CONTACT
Aaron Weiss, Deputy Director
Center for Western Priorities
aaron@westernpriorities.org
720-279-0019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2019
DENVER—Legislation passed today by the U.S. Senate to fund the federal government includes several key provisions relating to conservation and public lands. Additional legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security will be voted on by the Senate later today. Both spending packages previously passed the House and are expected to be signed by President Trump before current funding expires Friday night.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund, often called America’s most important parks program, will receive $495 million, the most it has received since 2004, but far short of the $900 million for which it is authorized. Additionally, the legislation included funding increases for the National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuge System, and the Bureau of Land Management. The bills include increased funding for border wall construction, which is currently impacting Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Notably, the legislation does not include additional funding for the administration’s push to move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters.
The legislative package includes a provision to ensure the protection of cultural resources around Chaco Culture National Historical Park before new oil and gas leasing proceeds on public lands in the region.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Today’s vote is yet another instance of ‘two steps forward, one step back’ for our public lands. While today’s vote ensures another year of funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, it falls far short of the full, dedicated funding our parks and public lands need and deserve.
“In approving increased funding for the National Park Service and key conservation initiatives, Congress has yet again rejected the Trump administration’s draconian cuts designed to hamstring our public lands. Similarly, lawmakers dismissed this administration’s attempt to dismantle the Bureau of Land Management’s headquarters by allocating zero additional dollars for the planned move.
“Unfortunately, while the bill strives to protect Chaco Culture National Historical Park, it enables destructive border wall construction through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, threatening iconic wildlife and landscapes. Going forward, Congress should focus on conserving all of our national parks and monuments for future generations, instead of choosing places to protect and others to sacrifice.”
Funding America’s Public Lands Future: How innovation and leadership can conserve our natural heritage for future generations [Westwise]
It’s time for Congress to fund our most important parks program [Westwise]
Breaking up the Bureau of Land Management headquarters will drain the agency of expertise and leadership [Westwise]
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.
====================
Hi Jim
Please feel free to publish all or portions of the following article. If you’d like email comments or an interview with Alex, please let me know and I will coordinate.
Best,
Terry
How Complaining Customers Can Become
Your Business’ Best Friends
Dealing with customer complaints isn’t a business owner’s favorite task, but that sometimes stressful part of running a company can provide opportunities to improve the business for the long run, experts say.
“Turning those complaints into positives depends largely on two factors,” says Alex Zlatin, CEO of Maxim Software Systems (www.alexzlatin.com). “One, how well business owners and their team handle unhappy customers directly one-on-one, and two, devising solutions for specific customer issues that keep coming up.”
In terms of direct customer service, studies show complaining customers could end up being some of a business’ best customers. Harvard Business Review found that those who have a complaint handled in under five minutes spend more on future purchases.
As for developing long-term solutions for common problems customers bring up, Zlatin says a business should make a habit of documenting all customer complaints, then discuss those issues as a team. Another way, he adds, is to send out customer surveys that include a wide range of questions geared to improving the company’s processes and customer service.
”The bottom line is, the way a business handles its customer complaints determines its success or failure in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” Zlatin says. “Businesses that turn complaints into opportunities for building closer relationships with customers are the ones that are most likely to grow and prosper. Prompt and systematic handling of customer complaints has a positive impact on the major business areas.”
Zlatin says dealing with customer complaints effectively can help a business in the following ways:
“Don’t take customer complaints personally,” Zlatin says. “But do take them seriously. If you don’t, they’ll think you don’t value their business or opinions. Before long, you won’t be complaining about customers’ complaints, but about having fewer customers.”
About Alex Zlatin
Alex Zlatin, author of the book Responsible Dental Ownership (www.alexzlatin.com), had more than 10 years of management experience before he accepted the position of CEO of dental practice management company Maxim Software Systems. He earned his MBA at Edinburgh Business School and a B.Sc. in Technology Management at HIT in Israel. His company helps struggling dental professionals take control of their practices and reach the next level of success with responsible leadership strategies.
================
*For more information or an interview with Andrew Sobel, please contact Dottie DeHart, DeHart & Company Public Relations, at (828) 325-4966 or simply reply to this email.
Why Relationship Building Is The #1 Skill for 2020—and the Next Decade
Andrew Sobel says there are 9 key factors that go into building strong, trust-based relationships. If you want to thrive at work—and in life—make 2020 the year you start mastering them.
New York, NY (December 2019)—Strong relationships are vital to a healthy career. When we can't make real connections with others in the workplace, they won't feel loyal to us. We become tradable commodities. When times get tough, we may be the first ones pushed out the door. On the other hand, when we have a small group of close professional relationships we're able to get our ideas recognized and supported. We're able to be successful leaders. We're able to collaborate and innovate effectively and serve our clients in the way they deserve.
Trust is the foundation of strong relationships—yet it's noticeably absent from our culture. Over the last few decades, nearly every measure of trust has declined. Andrew Sobel says this trust deficit and our professional relationship woes have grown in tandem with the rise of the Internet—and they've crept in so insidiously we may not have realized it was happening.
"The 'normalizing' of digital relationships has masked the weakness of many professionals' face-to-face relationship-building skills," says Sobel, creator of the masterclass Building Relationships That Matter. "This is especially true for younger professionals, who have grown up on a steady diet of online 'friends' and connections, and are less schooled in the art of face-to-face relationship-building.
The ability to build trusted professional relationships should never be left to chance, he asserts. We must get intentional about learning and practicing the attitudes and skills that allow us to build the 15-25 trusted relationships that matter to our careers. (Contrast this to the hundreds of "surface" online connections people seem obsessed with racking up.)
Through 20 years of research and extensive experience working with over 50,000 professionals, Sobel has identified nine attitudes and skills that allow us to build solid, trust-based relationships. In his masterclass he teaches people how to cultivate them and gives very specific very specific tips for implementing them in their day-to-day relationships.
If you're looking for a good new year's resolution, here you go: work on boosting your relationship IQ by focusing on these nine attitudes and skills in 2020.
GENEROSITY. If trust is the universal lubricant for relationships, generosity is the fuel that gets them started and keeps them growing. Sobel describes it as the willingness to give freely of your time, expertise, experience, and social capital. In other words, it's not just about giving money (which is what most of us think of); it's often about being willing to forgive someone who has hurt you or being happy for other people's good fortunes.
"Most of us aren't as generous in practice as we'd like to be," says Sobel. "We have a 'me' focus. Sometimes this is due to a lack of role models. Other times it's a fear of being taken advantage of. We need to strengthen our generosity muscle by taking small, daily steps."
For example: Think about someone in your professional network who has experienced a success or positive development in their life. Speak to them in person, call them up, or write a short note (ideally, not an email or text). Express your admiration and how excited you are for them.
CURIOSITY. This attitude helps you learn about people, giving you a better basis to build rapport with them. It drives you to understand what's important to others. The more you learn from those around you, the more proprietary knowledge you'll accumulate (i.e., stuff you can't Google!). Curiosity tends to atrophy as we age—but it doesn't have to. We can intentionally initiate and cultivate it.
For example, when you talk to people you're trying to form trusted professional relationships with, ask them about their goals, aspirations, and dreams. What have been the most important experiences in their lives and turning points in their careers? If you feel uncomfortable doing this, "practice" with a family member or friend.
RAPPORT. Rapport is a harmonious, sympathetic connection between you and the other person. It requires effective communication and an understanding of each other's feelings and ideas. You can't manipulate others into feeling rapport by, say, simply mirroring body language. People see through such tricks. To create rapport, you must come across as trustworthy, competent, and likeable—and all three qualities require preparation and being present and human.
"There are things you can do to project all three qualities," says Sobel. "Find commonalities and similarities—this increases your likeability. So does walking in and thinking, I like this person—studies show it makes them like you. Ask questions and show an active interest in the other person, which increases trust. And of course, nothing demonstrates competence like being prepared and having a well-developed point of view on the topic you're discussing."
POWER QUESTIONS. Sobel says the CEO of a large, global corporation once said to him: "I can always tell how experienced someone is by the quality of their questions and how well they listen. Good questions are far more powerful than quick, easy answers." Power questions dramatically improve the quality of your conversations and help build stronger relationships. Of course not every question is a power question, says Sobel.
For starters, a power question is open-ended: Not, "Is it a priority to bring new skills into your department?" but rather, "In your department, how will your mix of employee skills need to change in the future?" It typically surprises the other person—so don't fall back on clichés like "What keeps you up at night?" Instead ask, "What's the most exciting thing you're working on right now?" A power question gets you focused on the right issues, helps you understand the other person's agenda, and brings the strategic context and higher-level goals into the conversation.
CARING THROUGH EMPATHY. Empathy is the ability to sense other people's emotions, and also imagine what they are thinking and feeling. It's a fundamental skill that enables us to walk in the other person's shoes. Sobel says the four main foundations of empathy are an interest in others, self-awareness, humility, and listening skills.
"Take listening skills," says Sobel. "We may not think of listening as an expression of empathy, but it absolutely is. And most of us have bad listening habits: rushing people through conversations, finishing their sentences, 'faking' paying attention. We check emails while on the phone with them. All these tell people, 'I don't care about you or what you're saying.'"
DEVELOPING TRUST. Trust reduces the inevitable frictions inherent in working with others, the way oil keeps a car engine running smoothly. It enables the creation of deep, resilient connections at work and at home. When people trust each other, everything is easier: You can work together faster and more efficiently, because you don't need to check up on each other all the time. You can express yourself to others without fear. Collaborating becomes a pleasant experience. In a high-trust workplace, you need fewer rules and controls.
To build trust, demonstrate that you are always acting with the other person's best interests in mind. You need to meet commitments, keep confidences, and answer questions without hedging. Make these qualities tangible by sometimes doing something for the other person that is clearly not in your interest, and telling people quickly and openly about mistakes or bad news. Prepare carefully for meetings to showcase competence. On the other hand, trust-busting behaviors include criticizing others who aren't in the room, exaggerating, and always ensuring that your needs are met first.
AGENDA HELPING. A person's agenda is their top three to five priorities, needs, or goals. It's what is really important to them over the next six to twelve months. We all have both a professional and a personal agenda. When you understand a person's agenda, you can add value by helping them meet their goals—by sharing ideas or introducing them to others who can help. You may even anticipate or help shape their future agenda.
"Anticipating what may impact someone in the future is extraordinarily valuable. It's the difference between saying, 'Here's an idea to help you climb your career ladder faster and better,' and, 'I think your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.' You're looking ahead and giving them the big picture. But be careful: You must be certain you understand what they're focused on today. Don't be one of those boors who tells people what to do without first getting to know them!"
INFLUENCE. Simply put, influence is the power to change or affect someone. If you have it, you'll be able to convince others of your ideas and proposals and gain support for your goals. The foundation of influencing is having a strength of character and depth of knowledge that commands others to listen to you and follow your advice. This is your "pull" strategy. The second part of the influence process involves "pushing" via the use of persuasion strategies.
There are seven main persuasion strategies: self-interest, rational appeal, emotional appeal, consistency, reciprocity, social proof, and scarcity. All are valid in certain scenarios. "I typically use the first three in combination, as they work well in most situations," notes Sobel. "Then I may draw from the other four to supplement these three. I tend to avoid scarcity—I find that it's close to scaremongering. Appealing to self-interest and rational analysis is more powerful."
RELATIONSHIP HEALING. Your ability to help resolve conflicts and heal broken relationships is paramount to your own well-being and those around you. Unresolved conflicts will fester, fueling anger and resentment. That's why Sobel says it's crucial to be able to hold healing conversations. But first you must be able to forgive the other person.
"Forgiveness is often misunderstood," says Sobel. "It doesn't mean that what the other person did is now okay or that you absolve them. Rather, true forgiveness is when you drop your demand to make them pay for what they did—you stop seeking revenge and compensation. This means you absorb the pain in the short-term, but then enjoy long-term peace.
"The alternative is to try to punish the person—perhaps badmouthing them to everyone or somehow sabotaging them," he adds. "But if you don't let go of your anger and resentment, you'll become, as my mother used to say, an 'injustice collector' who is perpetually angry at everyone and stuck in a spiral of unending retaliation."
Becoming a master at developing and nurturing strong, trusted relationships may be the best new year's resolution you've ever made. It can impact every area of your life—professional and personal—in a profound way.
"Life is complicated and it's easy for us to put off relationship development until 'things settle down' or we have more free time," says Sobel. "The problem is, that day never comes. This is how people lose touch, and how relationships atrophy. You have to carve some time out of your schedule, put it on your to-do list, and commit to making it happen. Relationships rarely stay the same—they either deepen and grow, or they wither on the vine."
# # #
Andrew Sobel, creator of masterclass Building Relationships That Matter, is the leading authority on the strategies and skills required to build the relationships that truly matter to your career. He is the most widely published author in the world on this topic, having written eight acclaimed, best-selling books on developing enduring professional relationships. His books have sold over 250,000 copies and have been translated into 21 languages.
Andrew's programs have been delivered in 52 countries for many of the world's most successful companies. These include public corporations such as Citibank, Cognizant, Experian, Hess, UBS, and Lloyds Banking Group, as well as private firms such as PwC, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bain & Company, Grant Thornton, Deloitte, and Norton Rose Fulbright.
Andrew spent the first 14 years of his career with Gemini Consulting (formerly the MAC Group), where he became a senior vice president and country chief executive officer. He lived in Europe for over a decade and speaks four languages. For over 20 years he has led his own international consulting firm. He graduated from Middlebury College with honors and earned his MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School. Andrew can be reached at www.AndrewSobel.com.
===================
How This Small Grain Mill Is Creating a Local Market for Staple Crops
Dear Friend,
Hello from Baltimore!
I want to take a moment to offer my personal thanks to Food Tank’s members around the globe — and make sure you know you can become a Food Tank member, too, if you have not already joined! Members receive exciting perks like free tickets to Food Tank’s events, exclusive updates from Food Tank’s staff and me, and a Food Tank-branded gift. Membership fees are also 100 percent tax-deductible, so now is a perfect time to join or upgrade your membership. Thanks to support from our members, we’ve been able to host inspiring Summits, livestreamed globally, and highlight stories of hope and success in the food system in partnership with organizations like The Crop Trust. Recently, Food Tank was able to travel with The Crop Trust’s #CropsInColor in Appalachia tour, to learn about powerful stories like this one:
When Brandon Jaeger and Michelle Ajamian went to their city’s farmers market, they found local eggs, cheese, greens, and bread — but they couldn’t find raw beans and grains that had been sown, grown, and harvested within their own community. So they started Shagbark Seed & Mill in Athens, Ohio, in 2010 to promote nutritious heirloom crops, crop diversity, and community resiliency. Jaeger and Ajamian are helping to build a local economy where people can fulfill all their needs through producers they know personally.
"Mills for feed and food used to be ubiquitous; that’s how we fed ourselves," Jaeger told Food Tank and The Crop Trust during the #CropsInColor in Appalachia tour. But with the prevalence of today’s industrialized agricultural system, "a lot of the poverty you see can be attributed to the extraction of that economic activity, especially in rural communities."
Jaeger told Food Tank that his and Ajamian’s goal is specifically to keep their business — and the people they feed — local.
"We don’t want to be in homes all over the world with our product necessarily, but we can be in homes here in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Michigan with many different products that serve people’s staple food needs," he said.
This week, we’re sharing the story of Brandon Jaeger and Michelle Ajamian, the founders of Shagbark Seed & Mill in Athens, Ohio. Read more about what they shared with Food Tank and The Crop Trust during the #CropsInColor in Appalachia tour by CLICKING HERE.
Who are the people in your community working to bring staple food production back home — and keep it there? Please email me at danielle@foodtank.com to tell us about the important work they’re doing!
Sincerely,
Danielle Nierenberg
===================
Dear Editor:
Please consider this powerful analysis by veteran journalist Robert Koehler of the behemoth spending bill passed by Congress and heading for Trump's signature into law. It is your money and it's not going toward your health care nor toward your student loan debt, but rather into the deep pockets of the war profiteers. For PeaceVoice, thank you,
Tom Hastings
~~~~~~~~~`
Militarism: The delusion lives
by Robert C. Koehler
991 words
The annual defense budget, passed recently by both the House (377-48) and Senate (82-8), came in at $738 billion for 2020, up from last year a sweet $22 billion.
War hits the motherlode every year.
“The money just isn’t there” for virtually anything that matters — you know, healthcare for all, free college tuition, clean water, eco-sustainable energy production — but we’ve sold the national soul to the war god so long ago that the perfunctory, bipartisan passage of the National Defense Authorization Act comes and goes every year with, at most, a few marginal cries of outrage and a big shrug from the media.
This year the NDAA came with a few extra stocking-stuffers for the warmongers and profiteers. It bequeathed the world an upgraded possibility of nuclear war and guaranteed the universe a future of bellicosity beyond the confines of Mother Earth.
The temptation for me as I write about this is to hide behind a façade of sarcasm as I hurl my scathing little criticisms at the politicians, the mainstream media and the corrupt bureaucratic farce known as the Pentagon. The alternative is to stand naked and vulnerable to what is being done: lobotomizing humanity’s collective thought process, killing the future.
Consider these words of Charles Edward Jefferson, published in the March 1909 issue of The Atlantic — at the dawn, my God, of the 20th century, before World War I set the world on fire:
Militarism has foisted upon the world a policy which handicaps the work of the church, cripples the hand of philanthropy, blocks the wheels of constructive legislation, cuts the nerve of reform, blinds statesmen to dangers which are imminent and portentous, such as poverty and all the horde of evils which come from insufficient nutrition, and fixes the eyes upon perils which are fanciful and far away. It multiplies the seeds of discord, debilitates the mind by filling it with vain imaginations, corrodes the heart by feelings of suspicion and ill-will. It is starving and stunting the lives of millions, and subjecting the very frame of society to a strain which it cannot indefinitely endure.
A hundred and ten years later, the truth in his essay, called “The Delusion of Militarism,” has merely intensified. How hot do they have to get before they can no longer be ignored? Our militarized political focus remains fixed “upon perils which are fanciful and far away.”
Thus the NDAA officially created a sixth branch of the American military, the Space Force, “establishing,” in the words of Donald Trump, “space as a warfighting domain” and guaranteeing that “the United States will dominate in that environment just like all others.”
The Hill explains it further: American corporations will eventually start building factories in outer space and mining “the moon and the asteroids for their mineral wealth.” But have no fears: “The United States Space Force will ensure that no unfriendly power can impede these activities through military attack. The new service branch will have to be so strong and capable that no other country would think of trying to bring fire and destruction to American and allied space infrastructure.”
So, apparently, expanding the human enterprise into the great beyond will not in any way unify the planet or free political minds from the nationalism and hubris that encages them — not if Trump has anything to say about it (and he does).
Jefferson, discussing The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 — where “everybody conceded that it was better to settle international disputes by reason rather than by force” — points out that
as soon as the legal machinery was created, by means of which the sword could be dispensed with, there was a fresh fury to perfect at once all the instruments of destruction. After each new peace conference there was a fresh cry for more guns.
But he sees hope on the horizon:
The old policy is wrong. The old leaders are discredited. The old programme is obsolete. Those who wish for peace must prepare for it. Our supreme business is not the scaring of rivals, but the making of friends.
Will America become a leader? . . . Will she, by setting a daring example, arrest the growth of armaments throughout the world?
Is Jefferson’s irony-saturated question dead and buried, beyond any possibility of exhumation? It certainly seems that way. Militarism — American militarism in particular — keeps claiming the future and seems intent on doing so until there’s no future left to claim. One of the provisions of the newly passed NDAA, for instance, allows the deployment, on U.S. Trident submarines, of the W76-2 tactical nuclear warhead, a low-yield nuclear warhead that puts it in the realm of being a “usable” nuke: possibly the most insane concept in the history of warfare.
Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, writes with alarm:
This bill accelerates the growing nuclear arms race with Russia. It fully funds almost every element of the Trump administration’s trillion-dollar plan to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal with new, more deadly weapons that we do not need, and cannot afford. Most immediately, the bill will allow the Trump administration to quickly deploy the new W76-2 nuclear warhead — a lower yield weapon specifically intended to be more useable in a nuclear conflict. Weapons such as this one make nuclear war more likely and do nothing to enhance our security.
“. . . there was a fresh fury to perfect at once all the instruments of destruction.”
Oh, Mother Earth! As soon as we move incrementally toward peace, our soul snaps and all we can envision is war. Nuclear weapons once sat smugly as agents of deterrence. But the W76-2, which is slightly smaller than the bombs actually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is a weapon to be used — to murder and contaminate, not simply to intimidate. It is not surprising that such a weapon would find its way into the global arsenal.
Tick, tick, tick . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Koehler (koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound.
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Recently, Salt Lake City native, Noah Wetzel, was crowned champion of the RAW category of Red Bull Illume, the world’s premier actions sports photographer competition.
Wetzel’s spectacular image (seen above) of a mountain biker riding under the total solar eclipse in Teton Valley, Wyoming, was one of just 11 category winners of 59,551 images submitted into the competition.
For the Red Bull Illume awards ceremony, media, judges, guests and the world’s best action and adventure sports photographers from around the globe gathered at the stunning Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography, located at 7,500-feet atop Plan de Corones in South Tyrol, Italy.
After receiving a record-breaking 59,551 images, an expert panel of 50 photo editors and digital experts revealed the top 60 finalists in 11 categories, illuminating the images on 6’ x 6’ light boxes in the snow following the ceremony.
Founded in 2006 and now in its fifth edition, Red Bull Illume is the premier photo competition in action and adventure sports. The event gives wings to photographers by providing a creative platform for both emerging and established artists.
==============
PART 6
Yes, ADHD Brains (and Bodies) Can Meditate!
You really can learn to quiet your brain through mindfulness. Start by forgetting the idea that you must sit quietly in the lotus position (or sit at all!) to reap the benefits of meditation. Use this road map to begin your journey to calm »
Can the Brain Be Trained?
Neurofeedback uses real-time EEG data to help patients improve focus, impulse control, and executive function. But how effective is it?
What the science says →
Unraveling ADHD's 'Cognitive Distortions'
ADHD can warp our thinking and spark negative thought patterns, unhealthy over-generalizations, or "should" statements.
Cognitive behavioral therapy can help →
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Focus-Boosting Foods...
...and vitamins, supplements, and herbs! Learn what to eat (and what to avoid) for ADHD symptom control.
Plan your menu →
Parent Training Tweaks
You instituted a behavioral plan at home... but then ran out of steam. Learn how to regain consistency!
5 common problems + solutions →
- Naropa University is launching a new Master's Program in Yoga Studies.
Starting in the fall of 2020, this new program is one of only a few in the world offering graduate-level studies in yoga and is unique in its integration of traditional academic training in the history and philosophies of yoga with deep engagement into yoga’s most transformative meditation practices. The program is offered via a blend of online coursework and several in-person retreats, allowing students greater personal flexibility while attending grad school.
With the accelerated growth of yoga in the US over the past decade, we think this new program will be exciting to yoga teachers and practitioners seeking to develop more in-depth expertise and linguistic proficiency in Sanskrit as well to students aspiring to go on to a doctorate degree in Indian yogic traditions, South Asian religions, and/or Indology. After graduating from the program, students will be in a position to serve as responsible and historically sensitive stewards of yogic traditions and prepared for a career in the expanding field of yoga research or creative entrepreneurial and service-oriented work in yoga communities worldwide.
Naropa's President, Chuck Lief said: "Naropa University, as the birthplace of the modern mindfulness movement, was founded to support the rigorous study and application of contemplative practices such as yoga, mindfulness, and compassion in their modern forms and which also honors the origins of these practices in the world’s great spiritual traditions.”
===============
Dear Editor:
Please consider this illuminating reveal by Dr. Mel Gurtov of how the first year of the Trump/Republican tax law has worked for the richest corporations. For PeaceVoice, thank you,
Tom Hastings
~~~~~~~~~~
When it comes to corporate taxes, it’s always Christmas
by Mel Gurtov
638 words
As we all know, the largest US corporations and their chief executives were the main beneficiaries of Trump’s so-called tax reform in 2017. A new report from the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), based on the records of 379 of the Fortune 500 corporations, tells us just how much they benefited. Some highlights:
• 91 companies paid effective [i.e., actual] tax rates of zero or less on their 2018 U.S. income. Their average effective tax rate was negative 5.9 percent. A negative tax rate means a corporation receives a refund from the IRS. [Among the familiar names in this category are DowDuPont, IBM, Century Link, Levi Strauss, Duke Energy, Chevron, Amazon, and Netflix.]
• 56 companies paid effective tax rates between zero and 5 percent in 2018. Their average effective tax rate was 2.2 percent.
• Fully half of the companies in our sample, 195 out of 379, paid effective tax rates that were less than half the new statutory rate [of 21 percent. Note that from 2008 to 2015, the statutory or official tax rate was 35 percent.]
• At the other end of the spectrum, 57 companies (roughly one-sixth of the companies in this report), paid effective tax rates of more than 21 percent in 2018, often because they repaid taxes that were deferred from prior years. Their average effective tax rate was 26.9 percent.
Corporations could get away with paying so little by using the usual tax loopholes, starting with a wide array of allowable deductions, shifting production to low-tax countries, and some fanciful accounting maneuvers. As has long been true, corporations that benefit from tax breaks use them for stock buybacks, shareholder dividends, and increased executive pay, and not (as they usually promise) to invest in employees or new equipment. The result? While you and I pay our taxes, the giant corporations pocket their profits, contributing to the $1 trillion deficit in Trump’s current budget. As the ITEP report states:
In 2018, the 379 companies earned $765 billion in pretax profits in the United States. Had all of those profits been reported to the IRS and taxed at the statutory 21 percent corporate tax rate, the 379 companies would have paid almost $161 billion in income taxes in 2018.
Apart from increasing the tax rate on corporations, ITEP offers these other proposals for tax fairness:
• Repeal the full expensing provision . . . and then take the next step and repeal the rest of accelerated depreciation, too.
• Limit the ability of tech and other companies to use executive stock options to reduce their taxes by generating “costs” that far exceed what companies actually incur.
• Impose a worldwide tax system on American corporations, so that they pay the same tax rate on profits regardless of whether they report earning those profits in the U.S. or offshore, while continuing to allow a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments.
• Reinstate a strong corporate Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Increase transparency by requiring country-by-country public disclosure of company financial information, through filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Corporate taxes now account for just one percent of the federal budget, compared with four percent in recent years. Yet only two candidates—Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders—dare to talk about closing tax loopholes for giant corporations or imposing a “wealth tax” on billionaires. And look what Congress just agreed to on a tax bill: special treatment for distillers, horseracing owners, and assorted other interests with good lobbyists, but not a single tax break to benefit ordinary citizens, and of course no action on corporate tax loopholes. Such bipartisanship!
Democrats should be challenged to pledge real tax reform, starting with corporate tax avoidance. It is a theft from human-interest programs that Democrats supposedly support: health care for all, jobs with dignity, meaningful responses to climate change, and major improvements in public education.
—————————-end--
Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Portland State University and blogs at In the Human Interest.
