The biggest stories of 2024 that never made it to the headlines

Everyone writes about what the biggest stories were of the past year, but what we should focus on are the biggest stories that were not reported enough in the past year. Here's my Top 10 list

By Ray Hanania

FREE/Year in Review Top 10 Stories/Friday, Dec. 27, 2024

When most people look back over the past year, everyone seems to focus on the big news that shocked us. They do all kinds of “Top 10” Lists, the best and worst stories of the year.

Are we really shocked by the headlines of the past year? Or do they just keep recurring year after year with different faces and circumstances, deflecting us from the shocking things that did not happen?

Those lists usually only cover the stories that were actually reported and don’t include the stories that the mainstream news media ignored.

I prefer to look back at the year and identify the things that should have happened but did not, events that would make our lives better but that instead make our lives far worse.

Here’s my Top 10 List of stories that should have been news and given more coverage in 2024:

1 - Let’s start with Senior Citizens. Seniors are little more than generic statistics used to exploit us. They address our fears, but the politicians never offer any real solutions.

Social Security has a problem, but no one wants to do anything about it. The easiest solution is to make everyone pay a Social Security payroll tax, not just those earning $168,000 a year or less.

There would be no Social Security problem if a tax were paid into the so-called Social Security “Trust Fund” for every dollar earned regardless of annual income. Whether you make $50,000 or $5 million, you should pay into the “Trust Fund.” If you are lucky enough to earn more than $500,000 a year, you should be disqualified from collecting Social Security when you retire.

Instead of taxing the wealthy, our culture taxes the lowest. Each year we pay higher income taxes, higher sales taxes, higher utility taxes, and higher fees at every level (Federal, State, County, and municipal).

We get taxed when we earn money, spend money, and on the property we buy.

Meanwhile, the people who ignore our needs, take care of themselves first.

2 – The powerful should be held more accountable.

In the past 20 years, Congress has spent $17.2 million to settle 268 allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against its members. Worse, Congress prevents that information from being published. It was paid in secret. The hush-money comes from taxpayers, but taxpayers are not told about it.

Only one member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, had the courage to raise that issue. And no one listened.

3 - Punish the Healthcare Insurance Industry. Luigi Mangione, the guy who shot and killed Universal Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, should be punished. But is no one talking about punishing Universal Healthcare and ALL of the insurance industry healthcare companies who sentence Americans to death every day.

It is estimated that between 40,000 and 80,000 Americans die each year because either they are denied insurance, or their insurance refuses to pay for treatment. It takes the “care” out of “healthcare.”

The numbers that die each year because of care denial is vague because the “Healthcare” industry doesn’t allow that information to be document or reported. How you ask?

In 2024, the “Healthcare” industry paid $117 million to lobbyists to prevent Congress from passing laws that make them more accountable to the public they are supposed to serve.

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries/summary?id=F09

President Joe Biden has received $8.2 million during the past three decades, according to Open Secrets which monitors PAC money donations. Senator Mitt Romney was paid $7.7 million. Every big name politician, the Clintons, Obama, McCain, McConnel and Schumer just to name a few, received millions.

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary?cycle=All&ind=F09&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U

The insurance industry should be managed by the Federal government, but instead is managed by each state, making it easier for the lobbyists to block reforms, and earn more money for themselves.

4 – We hear about airline accidents and flaws. But the biggest flaw are the excessive and inconsistent airline fees imposed on travelers. Frontier Airlines, for example, charges nearly $100 for every bag you check in, after you book your flight.

Why isn’t there price consistency in the airline industry to protect passengers? Why? The airline industry has their own lobby, too. Maybe we should get rid of lobbies?

5 – Why don’t we have consistent criminal laws nationwide that are the same in every state? If a criminal is convicted for using a gun to injure or kill a police officer, that criminal should face a mandatory sentence: 20 years for injuring a police officer; the death sentence for killing a police officer.

6 – Locally: I have a problem with people who have handicap cards on their cars who park in handicap parking spots and then prance out of their vehicles like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. I saw a driver at Mariano’s last week park in a handicap spot and beat me to the door. And I had a head start.

7 – Not enough has been done to respond to Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi who shifted a major part of the property tax burden from businesses to homeowners. Kaegi’s decision reduced the burden on businesses, who donate to his election campaign, and shifted it to the backs of voters. His business pals donate to his re-election while the voters only get to elect him.

As a consequence, the property taxes have increases significantly on homeowners varying from increases of a few thousand to 10 thousand dollars per property.

Anyone who owns property in Cook County who votes top re-elect Kaegi is an idiot and you deserve to pay increased property taxes. For the rest of us, the majority, you need to make a sacred vow to VOTE AGAINST KAEGI in the next election if he is stupid enough to rerun or to vote against anyone he supports to take his place if he doesn’t. And that goes for anyone who endorses Kaegi. You should vote against them too.

Not enough has been written about Kaegi’s betrayal of the homeowners who voted him into office in 2018.

You can support this effort to REMOVE FRITZX KAEGI from office and prevent him from ever holding office again by FRIENDING the REMOVE FRITZ KAEGI FROM OFFICE Facebook Page. CLICK HERE

8 – We need a cap on taxes.

Governments should be forced to live within their means. In other words, they should better manage property taxes to cover the services they provide.

There should be a maximum cap on sales taxes that should not exceed 3 percent for the state, 2 percent for the county and 1 percent for local governments. Orland Park, for example, has one of the highest property taxes in Illinois, 10.5 percent.

The mayor there falsely claims that the village sales tax hike doesn’t apply to groceries but that is a lie. It doesn’t apply to certain groceries.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is also guilty of playing the sales tax shell game. Not enough has been written about this topic. However, the problem is that there should be a limit on how much can be charged in sales taxes. Sales taxes are a percentage of sales so they are proportional. They don’t seem like much until you purchase a big retail item like furniture, a car or even a computer.

9 – Cap the costs of prescriptions and end the domination of Big Pharma.

10 – LIMIT PAC MONEY. Place a maximum ceiling limit on the amount of money that can be spent in any state, county, or municipal election. Limit the amount of money that Political Action Committees (PACs can donate to election campaigns.

The power to elect our government representatives needs to return to the voters and that means preventing dark money and PAC money from being used to side-step election finance laws to pour obnoxious amounts of money into campaign coffers. Take the power to elect our government representatives away from the PACs and give it back to the voters.

That also includes placing a limit on the total amount of money foreign interest PACs can donate to members of Congress to influence their votes on Foreign Policy. Today, many foreign countries have more influence on our elected officials than American voters.

NOTE: I want to hear your ideas. Email me at rghanania@gmail.com or post a comment about how your property taxes have increased significantly over the past two years because of Kaegi’s Assessment increases on homeowners and Assessment reductions on businesses.