Thursday's podcast: Texas 1845......Title 42 and where is The White House?.......People getting paid not to work.....GOP House and investigations....

Texas 1845......Title 42 and where is The White House?.......People getting paid not to work.....GOP House and investigations........Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017)..........and other stories......

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Thursday's video: Texas 1845..........People getting paid not to work.....GOP House and in...

Texas 1845......Title 42 and where is The White House?.......People getting paid not to work.....GOP House and investigations........Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017)..........and other stories......

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From work from home to collect at home

 

(My new American Thinker post)

My late father had a very strong work ethic.  He came here with a wife and three kids and worked two jobs to take care of us.  Eventually, he got back to banking, his profession in Cuba, but he worked carrying luggage at a hotel for almost four years.  My father would be shocked to see people collecting money for doing nothing.

Why are so many people walking by those "help wanted" signs rather than inquiring about work?  The answer is government benefits, what a friend from Finland once called the "European disease" -- paying people for not working.

This is a horrible report but it's true.  Let's check the details:    

The labor force participation rate was 62.1% last month, notably lower than the 63.4% mark it was at before the coronavirus pandemic struck the United States in March 2020.   

There are numerous reasons that unemployed Americans aren't entering the workforce, including ongoing fears of COVID-19, disabilities such as "long COVID," and other care responsibilities. One factor that is contributing to the relatively low labor force participation rate is the combination of unemployment benefits and recently expanded Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, according a new study by the nonprofit Committee to Unleash Prosperity. 

In 14 states, unemployment benefits and ACA subsidies for a family of four with two people not working amounts to an annualized equivalent of $80,000 a year in wages and benefits, the study found.    

Those benefits come out to over $100,000 in three states -- Washington, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. 

If you pay them to stay home then they will stay home, to paraphrase the famous baseball movie. I do find interesting that Massachusetts and New Jersey are losing population to red states. Maybe people are getting tired of paying taxes to support these benefits.  

How does paying people not to work help the economy or the business owners looking to fill jobs? It does not, but it does give many a reason to vote blue and others a reason to move to Texas, Florida, etc.    

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Habana vs Almendares: A little “beisbol” in Cuba

It was a lot of fun hearing my late parents tell stories of Cuban baseball. My mother, born in Ciego de Avila, followed La Habana. My father, born in Sagua La Grande, followed Almendares. They spent many nights in their hometowns writing each other letters and listening to the games on radio. I guess that I inherited their passion for “beisbol.”

We remember an important anniversary in Cuban baseball: 

“On December 29, 1878, the first game is played between two teams of the first professional baseball league in Cuba, later known as the Cuban League. Representing the city of Havana, the Habana club faced off against their greatest rivals, a club from the neighboring suburb of Almendares. Habana, coached by Esteban Bellán, the first Cuban to play professional baseball in the United States, won that inaugural game 21-20.” 

The first game eventually turned into the very successful Almendares-Habana rivalry, the Cuban version of the Yankees-Red Sox feud. Eventually, they added teams in Marianao and Cienfuegos.  

It all started today in 1878!

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.