On the road to success

America was a much smaller nation 200 years ago. The total population in 1821 was only about 10 million. Several states had not even been admitted to the union by then. Outside of towns and cities, people’s homes were quite distant from one another. It was absolutely necessary then to rely on one’s own energy, ability and ambition for survival. Limited government services were available. Understandably, many Americans developed an ethos of self-reliance and independence. This is different from the cooperation imposed by the Infrastructure Act and the Build Back Better bill.

As victims in an oppressive culture, Blacks learned early on about the advantage of compassionate coalescence. As the economy became more sophisticated, it became apparent that groups of people working cooperatively were essential for real progress. Nonetheless, in many parts of the country people resisted the concept of health insurance financed by government. The Affordable Care Act was reviled and castigated as Obamacare, even though most industrial nations provide such care for their citizens.

Resistance to so-called Obamacare was financed by the affluent who were aware that any improvements to the nation’s infrastructure or benefits to the citizens would be financed by their personal and corporate tax payments. They falsely asserted that any such benefit for the people was tantamount to socialism.

Unfortunately, when so many Americans resisted acceptance of so-called Obamacare, they indicated that the nation was full of marks, ready for a major scam. They elected a Republican for president who was totally unfit for office, and they support Republicans in high office who support or countenance the January 6 attack on the nation’s Capitol.

Not one Republican in the House of Representatives voted to support passage of President Biden’s Build Back Better bill. Its benefits include:

• Lower costs on prescription drugs, health care and housing.

• Child care and care for seniors to enable Americans to afford to go back to work.

• Reduced taxes for the middle class and working families, including extension of Child Tax Credit.

• Universal pre-kindergarten for every 3- and 4-year-old.

• Investments in Pell Grants and historically black colleges and universities.

• Significant investment in efforts at climate control.

The bill is not yet law until it is approved by vote of the Senate and signed by President Biden. But there is likely to be substantial debate in the Senate. Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have been the only two Democrats in the Senate who have been resisting approval of the bill. The major issue is funding the bill.

Every time adjustments have to be made in the program the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has to run the numbers to determine the projected cost. Now $814 billion will come from business taxes and $655 billion from individual taxes. The financial projection is for a 10-year period.

Whatever finally emerges, an act to obliterate the American rugged individualism is bound to meet with resistance. That attitude is at play with people who object to being vaccinated as a matter of principle although the evidence is clear that unvaccinated individuals create a hazard for others. There is a strong strain of callous egotism among many Americans.