A Few Dollars More

Just like its predecessor, ‘Cash for Clunkers’, the recently announced $6 billion government program (officially called HOMESTAR) gives us working class people a tax break, energy savings and may also put a few good men and women back to work. What’s not to love about that?

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As I sit here snowbound at home, surrounded by almost two feet of the heavy, wet white stuff, it occurred to me that even here in the Berkshires snow has a cost. Sure, we pride ourselves on our ability to continue commuting, working and going about our daily business undeterred by Mother Nature but even [...]

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It is with some anxiety that I prepare for the inevitable. Higher taxes are coming our way, maybe not this year, but probably next. It is inevitable, given America’s fiscal condition. I expect we will receive the bad news sometime after the November elections.

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In my last column, I outlined the plight of primary care doctors in the region and the country overall, yet pointing out a problem without offering a solution seems pointless. So how do we incentivize graduating American medical students to opt for entering primary care practice instead of a far more lucrative specialty like radiology, [...]

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Primary care in the Berkshires is still in short supply and those that do practice are closing their doors to new patients. That hurts in an area that already has more than its share of the elderly. The situation appears to be getting worse as med school grads opt for more lucrative, well-paying careers as [...]

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Over the last two years trillions have been spent to aid and assist Wall Street’s wealthiest bankers, Detroit’s blue collar auto workers, owners of gas-guzzling clunkers, first-time home buyers, thousands of Americans facing foreclosures and maybe another dozen or so programs, that we, the long-suffering, silent majority, will have to pay for. Yesterday, however, Washington [...]

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The report this week by the Congressional Oversight Panel that ‘”it is unlikely they (taxpayers) will receive the entire amount” of the $60 billion in bail-out money we gave to the auto industry ticks me off. No way should Americans walk away from this at a loss. The solution is simple. We should swap whatever [...]

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Actually, I believe the economy began its recovery in July but calling an end to a recession is usually no big deal. And I imagine it doesn’t feel like a recovery to the almost 10% of us who are unemployed. It may be hard for the rest of us to believe as well [...]

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Recently, I wrote columns on both the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program and the Credit Card Relief Act. I thought I should give my readers an update on these government initiatives given recent developments.

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This year one sector of our nation’s economy is bucking the recessionary trend—the business of county fairs. Over the next few weeks, if the weather cooperates, the region will benefit from a migration of visitors from all over the region as Americans pass up expensive out-of-town trips in favor of demo-derbies, hot-dog eating contests and [...]

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