The WA S H I N G T O N washingtonspectator.org MAY/JUNE 2021

vol. 47, no. 3 issn 0887-428x SPECTATOR © 2021 The Public Concern Foundation washingtonspectator.org

activity within the military, would have been a central focus Military Veterans, the of any investigation, and is already a priority for the Defense Department. Republican Party, and But if the commission had been limited to the events of Janu- ary 6, it would have missed much of the point. The biggest risk January 6—a New here is not that we fail to understand what happened in the past and breathe a sigh of relief that American democracy dodged a Chapter in the Story bullet. It’s that we don’t recognize what some have called a pro- cess of “ongoing incitement.” The main significance of January By George Black 6 is that it failed. But failure is a learning experience, and those who propelled the insurrection are determined not to fail again. n an April 27 article for The Washington Specta- In that sense, the storming of the Capitol was not a culmination: tor, “All Enemies Foreign and Domestic,” I set out to trace it was one event in a sequence, even a dress rehearsal, just as the I the enduring influence of conspiracy theories that took invasion of the Michigan State Capitol by armed militants last root among military officers April can be seen as a dry on the far right after the run for January 6. disaster in Vietnam, then When Republicans in morphed into present-day Congress twice opposed extremist and paramilitary the impeachment of movements, and inspired , they gave many of those who led the reasons that were at least failed Capitol insurrection superficially plausible. on January 6. But their excuses this It’s easy, and entirely time are either laugh- justified, to denounce con- able—like Mitch McCo- gressional Republicans for nnell’s argument that a blocking an independent commission with sub- bipartisan investigation into poena powers wouldn’t those events. Who incited find anything that won’t whom to do what and when? be uncovered by ongoing What did they do on the day criminal proceedings—or of the attack? What degree transparently self-protec- of shared belief and active tive, like the assertion by collusion was there between Senator John Thune of elected Republican offi- South Dakota that the cials, QAnon conspiracy commission’s findings theorists, and the cutting would be politically wea- edge of the assault—the organized groups of military veterans ponized before the 2022 midterm elections. So by all means like the , who led the disciplined “stack” that led call them cynics, hypocrites, and, above all, cowards. But that the charge is also how the increasingly powerful forces on the far right ALSO INSIDE: up the Cap- that have seized control of much of the Republican Party see itol steps? them—their cowardice being their refusal to overturn the 4 Roberty Rudney on nuclear weapons The role results of the election. 5 Barbara Koeppel The Prison Phone Rip-Off of these The gutting and takeover of the party has progressed in plain 7 Zuri Washington Beyond Being “Black at Dalton” groups, and sight since January 6, embodied in the state-level drive to curtail 9 Child Allowances by Steven Pressman the degree voting rights and driven by the zeal of the two-thirds of Republi- of far-right can voters who have embraced Trump’s Big Lie of a stolen elec- 11 Letter From Pembroke and white tion. The advance of the “cutting edge”—the military veterans supremacist of the Vietnam era and their present-day acolytes, however,

1 Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez may/june 2021

The has been less visible, though no less real. Per- accurately reflect ‘the will of the people’ our Con- WASHINGTON haps the most important, though scantly reported, stitutional Republic is lost,” it read. “H.R.1 and SPECTATOR manifestation of this has been the emergence of a S.1 (if passed) would destroy election fairness and new group of retired officers called Flag Officers allow Democrats to forever remain in power.” Legal Affairs Correspondent Andrew Cohen 4 America—“flag officers” meaning generals and The list of signatories this time contained many Digital Editor admirals. familiar names. They included two of the princi- Sophia Fish Copy Editor The origins of the group go back to 2015. As I pal figures in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Kirsten Denker wrote in April, the leading post-Vietnam conspiracy Reagan administration: former national security Contributing Writers theorists came from units that considered them- adviser Vice-Admiral John Poindexter and retired Cyrus Cassells, Guest Poetry Editor Alison Fairbrother selves the military elite, like the Special Forces, Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, former head Autumn Hayes the fighter pilots, and the airborne divisions. One of clandestine air operations in Southeast Asia (the Dorothy Samuels such officer was retiredMaj. Gen. Sid Schachnow, Vietnam-era Air Force is in fact disproportionately Circulation Management Circulation Specialists LLC who had led a 12-man team of Green Berets on represented, especially among the higher ranks of Design Point Five, NY the Cambodian border, later moved on to the 101st three-star generals in the group). There are two of Illustration Edel Rodriguez Airborne, and eventually became commander of the best-known fringe conspiracy theorists, both of Editor and Publisher Hamilton Fish the U.S. Special Forces Command. Schachnow that same rank, Lt. Gens. William “Jerry” Boykin, organized a letter, signed by 88 retired flag offi- executive vice president of the Family Research Subscription inquiries Visit washingtonspectator.org/ cers, in support of Trump’s Council and a member of customerservice, or call toll-free candidacy. Although it was “With the Democratic Party the Council for National (866) 949-5290 M–F 9-5:30 EST, or write to strongly worded, the issues welcoming to socialists and Marxists, Policy, and Thomas McIn- P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061. they focused on were the our historic way of life is at stake.” erney, who told One Amer- Letters to the editor Email to kind you might convention- ica News that Trump should [email protected]. Please include your full name and ally expect from military conservatives: unaccept- have invoked the Insurrection Act and declared a postal address and whether the letter able cuts in the military budget; insecure borders; state of emergency to prevent Biden’s theft of the is intended for publication. Letters, if published, may be edited for clarity and the threat from foreign adversaries, especially election. There are also present-day elected offi- and space. Hard-copy letters may radical Islamists. cials and aspirants, such as retired Brig. Gen. Don be sent to: Washington Spectator— Letters, 105 Hudson Street, Suite There’s nothing inherently unusual about retired Bolduc, who plans to run for the Senate in New 407, New York, NY 10013. military officers and national security officials Hampshire in 2022 (and already has the endorse- The Washington Spectator (ISSN endorsing a presidential candidate—more than 500 ments of Boykin, as well as Senator Tom Cotton 0887-428X) is published monthly by the Public Concern Foundation Inc, did so for . But Schachnow’s initiative of Arkansas), and Trump’s former chief medical 105 Hudson Street, Suite 407, New morphed into something entirely different. By the adviser, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, who was forced York, NY 10013. © 2021 in the U.S. by the Public Concern Foundation Inc. time the 2020 election came around, Schachnow from his post after allegations of misconduct but himself had died, and the baton was passed to then went on to win a landslide victory in Texas’s Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. Please allow 4–6 weeks retired Army Maj. Gen. Joe Arbuckle, who orga- 13th congressional district last November, and has for receipt of your first issue and nized another open letter endorsing Trump’s vowed that “every Deep State traitor deserves to be for all subscription transactions. POSTMASTER: Send address reelection. The list of signatories had swelled from brought to justice for their heinous actions.” changes to The Washington Spectator, 88 to 317, and the language was sweeping and While the language of the May 10 letter was P.O. Box 241, Oregon, IL 61061. The Washington Spectator is printed with apocalyptic: “As senior leaders of America’s mili- unprecedented for a group of former military offi- union labor on recycled paper. tary, we took an oath to defend the United States cers, there was still another shoe to drop, which from all enemies, foreign and domestic. . . . [T]his took the Flag Officers 4 America deeper into is the most important election since our country uncharted territory by allying them explicitly with FROM THE was founded. With the Democratic Party welcom- the far-right effort to take control of the Republican EDITOR’S ing to socialists and Marxists, our historic way of life Party at the grassroots level. On June 1, the group is at stake.” Steve Bannon, on his War Room show, issued a Citizen’s Action Plan for America, “to put DESK praised the letter as “a called shot.” constitutional government back in the hands of ‘We Sign up for our free email Arbuckle waited until the end of Biden’s first the People.’” The laundry list of actions focuses on newsletter by visiting 100 days in office before issuing his next broadside elections, education, law enforcement and organiz- washingtonspectator.org. and formally launching the new organization, Flag ing “within church groups, among church groups, Officers 4 America. All of his worst fears had been and outside church groups.” It urges supporters to Learn what’s new at The Spectator, get special realized, he told Bannon. “We’re speeding, running volunteer as poll workers and watchers and to work offers, and find out about down the road to socialism and Marxism.” for the election of “those with traditional values” at our online exclusives and The new letter, issued on May 10, opened with all levels of the party apparatus: county commis- upcoming events. the Big Lie that the election had been stolen and sioners and county clerks; mayors and city council the theft ignored by the FBI and the Supreme members; and party precinct officers, as well as SIGN UP washingtonspectator.org Court. “Without fair and honest elections that “electing sheriffs and DA’s who will constitutionally

2 washingtonspectator.org enforce the rule of law and will resist state and federal mandates and equipped and operates under the knowledge that one ODA infringing on Constitutional Rights of citizens.” In the educa- of 12 Green Berets can take down an entire nation.” tional sphere, it demands that parents wrest power away from Outside of Bannon’s War Room and the other usual suspects— school boards and teachers’ unions to “remove critical race the- Breitbart, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and the Epoch Times, the ory and 1619 project teaching” and “insist on fact-based teaching Falun Gong–affiliated paper that serves as an increasingly influ- of climate change and our national history.” ential platform for extreme right-wing misinformation, the May As Arbuckle’s long interview with Steve Bannon progressed, letter from the Flag Officers 4 America attracted little media the underlying logic of the flag officers’ argument became clearer attention, and the Citizen’s Action Plan, despite its more far- and more chilling. The foundational principle of the American reaching implications, got none. A May 11 piece in Politico—the armed forces is that they are obedient to the elected commander- only substantial reporting on the letter—elicited a few pro forma in-chief and civilian authority. But what if the election was stolen, comments from experts on civilian-military relations and other and the commander-in-chief is illegitimate? Soldiers are then military officers, both active and retired: “disturbing and reck- left with two options: to accept this or to resign. Furthermore, less” . . . “outrageous” . . . “shocking” . . . “an appalling breach of Arbuckle went on, “cultural Marxism” was now eating away at military professionalism.” But that was it. the military itself, symbolized by the appointment of Bishop Extremism in the military, and among veterans, would obvi- Garrison, an African American former human rights advocate, ously have been a central focus of a . But as senior adviser to the secretary of defense for diversity, equity, its terms of reference would have reached none of this ongoing and inclusion. convergence between the base of the “You’re the tip of the spear,” Ban- Like the Oath Keepers and the Three Republican Party, the most extreme non told Arbuckle, wrapping up the Percenters, 1st Amendment Praetorian is conspiracy theorists, and those pre- interview. “And we’re a platform wedded to the idea that small numbers of pared to use violence to ward off and an apparatus for you heroes and highly trained individuals can move mountains. what this constantly metastasizing patriots.” far-right movement sees as an exis- Left unspoken was the third option: neither accept nor resign tential threat to the survival of the nation. but disobey and resist. Some radical veterans will say this openly. But voting on a commission is not the only way for elected offi- “If you vote your way into socialism,” says one former Special cials to make their voices heard. Ninety-one veterans currently Forces officer in a recently formed paramilitary group, “you have serve in Congress: 63 Republicans and 28 Democrats. Of the to shoot your way out.” 53 Republican vets in the House of Representatives, five voted This new organization, 1st Amendment Praetorian, represents in favor of the bill to establish a January 6 commission. Adam a further stage in the continuing evolution of veteran-centered Kinzinger of Illinois, one of Trump’s most outspoken Republican far-right groups. It has much in common with the Oath Keep- critics, was an Air Force pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. Michigan’s ers—the invocation of the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam as the and of Texas also served in both starting-point of the global anti-American conspiracy incarnated campaigns. of Texas was a platoon leader in Iraq, a in the Democratic Party and the Deep State, the vow to defend hero of the rescue of 33 wounded Marines during the 2003 battle the Constitution “against all enemies foreign and domestic,” and of Al Nasiriyah. The fifth member of this group is Mariannette the special role of elite units of the military. The group’s leader, Miller-Meeks of Iowa, who retired as a lieutenant colonel after Robert Patrick Lewis, a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, serving for 24 years in the Army and is now also a member of the says that the group was founded last October and provided House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which famously regards security and intelligence, including the high-tech surveillance itself as the most bipartisan institution on Capitol Hill. of protesters, to a string of Stop the Steal, MAGA, and other So, commission or no commission, there’s a place to start, “patriot” rallies in the weeks following the election. By Janu- for other Republican veterans to stand up and be counted, to ary, it had organized a security detachment for retired Lt. Gen. be asked what they think of the Flag Officers 4 America, their Michael Flynn—who helped raise funds for the group—and Citizen’s Action Plan for taking over the party, and the militancy Trump’s lawyer Sidney Powell. It performed this function at a and violence they inspire in other, younger veterans. Mitch Memorial Day weekend rally in Dallas where Flynn mooted the McConnell, who briefly served in the Army in 1967 before being idea of a Myanmar-style military coup in the United States. What invalided out, is proud of his service as a veteran. So ask him, too. comes next, according to the group’s website, is a “Coalition to And if they decline to comment, well, if there is one quality the Defend America” event in Palm Beach, Florida, on July 4 and the military despises above all others, it is cowardice. formation, together with “constitutional sheriffs,” of grassroots “resilience groups, training them to free the oppressed.” Like the Oath Keepers and the , 1st Amend- ment Praetorian is wedded to the idea that small numbers of George Black’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The highly trained individuals can move mountains. The key, Lewis New York Times Magazine and many other publications. His says, is the unique organizational structure of the Special Forces, forthcoming book, The Long Shadow: A Story of War, Peace, the 12-man Operational Detachment Alpha, which is “trained and Redemption in Vietnam, will be published by Knopf.

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Editorial should be maintained, the modernization program is mindless Making Nuclear Weapons Obsolete and destabilizing. In its place, the United States now has the option of adopting a declarative policy of nuclear weapons obsolescence. As weap- By Robert Rudney ons reach operational obsolescence, they can be taken out of the inventory, dismantled, and destroyed. Concurrently, over the next t’s high time to declare nuclear weapons 20 years, the United States can invite Russia, China, and other I obsolete. nuclear weapons states to negotiate on a modernization freeze The U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons— and build-down that can be effectively verified and enforced. entering into force January 22, 2021—underscores the most The flip side of the coin is that, if this process does not achieve perilous environmental threat to humankind, a threat that cannot comparable reductions in nuclear forces by these other states be ignored by the Biden administration. over a specified period of years, the United States will reluctantly Eighty-six nations, not including the United States and other take steps once more to assure a sufficient nuclear force. nuclear weapons states, have signed the treaty that provides a Such a wholesale transformation of strategic thinking will diplomatic groundwork toward banning possession and use of attract critics. Much like their Cold War predecessors who these weapons. Yet militarily, the United States is moving rapidly inflated Soviet aggressive intentions, NPR apologists emphasize in the opposite direction. emerging Russian and Chinese menaces and their own nuclear Biden inherits the Trump administration’s 2018 Nuclear Pos- modernization programs, but it is unimaginable that Vladimir ture Review (see Robert Alvarez in The Putin or Xi Jinping would risk annihila- Washington Spectator), which show- The proposed nuclear buildup offers tion of their homeland and destruction cases a costly, across-the-board nuclear a critical opportunity for the Biden of their regime by engaging in nuclear weapons modernization highlighted by administration to rethink national defense saber-rattling. Even Kim Jong Un has a perilous war-fighting capability. This policy and cure this nuclear addiction. an existential appreciation of the pres- destabilizing strategy, explicitly laid out ent U.S. nuclear force. in the NPR, once more raises the life-or-death issues of the util- Yet nuclear weapons did not deter the 9/11 attacks or the ity of nuclear weapons and the horrific dangers that the United anthrax attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Any contention that the U.S. States risks in concentrating its defense around the nuclear nuclear weapons arsenal prevents proliferation and terrorism is a deterrence option. fallacious argument with no empirical grounding. The extended The modernization package, with a price tag estimated by nuclear deterrence theory only operated in a bipolar, Cold War the Congressional Budget Office of at least $1.2 trillion over 30 environment, yet following the near-disaster of the Cuban missile years, seeks extensive upgrades to the lethal triad of ground- crisis, the value of nuclear weapons coercion by the United States based, submarine-based, and bomber-based systems. This entire has been more than offset by the inherent risks. conceptual house of cards rests on the specious assumption that The United States can move away from the NPR’s “other- if deterrence fails, the United States will be able to achieve its directed” nuclear planning fixation, where we strive to match our political objectives (read “fight a nuclear war”). potential adversaries system by system. At this point, Americans In addition, the NPR proposes deployment of new tacti- should cease obsessing over the Cold War riddle of “How much cal (dubbed “nonstrategic”) nuclear weapons whose deterrent is enough?” and affirm, “Enough is enough.” Mutual assured rationale is shaky and whose war-fighting capabilities make them destruction no longer has rhyme or reason. inherently destabilizing. The NPR states that “if deterrence fails, the United States will The proposed nuclear buildup offers a critical opportunity for strive to end any conflict at the lowest level of damage possible.” the Biden administration to rethink national defense policy and This commitment to postnuclear damage limitation is absurd. cure this nuclear addiction. The extension of the New START Keeping a nuclear conflict limited to the lowest possible level Treaty simply maintains a ceiling on U.S. and Russian arsenals. flies in the face of military history. To paraphrase Talleyrand, This paradigm shift cannot be achieved overnight. Both Presi- “You can do anything you like with nuclear weapons except fight dent Reagan at Reykjavik in 1986 and President Obama at a war with them.” Prague in 2009 emphasized that the goal of nuclear arms negotia- tions should be the elimination of all nuclear weapons, but both admitted that this was a distant goal. Dr. Robert Rudney is a retired senior adviser in the Department However, the reality today is that existing U.S. strategic of the Air Force. He was also chief consultant to the ABA Task nuclear weapons systems provide sufficient deterrence well past Force on the Nonproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruc- the year 2040. The last OHIO-class ballistic missile submarine tion and a fellow in Senator ’s office, working on is scheduled to retire in 2042. The Minuteman III intercon- defense issues. As a strategic analyst at the National Institute tinental ballistic missile can be extended past 2030, while the for Public Policy (1988–1999), he authored studies on the deter- B-52H bomber, armed with cruise missiles, can be deployed rence value of the multi-warhead MX Peacekeeper interconti- into the 2040s. While the safety and security of these systems nental ballistic missile and other nuclear weapons systems.

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The Prison Phone Rip-Off ingenious ones saw gold in the prison system and jockeyed to win contracts with the thousands of jails across the country: because By Barbara Koeppel millions of people cycle through these facilities, millions of dol- lars were waiting to be made. Worse, since the facilities sign monopoly contracts with a single company, this means incarcer- ou couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried. ated people have no choice. Even today, although most people Y When people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails call own cell phones, when someone is booked into facilities their their parents (say, on Mother’s or Father’s Day), they pay through phone is confiscated, so they’re locked into both the jail and its the nose. A 15-minute in-state call can cost $7.50 from a jail in phone service. New York and up to $18 in other states. This is especially bizarre Rates for out-of-state calls are regulated by the FCC, which set because phone rates around the globe are minuscule to zero. them about eight years ago at 21 cents a minute for prepaid calls For out-of-state calls, the spread can be larger—from $2.30 in and 25 cents for collect calls. Bianca Tylek, the executive director Massachusetts to over $17 in . of Worth Rises, a nongovernmental Ulandis Forte, who was once incar- organization that lobbies to lower cerated, is a prisoner rights advocate the cost of prison calls and promote who has critiqued the prison phone other reforms, says, “Although the system for years. On a recent NPR states and FCC set caps, enforce- show, he said, “When you’re in prison, ment has always been lax.” it’s an enormous pressure-reliever to This means that the phone com- speak to someone who knows you and panies’ profits from inmates have has your best interest at heart—espe- flourished. This is particularly true cially when you’re in an unfriendly for Global Tel Link and Securus environment. Technologies, which, through merg- “I’ve seen where not being able to ers, have cornered over 80 percent communicate with the outside world of the market. GTL’s revenues from has led to breakdowns, even suicides. calls and other fees (more on these And it isn’t fair to make children suf- later) were $654 million in 2019, and fer because of the lack of communi- Securus’s were $683 million in 2018. cation, due to the phone companies’ The profits from those who are incar- enormous greed. We still have a huge cerated are so highly prized that the impact on our loved ones and friends private equity firm Veritas Capital by being able to reach out.” and Goldman Sachs jointly bought While the phone calls keep fami- GTL in 1999 for $345 million and, lies connected, they are colossal cash in turn, sold it to American Securi- cows for prison telephone companies, ties in 2011 for $1 billion. Securus is payment-processing firms, the jails owned by Platinum Equity, headed and their sheriffs, and other local and by billionaire Tom Gores, who also state officials. The rip-off is particu- owns the Detroit Pistons. That these larly repellent since a majority of incarcerated people and their two companies have bought up so many others means competi- families are poor. tion is next to nil. A 2013 report by Prison Policy Initiative, or PPI, a nonprofit In a perverse negotiation process, sheriffs who run the jails that lobbies to reform the system, says the wide range of costs award contracts to the companies that charge the highest rates is mainly due to the size of kickbacks (called commissions) that and fees. Why? The companies agree to split their revenues from prison phone companies offer to jails and prisons in order to win each call with the jail. The percentage of the commission varies, the phone service contracts. but in jails around New York State, it ranges from 40 to 86 per- Can these kickbacks be legal? Surprisingly, yes. Some tele- cent: thus, on a $15 call, the company kicks back $12 to the jail. phone history here would be helpful. Until a few decades ago, Elsewhere, as in St. Louis County, Missouri, the jail awarded its calls to and from some jails were free—as at Rikers Island jail contract to ICSolutions, because that company offered the high- in New York City. At others, inmates used standard pay phones. est commission—73 percent—of all bidders. In its 2013 report, While the costs weren’t astronomical, they weren’t cheap, either; PPI points out that the same occurred with the Macomb County people held in these facilities had to make collect calls, which are jail in Michigan, which awarded the contract to the company that always more expensive. Still, they were manageable. offered a 78 percent commission. The scene changed when the Federal Communications The report notes some officials find the practice too dodgy: Commission broke up the AT&T phone monopoly in 1984 and “In 2007, the County Commissioners of Dane County, new phone companies sprang up almost overnight. The most voted to ban the commissions that brought in nearly $1 million

5 may/june 2021 per year. The County Supervisor explained, ‘We’ve lost our moral Today article, Pelicia Hall, Mississippi’s former com- compass and direction for a million bucks a year.’” But the report missioner of corrections, resigned “amid increased public scru- also notes that, in 2009, Dane County negotiated a new contract tiny over in-custody death and conditions inside the facilities.” where, instead of taking a commission, it would just take an Three months after she stepped down, GTL hired her as a senior “administrative” fee of $476,000 in monthly increments. vice president. The sums each jail nets from the commissions are huge— although again, based on the size of the county, there’s a wide Beware of the fees range. For example, in Michigan, the small jail in Alcona County Since the phone companies were paying huge commissions, netted a modest $4,800 in 2016, but in that same year the kick- they had to find other ways to ramp up their revenues. The backs to Genesee County were $233,000, and in Macomb County solution was in myriad fees: these were slapped on to open an they were $850,000. inmate’s or family’s phone account, to deposit money into it, and How do the jails use the dollars? Sheriffs claim they cover to get a refund from it for any unspent dollars when the account jail programs and the general budget. Critics say they swell the was closed. Although the FCC banned many of the fees in 2014, sheriffs’ and guards’ salaries. some are still charged: for example, it costs $3 to make an auto- And jails are not the only winners. According to a March 2021 mated payment (for using the phone account) and $2 to receive PPI report, sheriffs’ associations are also rewarded. For example, a paper bill. What’s key is that the phone companies don’t pay GTL gives 3 percent of the revenue from each call made from commissions on these fees. A 2019 PPI report says the fees can a New York jail to the State Sheriffs’ Association. In return, 80 raise the cost of a call by as much as 40 percent. percent of county sheriffs sign their phone contracts with GTL. Despite the FCC’s attempt to cap rates and eliminate certain This kickback—which does not show up in the counties’ con- fees, the average cost of a 15-minute in-state call from U.S. jails tracts—was documented in a 2019 exposé across the country is $5.74. Worse, the in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Sheriffs claim they cover jail same 15-minute call can be as high as Also, sheriffs favor companies that are programs and the general budget. $22 in Wisconsin and $18 in California, corporate sponsors of the National Sher- Critics say they swell the sheriffs’ and Oklahoma, and Kansas. For low-income iffs’ Association. Besides GTL, which is guards’ salaries. families, such amounts are onerous. considered a “diamond” partner, Pay-Tel Pauline Rogers, the founder and direc- Communications and the Keefe Group tor of Reaching and Educating for Com- (the parent of ICSolutions, which handles CenturyLink’s prison munity Hope, or RECH, a nonprofit group that offers housing phone business) are all “platinum” corporate partners. and other services to women when they’re released from prisons Moreover, the phone companies contribute generously to and jails, has been calling inmates for 30 years. Concerned about sheriffs’ election campaigns: the PPI reported in 2017 that GTL the costs, she recently called GTL (the company with the Mis- and Securus donated over $70,000 to several campaigns of a sissippi prison phone contract) to learn if people were charged a sheriff in Alameda County, California, while other companies separate connection fee—with per-minute rates added on top of donated to campaigns in Nevada, New York, and Florida. Thus that—and a reconnection fee if the call is dropped (as happens it is not surprising that sheriffs across the United States fiercely frequently). Twice, she asked the question to a GTL agent, and fight attempts by public interest groups and even congressional both times the agent refused to answer. She adds that in Missis- representatives to have the FCC lower rates and fees—as lower sippi, it costs her $3 to $4 to deposit $20 to $25 into the prison rates would depress the flow of dollars into the jails’ coffers. The phone account she uses for her advocacy work. prison phone corporations are equally opposed. Even if families have credit cards or bank accounts that are Other public servants have also had their hands in the till. For charged to deposit funds to their accounts, the phone companies example, Chris Epps, Mississippi’s former commissioner of the still tack on $3 for the transaction. Department of Corrections, stashed away $1.4 million in bribes The biggest fees are for single calls that incarcerated people from companies that sought contracts with the state’s prisons make when their families don’t have phone accounts. The rate and jails—one of which was GTL. And Epps, who is serving a for these calls is $4 for the first minute and 50 cents for each 20-year sentence in federal prison for bribery and filing a false additional one, plus a $3 onetime transaction fee. income tax return, was not alone: GTL’s largesse extended to a Others profiting off the prisoners are payment processing former Mississippi state representative, a state senator, business companies. The 2019 PPI report notes, “Many people living consultants, a prison consultant, the wife of a former lawmaker, in poverty . . . often pay their bills by money transfer via West- and an insurance broker. ern Union or Moneygram, which charge $6 to send a payment Nevertheless, GTL’s business continued as usual. It settled a directly to GTL, NCIC, Telmate, Paytel, or ICSolutions. These lawsuit with Mississippi for just $2.5 million and, according to the fees penalize those who can’t afford to open an account. Further, Mississippi Clarion Ledger, “GTL admitted no wrongdoing in the Western Union’s charges are higher when the money is sent to settlement.” Interestingly, GTL continues to capture the contract prison phone companies than to other companies (which usu- to provide phone services to Mississippi’s facilities. ally costs $1.50 to $3). And two companies—ICSolutions and Equally interesting is that, according to a March 2020 Continued on page 8, RIP-OFF

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Beyond Being “Black at Dalton” Following some open questioning of the school on various social media platforms, I was contacted by the creator of the By Zuri Washington Black at Dalton Instagram page. Subsequently, we became col- laborators, and as the summer progressed I found myself becom- ing the “face” of the page, commonly used to moderate events I got that ni--er c--nt suspended.” and do press whenever necessary. However, as time wore on, it “ That’s just one example of what being Black at the Dalton was clear that we were at odds as to how the movement should School was like for me—and I had a generally positive experience progress, so in August 2020, we parted ways. there—amazing, in fact. One thing in particular that I noticed and wanted to rectify No one went through Dalton at the time without know- was that, between experiences with Dalton itself and necessary ing of the Washington clan. I had deep ties in the arts, espe- affinity spaces such as Black at Dalton, there was a dearth of cially in the theatrical arts spaces that encouraged all of that would become my adult our disparate constituencies occupation. I was also pretty to come together. I wanted legendary as the first female- to go about bringing together identifying person to join the a group consisting of my middle school football team alumni peers and me, along (I became a first-string defen- with the occasional faculty sive end in my second year). member, parent, and student. My brother was a football cap- Since August, we have tain in high school and a staple been meeting over Zoom of the dance department. My twice a month under the ever-illustrious mother was on acronym DARC—Dalton’s Dalton’s board of trustees for Anti-Racism Coalition. In six years. this space, together, we cre- By her own example, my ate plans of action to hold mother engendered a feeling the school accountable, we of belonging that we always brainstorm plans to help it carried with us; that we had a progress in its anti-racism legacy at Dalton that no one efforts, and we are able to could take from us. We were provide the opportunity for there on scholarship, but that people across all communi- didn’t make either of us any The Dalton School in New York City. Photo by Jim Henderson. ties to come together and less a Daltonian than the kids have these messy conversa- whose parents managed hedge funds or came from a long line tions—conversations that are intrinsic to the anti-racist world of money or affluence. Our school motto, “Go forth unafraid,” we seek to bring into being. was something I took to heart and managed to inject into every Events over the 2020-21 school year—including a leaked part of my 11-year experience there. It shaped how I went about teacher proposal and subsequent in-fighting between the parents, interacting with the world, both inside and outside of its walls. faculty, and administration—led to the creation of a document And I was able to do more than just get by—I thrived at Dalton. by an anonymous group of parents and alumni, who titled it and The school held a special place in my heart: between classes, crowned themselves “Loving Concern @ Dalton.” They missed the play rehearsals, and study sessions, I felt like I owned those good old days of a “traditional” Dalton education and lamented the halls. Even after graduating, I would visit the school a couple of school’s attempts at prioritizing an anti-racist education. To them, times a year to check in with the usual suspects and traipse the anti-racism is the bogeyman, and their children are “innocent” hallways of my alma mater with a feeling akin to coming home. victims of its implementation. Fast forward to 2020—the proverbial end times. Parents wrongly decry anti-racism in their children’s educa- In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent tion—they erroneously believe that making space for anti-racism protests, marches, and rallies that rocked the nation, I felt a com- will somehow taint their children and force them to feel some bination of grief and determination. I was looking to institutions sort of guilt that will rob them of the joy and freedom from care I was familiar with in earnest—hopeful that at least Dalton, my of youth. White parents in particular lament what they see as the home away from home, had spoken out against this grave miscar- “loss of innocence” of their children—but what of my innocence? riage of justice and the festering of anti-Blackness in the United Children of color, and especially Black children, feel an unparal- States that was finally coming to a head. To my dismay, what I leled burden when buying into primarily white institutions like found instead was a lot of fumbling as the school and its leader- Dalton and are the most likely to be burned by the traditional ship attempted hackneyed dialogues with various constituencies. cultures that permeate those spaces, as they are designed to

7 may/june 2021 Continued from page 6, RIP-OFF protect the status quo. The boy who first bullied me and got me suspended when Legacy—charge an added fee to accept the payment. Of the I tried to defend myself would later gleefully utter the afore- three companies where Western Union’s fee is relatively low, mentioned slur to a small crowd of onlookers. He was in the two charge another fee that erases the savings to the customer. fifth grade. He was never held accountable by the school for his Western Union charges customers of GTL and Securus—the actions, and I was left feeling undervalued and unprotected. As prison phone market leaders—the highest rates. communities like Dalton continue to diversify, so too must we Since GTL and Securus recently bought two of the largest evolve in the ways in which we teach and promote a culture of money-transferring firms—Touch Tone and JPAY—they now respect. Not to be “more P.C.” but so that everyone comes out have even more control of the services and fees. of the experience a little more kind, a little more thoughtful, and a lot more discerning—not only about an individual action or Prison versus jail phone costs word that might be wrong but why, and what steps can be taken Before 2012, there were no rate caps. But that year, as men- to change it on a macro level. tioned earlier, the FCC limited the rates for out-of-state calls in My story is one of many. This boy was not an exception; his prisons and jails at 21 and 25 cents a minute. In 2016 (during actions and words were a symptom of a much larger problem the last year of the Obama administration), the FCC proposed that doesn’t leave a school even as liberal as Dalton untouched. cutting these rates in half, to about 11 cents a minute. However, Racism—that never-ending stain on “American values”—is still the lower rates never went into effect, and the FCC, under very much alive and well. Just ask George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Donald Trump, said it would not support the reduced rates if or Ahmaud Arbery. People see it, and yet there is still constant the phone companies sued to keep them high—which is exactly pushback because they can’t imagine they are part of the prob- what happened. In 2017, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled in favor lem, and they see the push for anti-racism as an unwelcome or of the companies. unnecessary indoctrination. This language and thought process State prison phone rates have historically been lower than infuriated quite a few people when it made the rounds online, those in jails due to lobbying by families and public interest myself included, so I gathered up fellow members of DARC and groups. According to those working on such reforms, it’s difficult we came up with a rebuttal of sorts that specifically called out the to lobby at the local level, since each state has so many jails. authors of the Loving Concern @ Dalton letter and called on the Also, jail populations are far more fluid—some people only stay wider community as well to take part in this new and necessary overnight, others for a few months awaiting trial, unable to pay anti-racist future. the bail. Thus, lacking rate caps, the cost of local (in-state) calls Brought back to basics, anti-racism is simply defined as the from jails—which are 92 percent of all calls—are huge. active fight against racism. It is a necessary part of our growth as we confront our history and where we find ourselves in the pres- Some cities lower costs ent day. Racism is alive and well. If you “object to” and therefore A few cities have outlawed the worst practices. For example, are against anti-racism, I’d hate to see your face when I explain calls from New York City and San Francisco jails are now free: to you what the opposite of it is and what you are aligning your- authorities consider them an overhead cost, just as they would self with. No one should have to argue the merits of anti-racism electricity, heat, food, and water. any longer—they aren’t up for debate. Also, last year, Dallas County commissioners reduced the cost You can get on board, or go somewhere else. of calls made from jails to about 1 cent a minute; thus a 15-min- ute call, which was $3.60, is now 18 cents. As noted in a Febru- Zuri Washington is an actress and alumni of the Dalton School ary 2020 KERA TV News item, “County Judge Clay Jenkins said from the class of 2009. She is a staunch advocate for progres- family members of inmates shouldn’t have to choose between sive policy and has been doing work to edify her various com- paying for basic necessities—like medication or bills—and talk- munities when she is not taking the stage by storm. ing to their loved ones.” The Connecticut legislature recently passed a bill to make phone calls free in its jails and prisons—the first state in the The following articles provide background on the controversy over country to take this action. Massachusetts has a similar bill pend- race at the Dalton School: ing, but it won’t be voted upon until the fall legislative session. Also, the FCC recently passed a rule to lower the rates for out-of- https://airmail.news/issues/2021-2-27/class-war state calls to 14 cents a minute for prisons and 16 cents for jails. These changes are positive, hard-fought first steps (it took https://airmail.news/issues/2021-5-1/the-view-from-here three years to get the bill passed in Connecticut). But the system is still stuck in the companies’ $1.4 billion boondoggle. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/ inside-the-antiracism-tug-of-war-at-an-elite-nyc-private-school Barbara Koeppel is a Washington, D.C.-based investigative reporter who covers social, economic, political, and foreign policy issues.

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Child Allowances: A Simple and government to make decisions about people’s lives. As the Nis- Inexpensive Way to Help Families kanen Center, a conservative think tank, put it, child allowances “leave paternalism to the parents.” Liberals like the fact that With Children child allowances don’t stigmatize the poor by providing means- By Steven Pressman tested benefits (such as SNAP or Food Stamps) and because they are an effective way to reduce child poverty. Nobel laureate economist Robert Solow estimated the annual aising children is expensive. A typical mid- cost to the nation due to child poverty at 3 percent of U.S. gross R dle-class, two-child family spends $13,000 annually on domestic product, or approximately $630 billion today. The each child, or nearly a quarter-million dollars per child in total Center for American Progress estimated the annual cost at 4 through age 17. This tally includes neither college costs nor the percent of GDP, or $840 billion. The cost comes from reduced cost to a family of putting money aside to help the children attend employment and taxes plus higher crime rates and health care college, which itself can easily run another quarter of a million expenditures. dollars or more for each child. The challenge is even greater Providing child allowances is a highly effective way to reduce for poor families that child poverty and have little income decrease these soci- and need to spend etal costs. According a large fraction of to the U.S. Census it supporting their Bureau, 14.4 per- children. Most fami- cent of U.S. chil- lies with children in dren (one in seven) the United States were poor in 2019. today are struggling The Luxembourg financially. Income Study, a Fortunately, there cross-national data- is a remedy—child base with compara- allowances. These ble information on are regular pay- household income, ments from the gov- estimates that in the ernment to families mid-2010s the child for the sake of their poverty rate in the children. Think of United States for it as universal basic two-parent fami- income, but for chil- lies was 13 percent. A young girl in McAllen, Texas, lines up at a Salvation Army feeding truck. Photo by David Davies. dren only. The aim is By comparison, the to help families support their children and keep families from child poverty rate for two-parent families was 7.9 percent in being penalized because they have children and more mouths Germany, 7.7 percent in the U.K., and 1.6 percent in Finland. to feed. This pro-child policy is necessary because firms won’t My research traces these international differences directly to pay workers more money if they have children. Any firm that government policies aiding families with children, particularly did this would find itself at a competitive disadvantage. For this child allowances. reason, virtually every country in the world has a child allowance Given the benefits of reducing child poverty, why has the program. (For more on child allowances in France, see my piece United States failed to adopt a child allowance program? Partly, in the August 2018 Washington Spectator.) the reason is that the United States has used other policies to Nations benefit from helping low-income families with chil- help families with children. dren. Children growing up in poverty get less education, earn less The main source of support for families with children has income, and pay less in taxes. They are a bigger burden on society been a tax exemption for each child. In 2017, the last year that throughout their life. They experience more health problems, this tax benefit was available, each dependent child provided an raising insurance costs for everyone, and receive more social exemption that reduced taxable income by around $4,000. The insurance benefits. Finally, there is considerable evidence that tax saving for a family then would depend on its tax bracket. poverty has noneconomic costs—it creates anxiety and behavioral Those in the top tax bracket (40 percent) got back $1,600 per problems in children and leads to greater instances of depression child; a family in the 10 percent bracket gained only $400 from compared with non-poor children. a $4,000 child exemption. Those in the 0 percent bracket, owing Support for child allowances comes from across the political no taxes, got no help. This was an upside-down subsidy. It helped spectrum. Conservatives like that they encourage parents to stay the affluent raise their children, but it did nothing to help poor at home and care for their kids and that they don’t require the families and little to help middle-class families.

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A push for change began in the 1990s. The National Com- 10-year government bonds). mission on Children recommended a universal $1,000 child tax Like Cinderella at midnight, after June 2022, the fully refund- credit (the equivalent of $2,000 today) in a 1991 report. With able child tax credit will return to what it was during 2020. A a tax credit, every household receives the same monetary ben- number of Democrats hope to make the refundable tax credit efit. It is very nearly a child allowance. The United States first permanent. If they succeed, it would be a major step forward in instituted a $400 child tax credit in the 1997 Taypayer Relief reducing child poverty in the United States. Act. But the credit was not refundable. Families owing no taxes A permanent child tax credit, or child allowance program, got nothing; and families owing less than the full amount of the would be of significant help to low- and middle-income fami- credit only got back the taxes they owed to the Federal govern- lies with children. The reduction in child poverty will benefit ment. Low-income families, needing the most help to raise their the entire nation in demonstrable ways. It is time to follow the children, were helped the least. rest of the world and make this a permanent feature of the When George W. Bush increased the tax credit to $1,000, as U.S. tax code. part of his 2001 tax cut, Democrats pushed to have it be partially refundable. The credit has been increased several times since then. In 2020, the credit was $2,000; $1,400 was refundable to those with at least $2,500 of earned income. Still, families with Steven Pressman is professor of economics at Colorado State children in the greatest need received no aid or very little. The University, author of Fifty Major Economists, 3rd edition Brookings Institution has calculated that 40 percent of the $118 (Routledge, 2013), and president of the Association for Social billion spent on this program in 2020 went to households with Economics. incomes above $100,000. In contrast, most children living in households in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution got nothing. Child poverty experts in Congress, including Democratic FROM THE Senators of Colorado, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, have pushed long and hard to make the tax credit fully refundable. They suc- EDITOR’S DESK ceeded when President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan on March 11. This $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,000, with an extra $600 for children under age 6, and made the credit fully refundable. Finally, the American Rescue Plan stipulated that payments be made monthly to families with children, rather than annu- Sign up for our free email ally through a tax refund. Beginning July 2021 and continuing newsletter by visiting through June 2022, most families will get monthly payments from the IRS of $300 for each young child and $250 for children over washingtonspectator.org. the age of 5. Providing money sooner helps the many families with variable income. Monthly payments will also reduce child hunger and homelessness, as well as the high-interest debt that Learn what’s new at The families incur (e.g., payday loans) to put food on the table and pay utility bills. As a full child allowance policy, these payments will Spectator, get special offers, make a huge difference in the lives of children whose families and find out about our online live paycheck to paycheck. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that exclusives and upcoming the changes in the child tax credit will lift 4.1 million children events. above the poverty line. The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University estimates that nearly five million children will escape poverty due to these changes, reducing the U.S. child poverty rate to 7.9 percent. It will cost $109 billion, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Given the costs of child poverty, as estimated by Solow and the SIGN UP Center for American Progress, the American Rescue Plan should pay for itself quickly by cutting the U.S. child poverty rate nearly washingtonspectator.org in half. Virtually no private investment has such a large rate of return. Furthermore, the government can borrow money for this investment at the rate of around 1.5 percent (the interest rate on

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Op-Ed waste rock and a tailings impoundment with a 21-acre footprint, Letter From Pembroke all cheek by jowl with a wildlife sanctuary and ecologically sensi- tive coastal waterways. Although the mining operation is long gone, Callahan today is an Environmental Protection Agency Reflections on the path forward, fromSeverine von Tscharner Superfund site, with extensive and ruinous soil and groundwater Fleming, a farmer, activist, and organizer who runs Smithereen contamination that the state of Maine and the federal govern- Farm, an organic wild blueberry, seaweed, and orchard opera- ment have been struggling for decades to clean up, at an esti- tion at the edge of Cobscook Bay, Maine, that’s certified by the mated cost in excess of $750,000 per year. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and hosts We, along with other young farmers, have found the rural summer camps, camping, and educational workshops. community of Cobscook Bay a suitable habitat for organic agriculture and have built up an educational campus, publish- A bit about our situation—Cobscook Bay lies in Downeastern- ing our New Farmer’s Almanac from our own research library most Maine, right up at the and producing online media Canadian border, a huge mul- from a set of historic build- tilobed bay with six rivers flow- ings. We have set up an art- ing into it, and a rare refugium ists’ residency, summer camp on the highly developed Atlan- program, and eco-tourism tic coastline. Here, we are business in a long-abandoned hosts to migrating right whales motel that happens to own the and the last runs of Atlantic dam across the Pennamaquan salmon, huge runs of herring River, where three of the four and mackerel, puffins, por- streams in the proposed mine poises, seals, eagles, herons, site would drain, and where all osprey, guillemots, and cor- the young children from our morants, and we’re a stopover town go to swim in the sum- for shorebirds traveling thou- mer. Now a company from sands of miles on their global Canada wants to poison it all. migration. Powered by mas- sive 22-foot tides and vibrant we must stop them forests of seaweed, a cold cur- rent down from Labrador, and We realize that all of us who the upwelling created by the Zoom, fly, or telecommute are Gulf Stream, this is a region of implicated in metallurgy and globally significant marine and therefore in mining—and, wildlife productivity. indeed, that most of the costs The area represents a and environmental conse- unique opportunity for res- quences of these digital tools toration, and in acknowledg- are borne by small villagers ment, millions of federal, state, in developing countries where and private dollars have been international mining compa- spent improving fish passage, The view from Smithereen Farm at the mouth of the Pennamaquan River nies operate with impunity. building fish ladders, highway But now, given the policy bridges, and culverts. And the response of the fish has been environment created by the “green energy push” and a wish to remarkable, as with the Penobscot River, where runs of sturgeon “reignite” domestic manufacturing and energy independence, and shad have bounced back. Our St. Croix River used to host mining for lithium and other metals have a kind of sanction, and more alewives, an estimated 30 million per year, than the rest our own state geologist and geological survey are conducting test of the rivers of Maine combined—now that the dams have been flights and facilitating speculation. Rural areas like ours are very removed, this river, too, is on the way to recovery. vulnerable to mining companies funded by the massive pile-up A company called Wolfden Resources, backed by Kinross and of private equity looking for a hedge, a durable asset, and most wildcat speculators, has announced plans to develop a 60-mile- particularly, for metals. We, like so many others in our national long silver vein, about two miles from the center of our town network of young farmers, must now learn to navigate the regula- and from the heart of Cobscook Bay. The proposed undertaking, tory process to confront this mine. while vastly larger than the Callahan mine in nearby Brooksville, Most of the people I’ve met and learned from in the mine has characteristics that are similar to Callahan, a mere 120-acre fight are in their seventies and eighties: these former legislators, property that nevertheless generated 1.7 million cubic yards of lawyers, and longtime community organizers have put in the time

11 may/june 2021 and hours and testimony. But still, our industry-friendly regula- tory process leaves us vulnerable—we need another generation and a huge pulse of mobilization in order to convince our gover- nor, our Department of Environmental Protection, our represen- tatives to take seriously the plain evidence of acid mine drainage to our groundwater, aquifers, rivers, and coastal fisheries. Mines of marginal quality in wet environments like Maine may not make sense, but they will exist somewhere, and everywhere they exist we will need to mobilize to better ensure responsible practices. If we acknowledge our complicity, will more of us wake up to the need or orient ourselves to the healing, to a restoration econ- omy, and to the long, unglamorous work of regulating industry? As we confront these global players poised to contaminate our home watershed, I hope that our small cultural organization can make a difference by bringing this story about resource extrac- tion to a network we have built in celebration of agro-ecology, rural resilience, and to the restoration of agrarian self-determi- nation. As we come to value farmland, farming, and the work of stewardship, we can extend that care to all the land impacted by our modern lives, and get involved. We have created a site, www.stopbigsilver.org, for more infor- mation, to get involved, and to welcome visitors who might be motivated to help us resist the expansion of high-sulfur polyme- tallic mining here in Maine.

Reversing Falls, Pembroke

Young’s Cove, Pembroke

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