SonomaPatientsCoop
04-09-2020, 07:15 PM
While, with luck, we will be through the worst of this pandemic by August.. the damage done will be much longer lasting.
The federal government passed a 2.2 Trillion stimulus/bailout/recovery bill. This is 2/3rds of what the government brings in in a year. Add to this the hundreds of billions released by the Treasury and the 2nd round of aid being debated in congress... and well, our national credit card debt is shooting through the roof.
In SF I've heard staggering numbers on the loss of revenue from bridge tolls, bart, muni. I'm sure the Smart train is bleeding far worse than before. Santa Rosa is surely loosing a fortune in parking (and probably more in parking tickets). Sales taxes have dropped massively.
Sonoma County relies heavily on tourism. And while "the season" would really just be beginning- it's likely to see a far, far worse year than the previous years hurt by fires and floods.
Which I suppose leads to another point- we are likely to exit the pandemic just in time to enter fire season.
CA as a state is rapidly blowing through its surplus- which took many, many years to build. I don't think we've tapped the 1/2 of the "rainy day fund" we can in a year yet but it seems likely we will- if not during the pandemic- then during the aftermath.
And it's not just CA...or the US, but much of the world. Even many countries that were doing well are likely to struggle for years after this. Many of the most vulnerable... I hate to think what will happen when the countries that once helped them are no longer able...
How many times have we seen this play out on a personal level? Some form of crisis. We run up the credit cards thinking we will get through this, but there are so many complications...and everything falls apart.
No ones really talking about what comes next. What happens when "the crisis" is over - but it isn't. Because the aid dries up. But the world hasn't returned to normal. And people start loosing their homes. They don't have jobs to go back to.... And consider... after this over... what portion of people will return to restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theaters, Disneyland, music festivals, beer festivals...etc ? My guess is those numbers will remain depressed for some time.
I guess that my point is... the states are blowing through the reserves it's taken a decade (or decades) to build up. The Fed is just charging the credit card. Revenues are going to be way, way....way down for a year. Maybe three. Maybe more.
Maybe Covid-19 is going to do what climate change and so many other issues failed to do...show us the house of cards our "reality" is built on.
LONG DAYS AHEAD.....
The federal government passed a 2.2 Trillion stimulus/bailout/recovery bill. This is 2/3rds of what the government brings in in a year. Add to this the hundreds of billions released by the Treasury and the 2nd round of aid being debated in congress... and well, our national credit card debt is shooting through the roof.
In SF I've heard staggering numbers on the loss of revenue from bridge tolls, bart, muni. I'm sure the Smart train is bleeding far worse than before. Santa Rosa is surely loosing a fortune in parking (and probably more in parking tickets). Sales taxes have dropped massively.
Sonoma County relies heavily on tourism. And while "the season" would really just be beginning- it's likely to see a far, far worse year than the previous years hurt by fires and floods.
Which I suppose leads to another point- we are likely to exit the pandemic just in time to enter fire season.
CA as a state is rapidly blowing through its surplus- which took many, many years to build. I don't think we've tapped the 1/2 of the "rainy day fund" we can in a year yet but it seems likely we will- if not during the pandemic- then during the aftermath.
And it's not just CA...or the US, but much of the world. Even many countries that were doing well are likely to struggle for years after this. Many of the most vulnerable... I hate to think what will happen when the countries that once helped them are no longer able...
How many times have we seen this play out on a personal level? Some form of crisis. We run up the credit cards thinking we will get through this, but there are so many complications...and everything falls apart.
No ones really talking about what comes next. What happens when "the crisis" is over - but it isn't. Because the aid dries up. But the world hasn't returned to normal. And people start loosing their homes. They don't have jobs to go back to.... And consider... after this over... what portion of people will return to restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theaters, Disneyland, music festivals, beer festivals...etc ? My guess is those numbers will remain depressed for some time.
I guess that my point is... the states are blowing through the reserves it's taken a decade (or decades) to build up. The Fed is just charging the credit card. Revenues are going to be way, way....way down for a year. Maybe three. Maybe more.
Maybe Covid-19 is going to do what climate change and so many other issues failed to do...show us the house of cards our "reality" is built on.
LONG DAYS AHEAD.....