Hi Ranty Nation! Ranty McRantyson har agin!
In mah last three talks ah jawed a bit bout whether or not ah thunked Pres Biden’s gonna be more like Pres FDR or Pres Hoover (Trump) in the article, “Pres Biden’s Now Offishully Pres #46… #FDRorHoover“. So far as ah can see, the jury’s still out on that one.
Trumpvilles
From article: Tent City 3 at Saint Mark’s: A Report from Summer 2020
Along the same lines, ah thunked ah’d talk bout how we are left wit all these “Trumpvilles”. Now, ah can already hear y’all thunkin, “Whut you be talkin bout Ranty? Whut’s a ‘Trumpville’? Is this sum new real estate thang that Pres Trump thunked up to make money off of?”
No, “Trumpvilles” ain’t sumthing (former) Pres Trump’s tryin to make money off… at least ah don’t THUNK he is. Knowin him though, it’s hard tellin whut kinda schemes that conman’s tryin to do.
Whut’s really sad is that them Republican Congresscritters’re constantly sayin all this bad stuff’s gonna happen after Pres Biden gits lected an sworn in an all. Problem is that all this bad stuff’s already happened under Pres Trump’s watch!
Anyhoo, let’s git back to whut a “Trumpville” is by lookin at “Hoovervilles”!
Hoovervilles
Anyhoo, if’n y’all remember frum mah last articles, ah talked bout the similarities tween Hoover an Trump. Ah also noted that Hoover’s name wus drug thru the mud, one of the reasons bein cuz there was them “Hoovervilles“. Hoovervilles was places that homeless an outta wurk folk lived. Another wurd fur Hoovervilles wuz “shantytowns”.
Well, Trumpvilles’re a lot like them Hoovervilles, but instead of “shantytowns”, Trumpville folk live in “tent cities”, where homeless an other outta wurk folk’re now livin. An like wit Hoover, many of these Trumpvilles’re caused by similar policies durin a crisis (Hoover=Bunglin the 1929 Stock Market Crash fallout, Trump=Bunglin the COVID-19 pandemic healthcare crisis).
Why’re Trumpvilles Appearin All Over the Country?
They’s a few reasons fur the explosion of Trumpvilles cross the USofA. However, it comes down to one basic reason: Homelessness
Homelessness
Fur one reason or nuther, the folk who live in these Trumpvilles’ve lost they’s homes an are havin to live the cheapest way they can. Fur a lot of them, that means a tent an an open area. Ah can purty much guarantee y’all they’d much rather be livin in a home or apartment, but they jus can’t afford that. They’s choice probly wuz a roof overhead or food.
Ah know, cuz ah’ve bin there. Furtunately fur me at the time, ah had a car ah cud live in an wuz able to stay one step ahead of the repo man. Ah later paid off that car, but it took a long time to do so.
Anyhoo, nuff bout me, we’s talkin bout whut’s goin on wit the folk in the Trumpvilles an how they’s got there. So let’s get on to the why of the Trumpvilles.
Pay Cuts/Job Losses
They’s a lotta folk who dun had to take a pay cut or lost they’s job or both. Either one’d put most folk in a world of hurt, much less if’n y’all had to take a pay cut an then lost y’all’s job to boot!
Pay Cuts
An fur the folk who had to take a pay cut, it’s purty tough on them. Ah’m shure y’all’ve herd that bout 40% of Mericans don’t have enuf money to deal wit a $400 emergency. That’s cuz they’s livin frum paycheck to paycheck, wit no money left over. Now imagine they’s have to take a paycut either by gittin less per hour or fewer hours of wurk. Now ever paycheck’s an emergency cuz theys don’t have enuf money to pay all of theys bills.
So whut bills do y’all not pay? Rent? Food? Lectricity an gas? Insurance (assumin y’all have it in the furst place)?
Job Losses
Them economist folk have dun the numbers an say that theys bin over 5 million jobs that’ve bin lost permanent-like! Now ah know y’all’re probly saying, “Ranty we’all knows that over time them jobs’re gonna come back, jus like after ‘The Great Recession’ (2007-2009). Ah mean look at how gud the economy wuz doin befur COVID-19!”
Ok, ah see yur point, but y’all’re missin some really important facts that go along wit that:
- These jobs that dun be lost’re mostly frum low payin jobs. That means that folk who can’t afford to have theys paycheck cut shurely can’t afford to lose theys jobs. They ain’t got no savins.
- Them old jobs’re GONE. In this har article an this har article, millions of small businesses have closed theys doors furever. Over time some NEW jobs might come along, but them old jobs’re gone furever. An mosta them’ll come frum jobs created by new small businesses.
- It’s not known all that well, but the US job market needs to create over 200,000 jobs per month jus to keep up wit new folk comin into the jobs market. So even if we hear bout gud “new” jobs bein created at a rate like 250,000-350,000 jobs per month (whut wud be gud under normal circumstances), it’ll take a long time to git back 5+ million jobs. (At 300,000 new jobs per month, that’ll take at least 50 months jus to break even wit befur COVID-19.)
Evictions
Many folk’re gittin evicted frum they’s homes an apartments. Y’see the rich folk LOVE evictin folk frum they’s homes an apartments.
Why, y’all’re probly askin? Well, it’s cuz when sumone gits evicted frum they’s home, most likely the folk gittin evicted dun got sum “equity” (whut the house is wurth minus whut is owed) in they’s house. The bank gets to keep that money!
When folk’re evicted frum either they’s house or apartment, it hurts they’s credit rating. That credit rating’s purty important. It decides whether or not y’all can git a loan in the future an how much interest y’all’re gonna have to pay on it. The wurse yur credit rating, the more money banks an such can make off y’all!
Also, yur credit report affects whether or not y’all can git another home or apartment.
Finally, it can even affect whether or not y’all can git a job! Yep, employers check y’all’s credit report an use it to figure whether they’s shud give you a job or not. A bad credit report, regardless of the circumstances (fur example, y’all lost yur job cuz of COVID-19), might keep y’all frum either gittin a gud job or even a job at all!
The Merican Rescue Plan
In mah opinion, the Merican Rescue Plan that wuz jus passed by Congress (wit ZERO Republican votes) an signed by Pres Biden, didn’t include one very important part that many folk wanted… an extension of the current moratorium on evictions. At the end of March 2021, the current federal moratorium on evictions (means tellin landlords an banks they can’t kick sumone outta they’s appartment/home) will end. Fur folk who’re hit hard by COVID-19, the moratorium on evictions gave folks real relief cuz wit all theys other problems, at least they ain’t gittin kicked out onto the street. That means fewer homeless folk!
The problem is that the Merican Rescue Plan didn’t extend that stop order. It provides sum money fur folk to keep livin in theys homes, but we’all’ve seen how slow the guvmint is to git money to the people. Ah mean take a look at how the Trump administration had over $300 billion fur small businesses they never gave out an just took it away frum the program designed to help those small businesses! It wuz more important to the Republicans to hurt the incomin Biden administration than to help “We, the People”.
Now the guvmint seems to be purty quick gittin money to rich folk an big corporations, but not so quick to git money to small businesses an “We, the People”.
Loss of Social Safety Nets
Over the years, many of the “social safety net” programs have bin sufferin frum a “death of a thousand paper cuts”. By this, ah’m sayin that a buncha little cuts to programs here’n thar’ve added up to a lot of hurt fur the Merican people at the bottom. The very folk them programs are sposed to help! These cuts include:
Unemployment
If’n y’all qualify fur unemployment, y’all can expect to git bout 25% of yur wages befur bonuses, tips, etc. Ah don’t know bout y’all, but that money ain’t gonna go very far. An while theys reports of folk gittin more money wit the extra unemployment assistance (an extra $600/week) than they wuz gittin frum wurkin, that program’s long gone. Wit the Merican Rescue Plan, folk’ll only be gittin bout $300/week extra. That’s bout whut folk make at the $7.25/hr minimum wage.
Welfare
Theys six basic federal “welfare” programs in the USofA. They are:
- TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
- SNAP/WIC/CNP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program/Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children/Child Nutrition Program)
- Medicaid/CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Program) – many “Red states” didn’t take the Federal Medicaid expansion money; money those states paid for, but didn’t get for their needy citizens.
- EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit)
- SSI (Supplemental Security Income)
- Housing Assistance – Usually in the form of rental assistance.
While polls have showed that up to 60% of folk thunk that theys be too many folk on “welfare”, the reality is that these programs are far smaller than they think. Especially when compared to 40 years ago, per capita (how many folk outta a million). If anythin, our parents an granparents were far more willin to support they’s fellow Mericans than we are today.
This har subject is so big an they be so much misinfurmation bout it that ah’m gonna do a seperate talk bout it soon. If’n y’all want to git more infurmation now, ah’ll put 5 links at the bottom of this talk.
Income Inequality
One of the wurst thangs that’s happened over the last 40+ years is the increase in the income gap. Fur example, back in the 1970s, a CEO only made bout 35-40 times theys average wurker. Today CEOs (fur the Fortune 500) make bout 350-400 times whut they’s average wurker makes. Now that jus ain’t right! Whut do them CEOs do that makes them wurth bout 10 times whut CEOs were wurth 40+ years ago?
In fact, income inequality in the USofA has gotten so bad that it is even wurse than back in the days of the “Robber Barons” (late 1800s to early 1900s). It weren’t until the big market crash of 1929, an the corrections Pres FDR due made durin The Great Depression, befur income inequality became more… well… equitable.
How Can We Solve This Problem?
They’s a sayin that folk say Albert Einstein came up wit. It goes sumthin like this:
The definition of insanity is doin the same thang over an over agin, but expectin sumthin differnt to happen.
— Albert Einstein (as Ranty says it)
Well, we dun bin doin the same thang over an over agin expectin sumthin differnt to happen, but it just don’t seem to wurk. Whut is that thang we keep doin har in Merica, y’all might ask? It’s called “trickle down economics”. Even George H. W. Bush said it wuz crazy an called it “voodoo economics“. Voodoo economics (aka “supply side economics” an “trickle-down economics”) is kinda like this old (sarcastic) sayin in business:
We’all’re losin a bit wit every sale, but we’ll make it up in volume (by sellin more)!
Well that jus don’t make no sense. If’n y’all’re losin $1 on each sale at 1000 items (i.e. losin $1000), then if’n y’all sell 10,000, then y’all’ll lose $10,000, not make more money! Doh!
The same wit voodoo economics. The rich git richer by doin jus one thang: not spendin they’s money an savin it! So if’n y’all give them more money then they’s gonna… yep, you guessed it. They’s gonna save more!
Well, ah guess it really does wurk the way they says it will. You give a ton of money to the rich an after they keep all theys want, all y’all on the bottom’re gonna git is a trickle! So y’all will git “trickled down on”.
Renewing the Merican Dream!
Whut’s happened since the “Reagan era” is that folk, you know, regular folk, have lost the ability to share in the “Merican Dream”! They can’t git a fair share of the wurk they’s doin cuz the rich an corporations’re keepin it frum them. They’s incomes, after countin fur inflation, have only gone up bout 10% over the last 40 or so years. While the rich an corporations incomes’ve gone up to well over 400% whut they wuz in the 1970s an 1980s.
So har are a few ways that we can even the field an enable all of “We, the People” to have a shot at the “Merican Dream”!
Merican Rescue Plan
Ah know they’s folk on the TeeVee who be sayin that the Merican Rescue Plan dun the be greatest thang since Pres FDR’s furst New Deal. Well, ah hate to break y’all’s bubble, but it ain’t. Not even close. BUT, it is a gud furst step…
Y’see, it does do sum of what is proven to wurk… give money to the bottom an it’ll help everbody do better. Ah’m shure y’all know the old sayin:
“A risin tide raises all boats (even yachts!)”.
Unfurtunately, it’s probly the best that could be dun with all Republicans votin aginst gittin “We, the People” sum help! Ah know it must seem crazy that, in this time of the USofA bein in a pandemic that Republicans wud vote aginst gittin the Merican people sum help.
Now them Republican did offer up they’s own “relief bill”, but it had less than 40% of whut the Democrats ended up passin in the Merican Rescue Plan. 40% is jus down right pathetic an no where near whut the Merican people deserve.
Ah thunk that we need sumthin bigger, an longer lastin, to git Merica back to whut it wuz befur COVID-19 struck an wuz bungled so bad back in 2020. Ah’ll talk a bit bout this below.
COVID-19 Vaccination “Herd Immunity”
To reach “Herd Immunity”, we need at least 80% of Mericans to git vaccinated, especially wit the new, faster spreadin, “variants” (mutations) startin to become more common. At 80%, we’all can git back to a “new normal” where we have to be cautious, like wit a dangerous version of the flu. COVID-19 won’t go away, but we shud be able to git it under control an git back to sumthin like our pre-COVID-19 lives.
More, an Better, Jobs
Back in the early 2000s, them business folk were toutin how we wuz “transitionin” (changin to) a new economy. The USofA wuz changin frum an “industrial economy” to a “service economy” an that’d give we’all more jobs to be had.
Now that sounds gud, specially if, like wit that economical idea of “supply an demand”, those more jobs (demand fur wurkers) led to better pay (less wurkers (supply of wurkers) to fill them jobs). Problem is that them business folk didn’t tell us that them service jobs’re mostly considered to be “unskilled” an cuz of that don’t pay as well as “industrial” (manufacturin) jobs. In the skilled “tech” areas, they’s jobs got paid more, but jus bout everone else who lost an “industrial” job got paid less.
So, whut we need har in the USofA is less service jobs an more gud payin jobs. That’s where the “Green New Deal” comes in.
The Green New Deal
Y’see, the Green New Deal hits back aginst two of the biggest problems we dun have right now. The “Green” part, whut deals with climate change, an the New Deal part, whut deals wit infrastructure an jobs. When y’all put these two together, y’all git better payin jobs that helps the climate an our country’s crumblin infrustructure! Win-win!
Taxes
Taxes can be used as a way to make thangs less wurth gittin. In other wurds, if’n rich folk an corporations don’t git much of the money, then they’s gonna be more likely to jus keep it wit they’s employees rather than try to steal it frum them.
Now to be clear, we ain’t talkin bout hurting regular folk or even high paid professionals. No, we’all’re talkin bout makin it so those folk making tons of money don’t git as much. After all, it be yur wurk they’s gittin an stickin in they’s pockets.
Class Warfare (thru Taxation)
If’n rich folk taxes go down, poor fork taxes, relatively speakin, go up. Last 40 years taxes bin cut by more than 50% on top earners. Bottom 80% ain’t seen much tax cuts. National Debt is goin up at about the same rate as rich are gittin richer. Seems like while we’all git to share equally the national debt, only the rich git to keep the money.
So whut does “class warfare” have to do wit taxation? Well, y’all remember whut ah wrote bout above bout income inequality? Well, in the last 100 years, the highest income tax rate wuz, believe it or not, 94%! An it wuz at 70% until Pres Reagan cut it to 50% in 1981. Since 1980, the maximum income tax rate has dropped frum 70% to today’s 35% an added a whole truckload of more tax loopholes fur rich folk to take advantage of.
An durin that same time income inequality has increased to the point that it is at record levels. The rich’re the richest theys ever bin an we have record poverty levels at the same time.
There’s bin “class warfare” goin on over the last 40+ years an “We, the People” are losin… bad!
Heck, we’all’re talkin bout raisin the minimum wage to $15/hr, but maybe as important is to talk bout a maximum wage enforced by taxes! In mah opinion, we shud look at gittin back to the tax rates of the 1970s an 1980s so that we can even the field a bit more.
(Note: This is a whole long talk by itself an ah’ll probly circle back round to it in a future talk.)
Income Tax
As ah noted above, income taxation is a very strong way to help reduce income inequality. If the folk at the very top don’t have a strong incentive to git more money, then they won’t try to steal so much an that’ll make it available to regular folk. In USofA history, the period during which we’all had the strongest middle class wuz when the top income tax rate was 70+%.
Take a minute or two to thunk bout that…
Wealth Tax
Whut’s so bad bout the current income inequality is that the rich’re so extremely rich that even increased income taxes aren’t gonna help.
Y’see, the very tip top richest folk (the top 0.1%) don’t make they’s money frum wurkin. They makes theys money frum investin. An the way that investment is taxed is thru whut’s called the “Capital Gains” tax. An it tops out at, believe it or not, only 20% right now. To make matters worse, they only pay capital gains tax when they sell their investments.
Whut that means is that even though Jeff Bezos’ wealth increased by over $50 BILLION, he didn’t pay a single penny in taxes on that money. He gets the built-in power that much wealth gives him, but he doesn’t pay a dime in taxes.
Ah remember in the furst Spider Man movie with Toby McGuire, Peter Parker’s dad told him:
With great power comes great responsibility!
The very rich want all the great power that comes wit great wealth, but don’t want any responsibility.
Well, in mah book, that’s downright wrong.
Sen Elizabeth Warren was the furst candidate in the 2020 Presidential Primaries to suggest a “wealth tax”. If’n y’all had a “net wurth” (whut y’all have, less whut y’all owe) between $50 million an $1 billion, then y’all wud have to pay 2% of that money (whut y’all make over $50 million) in taxes each year. If’n y’all have a net wurth of over $1 billion, then y’all’ll have to pay 3% taxes each year fur the amount over $1 billion (2% frum $50 million to $1 billion an 3% fur money over $1 billion).
Now if’n y’all’re thunkin that that is “unfair”, let me make three points here:
- These folk expect to make bout 10% per year cuz they’s wealth “entitles” them to investments “We, the People” don’t have access to. 10% minus 2% or 3% is still makin 7% or 8% per year! So theys still gittin hugely richer ever year.
- The $1 billion an over crowd har in the USofA, made over $500 billion tween March an December 2020 (yep, in jus 10 months)!
- A billion dollars is already more money than a person can spend in a lifetime, almost no matter how sloppily they spend it. Even wit this wealth tax!
Finally, y’all keep in mind that USofA tax laws’ll allow these folk to take as a deduction frum theys wealth, any losses they git frum bad investments.
An now we’all’re dun talkin bout some of the major ways the US guvmint can fix this problem. Phew!
The Bottom Line (Trumpville Edition)
So, back to talkin bout Trumpvilles.
Don’t git me wrong. These tent cities’ve bin har in the USofA frum befur Pres Trump took office. Problem is that they wuz gittin wurse durin his Presidency befur COVID-19 struck. An Pres Trump’s gross bunglin in “handlin” the COVID-19 pandemic has made thangs far wurse.
The truly sad thang is thangs’re gonna git wurse befur they git better. This is cuz it take sum time fur Pres Biden’s new policies to git out into the economy an have an effect.
Stuff like the Merican Rescue Plan’s gonna have an effect purty quick. But the huge acceleration of the COVID-19 vaccines rollout an other programs is gonna take sum time to happen… Much as ah’d like fur it to happen right away.
Well, that’s the end of this talk. Please leave a comment below an we can have a discussion bout all of the Trumpvilles.
Ranty McRantyson signin off!
PS. Ah’m puttin them links bout welfare below in case y’all want to take a gander at them befur ah do a talk bout them:
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