| Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #248 03/23/2021 |
| 1) And Now for the $3 Trillion Infrastructure/Green New Deal Bill The ink is barely dry on the $2 trillion stimulus bill, but already Biden is rolling out his “green infrastructure” bill. As the chart from Cornerstone Macro, an investment advisory firm shows, it is stuffed not just with the usual highway and transit pork, but massive “green energy” boondoggles, federally funded universal nursery school (it’s hard enough to get governments to provide K-12 these days!), a multi-year extension of the brand new cash-welfare program created in the stimulus, massive tax hikes — and maybe even that $15 minimum wage that ended up on the cutting room floor last time.  The $5 trillion question: Is there any amount of spending and borrowing that even ONE House or Senate Democrat is willing to say no to? Anyone? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/22/joe-bidens-plan-roads-bridges-airports-may-hit-snag-congress/4757270001/ |
| 2) Stress Pandemic: We Were Warned! Nearly a year ago our friend Tom Smith presciently wrote: “Deliberately closing down the economy, which has never been done before, has created a more infectious, possibly more lethal disease than COVID-19. Let’s call it the Stress Virus… Stress is an insidious, multifaceted enemy of good health. The immune system is weakened. It can encourage counterproductive conduct.” https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/04/16/the_stress_pandemic_142944.html Now a new survey from the American Psychological Association quantifies just how bad the stress pandemic has been. 42% of U.S. adults report undesired weight gain. Of those, they gained an average of 29 pounds (the median amount gained was 15 pounds) and 10% said they gained more than 50 pounds!  Two in 3 Americans (67%) said they are sleeping more or less than they wanted to since the pandemic started. Similar proportions reported less (35%) and more (31%) sleep than desired. Nearly 1 in 4 adults (23%) reported drinking more alcohol to cope with their stress during the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly half of parents (48%) said the level of stress in their life has increased compared with before the pandemic. 75% of parents say they could have used more emotional support than they received, 32% received treatment from a mental health professional, and 24% were diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the pandemic started.  Nearly half of Americans (47%) said they delayed or canceled health care services since the pandemic started. Additionally, more than half of U.S. adults (53%) said they have been less physically active than they wanted to be since the pandemic started. Other than that, lockdowns have been a fabulous success. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/one-year-pandemic-stress |
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