackson could run. Jesse Jackson ran so that Barack Obama could win.”

It took an exceptional man in exceptional times to unite a country torn by conflicting opinions about where this country is headed. And while Americans continue to have deep concerns about our role in two wars, global warming and a broken healthcare system, it was economic worries that catapulted Barack Obama to victory. His candidacy spoke to many who were asking themselves, “How will I be able to afford to send my kids to college if I can’t get a loan?” “Can I make my next mortgage payment if I pay just the minimum on the credit card bill?” “Will my savings be safe if my bank shuts down?” “Is my town going to shut down the library and cut back on school funding?” “Where do I stand if I lose my job?” The economy – in gut-wrenching terms – transcended all other issues.

As we look to the President-elect to get us back on the right path, tackling everything from terrorism and national security concerns to domestic issues here at home, he deserves our support and patience in the months and years ahead.

Are you feeling a new sense of optimism about our country’s future?

Recession or not, some traditions will never be downsized.

Take Halloween in my hometown. It’s a really big deal. Main Street, which is filled with a range of Colonial, pre-Colonial, Gothic and Victorian homes, offers the perfect backdrop for a night of terror, tombstones and treats.

And the kiddies come, in hordes, tripping over their dragon tails and lugging pillowcases heavy with booty. Even from out of town. In fact, the homeowners on Main Street are so deluged with munchkins that one resourceful resident took pity this year and organized a townwide fundraiser for them. They collected donations to buy more candy and distribute it, in advance, to those Main Street homeowners on the front lines of Candy Duty.

Dorothy Mulligan, who lives in a house with a giant, mechanized spider, estimates she and her husband spent over $200 on candy this year, in addition to the donated candy. Dorothy’s husband, Richard, installed the spider, which periodically dropped down from its web on Halloween to the delighted screams of visitors.

Word has it that over 3,000 trick-or-treaters descended on Main Street, beating last year’s record. Our dentists are overjoyed. (A few orthodontists and dentists offer a candy buyback program where children can trade candy for cash at $2 a pound. The candy is sent to the troops in Iraq, and the kids get a free toothbrush.)

Recession? Boo!

Was Halloween in your hometown as big as ever?