Monday, February 27, 2017

New math


We seem to have become a "math challenged" society.  I saw it many times during my 40+ years as a custom homebuilder.  A client would come to me and say they had a hard budget of $    X     .  After learning what they wanted in terms of their amenities, I would advise them they should expect approx    Y    square feet in order to stay within budget.

Then we would all sit down with the architect and they would tell him to cap the footage at    Y    feet, and that they were willing to accept smaller secondary bedrooms, say 100 square feet each...."so make them 12 feet x 12 feet."

That's pretty much how our government has worked for decades.  A succession of congresses and presidents have wanted more than they could pay for.  That's how we got our $19,000,000,000,000 deficit.  We got away with it because no matter how badly we f__ked things up here in America, we were still less f__ked up than the rest of the world.  Smart money "over there" would invest their money here (read:  finance our deficit) because we were still considered a safe, stable country.  It was  all relative.

Tomorrow Prez Trump is going to give Congress his new budget outline.  He's said he was going to dramatically boost defense spending and infrastructure improvement, while not touching Social Security or Medicare.  Oh, and he wants a BIG tax cut, too.  I'm sure the Tea Party is sweating bullets right now!  Their whole reason for being is to cut spending and the deficit, and here a fellow Republican is proposing an increase in both.

"Not to worry" they'll say.  "We're going to increase income by growing the economy by 4% (thereby increasing tax revenues) and by cutting 'waste, fraud, and inefficiency'".

Have you ever heard a competent financial adviser say, "Sure, go ahead and buy that big new vacation house.  You're bound to get a substantial raise any day now.  I hope." And hasn't every president since Calvin Coolidge promised to save money by cutting waste, fraud, and inefficiency?  *still waiting*

The truth is, there are too many powerful constituencies (read: voters, special interests, and campaign contributors) who would scream bloody murder if Congress cut anything that affected them, and if there's anything every congressman loves it's happy voters and campaign contributors, so....

What will eventually happen is there will be, out of absolute dire necessity, a substantial tax increase on the wealthy.  "But how is that fair", the rich will ask?  My answer:  It isn't, but it's sorta like the answer John Dillinger gave when asked why he robbed banks:  "Because that's where the money is."

Fact.

S

15 comments:

  1. A substantial tax increase on the rich? I won't hold my breath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, I never said it would be in yours or my lifetime. ;)

      Delete
    2. It would have to be a situation, Steve, where outside money to finance our deficit was no longer available, at least at terms we could afford, and then we'd have to resort to austerity measures. Out of desperation we might then see tax increases on the wealthy.

      Delete
  2. Then the architect brings the house in 10% too big. (is there an emoji for whistling and looking away innocently?)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The rich should want to pay their share if they really cared about America and those who live in it but they care more about themselves and showing off instead.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Off subject..Have you ever had a new built home condemned for Radon Gas > 80 Pcu per million. They have tried fans and more tests, not a lot of change. It is a ranch house 2100 sq ft on concrete slab. She did have a lot of exotic red granite used inside. Any ideas? Just built and she can't move in. Location North Alabama. Thanks for any ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gets in line to see if there is an answer to the radon problem. Wondering if there is a vapor barrier underneath the slab and if that would make a difference.

      Delete
    2. It was built with a plastic liner under the slab, as it was built on limestone. Thanks.

      Delete
    3. Unfortunately no, I have no ideas. Luckily for us radon is not an issue in the Dallas area. I'll poke around and see what I can find out. When/if I do get an answer I'll post it here as a blog post for you to forward to your friend.

      Delete
    4. To my knowledge a vapor barrier is required by code. If you didn't have it your concrete floor would sweat something fierce. Your interior would be damp, or even wet. I don't think a vapor barrier would effect the radon level.

      Delete
  5. Yeah...it really would be nice if the Trumps and the Warren Buffets would pay the same rate of taxes that you and I do...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I struck out asking my architect, so I'll call my structural engineer tomorrow. Betina, could you ask your geotechnical engineers, too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for looking into it. It is perplexing for sure and not what you want when you have your custom retirement house built.

      Delete
    2. Didn't see this until just now, and I see that you already posted an answer in today's blog post. My geotechnical engineer was out in the field all day, anyway.

      I don't know when vapor barriers became required by code, but we just did an investigation on a house built in the 1980's that didn't have a vapor barrier under the slab. At some point, a vapor barrier was put down on top of the slab, underneath the laminate floor. When new owners of the house went to replace the laminate flooring, they noticed moisture underneath the vapor barrier and panicked and filed an insurance claim (hence our investigation). Our report said that it was common for houses built in the 1980's to not have a vapor barrier. I do know they are required now.

      Delete