¡El cambio también está llegando a Mérida!
Para quienes apoyamos a Barack Obama en la antesala de las elecciones presidenciales de 2008 en Estados Unidos, hemos seguido recibiendo correos electrónicos de su oficina, informándonos sobre su progreso como presidente electo y llamándonos a seguir participando.
Hace dos semanas, los correos pedían a la gente reunirse en pequeños encuentros locales en todo el país para conocerse, platicar sobre las cosas que les importaban y comenzar a organizarse para ser activistas en sus propias comunidades. Como ciudadanos estadounidenses, aceptamos ese reto y convocamos a algunos amigos para reunirnos.
El sábado 14 de diciembre, junto con otros en EU y en el mundo, nos reunimos para discutir nuestro papel como ciudadanos estadounidenses... en EU, en el mundo, y sí, aquí en Yucatán.
La reunión fue una congregación de un increíble rango de personas de todas partes de EU y de todos los ámbitos de la vida. Había ex dentistas, abogados, profesores, arquitectos, pilotos de aerolínea, lobbyistas y vendedores. Había gente de Illinois (bastantes, curiosamente), Massachusetts, Alaska, Virginia, D.C., Wisconsin, Washington, California y Ohio.
Nos presentamos y contamos al grupo por qué nos habíamos tomado la molestia de venir a esta reunión. Hubo un acuerdo general de que muchos de nosotros sentíamos un renovado sentido de esperanza y una intuición... solo un destello... de que quizá, solo quizá, el mundo podría estar cambiando para mejor, y que podríamos ayudar a que se moviera en esa dirección. Muchos mencionaron el “reinado” de George Bush como una de las razones por las que dejamos nuestra tierra natal, pero para ser justos, no todos compartíamos la misma filiación política. Había republicanos, demócratas e independientes... lo único que teníamos en común era nuestra ciudadanía estadounidense y nuestro deseo de hacer algo bueno. También coincidimos en que no solo queríamos hacer algo para mejorar el mundo, sino que, como representantes de Estados Unidos aquí en Mérida, queremos encontrar un proyecto de servicio que promueva la buena voluntad de los estadounidenses en Mérida y que nos permita compartir nuestras habilidades o talentos con nuestra ciudad elegida.
La convocatoria para la reunión especificaba que el grupo debería organizar un evento de servicio antes de la inauguración de Barack Obama. ¡¡Eso no nos deja mucho tiempo!!
La próxima reunión del grupo será el 27 de diciembre de 4 a 6 pm, y quien esté interesado en participar es bienvenido. Si quieres asistir, por favor contacta a Martha Lindley (martha.lindley@gmail.com) y pon “Change is Coming” en el asunto de tu correo. En esa reunión decidiremos un proyecto de servicio a corto plazo para realizar antes del 20 de enero... y de ahí avanzaremos. Estamos considerando desde donaciones de sangre, enseñanza de inglés, limpieza de basura, hasta... bueno, ¡aún no decidimos! Si tienes una buena idea, mándale un correo a Martha con tu propuesta. O simplemente ven a la reunión y participa.
¡El cambio está llegando, y queremos ser parte de él! Únete a nosotros.
Apéndice: Uno de los asistentes sugirió que podríamos empezar a participar en el gobierno escribiendo a nuestros congresistas, exigiendo que invoquen una ley existente sobre las ganancias excesivas de las corporaciones. La ley es Public Law 909, 81st Congress, 64 Stat.1137, 1950, Impuesto sobre Ganancias Excesivas. Invocar esta ley ayudaría al gobierno a financiar servicios sociales y reducir la deuda nacional, entre otras cosas. Al parecer, hubo una ley similar en 1945 que aportó el 23.3% de los ingresos federales en ese momento. La ley está diseñada para devolver al gobierno parte de las ganancias excesivas obtenidas por corporaciones que le suministran en tiempos de guerra. También puedes leer sobre ella aquí en Wikipedia.
Comments
Yucatan Living - Yucatan News: Trees, AA and Henry Ponce 17 years ago
[...] Post: Expat Community Service Project That’s right folks. This group of local expats started here, completed their first project here, and landed in Huffington Post here!Congratulations to [...]
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Working Gringos 17 years ago
OK, that was the last one :-)
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Eda Palacios 17 years ago
I am a United Airlines Flight attendant based in Japan. I have an apartment on Colonia Garcia Gineres for the past 15 years and I am very pleased to find so many of U.S. and Canadian citizens enjoying living in Merida. Born in Nicaragua, educated in Spokane, Washington, 35 years with UAL and 2 more years before retirement. I would certainly like to attend some of your meetings and having acquaintances. I do get to Merida every 2 months. I congratulate all of you for building a network in Merida.
Eda
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Working Gringos 17 years ago
Thank you all for your comments. But since we are trying to stay away from political arguments here, and keep things on a positive note, we are going to now close the comments for this article. We're sure there are many other venues where this discussion can continue...
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Brenda Thornton 17 years ago
Oh, and Bob, you should read this article about Bush's achievements: www.truthout.org/010709J. It makes for an interesting read and makes some very legitimate stances on his Presidency. As for history making the judgements on his Presidency, he has been in office for nearly eight years, and I think something he did or didn't do eight years ago is already history, to me.
I have a friend who is a naturalized American, an Iraqi Christian, who has been in this country for around twenty years, and the freed the Iraqis thing rings rather hollow to she and her family. Actually, the Christians lived okay under the authoritarian regime, sort of, as no one could attack and kill them, they owned and did business, some were fairly affluent, and they had a peaceful life except when Iraq was at war.
She now says that most of her family has fled or been killed, their businesses are gone, they cannot work in Iraq, and they are targets for the Sunnis and the Shites. Her parents finally left Iraq, and though they detested Saddam, they said their life went from being somewhat difficult to becoming a living hell after they were "freed", and their take is that there will never, ever be peace in Iraq and among the different and competing groups.
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Brenda Thornton 17 years ago
The United States has a corporate tax rate which is supposed to be the second highest in the world. Note I said, SUPPOSED. With all the various deductions, credits, and loopholes, the actual taxes collected make it way, way down on the totem pole for taxes for legitimate governments. Still, many corporations who make much of their income in Gringo land pull stunts like registering in the Bahamas or Cayman Islands to get out of paying virtually ALL TAXES.
This includes many corporations who get either all or much of their income from federal taxes.
The destruction of the basis for our economy sped up like going from a diesel locomotive to one of the high-speed European trains during the last eight years. The capital gains taxes were lowered to nearly the lowest rate in modern times, and that means that the very wealthy became super wealthy, while the remaining folks had to carry their weight. I believe that capital gains should remain at the low rate for a certain amount per person per year, and then it should go up as the income goes up, to where it stood under Clinton, and it was FAIR then.
At least all those millionaires and billionaires who invested with Madoff won't have to be worrying about taxes, although I do not know whether money lost in a swindle is the same thing as money lost in capital losses. I'll have to call my Senator and find out.
The expats who reside in Mexico all add to the Mexican economy, I would gather, and they all benefit in living with less money than in the U. S. However, in Texas, we recently learned that it cost the State of Texas $677 million dollars in costs to the taxpayers to pay for health care for illegal immigrants mostly from Mexico and various and sundry costs not born by them or those who employ them. That is a huge bunch of dinero by anyone's standards and with the economy behaving so badly, many who were once pro immigrant are beginning to change their minds in respect to these huge outlays and the individuals who benefit from employing them without paying taxes, health care and social security for them.
We need to enforce the laws against these rogue employers and they should not be able to impose the costs on the rest of the citizenry and should not be permitted to mistreat their immigrant workers, as well.
My sympathies actually fall with the immigrant workers, but I would much prefer that they go to a sytem where they enter the country legally, with temporary status, after having had authentic background checks, know enough English to read the road signs, and be guaranteed the right to change employers if they are abused, receive one and a half times the minimum wage for their work, and health benefits, along with all appropriate taxes being paid. That would benefit the country, the immigrants and the employers who do not break the law and the immigrants could live openly and fairly.
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Yucatan Man 17 years ago
That's right - increase taxes on successful corporations that already pay some of the highest taxes in the world - then watch them move away from the U.S - brilliant!!
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dixieboy 17 years ago
Well, I've read through all the comments, and find it very interesting that those of you who I will call Democrats simply don't get the idea of what the United States is all about. That reason is why so many in this old world would gladly risk everything they have to get here. Witness the influx of our fellow Mexicans risking injury and possibly life itself to get here. That reason is the fact that in America, with a little bit of hard work, one can do and be almost anything the mind can conceive.
I find it most interesting that Democrats fail consistently to understand that hard work and the rewards from that hard work is what has made America the Great place that it has been to this point in history. The fact that Democrats consistently praise government as being the giver of the great success story fails to understand what actually creates wealth in this country. The very spirit of the individual being free to work as hard as they please and reap the rewards is what at one time made America the world leader in technology and industry. It is unfortunate that Democrats, for the most part, have been the major driving factor in the "something for nothing" mindset that now pervades this country. The rich are demonized for their success and yes, there are probably some who got that success through other than honest means, but to take a broad bush and paint everyone who is successful as mean, uncaring, having gotten their success by default is so wrong, on so many levels. And to be punished for your hard work and sacrifice, that adds a whole new layer of wrong to this equation.
I put no faith in your statisics, polls or other data bases. I took statistics in college and I am well aware of how using filters and massaging data can always bring the outcome to that which you seek and makes your point! So I'm not bothering to look at your stats or websites that make your point unless I am personally familiar with the filters and massage techniques used! Even then, all stats should be taken with a grain of salt!
From what I've said thus far, you might take me to be a Republican; you would be extremely far from fact. I do not affiliate with any party. As a matter of fact, I detest this party system, and I detest this entire BS that goes along with a party system. As far as I'm concerned, if you are in your second term or more in an elected office, you are a professional politician, speaking what you think the public wants to hear so that you will be re-elected to you scum sucking and muck raking, getting money stuffed into your pockets for favors that benefit not those who elected you but those who have bought and paid for you. You, the politician, and those who stuff money in your pockets are the ones who need to be taxed to high heaven and most likely are the very ones who have gotten your fortune by other than honest means!
President Obama is going to be no different than GWB, or any of the others that have preceded him. Because he too has several to repay for his election, he will tailor legislation for their benefit. But one must understand that the president alone cannot make things happen. Congress has to be onboard and willing to follow the president's lead. But the truth is, Congress is the source of the entire BS and is where CHANGE is grossly needed. And we the electorate bare most of the fault for allowing congress to become the festering cess pool it has become.
I suppose my bottom line would be that Democrats ( and most likely, many Republicans) need to understand MORE of what makes America tick and figure out how to make that ticking carry on, smoothly!
And for those of you who are wanting to be politcaticlly active in your foreign home, maybe you should consider returning to America so you can be a part of what you have asked for and to glean the benefits of what you have asked for! Just a thought!
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CasiYucateco 17 years ago
Rini, Thank you for the kind words. How do you show a hug in a text message? {{{}}}
William Galt, Thank you also. (Should I be taking bows? What am I, Joan Rivers?) I have a long history in land use analysis (how & when development occurs) and economic forecasting for a big company.
Bob, You are absolutely correct. 20% of the US pays 80% of the taxes.
Still, a couple facts out are missing: The wealthiest 20% of the US population owns 84% of all assets within the US. If you limit the figure to financial assets (as opposed to houses, business buildings, limousines, private jets, yachts, islands, etc), the top 20% of the US owns 91.2% of all financial assets (stocks, bonds, cash, money market accounts, etc).
Over NINETY-ONE percent of ALL money in the USA is held by 20% of the people. (Source: US Census and IRS statistics. A more readable account than government reports is found here: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html )
The Top One Percent of the USA -- the richest few families in America -- own 39.7% of all financial wealth in the USA. Wowie, zowie, was I born to the wrong family!
So, if 20% are paying 80% of the taxes, they are underpaying their share by about 12%.
Let's look at the other end of the equation: 80% of everyone in the USA holds 8.8% of the cash and financial instruments.
It gets even worse: The bottom 40% of the population owns only 1.1% of the nation's net worth and only 0.2% of the cash and financial instruments. Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! How on earth do they ever LIVE on that amount?
The percentage increase in number of millionaires from 1983 to 2004 was +33% with a percent increase in Income of 81% during that time.
The percentage change in net wealth for the bottom 40% was minus 58.7% (and 2004 was before the housing crash!) with a net income gain of only 4% or only 0.2% per year over 20 years.
The increase in Income for the top 20% was 20 Times as High as the increase in Income for the bottom 40% over the course of 20 years. That is the road to Banana Republic-landia, not a democracy. It is a gap in wealth and income that is unsustainable.
(Source: again, US Govt Statistics at the Census and IRS, but a scholarly article discussing this data can be found at http://www.levy.org/pubs/wp_502.pdf Warning! 50 Page PDF file!)
The reason I yammer on about this in the delightful Working Gringos story about Change Coming to Merida is that good decision-making only occurs when it is based on good facts.
Visualizing Economics is a great site for making data visible. Here is their presentation on Income Inequality: http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/?s=income+inequality
In the second entry at that link, it seems that the rich get richer under Republican presidents, while the poor get a touch more help under Democratic presidents.
From this link (enlarge the image to make it readable), we can see that the income inequality from the pre-depression years has returned. Note the entry that begins "In 1980"! http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/extremeinequalitychart.jpg
Here is a link to US Census Bureau Data: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/histinctb.html for those who care to add the numbers up on their own.
Everyone can guess that my sympathies are with the bottom 80%.
If "change" is going to make a real difference, it simply must help the great majority of the nation and not divert more money to the obscenely wealthy, who are already not paying their share.
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Rini 17 years ago
To William Galt - Many of CasiYucateco's replies are extremely well versed and educational. You may want to search YL's site for his additional responses on other topics.
As a Mexican-American also living in "gringolandia", I too am thankful to see "mi paisano" express many of our people's beliefs so effectively. Gracias CasiYucateco.
Y Gracias WG for your efforts, challenging as they may be. :)
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CasiYucateco 17 years ago
For a nice view of how Personal Income Tax (individuals) has risen while Corporate Income Tax has fallen or remained level since WWII, see this chart:
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/images/2008/05/31/corporate_personal_taxes2.gif
Some argue that corporate income tax is paid by the customer of the corporation. Likewise, however, the tax may be taken from the shareholders of the company, should raising product prices not be viable or competitive.
As the chart shows, personal income tax paid has risen greatly, while corporate taxes are flat (or lower) for over 50 years. And, during the past 8 years, personal income has remained flat while corporate profits have increased 68%. That indicates that the shareholders of the corporations (or their private owners) have had a nice raise while we peons have had none.
The discrepancy is apparent to any who examine the facts.
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