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We are finally beginning to see some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, so we just have to be patient for another month or two so more people can be fully vaccinated. Vaccines are now available in abundance and free, of course, to everyone over the age of 16. Wisconsin is doing an excellent job of getting vaccines into arms and as of the writing of this item, Wisconsin ranked second among all states in the percentage of COVID-19 vaccines administered. We are starting to receive press releases about venues planning to open, events being scheduled and vacation tours taking reservations. If we can avoid another surge and another highly contagious variant, we should be in very good shape.
Will our society emerge more compassionate and caring after having seen how fragile a life can be? Hopefully the experience of the last year will help us understand what is important in life and we emerge kinder and more generous to our neighbors and people across the world.
Not All of Us are Pulling in the Same Direction
Unfortunately, there are some who refuse to get a vaccine claiming personal freedom. If they lived alone on an island that would be their personal right, but they live in a community. With highly efficacious vaccines on one side and a highly contagious and deadly virus that can mutate and create a variant on the other side, a person’s private decision is really a societal issue. If people get COVID-19, it not only directly affects those around them, but it can literally have a major impact if their COVID-19 virus mutates. It’s like, yes you have a right to get drunk out of your mind, that’s your personal freedom, but once you get in your car, it becomes a societal problem.
This leads to an issue that we will be facing and that is, can a business like a restaurant, a sports stadium, a music venue or an airline refuse your business if you can’t show evidence that you are fully vaccinated. Is that a form of discrimination if a free and safe vaccine is available to everyone? The law protects people from discrimination in what are called protected classes who suffer discrimination by simply who they are. Not being vaccinated is something one can change with a simple shot in the arm.
Would you be willing to fly if you might end up sitting next to someone for eight hours on a flight to Europe who is not vaccinated? Is requiring proof of vaccination somehow an infringement on one’s privacy? Can a state or local government prevent a business from refusing to serve someone who chooses not to be vaccinated? This will be interesting to watch.
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Will We See a Major Infrastructure Bill Become Law?
Despite, the fact that March saw 916,000 people added to the employment rolls, we are currently still 8.4 million jobs down from our pre-pandemic levels. Getting back to our pre-pandemic normalcy is good, but we need to move our country forward. As we know, President Biden is proposing a $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill that would be paid for by raising taxes on corporations and on the very wealthy. The bill would both provide the crucial stimulus our economy will need to build back the almost eight and a half million jobs while at the same time rebuilding or enhancing our deteriorating infrastructure.
Infrastructure is more than the narrow 1950s definition as simply, roads, bridges, ports and airports. It is the physical and organizational structures necessary to a well-functioning society. Most infrastructure by its very nature is a public good.
Currently, our infrastructure of all kinds has deteriorated, is outmoded, or was never created in the first place as we see in some rural areas. We will not be able to continue to compete and succeed in the world economy when our infrastructure including some of our broadband in many parts of the country is a decade behind other countries. We can’t live a 21st century lifestyle when we refuse to spend the public dollars to bring our infrastructure into the current century.
So How Did We Get Here?
Starting about 45 years ago, the radical right-wing of the Republican Party heavily funded a campaign to starve the public sector and cut various taxes on the wealthy. It was called trickle-down economics and it was passionately promoted by the Reagan Administration. The theory went like this, dramatically cut taxes on the corporations and the wealthy and that will stimulate massive business investment and regular working people will end up with good jobs.
To most serious economists it was ridiculous from the start, but with a heavily funded propaganda campaign championed by a popular president, it got legs. It was also known as the horse and sparrow theory. Feed the horse well and the sparrows will dine. The promoters of this discredited theory coerced mostly Republican elected officials to sign a no tax pledge declaring they would not under any circumstances vote to raise taxes.
Devastating Effect
When you cut taxes on the large corporations and the wealthy, there is no money available to support and expand our infrastructure. After 40 years of underfunding infrastructure, including educational infrastructure, it is no surprise that we find ourselves with deteriorated and obsolete infrastructure and lower- and middle-income families unable to pay for higher education without going heavily into debt.
After World War II, it was government funding that expanded our higher education infrastructure throughout the country along with the GI bill that built the most sophisticated labor force the world had ever seen. That’s what propelled us into being the leader in innovation and the wealthiest country in the world. That claim to fame may be in question as we refuse to support our society’s infrastructure.
The recent polling shows majority support for the Infrastructure proposal, but less support than the president saw for his COVID Relief Bill. Interestingly, the support for the infrastructure bill increases when the question states that the bill would be paid for by increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy. There is bi-partisan support for the bill among the voters. Will the opposition party still vote in lockstep against it as they did with the even more popular COVID Relief Bill?
