Sunday, May 2, 2021

If not now, then when? (Never is not a choice.)

 Not intending to be biased (though it may seem so to some), President Biden has proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to congress and the American people. And the question, "If not now, then When?" is fair.

Here's what's in that impressive plan and its approximate cost, as reported by CNN. It is divided into 11 sections: Transportation, Home care services and workforce, Manufacturing, Housing, Research and development, Water, Schools, Digital Infrastructure, Workforce development, Veterans' hospitals and federal buildings and finally, How to pay for it.


The need for the desired end result is approved by about 3 of 4 Americans. (Polls are taken often and they vary, so you can check the latest by asking Google.) The most visible to us... the more than 90,000 miles of roads and 71,000 bridges that are in dangerous disrepair according to a 2010 study by U.S. PIRG (United States Public Interest Research Group) as the deterioration  continues unabated. The plan identifies other critically related needs and benefits as well as how it will be paid for.

"On the last two report cards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. got a D+ and it urged the government and private sector to increase spending by $2 trillion over the next 10 years in order to improve not only the physical infrastructure, but the country's economy overall." reports PBS.


Now here's where it gets interesting: We know this work needs to be done because we are living with the need every day. But our political bias insists it matters when, how and by which administration gets it done... i.e. takes credit for it, while the other party squirms and wiggles like a fish out of water... or, "Will this get me reelected?" We haven't seen "for the need of the people" play out too well lately.

How will we pay for it? Biden proposes an increase in taxes on the wealthy (those making $400,000-plus) and corporations which are showing record gains with some paying no tax at all, to a level less than the gain over the 2017 tax cuts which added trillions to our national debt and has yet to 'trickle down.' 

And best yet, along the way, all of this makes more jobs for more people to make more money to do more things to buy more stuff... the American way.

Want to see something amazing? Look what Inequality.org has searched out:

"As ordinary people around the world suffer from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, billionaires have actually seen their fortunes expand. According to the Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes data, the combined wealth of all U.S. billionaires increased by $1.138 trillion (39 percent) in the 10 months between March 18, 2020 and January 18, 2021, from approximately $2.947 trillion to $4.085 trillion. Of the more than 600 U.S. billionaires, the richest five (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Elon Musk) saw an increase in their combined wealth during this period, from $358 billion to $661 billion. We will be regularly updating this analysis here. "

Good for them, really. They have earned it. And many 'super rich' are quite benevolent. This IS, after all, the land of opportunity. But sadly, not for everyone. Those scrapping by or less have virtually no chance to measurably better themselves the way we are going. On July 4, 2009 the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 an hour... and it remains there today, 12 year later ... $7.25 for an hour's labor. And worse, at that rate there just aren't enough hours in the day/week/year to make that work. We are breeding poverty.

So tell me, with the price of everyday commodities ever increasing, who would you guess will suffer most without a better path? 

This is the making of that path.

When one of our senators against the plan was asked how he liked Biden's proposal, he said the speech could have been shortened to just 10 words: "Good evening fellow Americans. Send all your money to Washington." Fact is, he must have been taking about he and his colleagues because I know most of us don't make $400,000 a year, but most in congress do. 

The old axiom, "It takes money to make money" has a modestly good news flip side: "Those who have little money will not have to sell their yachts to make ends meet." (Confession: I made that last quote up.😏)

To repeat the question: If not now, then when? (Never is not a choice.) Here's an added last thought based on the history of the world: If we don't get it right, it will cost far, far more in time (which is finite), money and rancor (blaming the other person) to re-fix the fix or  force us to live with the missteps forever. It just doesn't get any easier.

OK, take a breath and read on:



Here is the companion piece to infrastructure, Biden's Family plan If the poor and all of those not able to put food on the table just had a yacht to sell, I'm sure they would be ok. However, yacht ownership of that economic group doesn't show strong, especially in this pandemic time with a horrible death total (576,000 to date) and loss of jobs and opportunities. 

If any billionaire saw a $1 million dollar bill (I know, but hypothetically) laying on he sidewalk, he/she technically should not stop to pick it up because that person's real time is worth more than the time it takes. If a more average person saw a $10 bill on the sidewalk, it could make the day.

Is it morally and practically good to be a 'have' without concern about the 'have nots?' Historically, kingdoms have toppled and heads have rolled in such times. That was 'then.' Here is 'now,' and this is America. That's the difference between 'need' and 'have.'

We, as a country, have proven we can do anything we set our minds to do. Sometimes, we just don't.