Perhaps
it is time to reconsider the means
testing principle in federal programs.
In simple terms, means testing
is the practice of delivering federal financial support to those with incomes
which are deemed inadequate to maintain a sustainable living. When you are considering the basic
requirements for living…food, shelter, health…means testing makes good sense.
If the purpose of a federal support program is sustainable living, then
the benefits should be targeted towards those who lack the resources to achieve
a sustainable life. The simple Christian and moral principle of
compassion supports this practice. While
our government can never, and should not
try to, be all things to all people; it can certainly reach out to help
those truly in need.
Over
the last several decades, and in an increasing fashion, this principle has been
somewhat distorted. The driving force
that governs the determination of exactly who
receives the benefits has been broadened and arbitrarily defined in such a way as
to direct these federal benefits to certain individuals who are not necessarily
in legitimate need of help to achieve a sustainable
life. And as it is with all things, the
misdirection of these federal resources to those who might be considered
undeserving occurs at the expense of many who might actually be deserving and are not receiving those federal benefits.
What
I consider a good example of this principle is the new legislation (the CARES Act) recently passed by
Congress and signed by the President to pump out economic support for those
impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. As
I understand the law, each eligible
individual will receive up to $1,200 each.
Parental couples will receive a total of $2,400 plus $500 for each
dependent child. Here is a short summary
of the benefits: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/coronavirus-stimulus-check-calculator/ .
The
coronavirus episode is impacting most every American; but that impact is in
such a variety of varying degrees that any attempt to address all of these effects is an impossible
mission. One size does not fit all. It is therefore right and proper that we
should all give Congress and the President a great deal of latitude in how they
chiseled this monumental $2,000,000,000,000 (trillon) piece of legislation.
To put that number in
perspective, let's say you've pulled an H.G. Wells and built a functional time
machine. If you ordered it to take you one trillion seconds back in time, you'd get to hang out with mammoths and
saber-toothed cats because one trillion seconds is the equivalent of 31,546 years.
With
a package this big, it is really not surprising that a few things slipped
through the process that were not exactly pertinent to coronavirus relief: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/03/big-government-contagion.php
. And although the Congressional
Democrats were absolutely disgraceful is loading up this Act with extraneous
features; the Republicans no doubt slipped a few in for their special
interests. At some point, all of those
zeros following the dollar sign begin to lose their relevance to our
legislators.
Having
engaged in their ritualistic give and take, all the folks involved in making
this governmental sausage seemed to agree that a little bit (in the eyes of the beholder) of favoritism
and waste in the bill was acceptable and the good in the bill far outweighed
the bad. In other words, notwithstanding
that the legislation was passed to address one of the most serious emergency
challenges ever faced by our nation, this piece of law was developed by
conducting business as usual. Not a real good look for our ruling class. One would hope that they had retained some capacity to rise to the
moment.
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miss the next post!
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Circling
back around to my first point; is the means
testing in this Act really fair?
Consider a working couple with two kids who are busting their tails to
maintain a good life for their family.
They have worked hard, climbed their way up the career ladder, and
gained good jobs with good salaries.
They are not wealthy; but they have achieved a good standard of living
through hard work and discipline. They
are pursuing and living the American dream.
Under the CARES Act, those working couples jointly making between $150,000 and $198,000 will have their
benefits reduced incrementally down to zero.
Now
there is no doubt that this group of
working families has been impacted greatly by the cornonavirus event. They support this government with their taxes
and support our economy with their spending practices. And now, at this moment in time, when our
government decides to help this nation cope with the adverse economic impact of
this pandemic, they find themselves limited
or excluded from the federal
support financed by their own paychecks.
I agree that at some point of income or wealth, a family might be deemed
not to be in need of federal support
under the CARES Act. But based on my own
children’s lives and those others that I see in my community, this exemption
level appears to be unfairly low. Is it
really fair to take a family where the father works construction making $95,000
annually, whose wife works as a nurse and annually earns $65,000, and reduce
their benefits? These are the very people who power the economic
engine of America and they are the ones who pay the bills and keep the lights
on in our nation. Is it really fair to
penalize them at the expense of those who might annually earn less each year;
even including retired and non-working individuals? Is the overall adverse impact any greater on the lower
income folks than it is on the ambitious folks who might have higher yearly
incomes? I don’t think so. In fact, a strong argument could be made that
the adverse impact is greater on the
construction worker and his wife, the nurse.
As
a nation, we must always be
compassionate and generous in the way we address those among us with limited
resources and essential needs that are not being addressed. On the other hand, we should always bear in
mind that the funding that finances that compassion and generosity is coming
from hard working people who have achieved economic success based on sacrifice,
hard work, and accountability. We must
be careful to confine our definition of those in need to those who are truly in need.
And before those who are truly in need become beneficiaries of
federal funds flowing from taxpayer pockets; they must first be held
accountable for the circumstances that lead to their plights. Are they
doing all they can to self sustain? Do
we reward some who might expend less effort to be successful at the expense of
those who strive to prosper? That is not the premise that this country was
built on.
This
aspect of the CARES Act is symptomatic of many federal programs that have
tipped the scales of fairness towards those who game the system; thereby
penalizing those who try to lead accountable lives as American citizens. While remaining ever-conscious of those among
us who suffer through no fault of their own; our government must constantly strive
to provide a hand up to these folks
instead of a hand out. The support programs administered by our
government not only serve as a critical component for those in true need; they
also demonstrate the principles that should reflect the ideals of our founders. Those are principles of self-sufficiency,
load-sharing, sacrifice for the greater good, compassion for those truly in
need…and most of all…the opportunity for
all to achieve a life of quality and prosperity. I fear that this important logic has been
lost on our government.
This
nation’s greatness is based on the freedom of individuals to pursue and achieve
good lives according to their own choosing and built upon their own efforts.
If we allow our concerns for government support to quash the recognition
of accountability and disregard exactly
who pays for this support, then our nation will lose its greatness and our
populace will become a collective
rather than a group of independent
individuals. While giving those in true need their
necessary support, let’s be certain that we give the construction worker and
his wife their fair share also.
The
coronavirus will take many lives in America.
There will be great losses for family, friends, and loved ones. Here is a tribute to those we have lost…and
will lose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1rZa8Ur_Q&list=RDIU1rZa8Ur_Q&index=1
. In case you didn’t
catch them all, here are the beautiful lyrics to this song:
And
now for a brief quarantine update….The weather in
Kentucky is marvelous for late March.
The pastures are coming on and that is keeping the cattle off the hay
for now. It has been too wet to get any
garden in; so there will be no peas this year.
The grass has been cut once, the lilacs are leaving out, there are some
early blooms on fruit trees and Bradford Pear trees, snakes are crawling and
I’ve pulled off at least a half dozen ticks so far. It is a beautiful time of year to sit out on
the front porch for coffee in the AM and a cool drink in the PM. Deer are everywhere you look and the turkeys
are finding their bugs in the grass. If
you have to stay home these days, around here it is a reward and not a
punishment. Thank the Lord for his
magnificent creation.
It
seems that a significant part of the small community
of readers who frequent this blog have enjoyed the prior link to Manfred Mann
and his Earth Band’s performance of Blinded
by the Light. Here is another great
tune from that group who were clearly ahead of the curve in the music industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJygu903kU&list=RD2sJygu903kU&start_radio=1
.
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