{"id":83582,"date":"2024-06-15T01:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=83582"},"modified":"2024-06-18T08:15:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T15:15:56","slug":"black-coffee-15-june-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id83582-black-coffee-15-june-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Not Your Father’s Dollar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Well … another busy week is behind us. So with that in mind, let’s get this party started …<\/p>\n

Rich men’s sons are seldom rich men’s fathers.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Herbert Kaufman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? As the Epoch Times<\/em> reports, “California has the highest income tax rate in the country (top tier of 14.4%). It has the highest statewide sales tax rate (7.25%, plus local sales taxes). It has the highest gas tax rate ($0.78 per gallon). Yet, it ranks third to last<\/a> in the country in terms of road quality.” Tell us about it; we live here. And with all the potholes, it makes us wonder where all the tax revenue is going. On second thought \u2026 we do<\/strong><\/em> know where it\u2019s going; it\u2019s being wasted on more unproductive government jobs, useless government programs and political cronies.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of the Golden State, nearly 10,000 California fast food workers have been fired<\/a> thanks to the state’s new $20 minimum wage. “Restaurants are struggling to stay above water, and (politicians) threw them an anvil,” California Assembly minority leader James Gallagher . “We warned (them) this would cost jobs. They ignored us, and here we are with the highest unemployment rate in the country poised to get even worse.\u201d Then again, this is what happens when clueless politicians and public sector bureaucrats who have never run a business of their own try to tell private sector companies how to do their job. This is disconcerting in more ways than one …<\/p>\n

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(h\/t: @InternetH0F)<\/p><\/div>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news … Thanks to inflation, $100 bills are the new $20s. With that in mind, the Treasury Department discontinued the issuance of $500 in 1969 due to lack of use – this was at a time when those $500 bills were worth multiple times what they are now. However, with prices continuing to soar, one Arizona Congressman has introduced a new bill that orders the Fed to reintroduce $500 bills<\/a> into circulation. In the meantime …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> I’m sure those $500 bills will come in handy for those who have to pay rent. On the other hand, nearly one in five renters fell behind on their rent in the past year, while rents have soared<\/a> 20% since the pandemic. In fact, rent payments are up $400 for the average renter since 2021. Hmm. I’m sure this<\/strong><\/em> has absolutely nothing<\/strong><\/em> to do with renters falling behind on their payments either …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, the latest job figures are out and once you get past the smoke and mirrors and dig into the details, the ugly truth<\/a> is that during the last 12 months, the \u201cgrowing\u201d US economy has gained 1.5 million part-time jobs – but lost 1.2 million full-time jobs. But you\u2019ll never see that in the mainstream media. Instead, it\u2019s all rainbows and unicorns – which means the subterfuge is intentional. Although there is<\/strong><\/em> a slight chance that the media is simply guilty of this<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n