FREE MONEY IS NOT FREE

Back in the Hippie Days of the late sixties and early seventies, there was a saying: Free Love is not Free. This was in response to a society that had embraced the concept of free love. Living together without marriage, which had once been scandalous, was now accepted as the norm. But the older generation wagged their finger and warned against so much sexual freedom. They had a point, because unmarried women still kept getting pregnant, and there was an explosion of STDs. Today, we have a new type of freedom to worry about. A government that’s borrowing wildly to print money, writing stimulus checks every few months, and rewarding those who choose not to work with generous unemployment benefits. But it seems we’re about to learn our lesson: Free Money Is Not Free.

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Supposedly, prices have increased a mere 5%. I don’t know who’s pumping out those figures, but here’s an example: A month ago, I could buy a low calorie frozen dinner for $2.29 cents. Today, that same product was on the shelves with a price tag of $3.59. At the home improvement store, floor covering I bought last year has increased from 54 cents a square foot to 89 cents. To me, these and numerous other price increases are closer to 40%.. All this free money has pumped up demand, creating a scarcity for goods and services..

Free Money is not Free. The feds don't know what will happen with inflation — Free Money is not free. The feds are blowing smoke when they say high inflation will not last.

I don’t know where the fed is coming from. First, Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen. says inflation is “good” for the country. Then, she’s comforts us by predicting that it’s only temporary and prices will soon go back down. I say this lady is blowing smoke , along with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. They are basing their predictions on events that occurred in previous administrations. None of them have ever been though a pandemic like COVID-19, and they have no more idea of what is going to happen to prices than you and me. .

As a matter of fact, I think the average, middle class consumer has a better handle on the future of our economy that they do, because we’re driving to appointments, going to grocery stores, and buying home improvement items on a day to day basis. We, the ordinary tax payers are paying more for everything because all this free money has created such a high demand. Eventually, taxes will go up to pay for the free money , and so will interest rates. Ordinary people will find they are struggling to pay their bills every month. Many businesses will fail and unemployment will increase.

According to Fortune Magazine, “The economic lockdown, and the gigantic new spending enacted to combat it, brings the day of reckoning far closer. By borrowing multiple trillions at a pace never before seen, the U.S. is endangering the sterling credit that makes Treasuries and the dollar the safest of havens for global investors. It is likely that within the next decade, the U.S. will need to impose monumental tax increases. What America’s leaders aren’t saying is that it’s the middle-class Americans working today, the autoworkers, nurses, and deli owners, and not just their future generations, who’’ll foot most of the bill.”

Free Money Isn’t Free.

April 19, 2021April 20, 2021

HELP! AMERICANS ON THE DOLE

Three days a week I drive into town for various activities and trips to the library. During that short , five mile drive, I see help wanted signs everywhere. Who’s looking for help? Restaurants, of course. But also dry cleaners, manufacturers, gas stations, dollars stores. You name the place, they have jobs that need filling. At the same time, most of us know of people who have enjoyed a year long vacation due to the CARES ACT unemployment benefits, augmented by stimulus checks. And they’re not going back to work until the money runs out. Meanwhile, businesses are desperate for workers. Help! Americans on the dole.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. Laid off workers have been known to postpone looking for jobs until their unemployment compensation ends for as long as I can remember. This has always puzzled me. I lost a job once, and was frantic at the thought of being without work. Within a week, I’d scouted around and found another position. Yes, I could have drawn unemployment benefits, but I wouldn’t have enjoyed them. The fear of not finding a replacement job would have eaten away at me. And there was another element: embarrassment. I wouldn’t have wanted people to know I didn’t have a job.

Help! Americans on the dole. People can sleep in, draw unemployment benefits, and not worry about money coming in. — HELP! AMERICANS ON THE DOLE. People would rather sleep in while drawing unemployment benefits, than go back to work..

All of that’s gone now. The work ethic that made this country great has dwindled away over the years. In fact, those who didn’t get laid off and aren’t entitled to unemployment checks, envy those who are enjoying all the free time. They’re wondering why in the world they’re getting up out of bed every morning to go to work while their unemployed friends can sleep in without worrying about groceries and rent.

When will it finally end? There’s talk now about a third round of stimulus money. How many small business and restaurants will have to close because they can’t pay workers enough to give up their unemployment benefits, bolstered by stimulus checks? Help! AmericaNS on the dole.

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021

BRINGING HOME BACON COSTS MORE

The feds keep telling us that all this monopoly money they’re sending out in stimulus checks won’t cause inflation. I think the treasury secretary, or whomever is in charge of the taxpayers’ money, says it won’t be more than 2 percent this year. Ask anyone who does the family grocery shopping about that. Yesterday, I bought 12 ounces of bacon for $6.75. That was the cheapest price. The fancier brands went up to $12 a pound. In 2020, the average price for a pound (16 oz) of bacon was $5.83. No matter how you figure it, that’s about a 25% increase. Bringing home the bacon costs a lot more than it did last year.

Vegans would tell us we’re getting our just desserts for eating meat. If they had their way, we wouldn’t be able to buy bacon at all. As a dietitian, I’m all for healthy eating. But I grew up on after-church, Sunday morning bacon and eggs. My parents made it to their late eighties, so that once a week treat didn’t cause them a premature death. At our house, we have continued my family tradition—in moderation. Each of us has two strips of bacon, one fried egg, toast and orange slices, every Sunday morning. However, the rest of the week we’re very careful with portion control, and follow a Mediterranean diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.. We seldom eat red meat

I can remember a short time ago-maybe a year—when a cart full of groceries cost between $50 and $60. Now’s it hard to get out of the supermarket for less that $90 bucks a pop. C’mon Janet Yellen, that’s not 2% inflation.

Let’s go on to housing. Home prices have risen 15 % in one year. Gasoline prices have risen 75 cents a gallon since the November 3 election. The unemployment rate is going down, but fewer people have jobs. I suspect most of us know someone who has dropped out of the workforce, and quit looking for a job, Many small businesses are gone forever.

The point is, we’re experiencing much higher inflation than the feds are letting on. Ask any housewife or house husband. Bringing home the bacon costs more. And fewer people can afford to buy.

November 11, 2020November 11, 2020

MAXING OUT AT THE DOLLAR STORE

Dollar Stores are everywhere—out in the country, and all over town. During this pandemic they’ve become a good place to shop for basics while getting in and out quickly. Some are classier than others, although none of them really fit that description. I’m most apt to stop at the one near the public library on my way home. Compared to other Dollar Stores, It’s pretty much down to the nitty gritty. Because of shoplifting, many products are either locked up or in short supply. They have a steady stream of customers in this low income neighborhood. Yesterday, I noticed more people maxing out at the Dollar Store.

It didn’t seem very crowded at first. But after I’d picked up my vitamins, I noticed the checkout line was backed up, and moving slower than usual. The bottle neck was a woman who couldn’t seem to get her credit card to work. She made several attempts to key in various numbers, with no luck. The clerk was kindly, trying to help. I contemplated offering to pay her bill, until I noticed her cart was filled with soda pop and salty snacks. The dietitian in me just couldn’t deal with that. If you’re almost broke, shouldn’t you buy something healthy? Not for me to judge. She finally found a card that worked, so that ended my moral dilemma.

It’s not unusual to see someone on the edge at that Dollar Store. But it didn’t used to happen very often. However, the next person in line had a similar problem. Since her credit card seemed to be maxed out, her companion pulled some coins and a few wrinkled bills from his pocket, and they made it through. I looked at the customers lined up behind me. They seemed tired and worried. One woman took some items from her cart and put them back on the shelf. The parking lot was full of dented cars and rusty trucks.

Maxing Out at the Dollar Store is a sign of the times. — More folks are maxing out at the Dollar Store, which is a bad sign for the economy.

As I drove out of the parking lot, I felt something coming on; restless as a hurricane. Is this a portent of things to come? I would guess that many of the customers in that store are unskilled folks who work in restaurants or other places where more educated people don’t want to work.. Because of the covid’19 pandemic, their low paying jobs have dried up. They went through their unemployment pay and stimulus money in July. What will happen next? Are we headed for a deeper recession?

When people are maxing out at the dollar store, you have to worry.

June 26, 2020June 26, 2020

6 MISSING NUMBERS ABOUT COVID-19

We’re bombarded with news about the coronavirus. We know how many people got sick or died in our city, state, country, and all over the world. Yesterday, we learned that the United States Treasury sent over one million stimulus checks to dead people. But in spite of all the information flying around the media, there are still some things we don’t know. There are six missing numbers about covid-19.

1. How many rich people received stimulus checks that they did not need? Shouldn’t the poor and homeless have received most of the stimulus money?

2. How many employees took a free vacation rather than returning to work? $600 a week federal unemployment plus state unemployment pay amounted to more than some were making in salary and tips. Especially in places with a low cost of living.

3. How many patients were infected in each nursing home ? Our governor thinks it’s no one’s business. But he’s wrong. Most neighboring states are providing those statistics.

Missing covid-19 numbers. How many athletes have tested positive — 6 missing covid-19 numbers. Many athletes testing positive are asymptomatic. What about everyone else?

4. How many asymptomatic people are walking around? . Athletes all over the world are now being tested. In one case, there was a 35% infection rate among soccer players. We’ll never really know those numbers unless every person in the world is tested.

5. How many people who didn’t wear masks got sick? If you look at the folks not wearing masks, you may notice that they often don’t look very clean. Out in the parking lot, you see them getting into dirty cars filled with trash. Consequently, you wonder how their homes look. These are not people worried about good hygiene. It would be helpful to know the statistics. Do those of us who follow CDC guidelines have a lower infection rate? Or does it not make any difference at all? Careless people might have developed better immunity over the years, after being exposed to so many more germs.

6. How many businesses got rich on the virus? Manufacturers of hand sanitizer and face masks, for starters. Grocery stores sales increased by 50% at first. .At least 7 healthcare billionaires got richer off the pandemic. As a result, while poor people are lined up for free food, these lucky guys are looking at bigger yachts and vacation homes.

When we come up with a vaccine, the pandemic will end. Then, maybe some investigative reporters will come up with the answers to those questions.

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020

PANDEMIC SENSE AND NONSENSE

Things are settling down and reopening up. Although the coronavirus is still with us, we can sit back and wonder about the pandemic sense and nonsense that occurred. A lot of decisions were made by different elected officials all over the country, that didn’t seem well thought through. Here in the heartland, ordinary people don’t always agree with what has gone down.

Congress hurried up and passed a massive stimulus bill that benefited some people far more than others. The strangest thing was the stimulus checks. Anyone who filed a tax return for less than $75,000 received tax free money that wasn’t based on need or cost of living. $1200 won’t go very far in San Francisco, but it could pay for a lot of rent and groceries in small town, America. Same thing with the unemployment benefits. $600 a week plus state unemployment will go a long way in some parts of the country. In fact, it’s proven to be a disincentive for restaurant employees’ returning to work. Consequently, a lot of tax payer money has gone to people who really don’t need it at all.

.Restaurants and bars have been allowed to open for a couple of weeks in our city. They must follow certain social distancing guidelines but at least you can be served a meal that you didn’t have to cook or send for. This coming week, our library will finally be allowed to open their doors. Does this seem a little strange? Why are libraries so far down the totem pole? They should have opened before bars and hair salons.

Libraries are at the heart of any city. Books feed the soul, and will get you through tough times. I can remember growing up in the post depression years during World War II. Everything good was rationed. You couldn’t’ even buy ice cream—it had to be sherbet, unless you made it yourself. But the highlight of my week—starting at age six—was my weekly trip to the library. A good book will take you to far away places, and show you how people in other times or in different countries think and feel. Nothing can replace books. Certainly not a bottle of beer or a plate of spaghetti eaten at a restaurant.

Mask wearing was another thing. First, we were told it didn’t help to wear a mask. Then, about a month later, all the scientists were telling us we should wear masks, after all. It’s no wonder so many people refuse to wear one.

When things settle down, we’re going to look back at some of the decisions that were made and scratch our heads. Mayors are criticizing governors, and governors are criticizing the president. The politicians are all busy pointing fingers and placing blame. But the truth is, everyone has been floundering in a sea of the unknown. Common sense went out the window