Thursday, August 28, 2008

How will he pay for it?

I was shocked today. I insure people from many different walks of life. Some of them have come to this wonderful country to have a better life. Many of them are hard workers and contribe to the community and thus help America to be what it is.
However, in the process of discovering who lives with my insured, I found out that he and the six other people that live in his Portland apartment pay NO rent. The $875 a month is paid by a government agency. The ENTIRE monthly rent.
How do I get my housing paid for? How many other people get their entire housing paid for each month? Who is paying for that?...Oh...
I liked the sound bites I heard of Obama's speach. I like the things he wants to do. I think he's a wise enough man to surround himself with a wise cabinet and so I'm not worried about his inexperience.
What worries me is the question: "How will he pay for it?" Bigger government is not something I am in favor of. Paying higher taxes is not something that I can afford. (see previous blog)
So one might think the "rich" can afford higher taxes. Obama said the if you make $250,000 a year you are "rich." I spoke to someone this morning who's income was $250,000 on his 2007 tax return. However, he is a business owner with under 6 years of time in business. He's newly married with a blended family and currently has 3 homes, 2 of which he is trying to sell in this struggling market. If his taxes are raised 10% he will definitely have to make changes in his business, meaning implimenting layoffs, which will add to unemployment. Other ramifications to higher taxes will be higher prices to compensate for higher expenses. That makes things difficult for consumers and hurts the economy.
I'm not very deep into politics, nor do I claim to understand economics. I do know that in order to accomplish what Obama promises to accomplish things will need to be paid for.

2 comments:

Rick Moore said...

Hey Don, welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! Warning - it's addictive. Have fun and don't let the trolls bother you (if they haven't shown up yet, they will).

Melinda said...

Quite possibly, there are disabilities or care-giver roles that are preventing those of wage-earning age from being able to actually be wage earners.

I am a full-time caregiver for someone disabled in my home. If anything happened to the wage-earner in our home (family of six, plus ailing parents and in-laws), that family would be us. There is probably more to the story than you know.

Trust me, the persons unable to earn wages, due to these roles, are plenty aware of how easy it falsely appears to the rest of the world. It is pointed out and verbalized often.