The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Walmart had a special on this DVD a while back. I think we paid about a buck. I bought it because of my interest in AIDS orphans (over 900,000 of them) in Tanzania as well as fair trade coffee, some of which is grown in the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro. "The Snows..." is a curious movie by today's standards. Gregory Peck plays Harry Street. Street and his friends have gone to Africa to kill big game. The idea of killing elephants and other big game is abhorrent to most people today, though there are still those who hunt on the sly. Anyway, Street is wounded and spends his time musing about whether he has led a worthwhile life to that point or not. (By today's standards, he hasn't. Maybe that's why Hemingway killed himself years later.)

Vultures gather in a near by tree, a sign that he is about to die. One night, hyenas who also feed on carrion, inspect the camp site. Susan nurtures him back to health. And they know he is cured when the vultures leave.

I had the image of vultures and hyenas in my mind while reading The Working Poor. David Shipler points out that the heartless gather to victimize the poor whenever they get a chance at the little money poor people do have. In 1975, Congress enacted the Earned Income Tax Credit as an anti poverty program. In 2002, the program paid $32 billion dollars to 19 million households. People who work "off the clock" don't receive any of this money because it goes only to people who have W2 forms, thus people who pay payroll taxes. Generally, it arrives as a federal income tax refund.

Enter the vultures and hyenas. They are the tax preparers who "help" the working poor do their tax returns and file electronically. The working poor often don't have checking accounts. Banks penalize mismanaged checking accounts with all sorts of fees. The IRS prefers to direct deposit so the tax service will provide a temporary account to receive this bonus. Want your refund in advance? Of course. The tax preparer will "loan" you the money. Fees add up to an annual percentage loan rate of over 500%! Fees are charged for every part of the transaction. The tax preparers aren't only the fly by night. Among others, H&R Block has been in court over this more than once.

In Oregon, the current Legislature is considering the Pay Day loan industry, which like the above mentioned tax preparers charge an 500% annual precentage rate for their services. Chances are, there will be few restraints because this industry has a powerful lobby. There are more Pay Day loan outlets in Oregon than McDonald's restaurants. Some speculate that they are fronts for big banking firms who are regulated as to the interest they can charge. This week, the junk food industry was allowed to keep selling junk food in Oregon public schools. This is an issue because of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a leading cause of diabetes and junk food contributes greatly to the problem. But the legislature was told that children should have "choice." A large chunk of the Oregon Health Plan goes to fund diabetes and diabetes related diseases, so selling junk food in schools ends up being a tax on everyone who pays taxes. We don't have a "choice."

I was over at the capitol a couple of weeks ago during the noon hour. The Oregon Fryers Assn was providing legislators and their staffs a free chicken dinner. Why wouldn't they give a free meal to the working poor instead?
Foolish question.

Unfortunately for the working poor, the vultures and hyenas gather, but they never go away until the bones are picked clean.