{"id":87063,"date":"2025-04-12T01:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=87063"},"modified":"2025-04-16T18:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T01:20:13","slug":"black-coffee-12-apr-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id87063-black-coffee-12-apr-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Nothing for Something"},"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

I hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

The government is not the owner of its citizens’ income and, therefore, cannot hold a blank check on that income. The nature of proper governmental services – the police, the armed forces, the law courts – must be constitutionally defined and delimited, leaving the government no power to enlarge the scope of its services at its own arbitrary discretion.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Ayn Rand<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? In today’s economic climate where every dollar counts, American homeowners are making difficult choices<\/a> about home maintenance, with new data revealing that 59% are postponing essential repairs due to cost concerns. Unfortunately, that\u2019s not the only<\/strong><\/em> problem many Americans are now dealing with …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> The good news for struggling homeowners is that Congress is working to extend the 2017 tax cuts<\/a>, which are set to expire this year. If the cuts aren\u2019t extended, the average taxpayer would see a 22% tax hike. Putting that in real-world terms, an American family of four making $80,610 – the median US income – would see a $1695 tax increase. And if you think that’s<\/strong><\/em> the craziest good-news bad-news story you’ve ever heard, then you haven’t heard this<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n