Scattered Acres

I’m not sure we need $600 each from the new slug of federal stimulus funds. While I always appreciate money that comes over the transom, we run a tight financial ship that provides for the essentials in life and small pleasures. In other words, as retirees, we plan prudently for what we need and what we want with the resources at hand.  Millions of people are hurting as a result of the pandemic through absolutely no fault of their own. That includes the laid off unemployed and the myriad of very small businesses that are forced to abide with pandemic guidelines that destroy their financial viability. Those who continue to work as before are doing well. What is needed is 1) a predictable safety net for the unemployed, 2) aid to keep small businesses with fixed expenses afloat until restrictions upon them are removed, and 3) aid for states, cities and towns that are working with reduced revenues and, incidentally, employ millions.  So do I need $600? $1,200 for the two of us? Do...

President Biden’s first job is to sooth the wounds that Trump has brought upon America. In that regard, he should form a unity government that includes some responsible Republicans (a rare animal, indeed). This will infuriate progressives (of which I consider myself one), but the Democratic Party did not do well down ballot. It’s a time for healing. In particular, Biden can give the rural, white, partially educated, Trump supporters not what they want, but what they need. What they need are respect, decent employment, education, medical care, community, etc. What to do? My list in no particular order: 1) Omnibus Infrastructure Program for the Future. - Includes widespread repairs and updating; Broadband extension to rural areas; Clean energy  and conservation measures; Climate change defense and amelioration; More I haven’t thought of. It’s a jobs program.  2) Employment and Income Security. - $15/hour minimum federal wage; Equal opportunity employment; Pages from the New Deal...

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Fox News, “It wouldn’t be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would get working ...” The Washington Post noted that “Part of the problem stems from a push by administration officials and GOP lawmakers to reduce a $600 weekly payment of enhanced federal unemployment benefits.” $600 for a forty hour week amounts to $15/hour; for fifty weeks of work it comes to an annual income $30,000. Curiously enough, $15/hour has been cited as a living wage. So why would anyone seek out a minimum wage job if you can get twice as much doing nothing?  At present, the federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour and 20 states hew to this standard for jobs falling under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Ten of these are states in the old Confederacy. The District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction with a $15.00 minimum wage; others are headed that way in the future. California comes in at $13.00 followed by Massachusetts at $12.7...

Why does the stock market go up when everything else is going down? They say that the stock market looks past the present into the future. If that's the case, maybe investors are looking forward to the end of Trump and a Biden presidency. That would be cause for optimism. Trump, of course, uses the the stock market as a measure of his economic acumen. If he thinks he is the cause for a rise in the market, he is right. The stock market is looking at his departure.

I think I’m being followed. No sooner do I look something up on the internet that an ad relevant to my search pops up within seconds. That’s amazing, but also worrisome. Big brother is everywhere.  I have a problem with overpriced printer ink. For many years I’ve been using generic ink that works just fine. But when I updated my driver for a printer from the ABC company, the printer refused to print unless I installed ABC ink cartridges. I liked the printer; too bad I have to spend and arm and a leg to get it to print.  So I went back to using a retired printer from the ABC company. And a message came along to update the driver. Not on your life. But the ABC company wasn’t through with me. “Low on cyan” appears in the screen - and immediately an ad from the ABC company appeared urging me to buy more ABC ink. Not at those prices. So I installed a generic cartridge and received an onscreen warming that it wasn’t ABC ink. It works! Don’t upgrade.  I’ve bought my...

Why is it that every time a few million more people lose their jobs, the stock market goes up? Somebody is getting rich on other people's misery. The disconnect between the market and reality is as  vivid as inequality in America. How to handle the problem of skewed income, wealth and power?