For me, this has a lot of political content regarding vote buying and pandering to voters by various groups.
When you look at Political Action Committees and who funds them, then look at the laws passed by those benefitting from the PAC money, to me it often looks like vote buying.
In the end, "the cost" is touted as being paid by the other person so, of course, we want the government handout since we don't have "skin in the game". What do you do once you have "taken all of the other guy's/gal's money?" And, what does this mentality do to society? Who would have thought "minimum Mondays" would become a thing? And the list goes on.
Where has governing to the middle gone? The majority of America has generally always been in the middle. Now, with super divisive politics, we are pitting each other against each other to what end?
How did rent and mortgage suspension work during COVID for everyone? Great if you didn't have skin in the game and got to spend your rent or mortgage on a new ski boat, motorcycle, etc. but, what about the working-class family renting out one house that went into foreclosure and bankruptcy because they couldn't cover the "unpaid" rent on the rental house? Or the banks that didn't get any mortgage payments for ~24 months and had to pay for eviction expenses?
Taxing the "Millionaires" sounds good until you become a Millionaire and then it is 'tax the Billionaires!' This is the refrain I hear from of very vocal new voices in Congress that couldn't afford a car and now drive an expensive Tesla. How does someone earning under $200K a year afford a $100K car and an expensive apartment?
And then my personal experience:
I was negotiating to buy a new Kubota tractor as COVID hit. As specced, it was ~$72K but, as COVID hit that tractor could not be built. Then about six months ago, a very similar tractor was specced and priced at ~$96K! Then during my recent tractor search, I was offered a better specced tractor from the same Kubota series for $88K.
$72K vs $96K makes me look elsewhere though, I didn't forget to check in on Team Orange this go around. If I had panic bought at $96K like many people did on motorcycles, boats, cars, and similar stuff and then saw a better version for $88K six months later, what would I do and how would I feel?
Today, that $88K or $96K will get a lot more tractor so, that is a win in my book! Honestly, at this point, I am looking at spending a bit more to get a substantially upgraded tractor today versus a few years from now to combat future price inflation and, to speed up the jobs I'm doing now.
