COVID 19 Stimulus - Round 4; Horse Trading is Good for America

Attached below is an article the reviews the attempted horse trading going on with trillions of your tax dollars. The US Budget for the fiscal year ended Sept 30 2019 was just over $4 trillion (that is $4,000 billion.) Even in fiscal 2019, the Federal government borrowed additional debt of nearly $3 trillion. So with the stimulus payments this year, Federal spending could easily approach $6 trillion and what is being proposed or "negotiated" is an additional $1 to $3 Trillion. 

The concerns with previous stimulus is that some payments were clumsily provided and the substantial unemployment benefits incentivized some not to return to work. Readers should know that the average unemployment benefits per week were about $330. The CARES Act increased that to $930 per week with an addition $600 per week. That combination of state unemployment benefits and CARES act provided such large benefits that some workers preferred to stay home rather than return to work. Many receiving those benefits were being paid more than "many essential workers" that were showing up to serve Americans during the Pandemic. 

This is a typical ideological conflict that is common place. Dems always want more hand outs, even when excessive, to curry favor with voters. Repubs are willing to help the needy but do not want to create incentives that are counter productive. 

Like most policy disputes in Washington there are easy pragmatic solutions if elected leaders did what is best for Americans. But they don't. 

A Simple Truth solution is to taper benefits down to zero in a few months to encourage everyone to return to work. Say continue for two months at $500 per week.. then two months at 300 per week and then drop to $100 per week after four months for another 6-12 months.

There are other issues in dispute but the Simple Truth is there are pragmatic solutions. Another key dispute is over Federal bail outs for states that have wrought havoc on financial position due to long standing unsound financial practices and flawed lockdown decisions. These are democrat run states like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. 

But "we" elect too many to Congress that care more about their political future than doing what is best for America. Let them know how you feel. No more horse trading.

Here is the Article that provides a recap the breakdown in "negotiations."

Here is a link to the Federal Budget with actual data about spending.

Bernie: "America Not Compassionate" WRONG!

Bernie Sanders said today that "America is not a Compassionate Society" This is what is wrong with Progressives, Liberals and Some Democrats. And Bernie.

Our "society" has agreed to $trillions in taxes used to pay benefits in America to people that need help. It takes the form of food stamps, Section 8 housing, Medicaid (health care for the poor), and hundreds of other programs for people in need. We also provide an array of programs to educate and retrain people.

The values that made America the country it is today is liberty and self-reliance. And Compassion. When Europeans came across the Atlantic, they did not have a government to refuel their ships. When settlers traveled through the West, they had little or nothing from the US government to support them. They survived on self-reliance and grit. We have never been a country that values government supporting "everyone". Most businesses have thrived on sheer determination, not government support.

And yet, we (as an American Society) have been willing to provide these $trillions to help our fellow man. And that doesn't include $trillions more than come through private donations and contributions.

And, while we are at it, who but America shows up all over the world to help those in need. Have these progressives forgot about Europe and Hitler, or our disaster relief in Thailand, Earthquake relief in Pakistan, or never ending offers of aid to China, Russia and other countries. And don't overlook the military commitments to keep the world safe paid for by America.

Bernie Sanders is wrong! If you support him you are ignorant or subscribe to un-American values. Condemn his comments or choose another more compassionate country to live in.

Best Books; Hillbilly Elegy - Crises in the Culture of Poor White America

From American Conservative
By Rod Dreher - July 22, 2016

"I wrote last week about the new nonfiction book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance, the Yale Law School graduate who grew up in the poverty and chaos of an Appalachian clan. The book is an American classic, an extraordinary testimony to the brokenness of the white working class, but also its strengths. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. With the possible exception of Yuval Levin’s The Fractured Republic, for Americans who care about politics and the future of our country, Hillbilly Elegy is the most important book of 2016. You cannot understand what’s happening now without first reading J.D. Vance. His book does for poor white people what Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book did for poor black people: give them voice and presence in the public square. This interview I just did with Vance in two parts (the final question I asked after Trump’s convention speech) shows why."

Trump: Tribune of Poor White People - American Conservative