bidens incredible transition to electric cars

[Starglow]

I am a Gen Xer, but I don't blame Millenials and Zoomers for being pissed at Boomers.

They inherited a fantastic economy and promised themselves huge benefits from the government while cutting taxes and racked up $32 trillion worth of debt and gave it to the next generation to deal with. Social security is broke, Medicare is underwater but they won't let that shit get cut. And they are the wealthiest generation in the history of the world. They are the ultimate welfare queens.

Fantastic economy you say...?? When I bought my first new house in 1983 the mortgage interest rate was 12.75%....try paying that much interest based on today's home prices. Social Security and Medicare are not going broke...that is just another political lie from both sides of our government. If the government can send billions of American tax dollars to the Ukraine then they can find the money to fund Social Security and Medicare. The government wants to treat Social Security and Medicare as "Entitlements" when they are earned benefits that we've paid for in every paycheck over our entire working lives. Boomers didn't get a free ride and have earned whatever financial assets they have saved unlike the younger geration who expects everything to be handed to them (student loan forgiveness anyone...?) by the government on a silver platter with no sweat equity. The Democrat free money machine is what's driving the trillions in government debt.

 

[JNDATHP]

^^^ And, unfortunately, RINOs.

 

[tigerwillow1]

They inherited a fantastic economy and promised themselves huge benefits from the government while cutting taxes and racked up $32 trillion worth of debt and gave it to the next generation to deal with. Social security is broke, Medicare is underwater but they won't let that shit get cut. And they are the wealthiest generation in the history of the world. They are the ultimate welfare queens.

I think you're wrong to pin these ills on a generation. The villains and victims are split by various demographics of all the generations. The debt has been racked up by crooked politicians buying votes with various redistribution schemes that include taxes and welfare programs. The greedy people from all the generations have been more than happy to sell their votes for money, power, and stuff. The losers have been the responsible middle class members of all the generations, having the fruits of their labor confiscated through taxes and inflation. Those below middle class don't have enough assets to finance the schemes. There aren't enough people above middle class to finance the schemes. The middle class is the only place where there are enough people and assets available to confiscate them for redistribution and welfare, so that's where the government goes to, at the barrel of a gun if necessary. What's making it a ponzi scheme is that all this is killing off the middle class. Once this golden egg is fully bankrupted, the whole thing collapses. I submit to you that the corrupt politicians, greedy voters, and welfare queens exist in all the generations. The middle class boomers have been fleeced the most, and as with all ponzi schemes, those who get in last are the biggest losers.

 

[JNDATHP]

The Nixon shock of 1971 was, in my opinion, the opening of the flood gates of the money printing presses.

​

Nixon shock
The Nixon shock was a series of economic measures undertaken by United States President Richard Nixon in 1971, in response to increasing inflation, the most significant of which were wage and price freezes, surcharges on imports, and the unilateral cancellation of the direct international convertibility of the United States dollar to gold. Although Nixon's actions did not formally abolish the existing Bretton Woods system of international financial exchange, the suspension of one of its key components effectively rendered the Bretton Woods system inoperative. While Nixon publicly stated his intention to resume direct convertibility of the dollar after reforms to the Bretton Woods system had been implemented, all attempts at reform proved unsuccessful. By 1973, the current regime based on freely floating fiat currencies de facto replaced the Bretton Woods system for other global currencies.Wikipedia

 

[tigerwillow1]

the unilateral cancellation of the direct international convertibility of the United States dollar to gold.

I won't quibble about this point. Tying the currency to silver or gold was necessary for the population to put their faith into the paper notes, then down the road the government pulls out the foundation that it started with. I've seen this happen with so many taxes that had to be approved with a vote. It's introduced as a tiny tax with a cap on the rate, then after a few years the government eliminates the cap. Ot the tax is 100% dedicated to some worthy cause, then after a few years it starts getting diverted to other causes or the politicians' favorite, the general fund. With inflation and increased taxes, all assets are eventually confiscated by the government.

 

[Oceanslider]

Throw away car @70k miles..........just like a Yugo.

Except way more costly new than Yugo.

 

[wpiman]

If you're not just trying to be funny then you are so full of shit you probably believe that last sentence.

It is 100% verifiably true. The US government essentially had a surplus in the mid 60s when the politicians the boomers elected took over from the Greatest Generation.

Since then, we have run up a deficit of almost $33 trillion which is well over 100% of our GDP. Where did that money go? Over 50% of the federal budget goes to social security and for health insurance (Medicare and Medicaid which are mostly for the elderly). Those "trust funds" are gone. They bought treasuries which were already spent money.

The first budget item on nearly every state budget? Medicaid and Medicare. Transfer payments to the boomers from the young.

And now a huge line item on the federal budget is interest payments on this debt. It will probably exceed defense spending in a couple of years.

So when someone young complains they are being taxes to death and getting nothing for it, at least you understand why....

 

[garycrist]

The Nixon Shock was BULLSHIT! France as well as other countries were screwing us
by redeeming $$$ for gold @ $35 and selling at spot rates of $300 to $700 per oz!
I bet WIKI did not tell you that!

 

[tomifaribo]

Yeah, there's been a few fires. I'm not one to stress about unlikely events, but I'd still at least practice how I'd tug a flaming vehicle out of the garage, and install a smoke detector in there.

In my estimation, an unlikely but catastrophic failure of a single cell in a battery should not result in the whole thing going up in flames. Bad design. As I said, batteries suck. They are essentially expensive gas tanks, slow to refuel, heavy, bulky, and potentially catastrophically failing. They need to get a lot better.



EVs are better in every aspect except for the stinkin battery. Cost per mile on electricity is about 1/3rd on average. My cost to drive my 30 MPG Acura has been 11 cents per mile. The Prius plug-in was 6 cents per mile on gasoline, but 3 cents per mile on electricity.

The electric grid can be made more efficient if EVs are mostly charged at night. Bringing baseload usage up narrows the difference between peak and off-peak. It's not the amount of electricity demanded from the grid that makes it cost more, but the difference between low demand and high demand. That needs to be balanced as much as possible.

I've been saying plug-in hybrids are extremely undervalued. You minimize the thing that sucks the most; the battery, while maximizing the utility of it. No range anxiety, plenty of performance, and cheap commutes.

We need to heavily tax electric vehicles. Just like the left is penalizing people using gas and diesel

 

[tomifaribo]

It is 100% verifiably true. The US government essentially had a surplus in the mid 60s when the politicians the boomers elected took over from the Greatest Generation.

Since then, we have run up a deficit of almost $33 trillion which is well over 100% of our GDP. Where did that money go? Over 50% of the federal budget goes to social security and for health insurance (Medicare and Medicaid which are mostly for the elderly). Those "trust funds" are gone. They bought treasuries which were already spent money.

The first budget item on nearly every state budget? Medicaid and Medicare. Transfer payments to the boomers from the young.

And now a huge line item on the federal budget is interest payments on this debt. It will probably exceed defense spending in a couple of years.

So when someone young complains they are being taxes to death and getting nothing for it, at least you understand why....

Can we really trust what any Government records are stating on Expense report? Democratic rule proves NO!!!!

 

[tigerwillow1]

redeeming $$$ for gold @ $35 and selling at spot rates of $300 to $700 per oz!

This was something I wasn't aware of, and when trying to do a fact check on it, my result was that some of the sources agree, and some disagree. I'm not going to put a lot of time trying to research it. I'm reluctant to believe anything from the government or financial outlets. But trying to apply logic, and assuming what you say in the quote is correct, that would mean that the dollar was screwed, value-wise, long before the Nixon action and the $35 cap was something artificial for the sake of appearance. That means to me that the damage was done long before the Nixon action, and it wasn't possible to keep hiding it any more.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Over 50% of the federal budget goes to social security and for health insurance (Medicare and Medicaid which are mostly for the elderly). Those "trust funds" are gone. They bought treasuries which were already spent money.
The first budget item on nearly every state budget? Medicaid and Medicare. Transfer payments to the boomers from the young.

And if this house of cards survives another 50 years, those that are young then will complain that their assets are being transferred to the ones who are complaining now. Yes, these programs are actuarially unsound to the point of being fraudulent. Boomers are less than half the voting age population. Why aren't the voters from the other generations voting to fix this? My answer: They're sucking on the government teat just as much as the boomers are. The younger generations could fix this, but instead they complain and line up for their handouts. It's the productive workers vs. the lazies, not boomers vs. everybody else.

So when someone young complains they are being taxes to death and getting nothing for it, at least you understand why....

Productive and responsible boomers are being taxed to death too. Some of their taxes are transferred to the lazy x, z, and millenials.

Medicaid mostly for the elderly???


Share of Medicaid & CHIP Population by Age | Medicaid

 

[wpiman]

Medicaid mostly for the elderly???
View attachment 171120

Share of Medicaid & CHIP Population by Age | Medicaid

Yes. Medicare covers the insurance of the elderly, while Medicaid covers the full care resting homes that cost $12,000 a month when grandmas house in the trust goes to the kids so she can appear broke.

While more children BY NUMBER are on Medicaid, they don't cost a lot. Most kids MAYBE see the doctor once a year, maybe get stitches a couple of times, or maybe get birth control and that is it. The elderly who are in retirement homes cost more in a week that a dozen kids do for their entire youth.

 

[Broachoski]

We need to heavily tax electric vehicles. Just like the left is penalizing people using gas and diesel

Our fuel is taxed to help maintain our roads so why not tax our electric bills..... NO NO NO, just joking.

New Texas law will charge electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 fee when renewing their vehicle registration

New Texas law will charge electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 fee when renewing their registration, Sen. Robert Nichols from Jacksonville authored this bill and talks about why he took action now.

www.ktre.com

 

[TonyR]

Our fuel is taxed to help maintain our roads so why not tax our electric bills..... NO NO NO, just joking.

New Texas law will charge electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 fee when renewing their vehicle registration

New Texas law will charge electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 fee when renewing their registration, Sen. Robert Nichols from Jacksonville authored this bill and talks about why he took action now.

www.ktre.com

Yep, no gas taxes collected since EV's don't buy gas BUT...they do put wear and tear on the roads like ICE vehicles, so....

 

[tigerwillow1]

While more children BY NUMBER are on Medicaid, they don't cost a lot. Most kids MAYBE see the doctor once a year, maybe get stitches a couple of times, or maybe get birth control and that is it. The elderly who are in retirement homes cost more in a week that a dozen kids do for their entire youth.

Have you run the numbers, or making dangerous assumptions? Or gaslighting? Somebody who ran the numbers for 2019 says seniors accounted for 21.2% of medicaid spending, and children were 17.4%.
Medicaid Spending by Enrollment Group

A different organization that ran the 2020 numbers says seniors used 21.1% of medicaid spending and children 15.1%. 41.6% of the senior expenditures, or 8.8% of all medicaid spending, was for "long term care". EXHIBIT 21. Medicaid Spending by State, Eligibility Group, and Dually Eligible Status : MACPAC

Medicaid mostly for the elderly??? The numbers say exact opposite.

 

[Smilingreen]

Well, damn...........

EVs are running out of customers — and some dealers don't want them anymore

EVs from brands like Ford and Hyundai are piling up on dealer lots. Some dealers are saying enough is enough.

www.businessinsider.com

.

 

[wpiman]

Medicaid mostly for the elderly??? The numbers say exact opposite.

Medicaid enrollment and expenditure share by group 2021 | Statista

Children accounted for 36.5 percent of Medicaid enrollees in 2021, which was the largest share of all enrollment groups.

www.statista.com

"Children accounted for 36.9 percent of Medicaid enrollees in 2020, which was the largest share of all enrollment groups. The elderly and persons with disabilities had the smallest shares, but together they accounted for more than half of all Medicaid expenditure."

Looks I I misread this stat when I said most of Medicaid goes to the elderly. I misread the "AND persons with disability" to mean persons elderly and with a disability. I stand corrected.

So, it looks like they draw about 1/4 of the Medicaid fund on top of the generous Social Security they draw ($1300 billion dollars from the people actually working for a living) and lavish Medicare benefit (which now tops $830 billion) they draw. I guess I'll take some solace that they are only getting $120 billion of the $600 billion Medicaid fund and left some crumbs for everyone else.

Oh, and the interest of the debt is now closing in on the cost of defense. Thanks boomers.

 

[wpiman]

I think you're wrong to pin these ills on a generation. The villains and victims are split by various demographics of all the generations. The debt has been racked up by crooked politicians buying votes with various redistribution schemes that include taxes and welfare programs. The greedy people from all the generations have been more than happy to sell their votes for money, power, and stuff. The losers have been the responsible middle class members of all the generations, having the fruits of their labor confiscated through taxes and inflation. Those below middle class don't have enough assets to finance the schemes. There aren't enough people above middle class to finance the schemes. The middle class is the only place where there are enough people and assets available to confiscate them for redistribution and welfare, so that's where the government goes to, at the barrel of a gun if necessary. What's making it a ponzi scheme is that all this is killing off the middle class. Once this golden egg is fully bankrupted, the whole thing collapses. I submit to you that the corrupt politicians, greedy voters, and welfare queens exist in all the generations. The middle class boomers have been fleeced the most, and as with all ponzi schemes, those who get in last are the biggest losers.

The generation that voted for the politicians who fleeced their kids bear the ultimate responsibility. Sure, there are greedier ones in every generation, but we all have a responsibility to answer for the people we put in power. Buck stops here.

 

[tigerwillow1]

The elderly and persons with disabilities had the smallest shares, but together they accounted for more than half of all Medicaid expenditure."

I think the disability part is a scam and a moral hazard. Sure, there are some legitimate disability situations. On the other hand probably most people have seen the occasional media reports of "disabled" people participating in strenuous sports, home maintenance, etc. Over the years I've been involved in conversations with people plotting to "get on disability" instead of looking for a job. I'm shocked every time I hear it, and it's pretty common. Taxpayer funded early retirement, sometimes for people in their 20s and 30s.