Jacob Turk : Tea Party or Real Issues?
Posted by GSDispatch Editor in by Bob Beigher
In two columns by the Lee’s Summit Conservative, he said nothing at all of any substance about the positions that Jacob Turk would take if elected to Represent Missouri’s 5th District in the United States Congress. Some time ago, the conservative discussed Turk and wrote that Turk is in favor of small government. I wrote to ask, just what he would want to do to shrink our government? What programs would he target for cuts (and there would have to be cuts in order to balance the budget if the so-called Bush tax cuts were extended)? Those cuts have added hundreds of trillions of dollars to the national debt, but Turk wants to extend them all, and that would include cuts for the richest people in this country. While in a soft economic climate, tax cuts should be extended for those in the lower 98% of incomes, but not for the high priced executives who give themselves large bonuses while squeezing out profits by taking money from their workers and by importing cheap goods from China.
To understand where Turk stands, you must read between the lines and look for what he did say. Turk criticizes the European entitlement programs and by extension implies that this country cannot afford our entitlements. Republicans see Social Security and Medicare as entitlements and have wanted to be rid of them since 1935. Medicare has not been around for nearly as long, but the Republicans hate that program that provides medical care to Americans who are at least 65 years old. Fifty million Americans depend on those two programs, programs that they paid into while they were in the work force.
From what was included in those columns, it is clear that Turk is following the Tea Party tactic of staying away from the real issues. He wants “to be sure Health Care is not funded, so we can repeal and replace it.” Why would he want to repeal the whole health care bill? There are many parts in it that Republicans had supported in the past, but refused to vote for when they could. He went on to say about the health care bill that, “it will destroy the best medical delivery system in the world. That’s people’s lives we’re talking about, and to take chances with that is unconscionable to me.” Really? Really, Jacob, you are kidding aren’t you? In fact, the health care plan allows Americans to choose from a menu of insurance providers in the same way that elected members of the Senate and House do now. The big differences are that under the new plan, insurance companies may not deny care to patients who develop expensive health care problems; the health care plan allows families to carry their children on their policies until they are 26 years old. It also requires insurance companies to provide high risk insurance to people and children who have pre-existing conditions. In the United States, we have had the best health care that “you can afford” but many millions of Americans have not been able to afford health care.
Jacob Turk claims that small businesses are worried about the cost of health care insurance for their workers, but he ignores the fact that the government will help those companies with the costs. The recent small business plan passed by the Democrats will help businesses to obtain financing and will give them tax cuts for hiring workers. Apparently, Turk would want to repeal that plan as well. After all, the Republicans in the Senate were the ones who held up that bill for months, months that went by with no help to small businesses in a weakened economy.
Turk is concerned about the Kansas City and St. Louis earnings taxes. As a matter of fact, a good part of his interview made it appear that Turk is really running for Mayor of Kansas City instead of running for Congress. As one who lived outside of Kansas City, but worked in the city, I did not find the small 1% earnings tax to be oppressive. The city needed revenue but could not raise enough revenue from property and sales taxes. I benefitted from the tax because my company had the city services that made operations possible. The only people who pay the E-tax are those who live in the city and those who work there. Why is there going to be a state wide vote on an issue that is so important to Missouri’s two largest cities? As a Congressman what could he do about financing those two cities?
The Conservative wrote that Turk, “had to work hard to grow and he understands what it takes: not from a classroom, but from practical and personal experience.” I guess his education at Long View College and the University of Missouri taught him nothing about government or economics. Well, he only has a B.A. in Mechanical engineering, so he has little or no knowledge of economics and political science. Most colleges do include economics as a requirement to earn a degree. Did he skip that subject?
While Turk only made a glancing blow at Social Security, his bio on his website reveals that he is a privatizer. Taking from his campaign website, we learn the following about his position, “In this age of a changing workplace, Jacob believes in giving you ownership of your retirement benefits and healthcare coverage.” In short, he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare. If you have worked most of your life and look forward to retirement, do you look forward to having a Representative who would jeopardize your Social Security and Medicare benefits? Recently, I was talking to a 49 year old working woman who is looking forward to retirement. Her company does not offer a retirement plan, but does offer a 401k plan. In 2007, the stock market entered a deep dive and she saw her savings shrink by about 50%. If her Social Security had been in the stock market she would have seen all of her private savings shrink. She is terrified that she may have to work until she is 80 if the Republicans privatize the only two plans that people can count on in their “golden years.” Do we really believe that Turk, a two time loser, is really ready or capable of representing the 5th District of Missouri? I think not.
Bob Beigher
