Maine reality doesn't benefit from tax cuts for the rich
Senator Susan Collins wrongly supported the Republican tax cuts for the rich, a bill that does not help Maine's constituents.
Of course, the few big corporations, those that happen to do business in Maine, regardless of where the corporate headquarters are located, will see tax cuts that are permanent.
Corporations will have permanent tax cuts, while the employees who work for those same companies, will not see their tax cuts extended beyond 10 years.
Meanwhile, the national deficit will grow.
In other words, Republicans provided for corporations to enjoy extended tax cuts, while average people will see their short term benefits end.
What that means is that, when the tax cuts leave the US in a dire deficit situation, the middle class will have to pay for the fiscal gap.
Indeed, the US deficit will grow to over $1.5 Trillion dollars, over 10 year period of time, when corporations will pad their financials and middle class workers will pay for the cost of the deficit by having to absorb cuts to earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare.
At the same time, health care costs in Maine are increasing. Therefore, if Maine people can't deduct their medical expenses in their federal income tax, as she approved in the Republican plan, then the incomes of these people will decrease and the tax cuts won't help them, at all. Moreover, the Maine jobs that Senator Collins says will be available for Maine people, as a result of the tax cuts, is a political pipe dream. Companies will not use tax cuts to help pay the health care costs for the employees who work in those few companies that will benefit from her vote.
In fact, the employees who work for those rich companies will see their health care costs rise.
Nevertheless, the most egregious reason why Senator Collins wrongly voted, by supporting the Republican tax cuts for the rich, has to do with the opportunity cost of not funding what Maine really needs. Rather than cutting taxes for the rich, the Republicans should have used the tax reform to invest in supporting the education of America's future workforce.
I made a point of criticizing this very point in my letter to the editor. Coincidentally, The Forecaster, the December 29, 2017 edition, published an article by Kate Irish Collins, that supported this point of view. Ironically, the story about Maine's workforce was written independently of my criticism of Collins' vote.
In this blog, I posted the two articles- "Maine workforce faces education, skills crises", followed by my own letter to the editor.
PORTLAND, Maine — Most high-growth jobs in Maine will require an education beyond high school, making the need for a post secondary degree more acute here than in the nation as a whole.
Meanwhile, the proportion of economically disadvantaged students in Maine classrooms has increased by almost 10 percent over the past decade.
This is a cause for concern because family socioeconomic status is still one of the strongest predictors of overall student success.
This is all according to the fifth annual Education Indicators for Maine report from Educate Maine, which was released at the organization’s recent education symposium in Portland.
The report concludes “Maine has a workforce shortage and a skills gap that has reached crisis levels and can no longer be ignored,” Ed Cervone, executive director of Educate Maine, said.
Overall, the report shows Maine “is making some progress in key areas, such as access to (pre-kindergarten programs) and the number of people earning credentials of value,” Educate Maine said in a press release.
However, “stagnant reading and math proficiency and the widening education achievement gap for economically disadvantaged kids are areas of concern,” the release said.
Each of the 10 indicators in the annual report “has implications for workforce development and Maine’s economy,” the press release said.
In looking forward, Educate Maine has determined 66 percent of the high-wage, in-demand job openings available now through 2024 will require some type of postsecondary education.
In addition, Educate Maine said that earning a postsecondary degree or credential, particularly in a skilled trade, is not only a good gauge of higher lifetime earnings, it’s also a benefit to the workforce and the economy.
Educate Maine “champions college and career readiness and strives to increase the educational attainment of the Maine workforce,” according to the organization’s website.
It’s funded by some of the state’s largest employers, including Maine Medical Center, Unum, Idexx and Cianbro, as well as several universities and colleges, including the University of Maine system.
Educate Maine publishes the annual report because it provides “a solid picture of what we are doing well and where we need to invest resources to better educate Maine kids and prepare them for the workforce,” Cervone said.
As part of their investment in the future, Educate Maine and its partners have created the MaineSpark initiative.
MaineSpark strives to “connect people with the education, training, jobs, programs and resources (they need) to thrive in Maine’s robust and changing economy,” according to the program’s website.
In its report, Educate Maine maintains that “reaching Maine’s at-risk and economically disadvantaged children and staying the course on proficiency- based learning” are both instrumental to the state’s future economic growth.
In reviewing the latest Education Indicators report, Cervone said “a few things strike me. First is that Maine has made good progress in creating more pre-K (programs and making them) available to more families.”
In fact, according to Educate Maine, 71 percent of Maine school districts now offer a public pre-K program to students, compared with only 24 percent in 2008.
And, Educate Maine said, increasing the number of school districts that offer pre-K instruction should become easier with changes the Legislature made to the school funding formula in the current biennial budget.
The other major point in the Education Indicators report, Cervone said, revolves around postsecondary attainment.
“Maine people need something in addition to their high school degree to be positioned to take advantage of work opportunities,” he said. And there the state is making progress, too.
Cervone said the number of adults with a skilled trade certification, a college degree or a professional designation is at 43 percent.
“This is great, (but the) real challenge will be to get to 60 percent by 2025,” he said, which is a long-term statewide education goal.
Cervone said the objective of the annual Education Indicators report is for educators and state and community leaders “to use the data in their planning and decision-making.”
“The reality,” he said, “is that Maine needs workers for a wide range of occupations and industries … in order to meet the demands of the (state’s unique) economy. Getting the education piece right will allow us to do that.”
Kate Irish Collins can be reached at 710-2336 or kcollins@theforecaster.net. Follow Kate on Twitter: @KIrishCollins.
Following is my independent letter to The Forecaster published January 2, 2018:
While the individual personal tax cuts will expire, they are permanent for corporations. Moreover, the math doesn’t work. Health care costs will no longer be deductible, insurance premiums will rise, Medicare contributions from Social Security beneficiaries will increase along with co-pays for services and drug costs.
Of course, the few big corporations, those that happen to do business in Maine, regardless of where the corporate headquarters are located, will see tax cuts that are permanent.
Corporations will have permanent tax cuts, while the employees who work for those same companies, will not see their tax cuts extended beyond 10 years.
Meanwhile, the national deficit will grow.
In other words, Republicans provided for corporations to enjoy extended tax cuts, while average people will see their short term benefits end.
What that means is that, when the tax cuts leave the US in a dire deficit situation, the middle class will have to pay for the fiscal gap.
Indeed, the US deficit will grow to over $1.5 Trillion dollars, over 10 year period of time, when corporations will pad their financials and middle class workers will pay for the cost of the deficit by having to absorb cuts to earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare.
At the same time, health care costs in Maine are increasing. Therefore, if Maine people can't deduct their medical expenses in their federal income tax, as she approved in the Republican plan, then the incomes of these people will decrease and the tax cuts won't help them, at all. Moreover, the Maine jobs that Senator Collins says will be available for Maine people, as a result of the tax cuts, is a political pipe dream. Companies will not use tax cuts to help pay the health care costs for the employees who work in those few companies that will benefit from her vote.
In fact, the employees who work for those rich companies will see their health care costs rise.
Nevertheless, the most egregious reason why Senator Collins wrongly voted, by supporting the Republican tax cuts for the rich, has to do with the opportunity cost of not funding what Maine really needs. Rather than cutting taxes for the rich, the Republicans should have used the tax reform to invest in supporting the education of America's future workforce.
I made a point of criticizing this very point in my letter to the editor. Coincidentally, The Forecaster, the December 29, 2017 edition, published an article by Kate Irish Collins, that supported this point of view. Ironically, the story about Maine's workforce was written independently of my criticism of Collins' vote.
In this blog, I posted the two articles- "Maine workforce faces education, skills crises", followed by my own letter to the editor.
PORTLAND, Maine — Most high-growth jobs in Maine will require an education beyond high school, making the need for a post secondary degree more acute here than in the nation as a whole.
Meanwhile, the proportion of economically disadvantaged students in Maine classrooms has increased by almost 10 percent over the past decade.
This is a cause for concern because family socioeconomic status is still one of the strongest predictors of overall student success.
This is all according to the fifth annual Education Indicators for Maine report from Educate Maine, which was released at the organization’s recent education symposium in Portland.
The report concludes “Maine has a workforce shortage and a skills gap that has reached crisis levels and can no longer be ignored,” Ed Cervone, executive director of Educate Maine, said.
Overall, the report shows Maine “is making some progress in key areas, such as access to (pre-kindergarten programs) and the number of people earning credentials of value,” Educate Maine said in a press release.
However, “stagnant reading and math proficiency and the widening education achievement gap for economically disadvantaged kids are areas of concern,” the release said.
Each of the 10 indicators in the annual report “has implications for workforce development and Maine’s economy,” the press release said.
In looking forward, Educate Maine has determined 66 percent of the high-wage, in-demand job openings available now through 2024 will require some type of postsecondary education.
In addition, Educate Maine said that earning a postsecondary degree or credential, particularly in a skilled trade, is not only a good gauge of higher lifetime earnings, it’s also a benefit to the workforce and the economy.
Educate Maine “champions college and career readiness and strives to increase the educational attainment of the Maine workforce,” according to the organization’s website.
It’s funded by some of the state’s largest employers, including Maine Medical Center, Unum, Idexx and Cianbro, as well as several universities and colleges, including the University of Maine system.
Educate Maine publishes the annual report because it provides “a solid picture of what we are doing well and where we need to invest resources to better educate Maine kids and prepare them for the workforce,” Cervone said.
As part of their investment in the future, Educate Maine and its partners have created the MaineSpark initiative.
MaineSpark strives to “connect people with the education, training, jobs, programs and resources (they need) to thrive in Maine’s robust and changing economy,” according to the program’s website.
In its report, Educate Maine maintains that “reaching Maine’s at-risk and economically disadvantaged children and staying the course on proficiency- based learning” are both instrumental to the state’s future economic growth.
In reviewing the latest Education Indicators report, Cervone said “a few things strike me. First is that Maine has made good progress in creating more pre-K (programs and making them) available to more families.”
In fact, according to Educate Maine, 71 percent of Maine school districts now offer a public pre-K program to students, compared with only 24 percent in 2008.
And, Educate Maine said, increasing the number of school districts that offer pre-K instruction should become easier with changes the Legislature made to the school funding formula in the current biennial budget.
The other major point in the Education Indicators report, Cervone said, revolves around postsecondary attainment.
“Maine people need something in addition to their high school degree to be positioned to take advantage of work opportunities,” he said. And there the state is making progress, too.
Cervone said the number of adults with a skilled trade certification, a college degree or a professional designation is at 43 percent.
“This is great, (but the) real challenge will be to get to 60 percent by 2025,” he said, which is a long-term statewide education goal.
Cervone said the objective of the annual Education Indicators report is for educators and state and community leaders “to use the data in their planning and decision-making.”
“The reality,” he said, “is that Maine needs workers for a wide range of occupations and industries … in order to meet the demands of the (state’s unique) economy. Getting the education piece right will allow us to do that.”
Kate Irish Collins can be reached at 710-2336 or kcollins@theforecaster.net. Follow Kate on Twitter: @KIrishCollins.
Following is my independent letter to The Forecaster published January 2, 2018:
http://www.theforecaster.net/letter-collins-defense-of-tax-cut-vote-ignores-deficit/
Letter: Collins' defense of tax-cut vote ignores deficit
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins published a defensive position in Maine newspapers to explain her wrong-minded vote in support of the Republicans’ tax cuts for the rich. Unfortunately, her explanation did not explain how the tax cuts will recover the $1 trillion the GOP plan will add to the national debt over the next 10 years.While the individual personal tax cuts will expire, they are permanent for corporations. Moreover, the math doesn’t work. Health care costs will no longer be deductible, insurance premiums will rise, Medicare contributions from Social Security beneficiaries will increase along with co-pays for services and drug costs.
These cumulative increases will negate any individual tax cuts.
Collins wrote about rich corporations being able to hire more people. But what “people” is she talking about? Maine corporations can’t find qualified workers for the jobs already unfilled. Instead of supporting tax cuts for the rich, Collins should have voted to invest in America’s future. Wrongly, she voted to burden our children with debt. The only way Collins can be proved correct is if Maine’s population grows, to increase the workforce (not likely, with an aging population) and health care costs are reduced.
Collins wrote about rich corporations being able to hire more people. But what “people” is she talking about? Maine corporations can’t find qualified workers for the jobs already unfilled. Instead of supporting tax cuts for the rich, Collins should have voted to invest in America’s future. Wrongly, she voted to burden our children with debt. The only way Collins can be proved correct is if Maine’s population grows, to increase the workforce (not likely, with an aging population) and health care costs are reduced.
Neither will happen.
Juliana L’Heureux @julianawriter
Topsham
In summary, Maine's demographics do not benefit from the vote of Senator Susan Collins to support the Republican tax cuts for the rich.
Juliana L’Heureux @julianawriter
Topsham
In summary, Maine's demographics do not benefit from the vote of Senator Susan Collins to support the Republican tax cuts for the rich.
What Maine needs is workforce investment and she knows this. Collins' vote to support the Republican tax cuts for the rich was wrong.
Labels: Kate Irish Collins, Senator Susan Collins, The Forecaster
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 5:27 PM
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