(ThyBlackMan.com) Today, in comparison to the sixties and the seventies, we have several times the number of “black political leaders,” and a former African American president. Yet, those black leaders of the sixties and seventies, though smaller in number, were more productive than “our leaders” of today, in helping to get legislation through Congress, which positively affect the lives of black people. Even today, with Black America organized through “a Caucus,” which sits in the House of Representatives, productivity legislatively has never come close to what was done in the past.
There was, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave the federal government the power to desegregate schools and public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants; the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which helped to end roadblocks to voting and produced the CBC, and America’s first African-American president; Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Equal Employment Act of 1972, which corrected defects in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in the area of employment.
To create opportunities for Black Americans, and working-class families to succeed, and be a part of this economy, and its growth story, isn’t as difficult as it was in the sixties and seventies. Through political representatives in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate of the United States, blacks can literally say, “We have a seat at the table of power,” which Black Americans died for, worked for, marched for, voted for, and in some instances rioted for, in confrontations with those, who would deny us this seat.
Even so, Black America still suffers from high unemployment, higher than any other measured worker group, and a severely low rate of business ownership. So, what has gone wrong? Yes, those who oppose the advancement of blacks have formed coalitions to thwart any further advancements, but that’s not new. Anti-black coalitions of that nature have always existed in America, from the Confederate Army, the Ku Klux Klan, the silent majority to a rigged justice system, yet Black Americans have always found a way to continue to advance.
Our problem, as a race of people, is not our lack of energy, and a strategy to resolve our problems. It is a lack of leadership, at the very top. We lack the focused leadership necessary at the top to institute the bold strategies of the past, that made America better, and a more powerful nation. Black political representatives today, have been co-opted, and now, stand for the interests of the two major predominantly white political parties, rather than the interests of blacks.
Black America is at its best, when its leaders promote the ideas, and strategies that positively advance “the principles” of a free and Democratic America based on our Constitution, rather than the interests of the two major political parties. We are at an inflection point politically, and economically in America, due in no small part to the COVID19 virus, and America needs the honor, truthfulness, and integrity displayed by past leadership. Black America’s march, for justice, social and economic freedom lifts up, and helps all Americans and highlights the shortcomings of our constitutional democracy.
There are a fluidity of occurrences, events, and happenings both here, and abroad, that is befitting of the involvement of an organization with a name, as prodigious as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). But right now, there is an opportunity that deserves the attention of this august organization, if its focus on job creation, and economic growth, which are two of America’s major problems, were keener.
The CBC can join millions of Americans, already concerned about the economic future of our country, while supporting the Democratic Party, Voting Rights, and justice issues. They can lend their name and the prestige that still surrounds the name, “Congressional Black Caucus,” to a needed data driven, long-term job creation plan. They don’t have to break with the Democratic Party, philosophically. The CBC simply has to emphasize, publicly and privately, a winning strategy for America, Democrats, and the Biden presidency is, to FOLLOW DATA, when it comes to fashioning an economic growth and job creation plan, saying doing so, is productive for the Party. We are at this time, headed for a robust period of prosperity up to December 31st. Then it will all come to an end, unless Democrats find a way to extend an alternative data driven long-term Consumer Tax Cut Plan, to continue the cycle of creating jobs, started by the Consumer Tax Cut to Families with Children Plan.
In the last two months, all of us, including the CBC, have seen in real-time what a Consumer Tax Cut Plan can do. Keep in mind, the Federal Reserve’s long-term goal for our economy, is economic growth, and job creation. Holding interest rates to near 0% is giving Mr. Biden space, to come-up with a strong Data Driven Job Creation Plan, that will work, and withstand incremental increases (normalization) of interest rates, and the effects of the COVID19 virus and its variants on our economy. The Democrats response so far, has been the Tax Cut to Families with Children. The CBC, with its members in concert, can USE FACTS, and DATA, showing Mr. Biden, and the White House that the Tax Cut to Families with Children was very successful in creating 1.053 million jobs in July and 235,000 jobs in August, due to the $529 million monthly Tax Cut to Families with Children.
Here are the facts. “This is simple math.” Using Democrats’ figures, roughly $15 billion monthly in TAX CUTS started going out with 170 days left in the year, as the Tax Cut to Families programs got underway in July and are scheduled to end on December 31st. It resulted in $529 million a day being given to and spent by consumers, every day, on average. Inflationary? Could be, as the Federal Reserve recently announced, it will consider rolling back its easy money policies, as we approach the end of the year. Having said that, the Consumer Price Index numbers, over the next several months will immensely clear up any ambiguity, when it comes to how bad inflation really is.
However, a major flaw or shortcoming of the $529 million a day Consumer Tax Cut to Families with Children Plan is, it cannot tolerate daily increases in interest rates. Incremental increases in interest rates are the main tool the Federal Reserve uses to control inflation. The reason the plan has a problem in this area is because the recipients of the tax cut benefits are vulnerable to layoffs as interest rates rise, like any active worker group. Layoffs reduces the effectiveness of the current tax cut, due to a loss of income to the recipients as a result of being laid-off from their jobs, leading to a reduction in consumer spending, which reduces economic growth and job creation.
So, the CBC, if it wanted to, can step back into an active role of leadership, by showing Democrats, the principle of giving consumers a tax cut, works. They can advocate for a 10 year (long-term), 10%, $25,000 Consumer Tax Cut, as a complement to the short-term Tax Cut to Families with Children Plan, which is limited, due to its December end date, and other reasons, beyond its inability to tolerate tax increases. A job creating, long-term 10%, $25,000 Consumer Tax Cut Plan is doable.
Baby Boomers, as a homogeneous group, who are retiring at a rate of 10,000 a day, is statistically the best target of the Democratic Party’s next consumer tax cut. DATA shows, they are responsible for close to 40% of all consumer spending (consumption). That means they will spend the benefits from the federal government, creating jobs. Baby Boomers also, include a fair number of minorities and rural whites. A 10%, $25,000 Consumer Tax Cut, will drop $254 to $300 million, a day into our economy, for businesses, both large and small to compete for, over the next 10 years, which is the duration of the tax cut. This $1.5 trillion Consumer Tax Cut Plan, as a result of consumer spending, will continue to consistently create jobs at a hefty rate.
When it comes to daily interest rates increases, Baby Boomers are not generally affected, because they are for the most part retired. Thus, they are able to continuously spend benefits from the federal government, consistently creating jobs and growing the economy, even as the Federal Reserve incrementally raises interest rates to control inflation.
“To win or lose?” The choice is up to Biden, Democrats, and the CBC. Can the DATA get any simpler (I don’t think so)? Democrats already have executed a winning strategy to grow the economy, it just created 1.053 million jobs. It’s called “a consumer tax cut,” which led to consumer spending, which led to 1.053 million jobs created in July, and now 235,000 in August, in spite of the Delta Variant of the COVID19 virus! Biden and Democrats need a better, more efficient delivery vehicle or demographic for the next long-term data driven consumer tax cut, which will endure the normalization of interest rates and that would be the 55 plus demographic.
A Job Creating, Long-Term 10%, $25,000 Consumer Tax Cut is Doable.
Staff Writer; James Davis
Mr. Davis is a leading expert and consultant in Financial Analysis and Social Dynamics. He is a graduate of Florida A. and M. University (FAMU), a former stockbroker, and a human rights activist who resides in Sanford, Florida. He was awarded the prestigious Governor Haydon Burns Scholarship to attend FAMU and while at FAMU was awarded the first Martin Luther King Scholarship. He is the author of three books, among them is “The Fix This Time,” Boost Your Retirement Income! Simultaneously Create Jobs and Spur Economic Growth (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MI3PD2M).
Mr. Davis can be reached through his blog @ https://thefixthistime.com.