What To Do With $100,000,000?

In a recent interview with Howard Stern, a reporter asked the radio icon about his wealth, “How do you spend $100 million?” He responded, “You don’t spend it, you hang onto it.”

Our country’s leadership had already proved how common Stern’s attitude was when they instituted the deep tax cuts of 2000, giving 50% of the tax breaks back to the top 5% of those who already had the most.

The stated philosophy was also a familiar chant: The wealthy need the tax cuts because they will spend it investing in our economy, creating jobs, and moving our country forward (trickle-down theory). The true result was that our country lost 8 million jobs, increased the national debt by nearly $5 trillion, and suffered the worst economic devastation since the Great Depression.

Big Business has also clearly demonstrated they are also in Stern’s camp. Businesses have now have amassed $1 trillion they are not spending but saving idle in bank accounts. The money didn’t trickle down. It was stored in their pockets.

By recently renewing the tax cuts to business owners making more than $500,000 per year, and those on a salary making more than $250,000 per year, Congress chose to deepen our national debt by an additional $500 billion. Instead of applying the critical wisdom we learned from the previous administration’s economic experiment, we chose instead to repeat the behaviors that have brought our country to its knees in the first place.

There is no doubt that some great things are being done by the very wealthy. This, I celebrate. However, I wonder if more great things could be done for our country by responding directly to the needs of the other 95% of Americans as well. If we took that $100,000 a year tax break given to the average millionaire, and put that money into the hands of those who need it most, they will spend it (not keep it) because they have to to survive. Customers then purchasing more products increase the need for manufacturing and services, allowing businesses to create more jobs, reducing unemployment, and bringing our economy back. Rather than just assuring the descendents of the wealthy can have their American Dream, this would assure that the majority of Americans have a shot at it as well.

Will you pray fervently with me this year, and get involved in the political process in a way that’s meaningful to you by promoting and encouraging our elected leaders to cease combating one another, and focus on what’s best for all the citizens they represent? America will move forward most effectively when egos, lobbyists, and political self-interest take a back seat to unity, cooperation, compassion for all, and a reminder we are our brothers’ keeper.

David Larson

Great Hope for the New Year!

Most European countries have experienced enough suffering that they are very slow to go to war, as evidenced by their lack of support for our attack on Iraq several years ago. At the time, many of us felt they were shirking their responsibility to support freedom. Since then, we have gained perspective that they that they were supporting freedom; they just weren’t promoting violence as a response to grief and fear.

Paul Harvey once said, “I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.”

This challenges our temptation to hurt back when being hurt. Harvey hoped that what we will learn from those who hurt us that it hurts to be hurt. He hopes we’ll get it that the appropriate response to being attacked is to experience how awful it is to attack someone.

My New Year wish is similar to Paul Harvey’s, that we will see every offending behavior as a teaching tool on how not to offend people. That we will see every disagreement as an opportunity to understand someone better. That we will replace our fear of being hurt with trust that others don’t want to be hurt either. That practicing forgiveness is what we’re here for, and pardon is what turns blemishes into blessings.

What I want for us in the coming year is that we will see our neighbor who belongs to an opposing political party, also belongs to the same human race. I want us to be mindful that the ones whose religion is different from ours is loved just as much by our God as we are, and that He expects us to treat them with compassion and respect. I would have us remember that differences in skin color and cultures are beautiful, that diversity is growth, and that being challenged to give up our old patterns that aren’t working is a gift, not an assault.

I want us to see beyond people’s reactive behavior to the scared person behind the reaction. I want us to see we’re good people even when we act bad, and others are the same.

I agree with the bumper sticker I saw recently that said, “I hope that my child doesn’t kill your child.” May we join our petitions in prayer and our voices in song, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

For me, it could begin with me slowing down to express appreciation to my family. It could begin with me by asking someone who thinks differently than me, “How did you come to that conclusion?” Perhaps it will begin with me refusing to bad-mouth elected officials, even when I abhor what they’re doing. Perhaps it will begin with me remembering the innocence of a baby in a manger, who came to demonstrate peace over winning, understanding over judging, compassion over condemnation, and mercy over punishment.

Then, we will truly have a brand “New Year!”

(David Larson, M.S., C.P.C.C., is a licensed psychologist and the founder of the Institute For Wellness. His column appears on alternate Sundays. He can be contacted at 507-373-7913, or at his website, www.callthecoach.com.)