This commentary is by Joe Gervais, of Arlington. He is the Republican candidate for the Vermont House of Representatives in the Bennington-4 District.
Since the Biden administration took office last year, Americans have seen a huge, direct tax increase due to the reckless policies of this progressive Democratic-led administration. According to the Joint Economic Committee’s State Inflation Tracker, Vermonters are experiencing a 10.9% inflation rate and a $597 a month increase in household costs since Biden took office in January of 2021. Fuel prices have soared, and everything that requires fuel has also been impacted. We have seen home heating bills nearly double, food prices increase significantly, increased used vehicle prices, and the list goes on. The reality of expenses most Americans face on a daily basis is probably closer to a real 20% inflation rate.
We now see the impact of this irresponsible spending with every trip to the gas pump or grocery store, and we see other countries taking notice and no longer buying U.S. Treasury notes.
What is inflation? Inflation is the devaluing of the dollar. Why is the dollar devaluing? During the past 14 years, we’ve seen the largest expansion of currency in the nearly 110-year history of the Federal Reserve (FED). In a recent interview, former Blackrock hedge fund manager Edward Dowd said “the last 12 years have been a ballooning of what I call the central bank-government bubble, the sovereign debt bond bubble.” There has been no fiscal responsibility at the federal level, and our state legislatures have been priding themselves on how well they can spend “free” federal money. In summary, inflation is Americans bearing the brunt of fiscal irresponsibility and being indirectly taxed through higher prices for everything they buy due to the reduced purchasing power of the dollar.
Reviewing statistics from the FED, at the start of 2008, the M2 money supply was 51% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at 7.5 trillion dollars. This was consistent with the money supply at the end of 2001, where it was also 51% of GDP. However, since 2008, between quantitative easing and overspending by Congress, the money supply has tripled, ballooning to an unsustainable 91% of GDP. The money supply currently stands at nearly $22 trillion.
That free money was hardly free. We now see the impact of this irresponsible spending with every trip to the gas pump or grocery store, and we see other countries taking notice and no longer buying U.S. Treasury notes. This leaves America in the position that the once secure U.S. Treasury note has no buyers because of increased risk of default. We have seen the Russian sanctions backfire on the United States, with BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South America) setting up their own alternative to the SWIFT international payment system, and the use of the U.S. dollar to settle international oil trades being replaced by payments in gold or in Russian rubles. This further softens demand for U.S. dollars.
The challenge we are facing is the bubble is about to burst. When the housing bubble burst in 2008, the government stepped in and started this monetary expansion that headed us towards the economic cliff. With a global sovereign debt crisis, there is no one left to step in and avoid the crisis. We see China continuing to have lockdowns in the name of Covid. It is more likely that the lockdowns allow control of the population and restrictions on bank runs since the exposure of the Evergrande Group and wider systematic real estate Ponzi scheme, masking the impending failure. The Covid crisis simultaneously provided global cover for the impending failure of the central banks and accelerated the failure of the central banks.
If an economic collapse is unavoidable, how do we survive? From a people point of view, it’s back to the words of our founding fathers — One Nation, under God. We need to stop all the divisive actions and focus more on what makes us one people, one nation, rather than focusing on individual differences. We will need to work together. We may experience the food and energy shortages that are plaguing our brothers and sisters in Europe.
Vermont is blessed in that we have many local farms and local renewable fuel sources with our forests. From a government perspective, we need to ensure that there is transparency and accountability for those that were behind this corruption and reckless spending spree of the last dozen years and that policies are put in place so that it can never happen again.
That tax increase was set in place with the GOP’s 2017 “tax cut” for all Americans. Hardly anybody at the time reported that the “tax cut” for all was going to end only for those making less than $75,000 a year, beginning in 2022 and not only eliminating the reduction but actually raising their taxes higher by 2027.
So, about 71% of Vermont households are going to see their taxes going up even more in the next four years. Thank a Republican, I guess….
Apparently you haven’t read the article which has nothing to do with tax rates. The article talks about $600 per month from inflation through the cost of energy, food and other items we buy. It makes sense to read an article before you comment on it. This had nothing to do with the tax cuts or republicans, but nice try I guess. Another uninformed reader?
Dano this really made me laugh.
cgregory: open mouth, insert foot.
Gervais was using “taxes” as a dog whistle to distract readers from the real taxation issue. Had he used “inflation,” he would have risked starting a snoozefest among the readership. I merely supplied a corrective.
You are still wrong.
The inflation is caused by government policies that are running up the cost of EVERYTHING.
This money being stolen from us is caused entirely by government policies, this makes this stolen money A TAX.
The writer is correct.. it’s not a dog whistle, it’s a fact.
#taxationistheft
Never vote for a Democrat or a Progressive again. Simple. Those who do are just doing it to themselves.
Has everyone stopped to think about what could be done with that $600 bucks a month if we were not buying gas, groceries and basic household items?
Imagine where you’d be if you invested $600 a month.
You could buy a piece of property for that money, a camp somewhere perhaps..
It’s a brand new vehicle purchase.
It’s education money for you or you kids.
It’s A LOT of money that we are all essentially throwing out the window on gas and basics that never did cost $600 a month before.
THIS IS CALLED FAILURE FROM THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.
FAILURE>!!
Over 28 years of employment, I put $100 a week into a 401(k), splitting it into thirds among conservative, moderate and high-risk portfolios. That was a total of $145,600. When I retired, my account balance was $110,000.
According to saving.org, after 20 years it should have been $226,000 at 7%. So, Wall Street charged me upwards of $100,000 for trusting them with my money. Had I been putting $600 a month aside, I would have earned them well over 40% more.
And yet you kept your money there for 20 years?
The first rule of investing is to only invest in things you fully understand.
Clearly you didn’t…
Let’s not blame this on Democrats only.
Our governor Phil Scott voted for Joe Biden and Senator Joe Benning is a big Joe Biden supporter well denouncing true Republicans in the state of Vermont
He calls the true Republicans white supremacists and insurrectionists and racist
We need to rid Vermont of these rhinos that are totally destroying our state and the Republican party
Anyone in there right mind should not be voting to put Joseph Benning in the spot of Lieutenant Governor ready to slime his way into the office of Governor in the state of Vermont when insulting true Republicans in this state.
We have an opportunity to write in a candidate who ran in the primary and is still available to write in on our ballots and I would suggest each and every one of us do that…
Not only does Joe Benning sell out the Republicans in the state of Vermont He’s selling out our family values while promising to vote for article 22…
Please visit http://www.GregoryThayer.com
Everyone should spread the word among friends and family, in the community, and on social media.
Ballot MUST be filled out EXACTLY:
“Gregory M. Thayer of Rutland”
I hope all the dem voters, alive and dead, are enjoying the cost of NO MEAN
TWEETS…. do you think it’s still worth it now democrats and rino’s???
To quote a BlackRock source is tripping over the line. BlackRock is known for taking advantage of the very conditions we are seeing. It’s the devil making flames and then blaming the flames for burning you. Ex. BlackRock buys out entire neighborhoods, “homogenizes” them, then jacks the price of the homes for off-the-charts profits. Yes, the shareholders love it. But who cares if the practice is destroying American communities? Apparently, not enough.