Louis R. Avallone

Category: 2017

  • What Took You So Long?

    What Took You So Long?

    Psychologists call it “confirmation bias,” which is the tendency to search for, or otherwise interpret information in a way that confirms what you already believe, regardless of the facts. You may call it “rationalizing.” Others may call it “missing the forest for the trees.” I call it “denial,” and as the saying goes, denial is not just a river in Egypt.

    But do we really prefer illusion, to the truth? Many do. The truth hurts, after all, and even when we hear the truth, our defenses seemingly kick in to keep the illusion alive – and the pain away.

    So, is this why as many as 1 million women showed up in marches across the country, with not just one grievance, but many? Was the truth of the past 8 years exposed with the inauguration of President Trump, and the protests an attempt to keep the illusion alive – and the pain away?

    Some marched for equal rights for women and against sexism. For minority groups and against racism. For better jobs and higher pay. For environmental responsibility and against global warming. For peace and to end all wars.

    Yes, the conventional wisdom is that these millions of women were expressing their discontent over the election of President Trump. But discontent over what, exactly? He had only been sworn in as President for less than 24 hours before the protests began. And after all, tens of millions of women had voted for him in November. In fact, many say it was women voters in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan that gave President Trump the votes he needed to win the White House.

    So, what’s really going on here? I’ll tell you: we prefer illusion to truth, and the bottom line is that these women have been lied to, especially about the consequences of voting for politicians who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas. Or so-called “leaders” who are more interested in their own well-being, than in ours.

    Instead of promised good jobs for the jobless over the past 8 years, these women see 94 million Americans not even working now – the highest ever in our country’s history. In fact, by the end of 2016, the number of those filing for unemployment benefits was at its highest in more than a year.

    Instead of improving access to healthcare over the past 8 years, and making it more affordable, these women see that there are just 3 percent more Americans with health insurance today, and that the number is dropping every day. They see how many Americans simply can’t afford paying their premiums because insurance companies are raising premiums on everyone by as much as 60 percent to keep from collapsing under the Affordable Care Act.

    Instead of “healing our planet” over the past 8 years, they see that taxpayers are now shouldering more than $2.2 billion in expected loan guarantee defaults from companies like the bankrupt renewable energy company, Solyndra, and at least 36 other taxpayer-funded green energy projects that have vanished like the wind.

    And although we “ended a war” by withdrawing our combat troops from Iraq in 2011, these women see how this single decision to withdraw left the door wide open for ISIS to expand their terror around the world, killing thousands of innocent people, and terrorizing millions more.

    And instead of diversity, these woman saw Obama choose a cabinet overwhelmingly male and white, and racial tensions are higher than ever.

    In 2008, the illusion of “hope and change” sounded like the truth to these women. We were all promised, back then, that healthcare negotiations would be on C-SPAN (they weren’t) and that the budget deficit would be reduced by 50% (but it grew).

    They were promised there would be no earmarks in the $787 billion stimulus bill (but there were). We were promised the “Recovery Act” would save or create jobs (yet unemployment continued to rise to record levels). We were told “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” (we couldn’t). We were assured Obamacare would pay for itself (but it doesn’t). President Obama said, “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future” (but he did and deficit spending rose to over $5.1 trillion).

    Maybe we could all agree now, at least, that when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But I get it, about the protestors and I’d be mad, too, if I were in their shoes, waiting on “hope and change” all these years.

    Just one question, for those who marched on January 21: What took you so long?

  • Nothing Is Better Than Something

    Nothing Is Better Than Something

    It has been said that 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing. And that a positive anything is better than a negative nothing; that it’s better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly. Or, as Winston Churchill put it, “It is better to do something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything.”

    Maybe that’s why they say the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step or “the secret of getting ahead is getting started.

    In many circumstances, that is precisely correct. Drinking more water, instead of soft drinks, for example. Eating better. Exercising. Donating your time or money to a charity. Saving money going grocery shopping. Being grateful. These are all good examples of where “something is better than nothing.”

    There are some instances, though, where “something” is not better than “nothing.” Take the imminent repeal of the Affordable Care Act in Congress, for example, especially because 80% of us want it “significantly changed or replaced altogether.”

    You see, after nearly $2 trillion in spending, there are just 3 percent more Americans with health insurance today – and even that number is dropping daily – as many Americans simply can’t afford paying their premiums. That comes as little surprise considering insurance companies lost $2.7 billion in 2014 alone, and are now raising premiums on everyone by 60 percent (or more) to keep from collapsing and going out of business altogether (as two-thirds of the government-funded health insurance exchanges have already done).

    But, but, but, some will say…isn’t “some” increase in the number of Americans with health insurance better than “nothing” at all? And even though “Obamacare” is not perfect, isn’t it better now because you can’t be denied coverage for any reason, or be charged more based on your health status or gender, or be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions?

    Yes, theoretically, yes.

    But if 31 million Americans can’t afford the deductibles because of rising costs, and have flat-out stopped paying the premiums for the very insurance policies intended to afford them the benefits mentioned above, then hasn’t the care and comfort of the least among us has only worsened? And all under the pretense that “something” is better than “nothing?”

    Of course, there are countless other examples of where “something” is not better than “nothing.”

    Remember when the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lowered lending standards in the mid-1990s, so first-time buyers could qualify for loans that they could never get before? Well, doing “something” back then to increase homeownership resulted in over 10 million Americans being uprooted by foreclosure, with even more still threatened today, over a decade later.

    Remember in 1964, when Lyndon Johnson proposed a conglomeration of federal government welfare programs to assist the poor? Regardless of the reasons why so many were generationally poor or unemployed, the federal government, and the American people, felt they needed to do “something”. And now Congress has spent $15 trillion dollars over the past 50 years on poverty, yet the poverty rate today is virtually the same as it was in 1964. In fact, we are now spending close to $1 trillion per year on doing “something” about the poor, and yet 46 million Americans still live below the poverty line.

    Doing “something” may feel better than doing “nothing” at all, but one only needs to look around to see what decades of politicians doing “something” has done to our nation, and our communities.

    As a new administration goes to work in Washington, “nothing” would be a refreshing change, because something is not always better than nothing.