The past year saw a continuance of teeter-totter COVID-19 rules. It’s hard to keep up with the off-again, on-again restrictions, mandates, closures, and misinformation concerning this disease. All this confusion has led the government to use cash and political pronouncement’s once again as a cure-all for something they can’t fix.
In the process of infusing trillions of dollars into the economy they have created a fiscal mess for the people they serve. For example, when the Social Security benefit was increased by 5.9 percent, the current administration in Washington, D.C., opined that it was the “largest increase in history,” but the joy was short lived.
Why? Because shortly after it was announced that the inflation rate for the average family in 2021 increased by 6.8 percent, the highest since 1982, and Medicare Part B premiums had the largest rate increase in history. So, you see, the average Joe and Jane didn’t get a dime more in purchasing power—in fact they lost ground.
Let’s look at the cost to get people to work: In our county, the ruling class has implemented policies to satisfy the environmental lobby that essentially ban more oil production. The first impact was a major loss of revenue to the county general fund—that’s what pays for road repairs, parks, sheriff’s deputies, and firefighters. The second was a dramatic increase in the cost of gasoline, which places another drain on your pocketbook.
Another impact of all the cash raining down from Washington is that more people are choosing not to work. Many service industry businesses have either reduced hours or simply closed up shop because they can’t get people to work. In addition, the mandatory minimum wage increases and so-called “supply chain” shortages have caused these same businesses to raise their prices to compensate for additional expenses.
I have lived long enough to remember when I was overjoyed when the minimum hourly wage was increased to a smidge over a dollar. That was when you could still get a hamburger for 15 cents and a soda for a nickel. Shortly after that raise suddenly hamburgers were a quarter.
Today, with the minimum hourly wage approaching $15, a hamburger will cost you 9 bucks and sodas are more than $2. So, you see raising the minimum wage really doesn’t get you anywhere—you just have more dollars that buy less stuff when all is said and done.
Now, as we are about to enter 2022, do you think things are going to get much better for either the middle class or low income families in our county? If history is any indicator, and it’s been very reliable in the past, the political class will continue to adopt policies that don’t really help anyone.
For example, there is a huge push toward “green energy” and the banning of hydrocarbon fuel-powered vehicles. Did the people proposing and implementing these polices ever look over the horizon to see what impact this will have on you and me?
In the process of banning hydrocarbon fuels, they also wrapped up clean burning natural gas fired appliances. In nearby Santa Barbara, new homes must install all-electric appliances including water heaters, stoves, and home heating.
Environmental groups claim that natural gas appliances contribute to global warming; they have no real facts, just theories to back up their claims. The industry on the other hand claims that their product is cleaner than electricity; this claim assumes that coal, oil, natural gas, and other materials that must be burned are used to produce the electricity.
The current thinking among those environmentalists is that solar and wind power will produce all the electricity needed to power homes, businesses, and vehicles. Recently, I saw a public service announcement that informed families to “reduce the use of power between 4 and 9 p.m.,” because there was a reduced power supply as the wind slowed down and it got dark.
Another factor is that the world’s supply of lithium, used to make batteries that store power for later use, may be inadequate. Science Direct claims that “Energy Agency’s Blue Map Scenarios are fulfilled regarding electrification of the car fleet. We find that the availability of lithium could in fact be a problem for fulfilling this scenario if lithium-ion batteries are to be used.”
Once again, I ask the question “Did the people proposing and implementing these polices ever look over the horizon?” In this case, are there battery technologies available to support their goals?
Another factor is that if you have enough money to buy one of those electric vehicles, what happens when the battery eventually won’t take a charge? Currently a mechanic would have to take the car apart to install a new one and the cost of a new battery is nearly as much as a new car. After that you must pay extra to dispose of the old one.
My friends, the coming year and years to come will be a challenge for ordinary people who either work for a living or are on fixed incomes. The political class in charge of making policies that impact your daily lives seems to be incapable of making rational decisions that include a “what happens next” test of the proposed new policy.
Will we be able to elect national, state, or local leaders who posses this quality? So far, we have come up short for decades.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a response via the editor at clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 30, 2021 – Jan 6, 2022.