Considering the level of complexity in today’s world, this will be short and to the point.
It isn’t “all the money in the world,” not really. It is just the equivalent of arguing about two or three time the equivalent of the national budget of one of the most successful economies in human history. If you haven’t ben keeping track, what is going on inside the Capitol Dome is pretty interesting. We are experiencing another emergency, and to pay for it we are scooping up all the cash left over from the last emergency to achieve something we have not attempted since FDR’s “New Deal.”
What the is about is a little unclear. I got a note from a pal who forgot there is not one “Infrastructure” bill under consideration, but two. The one that got some favorable interim treatment in the Senate last night is a “modest” and relatively uncontroversial piece of legislation that would fix roads and bridges, and attempt to get broadband digital access to America’s hinterland.
To pay for it, funds appropriated last year in the COVID panic but unspent are being harvested to pay for it. It is a Trillion dollars worth of projects, many of them worthy of discussion, and reportedly there was some of that. The guess in the Writer’s Section is that this one may pass. Looming against the crushing weight of the end of the fiscal year is another bill about “Infrastructure.” It is different, since it includes a bunch of social entitlements that will last forever, far beyond the limits the government uses to cost things out. It includes a wild grab-bag of things, some worthy, and is expected to cost $3.5 Trillion. Between the two bills, it is like handing out a free check for an entire year’s expenses.
In the bullets on the slide we use for other purposes, you can see the number of oxen who could be gored in either the passage or rejection of the budget, some of which members are expected to vote on before the language (and numbers) have actually been published. The Writer’s Section will remain mute on that, since we are avoiding writing anything that would draw unwarranted attention to The Farm.
Our panel of experts is dubious about the utility of it, but what do we know? We only pay the taxes.
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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