Woodfin – “What a blessing that was,” remarked Woodfin Town Financial Director Sheri Powers during the May Woodfin Town Commissioners’ meeting. She was referring to the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) funds the town received to the tune of $2.14 million over two years. This infusion is helping the town fund a 17% budget increase from its current $6.68 million to $8.041 million: an increase of $1.36 million for next year’s budget, beginning this year on July 1st.
ARPA provided $350 billion nationwide, with additional funding for state and local governments above what was already in the nation’s bloated budget. When adding the government checks cut to citizens, for maintaining the economy and alleviating financial pressure on workers who were deemed “non-essential,” and these monetary figures are now starting to have a real effect on the economy with increasing inflation. Milton Friedman summed up inflation as “too many dollars chasing too few goods.” Well it appears that’s what we have now.
Inflation is spiraling out of control with most of us seeing it at the gas pump or at their grocery stores. Grocery stores are an amalgamation of inflation and, what the CEO of Goya Foods calls, the coming food shortage.
In an interview, the president & CEO of Goya Foods Robert Unanue said, “We are on the precipice of [a] food shortage.” He attributes the sparseness to the Russia/Ukraine war since both countries collectively produce half the fertilizer used in the United States. So on top of inflation, we now have a threatening condition that will “send food prices spiraling,” Unanue said.
Gas prices are also a unique fusion of inflation and the current administration deciding to shut down critical energy infrastructure (mainly the Keystone Pipeline). They are also not allowing new oil drilling permits, lessening our dependence on foreign oil. With the national average gas price already at an all-time high, it appears to be the summer of $6 a gallon gas nationwide; not just in the Peoples’ Republic of California.
Our country has a spending problem. We spend way more than we take-in as revenue — a sure fire recipe for continuining economic calamity. Currently, we owe $30 trillion in national debt (www.pgpf.org/national-debt-clock), or more than $91,000 per every individual in America. Is this what will drive us into the Great Global Reset (www.weforum.org/great-reset) where “you’ll own nothing and be happy?” While we may not believe in the Bible, it does have some truths we ought to listen to. A notable one is Proverbs 22:7, which reads, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Not even an atheist can argue that this verse isn’t ringing true.
Now, I’m not down on Woodfin or any other town, city, or state for taking the money. The politicians in Washington are the ones who are fueling inflation with these outlandish spending habits. They continue both domestically and abroad. What appears to be a “blessing” is really just a curse in disguise.
While Woodfin along with other towns & municipalities spend these funds, they may want to think about investing in a community food pantry. As food prices rise, the residents of these communities will have to look to the government for help. This situation makes me think of another passage in the Bible. “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny…” Rev. 8:5-6. A penny was equal to a day’s wage and the measures of wheat and barley, a day’s worth of food.