Thoughts Before the US Elections
E. Ablorh-Odjidja
October 14, 2016

Some think they know how I am going to vote. But few know why I will vote that way. So I will like to share some thoughts. And they are all about current issues; starting with the most significant:

1.  I am for School Choice. The benefits should be apparent to most. Zip code is the principal determinant of the public school your kid will attend, if you are poor.

 Inner cities across the US are saturated with the least performing public schools. If you are Black and poor, you are likely to have a home in an inner city area.  Your zip code will invariably put your kid in a low performance school.

The characteristics of public schools in poor neighborhoods are the same. They have comparatively the least qualified teachers and the most poorly equipped, in terms of teaching aids.

So, if you were a racist, you would prefer the current system and not the School Choice option open to the poor or Blacks.

The explanation is simple:  The current system will help keep Blacks and poor kids away from your particular zip code schools.

On top of that, competition from the poor for the best choices in life will be limited as poor school keep these disadvantaged kids bottled up in the same poor neighborhoods; thereby making them vulnerable to drug trafficking and abuses and the possibility of ending up in jails or early deaths.

These outcomes may not be planned, but may be happy coincidences for the racists.

In case you don't agree, listen to Malcolm X: Vicious cycle of poverty

2.  I am for No Free College Education.  However, I propose that free college education is ONLY provided for the needy and capable.

The middle class should be allowed tuition loans, from no interest loans to variable rated ones, depending on the level of parent's income.

If you have School Choice, you are likely to increase qualitatively the academic level of your Black kids who can then make it to the toll-gate of some of the most prestigious schools. FREEI

However, the nasty part is, Free College Education, as proposed by liberal politicians,  will be a burden on taxes. When it is available to all without limitations, the rich and their wards will benefit exponentially, at the expense of the poor. And need I say Blacks?

Consider this: Universal free college education will have similar impact like welfare on society. Education will be denuded of its purpose, just as many of the poor have been denuded of the benefits of work ethic.

But let's move on.

The worst part of free college education will be a consequence that will widen, not close, the gap between the poor and the rich. Instead of the rich paying tuition fees for their wards, they will put the excess money in trust funds for them.

These wards will come out of colleges richer than they were when they first went in. Now where would this leave our poor Black kids?

Obviously, the poor kid would be behind on the path to accumulation of wealth. 

The rich kid gets out of college and he has already a copious network to help him land a job, a good degree or not; plus his trust fund, on account of access to free college education.

The poor kid gets out of college, fortunately he or she has a good degree.  Then he faces the problem of access to a good job. He will not have the same network as the rich kid. But let's assume he does and lands a good job. Then what next, you ask?

Remember, Free College Tuition is only free for the vote hustler.  Somebody must pay for it.  So you already have your answer. The tax man.

 It will be interesting to consider the impact of taxes on a poor kid, out of college who starts low on the rung versus his contemporary rich kid who starts high, with his trust fund, on the same socio-economic ladder.

4.  I support Low Taxes across board. A flat tax rate is preferable to me. Let everybody have a skin in the game. Ten percent on the poor and the same on the rich is fair for me. It does not necessary mean that the revenue collected from the rich will be the same as that from the poor. The rich will pay more as they do now.

True, the ten percent on a poor paycheck may impact the poor heavily, that is why I will want his or her ward to have the benefit of FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION, or in lieu of college, a skill enhancement option paid for by the same fund.

But the fund must not be doled out like welfare. The poor kid must work for it. This demand improves his chances of success in life just as much as it improves the overall welfare for everybody.

5.  Obamacare Must Go. It must be replaced by a more meaningful universal health care coverage that is placed in the hands of the individual and not government.

There are better options or ideas available.

A personal health care saving account that costs the government up to hundred thousand dollars per individual citizens in the population over a period of ten years will cost far less than the trillions of dollars that Obamacare will cost for the same period and for the same number of people.

 With the above plan, I am assuming not all members of the population will be  seriously sick or chronically ill in any given year and that the funds will be kept in a safebox as contribution from taxes come in. Also of note for references are costs for Medicare ($603 billion  in 2014 and Medicaid $438 billion for 2013.)

The plan should cover all health issues from birth to death, in that order. Clarification, no late term abortion allowed as expense on a personal health care account.

Families should be allowed to pool their health accounts to help in times of need.

If Democrats support these positions, I'll be glad to vote for them.  It will not be enough to ask me to vote Democrat because I am Black.

But, I know. Many will think I am wrong because my vote, as Black, should be permanently marked as Democrat. These folks can, therefore, jettison the issues and concerns I have listed here.  I'll be glad to see in their alternatives what they have to offer and why.

 I know they think of political parties as home teams. I do not. However, I will understand their loyalties to the Democrat party.

But, I'll like to emphasize: This election is not about electing a Pope or a Moderator of the Presbyterian Church. It is about the issues and must be devoid of rhetoric.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja,Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, October 14, 2016
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