A Thought on New Standard Deductions

You are absoluitely right, and I like the way you put it. In fact, they have an entire playbook from Reagan's files they could access in an instant and use that. But of course, why do anything that makes sense or actually works? lol

@porwest To this day the Dems still argue that Reagan's policies were flawed and bad for the country. Nobody's policies are perfect, but what Reagan did back then was exactly what our country needed. It got us out of recession, it put the breaks on inflation, he made our military strong again, and he ushered in many years of unprecedented economic growth. What's not to like about that?

@moffittjc "And he ushered in many years of unprecedented economic growth," is the truth the Democrats always like to try to twist. "But only the wealthy succeeded." No, high tides lift all boats, and when the wealthy succeed they pass that success on to everyone else in the form of better pay, more jobs, and so on and so forth. The era of economic growth after Reagan's measures is undeniable, yet some people will still deny it.

Part of the problem, and this not meant to be a diss against Biden, yet still many will take it that way. The fact is, that like Jimmy Carter back when he was up against massive inflation, Carter had no idea whatsoever about monetary policy or how money even works. Biden is in the same exact situation. He does not know enough about monetary policy or how money works. Reagan fundamentally understood that money and inflation was more of a product of the money supply, and only the money supply. But he also understood that while that was true, certain monetary policies could be used to make the transition to a low-inflation economy more feasible. Thus, he took swift action to employ policies that would do exactly that, and it worked. In fact, it worked dramatically fast, bringing inflation down from 12.5% to 8.9% in 1981, and by 1982 inflation was only 3.8%. Granted, there are always variables in every economic situation, and so one can't simply do exactly the same things and achieve the same result. However, examining Reagan's policies right now by the Biden administration would be wise and beneficial. But again, in order for anything to work, the president making the policy has to fundamentally understand money in order to be able to determine what is wrong that is causing the problem. Our president, nor the democrat party right now, has the ability to do that. So, we are stuck for the time being. I do not have a lot of confidence that Jerome Powell has the prowess either that Volcker did back in the day. So, there's that too. I have said multiple times that the Fed has not been aggressive enough to tighten the money supply. At the same time, even while the Fed is "independent," presidents ultimately make monetary policy and the Fed does what they are told—as did Volcker under Carter who was only able to finally make inroads when Reagan freed him from Carter's disastrous policies. Sorry so long. Just felt it all needed to be said.

@CarolDM The playbook is right there. All Biden has to do is open it up.

@porwest No need to apologize about being so long. You make excellent points. We could use another Reagan about right now.

@porwest Ah, got it.

Administratively it would be impossible since the tax law/code was already established for 2022. The brackets are different for 2023 as well.

@porwest I agree they were giving out money we couldn't afford to do. There were so many other decisions like Loan forgiveness, not allowing others to evict non-paying renters, giving money to those that could have paid their rent, etc. I know someone who has a $600 rent space, own their mobile, bring in over $5K between them and still didn't pay their rent space and applied to get a check to the landlord. They were approved. That's just so wrong. The SS is not going to help. I had to retire on disability four years ago and I draw SS early and my retirement. My retirement all goes on my insurance (cobra), life insurance, taxes (SS doesn't hold them out and disability is taxed), and extras. If I wasn't living in my owned mini house on my daughter's property, I'd be homeless with how high housing is.

@noni1959 The government is almost always wrong headed in their approach of who to help and give money to, which is part of the reason I oppose more taxes. Just get the books right first and THEN tell me if you need more money.

Stimulus checks are one of the causes of the inflation since we printed money to do it, and so that would only add to inflation. It would be a bad idea to do it. We have to suffer it out now, it's the only way. The 8.7% increase in SS is something I also applaud, but with inflation at 8.2% and rising, it likely won't have much of an impact for most people other than to cover some of the difference. The only real takeaway here is that we are in a real pickle here, and unfortunately Biden is like Carter in that he really has no idea about monetary policy. Again, that's not a diss on Biden, just a reality we have to accept. I think by the time we get done with all this inflation will probably see about 14% or higher. Let's hope it doesn't get to that. But I think it is also a bit inevitable, all things considered.

The markets for me have been like a roller coaster ride, but I am actually up a bit. Of course, I have a few investments that pay some whopping double digit yields, so that at least helps to offset things a bit, and the value of writing covered calls has increased a bit as well. The I-bonds are a pretty good deal right now. The new set are just under 7%. Amazing you can see a 7% yield though, and not be able to say, "I am beating inflation." lol

@porwest Ain't that the truth!!!

It was a ploy to get votes. Nothing more and solves nothing.

@porwest It's not new that kind of act. It's what our corrupt politicians are doing. And many were victimized especially the idiots and stupid.

And all along Biden was telling us the economy was the best it has ever been and inflation was all the fault of greedy businesses which told us one thing... They aren't going to do a damn thing about inflation and they just want to keep people poor so they can keep their power and hold over us.

Yes. The tax code was already in place for 2022. As for better late than ever, there are better measures the administration could do now to help curb the inflation. But that would require real work. Not the fake work they can put in the news today and forget to tell people none of this matters until a year and a half from now. lol