The Opportunity Cost of Trump’s Impeachment

The elite and wealthiest aren’t dissuaded by price tags when faced with decisions to buy necessities but the working-class choices are certainly impacted by sticker shock. Evaluating alternatives and trade-offs is how many Americans survive and stretch weekly budgets because money is hard to come by and time is an elusive commodity.

If money is needed to buy one thing, the question for working families never changes: what do I have to give up? According to the study of economics, this question is best summarized by the concept called opportunity cost. This cost represents a benefit that you miss when you choose one option over another.

We can apply this economic principle to politics as well. For example, the inquiry and related hearings to impeach President Trump have a monetary cost but it’s minuscule compared to the alternative actions that Congress could focus on to benefit working-class Americans. Let’s do a simple analysis of a few alternatives Congress could get done to help rural and urban America.

US – Mexico – Canada Trade Deal

The USMCA was negotiated by the White House administration in conjunction with government officials in Canada and Mexico. The objective was to enhance trilateral trade relations and replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to make trade terms fair and equitable for each country.

The anticipated outcomes are to abate tariffs, remove harmful non-tariff trade barriers, boost trade, improve wages and employment conditions for Mexican workers, and create American jobs.

The United States International Trade Commission report estimated that USMCA would create ~176,000 U.S. jobs, while increasing American exports to spur a rise in real gross domestic product by 0.35% or $68 billion, annually.

Augmenting exports would bolster salaries and wages in the U.S. for the average worker at a time when unemployment rates are at historic lows across every demographic to include blacks.

Under the proposed USMCA, union workers benefit too. For example, USMCA requires up to 45% of auto parts to be manufactured by U.S. workers earning at least $16 per hour. The job security measures support and encourage car manufacturing supply chains to produce in America, which protects the automobile industry.

Bipartisan Prescription Drug Price Reform

The proposed bipartisan Senate legislative bill provides financial relief to patients in need of costly prescription drugs while also reducing the Medicare cost burden on taxpayers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that ~$100 billion will be saved over 10 years, and Part D premiums will be reduced by $6 billion.

Additionally, the legislative package establishes sorely needed patient protections by limiting costs to a $3,100 out-of-pocket cap for individuals and abolishing unlimited patient cost-sharing for certain beneficiaries. The current reality for many Americans is that an illness or unforeseeable catastrophic event could exhaust life savings or even bankrupt households.

In all, the new act and complementary measures seek to restructure the prescription drug market by making the market more transparent and competitive, leading to lower prices for high-cost drugs.

Infrastructure Bill

Earlier this year, President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed on a $1+ trillion infrastructure bill but they are at an impasse on how to pay for the unprecedented spending package.

The fiscal issues of how to pay for infrastructure spending is not the only holdup. First, the two-year Russian collusion investigation delayed talks. Despite the investigation yielding no results, the new obstacle is the current impeachment inquiry.

According to a research report by Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the infrastructure bill would create 11 million skilled labor jobs in various industries to include construction, infrastructure, telecommunications, and transportation.

A potential new job opportunity is good news for existing skilled laborers in the urban community. But it is also a great chance for gainful employment for formerly incarcerated men and women—a demographic that is often marginalized as they seek viable ways to reenter society. Especially, those gradually coming home as their sentences are commuted under the First Step Act.

While Congress and the White House flirt with the possibility of reaching an infrastructure deal, people are waiting for an apprenticeship break or experienced workers seeking gainful employment on long-term projects.

According to Dave Bauer, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association expressed that every $1 invested in transportation construction and maintenance generates between $2.00 and $2.20 in economic activity across all sectors of the economy.

Regardless of your political views, partisan politics often block or halt legislation that benefits the working-class. To sustain the current economic gains the black community has experienced under the current administration must be compounded with greater opportunities and an infrastructure bill that can help pave the way.

 

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This is an opinion piece that does not necessarily reflect the views of BLACK ENTERPRISE.

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T.I. prompts New York lawmakers to introduce bills to ban virginity testing

After Hip Hop artist Clifford “T.I.” Joseph Harris received a great deal of backlash after an interview revealed that he often requests that his daughter’s gynecologist “check her hymen” to secure her virginity; New York lawmakers have introduced two new bills preventing this type of testing in the future, according to CBS News.

Filed in the New York State Senate and New York State Assembly, the two bills seek to ban “licensed medical practitioners from performing or supervising virginity examinations and subjects any medical practitioner who does perform or supervise such performance to professional misconduct penalties as well as possible criminal charges.”

— How Jada Pinkett Smith schooled an ‘incredibly apologetic’ T.I. during a candid ‘Red Table Talk’

The bill would not outlaw all medical hymen examinations but specifically, “the performance of hymen examinations on women as a means to ascertain whether a woman is a virgin.”

The bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, states, “these examinations are not only a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization.”

“The term ‘virginity’ is not a medical or scientific term,” the bill also stated. “Rather, the concept of ‘virginity’ is a social, cultural and religious construct – one that reflects gender discrimination against women and girls. The United Nations, along with the World Health Organization, U.N. Women and U.N. Human Rights, called for a global ban on the practice.”

— T.I. and Tiny discuss prison in part 2 of Red Table Talk

T.I.’s philosophy about a hymen being intact expressing a women’s virginity has no validity according to a 2018 report from WHO.”‘Virginity testing’ has no scientific or clinical basis. There is no examination that can prove a girl or woman has had sex – and the appearance of girl’s or woman’s hymen cannot prove whether they have had sexual intercourse, or are sexually active or not.”

The original “Virginity testing” comment was made while T.I. was a guest on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast. When speaking of how he handles sex talk with his oldest daughter. The entrepreneur and media mogul rapper said,”we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”

“Yes, I go with her,” he also added.

—New York state legislator’s bill seeks to outlaw hymen exams

NY Assemblywoman Solages, told the New York Post his comments were “horrifying”.

“It’s misogynistic, it’s appalling,” Solages said. “If a celebrity can impose his power to ensure his 18-year-old daughter gets checked, imagine what can be done in households across New York state?”

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Chico DeBarge arrested for possession of Meth

Soul singer, Chico DeBarge, a member of the hot R&B family DeBarge, was arrested in California on drug possession charges.

The singer was arrested for drug possession in Burbank, CA. He was seen attempting to break into his own SUV with a wire in a Walmart parking lot when police arrived, TMZ reported.

It was reported that he left his keys inside his SUV, causing him to want to break-in. Since the police were unaware of the vehicle belonged to Chico, they searched him and allegedly found methamphetamine in his pockets, the amount is still unknown.

— Roshon Fegan describes how he transformed for starring role in ‘The Bobby DeBarge Story’

The police also said, when searching his vehicle, they found drug paraphernalia as well, resulting in his arrest.

Although the formal charges against DeBarge are still pending from the Burbank City Police, the singer was booked and released from jail, according to TMZ.

But this isn’t the singer’s first hiccup with the law, back in 2007 he was arrested in California for drug possession resulting in him going to rehab, Daily News reported.

— El DeBarge squanders ‘Second Chance’ with latest drug relapse

Four years prior, he was stabbed by Philadelphia mobster John Casasanto after fighting with one of Casasanto’s affiliates in a nightclub.

Chico is most known for his 80’s hit “Talk to Me” that gained the 21st spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song and his first album debuted when the singer was only 20-years-old.

Chico however is not the only DeBarge family member that has been in trouble with the law for use of drugs. His brother Bobby DeBarge was sentenced to five years in jail in 1988 for drug trafficking, according to the Michigan Chronicle.

The lead singer of DeBarge, El DeBarge also had a problem with drugs. In 2001, he was arrested for cocaine possession and was put on probation, he then received probation again in 2006 for the same charge. But in 2008, he was arrested for possession of crack and sentenced to two years in state prison.

We wish the best for the DeBarge family and Chico with substance abuse.

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Chicago suburb, Evanston gets approved for 2020 Reparations plan

An Evanston, Illinois Aldermen is making sure that African-Americans receive some type of reparations from the legal sale of recreational marijuana. Aldermen Robin Rue Simmons, of the 5th ward, proposed a plan to direct all sales tax revenue collected from recreational marijuana purchases into an account that will allow for reparations locally, and this week, it was approved.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the program’s goal is to help Evanston’s Black population stay in the city and will also offer job training and other benefits.

“We can implement funding to directly invest in Black Evanston,” said Ald. Robin Rue Simmons.

— Illinois city plans reparations fund for Black residents using cannabis revenue

In Illinois, where the state Legislature easily approved the sale of recreational marijuana this past spring, some communities have been hesitant to allow businesses in their own backyards, particularly in the suburbs, as reported in USA Today. While Chicago plans to allow cannabis sales, some suburban local precincts have decided to opt-out.

The suburb of Evanston and its’ leaders are using this local reparations program as an opportunity to tackle the ongoing outcomes of institutional slavery and discrimination against Blacks.

Alderman Simmons also saw this as an opportunity to correct the wrongs done against Black residents of Evanston that may have been incarcerated due to the “war on drugs” and spent time behind bars for smoking marijuana which is now recreationally legal in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The tax on marijuana will “be invested in the community it unfairly policed and damaged,” Simmons said.

— New push for racial equality for Black entrepreneurs in the marijuana trade

A local committee of residents will now examine how the money should be allocated and best practices of supporting the Black community through housing, education, and economic incentives.

According to the City of Evanston staff reports the fund will have a cap of $10 million, with the city projecting to make $500,000 to $750,000 annually in marijuana sales tax.

“I support the approval of the ordinance for the city of Evanston to commit all of the anticipated tax revenue from the recreational marijuana businesses, to support work aimed at intentionally repairing harms done to the Black community from policies and practices in so many different areas,” said Oliver Ruff, a retired teacher and Evanston resident.

Simmons’ proposal was the aftermath of a decrease in Evanston’s black population, from 22.5% of the population in 2000 to 16.9% in 2017, according to U.S. Census data.

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