Voting Rights

Following the American Civil War, three Reconstruction Amendments were ratified between 1865 & 1870.  The 13th Amendment, was adopted on December 18, 1865 and abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1868, grants citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the United States and guarantees every person due process and equal protection rights.  The 15th Amendment, ratified on February 3, 1870, prohibits governments from denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous position of servitude (slavery).  

Given that the lives and political rights of newly freed slaves continued to be threatened, three Enforcement Acts were passed between 1870 & 1871.  These acts protected African Americans’ rights to vote, hold office, and serve on juries, and also allowed the federal government to intervene in states that did not abide by the law.  And yet, the United States did not live happily ever after.

From 1868 to 1888, actual electoral fraud and violence worked to suppress the African American vote in the South.  In 1890, Jim Crow Laws were enacted enforcing racial segregation in the South.  The southern states then amended their constitutions and passed legislation to enact various voter restrictions such as literacy tests, poll taxes, property ownership requirements, moral character tests, and grandfather tests which allowed people to vote only if their grandfather had voted (excluding African Americans as their grandfathers had been slaves.)

This continued until the 1950s at the onset of the Civil Rights Movement which put pressure on the federal government to protect the voting rights of racial minorities.  The Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed, which authorized the Attorney General to sue on behalf of person who was having their 15th Amendment Rights restricted. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 introduced penalties for anyone obstructing someone’s right to vote.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 further outlawed discrimination, unequal voter registration requirements, and racial discrimination in schools, the workplace, and public accommodations.

And yet, oppostion still found ways to suppress the African American vote.  So, following the 1964 elections, when the Democrats found control of both chambers of Congress, John F. Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, privately instructed Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to draft the “goddamndest toughest voting rights act that you can.”  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced to Congress while civil rights leaders, under the protection of federal troops, led 25,000 people in a march from Selma to Montgomery.

The Act, yet again, prohibits racial discrimination in voting and secures voting rights for racial minorities, especially in the South.  It prohibits states and local governments from imposing any law that results in discrimination.  It specifically outlaws thing like literacy tests and other legislation listed above.

So, we’re good now, right?  Of course not.  Because in recent years, thinly veiled attempts at suppressing the African American vote have sprouted up in the form of Voter ID laws.  And, in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the law that would prohibit states from changing their election laws without advance federal approval.  This allowed states like Texas to immediately enact their previously blocked Voter ID Law and redistrict their state without federal approval.

The claim is that Voter ID laws are common sense and that they prevent voter fraud despite the fact that multiple sources have found instances of voter fraud to be rare.  From 2000 to 2014, there were only 31 instances out of 1 billion ballots cast that would have been prevented by voter ID laws.  In-person voter fraud, as it currently happens, would have no chance of swinging an election.

What does swing elections?  Voter ID laws (which happen to be rather expensive as well as discriminatory).  Voter ID laws disproportionately exclude minorities, young people, low-income voters, seniors, and women.  Voter ID laws are the modern day version of literacy tests, property ownership requirements, and grandfather tests.

Here is where the candidates stand on voting rights.

Clinton:  Clinton’s plan is to automatically register voters when they turn 18 unless they opt out and make sure voter registrations are accurate and secure.  She wants to restore the Voting Rights Act and fight back against voting restrictions.  She wants to set a national standard for early voting.

Trump:  Trump has become the mouthpiece for spouting the false rhetoric that the election will be rigged and stolen through voter fraud despite all evidence to the contrary.  Despite being behind in every poll following his post-RNC surge, he perpetuates that the only way he can lose is if cheating goes on.  So, he pushes voter ID laws by arguing that, without them, voters will vote 15 times for Hillary.

Veterans

I don’t think a lot of background is needed this week.  Everyone knows our veterans’ care in this country is a mess.  Here is what the candidates plan to do about it.

Clinton:

Experience fighting for veterans:

• As first lady, she brought attention to Gulf War Veterans by fighting for the recognition of Gulf War Syndrome.
• As Senator, she served on the Armed Services Committee where she
• fought for help for families caring for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries & Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• worked to increase the survivor benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.
• worked with Sen. Lindsey Graham to expand health care benefits to National Guard Members and Reservists.
• introduced the new G.I. Bill that included educational opportunities, home buying programs, and low interest loans of up to $100,000 to start small businesses.
• cosponsored the Retirement Pay Restoration Act to expand retirement pay and disability compensation.
• cosponsored legislation that led to the Defense Authorization Act which allowed families of wounded service members to take 6 months of leave to care for their family members.

Clinton has an extensive and comprehensive Veterans Agenda.  Here are just a few highlights:

• Block efforts to privatize the Veterans Health Administration
• Create a new framework for veterans’ health care delivery that is timely and high quality.
• New funding to improve healthcare for women at the VHA.
• Increase funding for mental health providers and substance abuse treatment to end the veteran suicide epidemic.
• Expand programs targeted at providing effective mental health treatment.
• Identify and treat war consequences such as Agent Orange exposure, Gulf War Syndrome, burn pits, Post Traumatic Stress, and Traumatic Brain Injury.
• Streamline and modernize the Veterans’ benefits system.
• Create a standing President’s Council on Veterans.
• Convene a White House Summit on Veterans.
• Expand tax credits for veterans’ employment.
• Increase funds for concurrent certification and credentialing programs so that veterans can transfer their skills to the workforce.
• Increase funding for reducing veteran homelessness.
• Expand complementary programs such as job training, disability benefits, and transportation for veterans.
• Provide budgetary certainty as  addressed in my military post.

Note:  She also has an extensive agenda to support military personnel and families which include things like increased benefits and spousal employment initiatives.

Trump Veterans Agenda:

Trump has a 10 point veterans plan.  6 of the 10 points are about going after the Department of Veterans Affairs including

• Create a private white house hotline answered by a real person 24 hours a day devoted to answering veterans’ complaints about wrongdoing at the VA.

The other 4 points:

• Appoint a VA Secretary whose sole purpose is to serve veterans.
• Reform the visa system so that veterans are at the front of the line for health care.
• Increase the number of mental health care professionals available to veterans.
• Ensure every veteran has the chance to seek care at the VA or a private service provider of their choice.

Taxes

This really says it all.  It moves fast, so you have to have quite a bit of background knowledge to follow, but it covers nearly everything I've unearthed in my research: 

• Clinton's plan is most fiscally responsible, protects those making less than $250,000/yr, raises revenue to invest in infrastructure, etc. 
• Trump's plan explodes debt to dangerous levels while helping out the millionaires who don't need a lot of help, cuts revenues which threatens entitlements and defense. 

Also, did you know that most of us don't pay that much in federal income taxes at all? It's true. Do the math and see for yourself. Last year, when all was said and done, about 5% of our family income went to federal income taxes.

Social Security & Medicare

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act with the initial intent of providing federal assistance to those unable to work.  At this time, the time of The Great Depression, over 50% of senior citizens lived in poverty.  It has been amended many times and currently stands primarily as the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. It is funded by payroll taxes.  The IRS collects these taxes and entrusts them to the Social Security Trust Funds: Federal Old Age & Survivors Trust Fund, Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.  

The largest component of OASDI is the payment of retirement benefits.  Most employees see FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) tax taken out of their paycheck at a rate of 6.2% (during 2011 & 2012 it was 4.2% as a part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 which I referenced in my post on the Economy).   Employers pay another 6.2%.  Self employed individuals pay SECA (Self Employed Contributions Act) tax at a rate of 12.4%.  For 2015, all salaried income up to $118,500 had a FICA or SECA tax collected.  Income above $118,500 is not taxed by FICA or SECA.  The program is largely self-sufficient.

People who have paid into FICA and SECA for 40 quarters of credit or more and meet a specified minimum income are considered fully insured and can start receiving social security retirement benefits at a reduced rate at age 62 and a higher benefit if they wait until 65, 66, or 67 depending on their birth date.

Medicare Health Benefits were added to Social Security in 1965.  In 1966, a FICA-Medicare Tax was added and currently stands at 1.45% of an employee’s income.  The employer pays another 1.45%.  Self-employed individuals pay 2.9%.

Under Medicare, the government contracts 30-50 private insurance companies to provide health insurance for Americans 65 and older who have paid into the system.  Some younger people with disabilities are also eligible for Medicare.

Clinton:  Concerning Social Security, Clinton is opposed to privatization, reducing annual cost-of-living adjustments, and raising the retirement age.

She points out two concerning facts that she would like to change concerning Social Security.  She says that the poverty rate for widowed women 65 and older is 90% higher than that of other seniors due to the loss of benefits when a spouse dies.  She wants to change how much social security benefits drop when a spouse dies.

Additionally, she believes that Americans should receive credit to their Social Security benefits when they take time out of work to serve as a caregiver.  Since benefits are calculated based on the top 35 years of an individual’s earnings, those who take time off to care for a child or an aging parent, receive a reduced benefit.  Clinton wants to change that.

Concerning Medicare, she will protect the Affordable Care Act which made preventive care available and affordable to 29 million Americans on Medicare.  She is opposed to Republican attempts to privatize Medicare which would drive up costs.  She also has plans for lowering prescription drug costs and for lowering out-of-pocket health care costs.

Trump:  Trump breaks with his party (and his running mate) on Social Security and Medicare and vows to preserve social security and Medicare without cuts.  He is opposed to raising the retirement age and opposed to reducing the cost of living calculations.  He basically wants to leave it all, as is.