CSotD: The Unhatched Chicken Census
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Older people shouldn’t fret over the ACA, since they’ve got Medicare, but don’t put those paddles down yet.
I got an email October 24 from Social Security suggesting I log on and see my new rates, so I logged on and was told they didn’t have them yet. Then, on the 31st, they announced that they were going to announce the changes. And on Nov 8, they suggested I make sure I was logged on to their site, because they really, really were going announce those changes.
Even-shwa-ly
Which they finally did. Sort of. A couple of days ago.
They explained the cost-of-living increase and how much my Part A was going to increase, but not the rest of my Medicare costs, so I still don’t know how much my SS check is going to be. But I have a week to stumble around in the dark before the door shuts on my ability to change things.
I think I’ll unretire and become head of the FBI, so I can have as much money as I want for courting my GF or just popping home for the weekend.
Some people went to see Sir Paul McCartney give a full concert the other night, but I’ll bet he never sang the Star-Spangled Banner at a pro-wrestling show in State College, Pa.
Though we’re saving money by having Jack Nicklaus redesign the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base, so Dear Leader can play golf there instead of flying to Mar A Lago every weekend.
Assuming the redesign is finished before he leaves office. Or croaks.
But there is real frugality in DC. They keep trotting out ways to save Social Security, the most popular idea being to stop handing it out. Well, most popular in Foggy Bottom.
Very popular among those who either have their own bone saws or are able to smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the country.
I am glad to see others finally getting that reference from Tale of Two Cities correct: It was the best of times for the Marquis, it was the worst of times for that little guttersnipe that went under the wheels of his carriage.
And if you think filling out tax forms calls for some higher math skills, wait until you start trying to figure out if you should take the lower SS payments at 62 or hold out for the higher rates that start at 70.
The answer has to do with how long you expect to live, which makes for some grim self-assessment.
As the characters in Wuerker’s cartoon note, “affordability” is becoming an important factor with the administration. Or possibly an important buzz-word.
Aside from however much actual empathy he may possess or lack, Dear Leader was raised in the prosperity gospel of Norman Vincent Peale, in which God rewards his faithful with money, and there isn’t much difference between that and the charlatans who sell magical faith-healing water on TV.
All that golden White House glitz is a sign of Dear Leader being God’s favorite, and so he stands as a model for people who may be struggling today but will almost certainly get on God’s good side real soon, through a combination of prayer and scratch cards.
I heard a lot of cheerful reports on the radio about Black Friday, and never was heard a discouraging word, but then they always do a lot of chipper coverage when the lottery gets up there, too, and I know how few people get that payoff.
I get the same sense when cabinet members go on the talking head shows and boast about how well we’re all doing. The hosts sometimes push back, but it’s like arguing with people who believe Noah rounded up kangaroos and polar bears.
I liked Duginski’s piece, but when I dug in deeper to see what has really been going on, what I mostly found was the truth about that old line that says if you laid all the economists in a line they wouldn’t reach a conclusion.
People are more in debt than ever, and some of it may be part of that odd belief that they’ll be rich later, and some is also an inability to see beyond the immediate horizon, but a large part of it seems to be necessity.
Lending Tree has a series of charts that are quite well up to date but don’t provide a lot of definite answers.
Experian has interactive charts that offer more specific numbers, including breakdowns by age cohorts, with the Silent Generation the least burdened and both Gen X and Gen Z piling it up. It doesn’t tell whether the old folks grew up without a lot of credit while youngsters became used to debt because college and housing was a necessary burden. It does suggest that they’d better get their act together.
And the Fed borrows some Experian data to show how housing — among other factors — figures in overall debt, and if Dear Leader gets his 50-year mortgages, you can expect that to shoot through the roof.
Ruben Bolling takes a satiric look at the outright lies being peddled by the administration and its fat-cat allies to blame housing prices on undocumented migrants, who, you will notice, are to blame for just about everything these days.
Yes, it’s those motel maids and fruit pickers who are paying the median $1700 a month rent and keeping you from finding anything so affordable yourself. They’re also ponying up $439,700 in cash to buy houses, since they don’t have Social Security numbers and can’t get mortgages.
Meanwhile, Sec’y of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is working on a cunning plan to aid farmers. “Additional financial support is needed to offset those trade losses and provide a bridge until an improved safety net from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act goes into effect.”
I have a feeling that bridge may well be in Brooklyn, and if you buy it, you’ll be able to see what’s left of the Statue of Liberty after a few adjustments have been made to avoid having anybody available to harvest the fruits and vegetables we’ll be growing.
Even-shwa-ly
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