What’s in it for me?
Book signing coming Saturday in Queensbury
The Front Page
Morning Update
Friday, October 1, 2021
By Ken Tingley
I don’t like to spend money. It’s not that I’m “cheap,” it’s that I’m frugal. I love that word “frugal” because it makes my cheapness sound more palatable.
I’ve always been a saver and now in retirement I’m seeing the fruits of that saving. Yet, I still don’t like to spend money.
As a staunch fiscal conservative, it scares the bejesus out of me when Congress starts talking about spending trillions of dollars, just as it scares the bejesus out of me when my wife starts talking about “blowing out the kitchen.” Having been through multiple bathroom renovations, I know the dollar signs at stake.
This past weekend I heard something intriguing about the $3.5 trillion that the Democrats want to spend over the next 10 years.
I’m approaching the magical age of 65 when I qualify for Medicare. I was shocked to learn that Medicare does not include dental, hearing and vision services at the time when people my age need that coverage the most.
The reality is that I’m in the “What’s in it for me?” category when it comes to government spending.
For instance, I’m still waiting for the payoff after Congress cut corporate taxes in 2017. According to the Brookings Institute, one of those rare Washington think tanks respected on both sides of the aisle, the corporate tax cut never paid for itself, nor grew the economy.
Brookings concluded in February 2020:
“The TCJA did not pay for itself, nor is it likely to do so in the future. There are many debates to have about the TCJA, but whether it raised or reduced revenues in 2018 should not be one of them.”
That got me wondering if there was anything else for me in all this proposed spending.
It turns out there wasn’t a lot, but then again I don’t need a lot at my age. What is proposed is relief for young, working families.
Everybody would get help in paying for childcare for the first five years of a child’s life. I wish I had that when I was changing diapers. There would be two years of free community college. I’m guessing that would be a boon for SUNY Adirondack and make college affordable - at least for the first couple of years - for many families.
There would also be enhanced child tax credits for families who make $150,000 or less, which I’m guess would be most of the families around here.
There would also be comprehensive paid family and medical leave for up to 12 weeks. It would provide at least two-thirds of earnings, up to $4,000 a month, while the lowest paid workers would get a such as 80 percent of their earnings when faced with a family crisis.
Perhaps, the most important provisions are the ones that address climate change. See my newsletter earlier this week about my generation’s failure to address this crisis. This gives us a second chance.
There is a provision for a “clean electricity performance program” which pays utility companies that increase their renewable energy supplies by 4 percent a year. Companies that fail would face financial penalties.
There are also provisions for providing electric vehicles. A report on PBS showed that could be as much as $12,500 for a regular consumer toward buying an electric car. That could make electric cars affordable for many average consumers. Even if you really hate to spend money - like me - this could steer you toward cleaner energy.
Ah, but how do we pay for all these goodies.
Remember that corporate tax cut from 2017 that did not grow the economy? Well, Democrats have proposed raising that from 21 to 26 percent - yeah, that’s a big hit - while raising the taxes of every single one of you in the community who make MORE than $400,000 (from 37 to 39.6 percent) a year.
I’m guessing that is not many of you. And for those of you that does include, well, count your blessings.
Book signing
The new Book Warehouse at The Outlets in Queensbury will be hosting me in my first book signing on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.
You are welcome to bring your book and have it signed. If you still need to get a book, they will be available at the Book Warehouse.
Or if you just want to stop by and say hello, that would be fine, too.
Seems it was okay for Trump to run up $7 Trillion of debt. For what? Giving millionaires, billionaires and major corporations all the tax breaks. Some of which pay zero dollars in taxes! Taxing these folks pays for President Biden's proposals. These proposals stretch over 10 years. Funny, Joe Manchin's own constituents support these proposals. Manchin is a millionaire from a very poor state. I support the President.
I have real concerns with what is being proposed and what we are unaware of that is included in this "bill." And the idea that there somehow is no cost involved as stated by President Biden and the House Majority Leader Pelosi, is beyond ridiculous, in my opinion, which does gives me pause. Nothing in life is truly free. I am concerned about inflation, which will impact those who can least afford it. Gas is already over $3 and climbing, increasing food prices continue to rise, not all are working, and shock, businesses do pass on increases in taxes and other expenses they incur to consumers. I am also concerned about spending the trillions of dollars that are in question, which will mean those funds will not be available to confront the oncoming international crises that are just over the horizon. Whether we want to see them or not. This is not a partisan political question for me, but I think Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is on to something when he stated yesterday, as reported in The Hill, “What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity,” Manchin said in the statement.