{"id":84462,"date":"2024-08-31T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T08:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=84462"},"modified":"2024-09-04T07:43:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T14:43:26","slug":"black-coffee-31-aug-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id84462-black-coffee-31-aug-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Bait and Switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hurricane-flags\"<\/a>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

Another busy week is crossed off the list. So without further ado, let’s get right to the commentary …<\/p>\n

We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes. This debt we pay to human guile; with torn and bleeding hearts we smile.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Paul Laurence Dunbar<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? The state of New York signed a contract in June to buy electricity generated by two large wind farms off the Long Island coast at a rate of $155 and $146 per megawatt-hour, respectively. Now for the punchline: that\u2019s more than four times higher<\/a> than the average grid cost of $36 paid over the past year. Yes; it\u2019s just another green energy scam benefitting political donors at the expense of the public. Even so, there are plenty of people out there who insist that green energy is the future. Probably the same folks who are also suggesting this<\/strong><\/em> …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of scams, we see one presidential candidate actually announced a plan to tax unrealized gains<\/a> on investments by 25%. Just how insane is this idea? Let\u2019s say you buy a home for $500,000 and the appraised value rises to $600,000 a year later. You’d then have to pay a $25,000 tax on that $100,000 – and every year thereafter, assuming the price remains steady – even though you never<\/strong><\/em> sold your home. I know what you\u2019re thinking: But, Len, what if the housing market crashes after that and my mortgage goes underwater?<\/em> Well \u2026 don\u2019t expect a refund on the taxes you paid when your house was in the black. Utter madness, brought to you by the usual tax-and-spend suspects:<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, we’re not surprised that sagacious macro commenter Franklin Sanders has his own astute observation regarding the unrealized gain tax proposal. He notes that we\u2019re being promised that “this tax will only apply to those with wealth greater than $100 million. (But) when the income tax was imposed in 1913, the promise was that the tax would never be greater than 1% and that only the wealthy would pay. And y\u2019all know how long that<\/strong><\/em> lasted. If they get this tax, they’ll expropriate and decapitalize everyone<\/a>.\u201d Surprising? No; such government duplicity is par for the course. It certainly puts these<\/strong><\/em> guys to shame:<\/p>\n