Mattress Money By K. Amara

Here at BWNC, there is a strong emphasis on building financial acumen to create generational wealth. So it’s only right to keep the people informed about what’s going on with their money and how it may be severely impacted so let’s get right into it.

In a bipartisan effort, Uncle Joe and his colleagues on the Hill passed a bill that will take a cool $1.2 trillion to fix the infrastructure to help curb the impact of natural disasters. Think Katrina, Irma, Harvey, and other disasters like when Texas got Ercotted earlier this year and millions were without heat. These disasters have led to broken levees and knocked-out power grids leaving people in precarious situations. On August 24th, the House also passed a resolution for a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation that would not require bipartisan support and pass with a simple majority vote. To see what’s in these respective bills you can go here.

Now let’s get into the meat and potatoes of why this post is before you today. Most of us won’t see a million dollars in our lifetime let alone almost $5 trillion. So how then Sway does Uncle Joe plan on paying for all of this? Glad you asked. Back in April, Biden proposed legislation that would allow Iris, better known as the IRS, more access to monitor and report all financial transactions of $600 or more. Da’ fuq! The American Families Plan is designed to grow the middle-class and expand wealth opportunities to all Americans, both personal and business accounts would be subject to this financial snooping of the third kind. Financial institutions would provide financial data via an information return to Iris.

This return would include all transactions (inflow and outflow); everything from direct deposits to Venmo and CashApp transactions. If this legislation is approved it would go into effect in 2023. While this proposal is being touted as a way to close the gaping tax gap by elusive tax evaders, somehow this feels wrong on a cellular level. There’s also this feeling that somehow the folks whom this is meant for (i.e. wealthy tax evaders) won’t be held to the fire at all and middle and low-income Americans, which are disproportionately people of color, will suffer the most. 

To learn more about the shenanigary of the U.S. tax system and how it negatively impacts our communities, go here, here, and here. The bottom line, this just doesn’t sound like a good thing long-term as it is a SERIOUS overreach of government. If passed, this new form of monitoring could spell disaster for lots of folks who have small businesses, side-hustles, or maybe just do a little something to get by every now and again. This oversight will undoubtedly lead to an increase in audits as Iris attempts to recoup billions that have gone overlooked which could be a financial nightmare for many Americans. For middle and low-income Americans who are unlikely to have a financial advisor or accountant and are unlikely able to afford one if needed, again, this doesn’t bode well. Yet, Uncle Joe and the Dems are committed to paying for the overhaul of American infrastructure by any means necessary. 

So what does all of this mean? Welp, if history has taught us anything about the American government, it’s very clear that we shouldn’t trust it and we damn sure don’t need to put all of our eggs in one basket. Legit, after The Great Depression, the distrust for government and the banking system was DEEP! Hence why this piece is titled, Mattress Money. A heavy side-eye coupled with a strong dose of historical distrust would make anyone pause and evaluate how they mind their business and their bank accounts. Besides, with the onset of a global pandemic, many have gone back to storing cash under the mattress. In the spirit of Antoine Dodson, it looks like not only do we have to hide the kids, the wife, and the husband, but we need to hide our money too. Govern yourselves accordingly.

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