Wednesday night (that would be 12/10/08) I decided to head to bed at a reasonable hour for me (11 pm) and picked up my favorite magazine to do a little pre-sleep reading. My favorite magazine is Reader's Digest (and yes, I am 38 not 88).
If I read this particular magazine prior to sleep I usually skip around and read all the jokes so that I go to bed on a high - having laughed myself silly. But this particular night I got caught up in an article by Michael Crowley who often writes about things that would easily piss a person off - not because he offends me - because he brings to light bullshit happening in our country! And so was the case on Wednesday night.
I decided to read his article about a government program called the National Flood Insurance Program. This program is in debt to the tune of $17 BILLION dollars. Normal people like me can't even truly imagine what that looks like (a lot of zeros - that's for sure). This program offers low cost insurance for people living in flood zones. WHY would that be an option? Well, because some brilliant people in DC voted this crap into effect. And do you know WHO is paying for this $17 billion dollars? Yep - you guessed it - that would be those of us that are tax payers! WTF??
I think that this program needs to seriously be looked at and reformed. People should not be allowed to continuously build on the same piece of land that will eventually get flooded again - and have someone else pay for it. One of the examples in the article is: One house in Houston has flooded 16 times; repairs have totaled $807,000, seven times the market value of the property. You cannot be serious! How on earth can we allow them to use our tax dollars to rebuild a home 16 times and it's worth is significantly lower?!
Below is a link to the article from Reader's Digest. The more I read this stuff and see what is going on in our world the more I think I need to run for public office. We need to start a grassroots effort to turn this country around! I've had enough!!
http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/outrageous-tax-dollars-bailing-out-homes-built-on-flood-zones/article103797.html
As most of you know I am not a fan of our newly elected official, but I will do my best to support him as our leader. I must say, however, that he ran on the platform of "Yes we Can" and "Change" so on that note let's pull the plug on all the ludicrous stuff being put into effect by our government. Each and every one of us counts and can make a difference...if you don't like what is going on with programs such as this one - stand up for your rights and do something about how your tax dollars are spent!
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The end of the credit free-for-all!
So...here we are still waiting to hear the outcome of the newest version of the so-called "bailout" plan. It now has many names, such as Emergency Economic Stability Act (EESA) and $700 billion bailout. I don't think it really matter what you call it at this point. The fact is there are many different views on the subject and quite frankly I just want to know WIIFM!
When it comes down to tax dollars the IRS tells me they want my money right now (April 15th) and I do my part, but I really don't have anything else to spare. And from what I can tell my friends and family don't either!
Maybe instead of a bunch of rich, overpaid idiots deciding how this should work they should put together a group of working class people who are on the front lines day-to-day dealing with this stuff. It's the "regular" guy/girl who is out there trying to figure out how to make ends meet, pay a mortgage, put gas in the car (and in GA that's even harder than it sounds right now), etc.
Stop taking money from the "real" workers in America. I don't want the people who are rich simply because daddy is rich or the people who are rich because someone else did all the work making the damn decisions (okay - maybe one or two of the really smart, savvy ones would be okay but the rest need to jump in a lake).
And, while we are at it...the thing I keep hearing over and over again is about people NOT being able to get credit. Maybe that's half the damn problem! Maybe, just maybe, if every freakin' college student hadn't gotten a credit card the first day of school, or people who couldn't really afford a $200k house didn't get approved, and the list goes on...we would be in a better position today! Why should the government (oops...I mean me and my friends the tax payers) bail out companies who took a risk and gave bad loans!? Stop with the damn loans and credit cards to people who can't afford them - and by-the-way making them pay a higher APR doesn't help anyone either because it takes them longer to pay off the loan and then when the inevitable bankruptcy comes around the amount to be written off is way higher than it would have been had the APR been reasonable (whether 4% or 24% the company is still making money - let's face it).
So...it appears I have gone on a few tangents here and stood on my soapbox long enough...below is a link a friend sent me. I am not usually a fan of CNN but it has some good points in it.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1846040,00.html?cnn=yes
When it comes down to tax dollars the IRS tells me they want my money right now (April 15th) and I do my part, but I really don't have anything else to spare. And from what I can tell my friends and family don't either!
Maybe instead of a bunch of rich, overpaid idiots deciding how this should work they should put together a group of working class people who are on the front lines day-to-day dealing with this stuff. It's the "regular" guy/girl who is out there trying to figure out how to make ends meet, pay a mortgage, put gas in the car (and in GA that's even harder than it sounds right now), etc.
Stop taking money from the "real" workers in America. I don't want the people who are rich simply because daddy is rich or the people who are rich because someone else did all the work making the damn decisions (okay - maybe one or two of the really smart, savvy ones would be okay but the rest need to jump in a lake).
And, while we are at it...the thing I keep hearing over and over again is about people NOT being able to get credit. Maybe that's half the damn problem! Maybe, just maybe, if every freakin' college student hadn't gotten a credit card the first day of school, or people who couldn't really afford a $200k house didn't get approved, and the list goes on...we would be in a better position today! Why should the government (oops...I mean me and my friends the tax payers) bail out companies who took a risk and gave bad loans!? Stop with the damn loans and credit cards to people who can't afford them - and by-the-way making them pay a higher APR doesn't help anyone either because it takes them longer to pay off the loan and then when the inevitable bankruptcy comes around the amount to be written off is way higher than it would have been had the APR been reasonable (whether 4% or 24% the company is still making money - let's face it).
So...it appears I have gone on a few tangents here and stood on my soapbox long enough...below is a link a friend sent me. I am not usually a fan of CNN but it has some good points in it.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1846040,00.html?cnn=yes
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Give the Economy a Prozac!
If the economy is so depressed can't we just prescribe some Prozac and move on?! My goodness people! Has anyone given any thought to the fact that some of this stuff is caused by the media? They start this stuff by getting us scared, worried, trembling in our boots - oh, wait a minute - I can't afford boots right now - I'M BROKE!
Last week PSPants was asked to write a post in our weekly internal BLOG about the economic state we are in right now. Not exactly an exciting topic and surely not one I really wanted to read about (and I'm sure she didn't want to write it either - she's more the upbeat kind of chick). Most of the comments written in response to her post were ones that I could have lived my whole life without reading...and then I got to this one that I really liked and I copied a section of it because I felt like stealing (don't get much of an opportunity these days).
Thank you Ralph from Denver for this wonderful nugget:
Yes, anything might happen and you should take actions to prepare yourself. But let's try a reality check. So here's an idea, from George Will: Any corporation that accepts government subsidies, broadly defined, can pay its top executives only what the top government civil service salary is – currently about $125,000 per year. And let me add another idea: their incentive compensation and severance packages cannot exceed that limit. If our Congress critters had the courage to pass that, we would not be treated to any more spectacles such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae going bankrupt in all but name, yet having you and me paying out tens of millions of dollars to their executives.
I wonder how "green" he Archer-Daniels-Midland executives would be if their ethanol subsidies capped their salaries.
(I will confirm your suspicions: I have been a proud member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy since 1964.)
What an amazing concept?? You mean - only pay someone $125,000 a year? Really? Is that allowed? This idea might be the best thing since sliced bread! Maybe companies like Delta wouldn't be broke if they didn't pay their retirees (or especially those that they walk to the door) a HUGE pension and FREE travel! Maybe MCI wouldn't have gone down the toilet (no pun on the Save the TP post) if the corner office with windows CEO hadn't spent $8,000 on a shower curtain for his vacation home/condo somewhere none of us can even afford to look at on the map!
Last week PSPants was asked to write a post in our weekly internal BLOG about the economic state we are in right now. Not exactly an exciting topic and surely not one I really wanted to read about (and I'm sure she didn't want to write it either - she's more the upbeat kind of chick). Most of the comments written in response to her post were ones that I could have lived my whole life without reading...and then I got to this one that I really liked and I copied a section of it because I felt like stealing (don't get much of an opportunity these days).
Thank you Ralph from Denver for this wonderful nugget:
Yes, anything might happen and you should take actions to prepare yourself. But let's try a reality check. So here's an idea, from George Will: Any corporation that accepts government subsidies, broadly defined, can pay its top executives only what the top government civil service salary is – currently about $125,000 per year. And let me add another idea: their incentive compensation and severance packages cannot exceed that limit. If our Congress critters had the courage to pass that, we would not be treated to any more spectacles such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae going bankrupt in all but name, yet having you and me paying out tens of millions of dollars to their executives.
I wonder how "green" he Archer-Daniels-Midland executives would be if their ethanol subsidies capped their salaries.
(I will confirm your suspicions: I have been a proud member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy since 1964.)
What an amazing concept?? You mean - only pay someone $125,000 a year? Really? Is that allowed? This idea might be the best thing since sliced bread! Maybe companies like Delta wouldn't be broke if they didn't pay their retirees (or especially those that they walk to the door) a HUGE pension and FREE travel! Maybe MCI wouldn't have gone down the toilet (no pun on the Save the TP post) if the corner office with windows CEO hadn't spent $8,000 on a shower curtain for his vacation home/condo somewhere none of us can even afford to look at on the map!
Save the Toilet Paper!
It's not everyday that you walk into the restroom at work to find half used rolls of TP on the counter with a typed note above them requesting you to NOT throw out unused toilet paper. First, I must ask - have you ever really thought about throwing toilet paper away while at work? I mean, half the time I hate having to deal with it at home when the roll runs out or is nearing the end. I sure don't want to deal with it at work. It seems that this all came about due to budget crunches and needing to find a gabillion dollars within the company. I figure that if we save 5 rolls of TP per day that's like $10 (conservatively) x 25 working days per month x 12 months, which equals approximately $3,000 per year! Hey - we may be on to something here!
Anyway, I found it to be a bit comical despite my love for saving companies money. I was always known as the "cheap" manager at my past employers because I wouldn't let the staff go wild in the office supply book! Hey - you want a special pen - bring it from home like I do! But, I have never found myself looking in the depths of the trash cans to see what is being thrown out...
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