July 15, 2018
The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan
Illinois Secure Choice is a rare win-win for state
Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs scores points for his self-deprecating humor.
In introducing Illinois Secure Choice, a state-sponsored program that will allow citizens to set up retirement accounts through their employers, Frerichs took dead aim at distrust in government.
To paraphrase, Frerichs said the only thing scarier than hearing “We’re from the government and we’re here to help” is “We’re from the State of Illinois and we’re here to help.”
Conversely, we could find nothing scary about Illinois Secure Choice.
For one thing, the State of Illinois really will have little to do with the program. The program will be phased in over the next year.
In a nutshell, the program mandates that businesses with 25 or more employees that do not have a pension or 401(k) program provide their workers with an option to deduct part of their earnings that will be invested into a Roth IRA. Businesses will not be required to make contributions.
Employees have an opt-out provision. No one will be required to participate. The account will be portable, following employees to different jobs.
There is quite a bit of flexibility built into the system. The default savings rate is 5 percent. The minimum rate is 1 percent. By law, contributions to a Roth IRA are limited to $5,500 per year, $6,500 if you are 50 or older.
Employees have four different investment options, ranging from conservative to more aggressive.
The only fee involved is an administrative fee of 75 cents per $100 in investments. That fee covers the administrative costs of the program.
There are lots of reasons to like Illinois Secure Choice.
First, it really isn’t a state program. The State of Illinois will have a minimal footprint - most of that was in establishing the framework for administering deductions and securing the investment menu.
Second, there are no onerous regulations and no cost for employers. They are already making payroll deductions. It’s simply a matter of filling in one more box.
Finally, the program will give the vast majority or working people the opportunity to set aside a nest egg.
According to Frerichs, he can ask citizens a single question and make an educated guess as to whether that person is saving for retirement. The question has nothing to do with age, gender, race, or religion.
The question is, “Do you have a pension of 401(k) at work?”
Most of us have good intentions regarding retirement. But, the road to a poverty-ridden retirement is paved with good intentions. College tuition, an unexpected illness, a new roof or a blown transmission frequently stand in the way of healthy retirement account.
It seems unlikely that enrollment in Illinois Secure Choice will result in anyone leading a life of luxury. However, particularly for young people, this is a way to get a head start on a retirement that doesn’t rely solely on Social Security.
And, for seasoned citizens, they know the years have a habit of slipping away.
Frerichs said the major objection to Illinois Secure Choice is the program is providing competition to private financial planners.
He countered by stating the program is aimed at people who currently are not actively saving for their futures. Second, he said the program should incentivize private firms to reach out to this underserved segment of the society.
In the final analysis, Illinois Secure Choice is a prime example of the state stepping up to protect its citizens in the best possible way. The state is not incurring any costs. The state is not levying a tax, nor is it mandating businesses to spend additional funds.
Where the government is concerned, this truly appears to be a win-win. When is the last time anyone in Illinois made that claim?
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July 13, 2018
Chicago Sun-Times
Timothy Trybus, hate crimes and why decent people are sick and tired
Timothy Trybus got what he deserves.
The middle-aged loudmouth starring in a viral video for all the wrong reasons - a bigoted, threatening rant berating a young woman for wearing a Puerto Rican flag shirt - has been charged with a hate crime.
We can only hope this might, in some small way, discourage other bullies eager to spew their ignorance.
Because if there’s any group “infesting” America right now, it’s loudmouths and bigots, not immigrants and refugees, whatever our president might claim.
Decent people are tired of the meanness.
But, hey, the bullies are just following the president’s lead.
We can’t know for certain, of course, whether an affinity for Trump’s vitriolic worldview factored into Trybus’ tirade. But you can line up the argument.
The president did call Puerto Ricans lazy. Remember that? And he did suggest it was just too darn expensive for the federal government to help the island recover after Hurricane Maria. And we’ll never forget how he whined that Puerto Ricans, standing hip deep in flood water, “want everything to be done for them.”
Gotta wonder if Trybus heard that, too.
And when Trump called Mexican immigrants “criminals and rapists?” You have to wonder if those words flashed through the mind of a California woman who recently was charged with attacking a 92-year-old man - we repeat, 92 - with a brick while yelling “Go back to Mexico!”
Hate crimes are a very real and documented problem, and it has only grown worse in the Era of Trump.
But it’s not just the hate crimes. It’s the daily acts of bias and intolerance. It’s all making our American culture so much more toxic.
We’re thinking about the woman in Ohio who thought it was OK to call the cops on a 12-year-old black kid who was mowing grass in the neighborhood.
We’re thinking about the man in a California coffee shop who harassed a Muslim woman in a hijab, telling her he didn’t like her religion because “it says to kill me.”
And we’re thinking about the Palos Township trustee who frets on Facebook about “all” the local schools “filling” with Muslim immigrants from the Middle East who keep “their activities hidden.”
Nothing but dog whistles there.
None of these folks are criminals. Their offenses certainly don’t rise to the level of hate crimes.
But they’re all swimming in Trump’s dirty water.
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July 16, 2018
The (Champaign) News-Gazette
Newsprint tariffs are destructive
The U.S. Commerce Department came to the rescue earlier this year of a company based in the state of Washington - the North Pacific Paper Co. - that complained its competitors in Canada unfairly benefited from subsidies provided by the Canadian government.
All told, the Commerce Department imposed tariffs of 30 percent on imported newsprint.
But in helping one company, the federal government is pushing dozens, perhaps hundreds of other companies to the financial brink - forcing layoffs, diluting or wiping out already thin profit margins and putting some out of business.
The Commerce Department is reviewing its decision. When it’s finished, perhaps sometime in August or shortly thereafter, it must repeal the tariffs that are devastating newspapers all over the country.
There is no reasonable justification for the damage that has been caused and will continue if the tariffs are not abandoned.
Here’s the dilemma, to help one company and its employees in one state, the federal government is devastating many companies with many employees in many states.
Further illustrating the problem of alleged unfair Canadian trade practices in the paper industry is there are not enough domestic newsprint producers to meet demand. Because of declining demand in newsprint, most domestic newsprint producers have gone out of business.
Canadian newsprint is a market necessity to make sure certain newspapers can be printed and delivered to their subscribers.
Discussion of tariffs and unfair trade practices have been much in the news following President Donald Trump’s complaints about foreign countries’ trade practices, especially China.
But this dispute was boiling long before that.
As a general rule, behind employees, newsprint is the second-biggest cost newspapers have. Consequently, the 30 percent increase in newsprint represents far more than just the financial pressure being imposed on the newspaper industry and its employees.
As Forbes magazine editor-in-chief Steve Forbes recently wrote, “the killing of local newspapers by the imposition of tariffs would gut the nation’s free press.”
“It is local newspapers, not cable news networks, that scrutinize the goings-on at town halls, and how tax dollars are spent on schools and public works,” he wrote.
His point is that for our democracy to thrive, there must be an informed public served by healthy news outlets, particularly newspapers.
It’s widely recognized that the newspaper industry is not nearly as strong and profitable as it once was. That’s largely due to competition from the internet.
In a free market, that’s the way things sometimes go. Newspapers are struggling to deal with that competition in a way that re-energizes their business. But, alas, they have yet to discover the key to success.
But it’s one thing to deal with the forces of a free and open market and quite another to try to overcome a government-created problem - the 30 percent newsprint price hike imposed by the federal government.
Some have suggested that the tariffs will spur the rebirth of domestic newsprint production. But such a move would require the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars with the expectation - a long shot, at best - that the domestic newspaper industry that once was will be again. It’s not going to happen.
But the government can at least take its foot off the throat of the newspaper industry.
The current temporary tariff policy must be repealed. It’s already damaged businesses across the country while creating a threat to our democratic way of life. Making it permanent would be the height of self-destructive folly.
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