As the income-tax deadline looms, taxpayers should connect widespread resentment at what many feel was an unresponsive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with available resources resulting from choices made in Washington.
Outrage also may be tempered by a more complete report of actual government response.
After November 17’s EF-4 tornado struck Illinois, the State of Illinois requested help for nine counties, including Woodford and Tazewell, where about 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. FEMA denied the city of Washington’s request for $26 million for debris removal and repair of infrastructure including roads, curbs and sidewalks, basing its decision on a Congressionally approved formula that measures “damages per person” in an entire state instead of basing the damaged on county population. For states like Illinois, which has big urban areas as well as sparsely populated rural areas, the formula restricted the response to municipalities.
Media reported, “FEMA decided not to grant the state any funding,” which is accurate but incomplete and misleading. Such a statement implies a decision based on judgment, a whim or worse, when in fact it came from a formula FEMA must follow by law. Many people understandably concluded that FEMA is refusing to help, period, which is false. Print stories mentioned that private property owners and businesses are being assisted, but that was usually buried far down in stories and included few details. Broadcast stories virtually ignored the aid FEMA is making available – as well as assistance from other federal and state agencies.
“Since the [disaster] declaration, FEMA has approved 377 applications for disaster-assistance grants and the Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved 299 applications for low-interest disaster loans, combined resulting in more than $28 million for eligible individuals and families in the disaster-impacted area,” says Dan Shulman, with FEMA’s Region V. “In addition, SBA has approved six loans worth more than $300,000 to impacted small businesses to aid in the recovery.”
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development also are contributing millions of dollars for housing and business help, and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has earmarked a $45 million package of assistance from the Department of Commerce and Economic Development, the Department of Transportation, the state Housing Development Authority, Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Illinois Finance Authority.
Further, other municipal governments have been disappointed with the consequences of the formula that deficit-obsessed Congress imposed: Gifford, Ill., in 2013; Harrisburg in 2012. Besides a formula that should be revised, however, a huge reason why there may not be enough resources to help Washington, Gifford or every place victimized by natural disasters is that FEMA gets so little money compared to those interests with a lot of power, lobbyists and cash to contribute to campaigns.
Besides so-called deficit hawks, too many conservative extremists complain about how many tax dollars go to “freeloaders” who get food stamps or welfare, Medicare or jobless benefits, or pensions for military service or government employment. Too few look at how much of taxpayers’ money is used by the Pentagon; almost no one examines how much of the taxes we have to pay goes to corporations.
So, how are taxes being spent?
For the average U.S. taxpayer, $6,000 a year of their taxes goes to corporations, according to a new report from Chicago teacher Paul Buchheit, author of “American Wars: Illusions and Realities.” Buchheit writes, “That’s over and above our payments to the big companies for energy and food and housing and health care and all our tech devices. It’s $6,000 that no family would have to pay if we truly lived in a competitive but well-regulated free-market economy.
“American families are paying an annual $6,000 subsidy to corporations that have doubled their profits and cut their taxes in half in 10 years while cutting 2.9 million jobs in the U.S. and adding almost as many jobs overseas,” he adds.
Breaking down how taxes are spent on a few familiar line items, the federal government concedes the following, figured on the basis of a married couple with one child earning $50,000 a year: FEMA receives $8.12 a year; Welfare $11.52; Unemployment insurance $18; Education [K-12 & vocational] $32; Food stamps $73; Retirement/disability to military and civilian government workers $84; Medicare [technically, a separate tax] $725; Defense programs $465; and corporate subsidies [again, the average] $6,000.
Other recipients of that family’s tax payment include Medicaid and children’s health care ($178/year), veterans ($85), environmental protection/natural resources ($15), assistance to developing nations/humanitarian aid ($15), agriculture ($12), and energy supply and conservation programs ($9).
An Illinois advocacy group, Open the Books – established to bring more transparency to how the federal budget is spent – in a new report shows that between 2000 and 2012, the top Fortune 100 companies received $1.2 trillion from the government. (That’s not counting the 2008-09 bailouts of auto, banking and housing interests, nor ethanol subsidies to agribusiness companies or tax breaks for wind turbine firms.)
The biggest recipients of taxpayer dollars were military contractors ($635 billion). They’re followed by $21.8 billion given in the form of direct subsidies to corporations such as General Electric ($380 million), General Motors ($370 million), Boeing ($264 million), Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) ($174 million) and United Technologies ($160 million).
Next, federally subsidized loans amounting to $8.5 billion was given to oil companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil, and another $1 billion to ADM. Yet another $10 billion in the form of federal insurance went to Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase (in addition to bailout money). Even Walmart received federal insurance funds, the group shows.
The use of the taxes we pay is much more enraging than the amount we contribute. It’s infuriating and insulting. Capitol Hill and Illinois’ Congressional delegation can play to sympathetic, if misinformed, crowds and demand changes in FEMA’s formula. However, no matter how sensible that is, that reform misses the big picture: How they let taxpayer money be spent, especially for corporations that do not need the help as much as everyday Americans facing disaster.
“It’s a devastating attack on the livelihoods of tens of millions of American families,” Buchheit writes.
“And Congress just lets it happen.”
Contact Bill at Bill.Knight@hotmail.com; his twice-weekly newspaper columns are archived at billknightcolumn.blogspot.com