Observation: Stimulus Package = Help for the rich

Let me be clear on that observation. If the stimulus package truly were to help the "poor people" struggling to make payments on their mortgage/not lose their home then it would have been given to the people who needed it most: THE PEOPLE.

Instead it went to the Bankers/Car Manufacturers/Insurance Companies' pockets as evidenced by all the headlines about bonuses granted to those companies who received bailout monies.

Now, tell me who that helped? People in foreclosure are still in foreclosure.

It didn't save jobs. It didn't create jobs.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not complaining. Not about that really. I am complaining about the people who are still whining that 'my boss makes more money than I do!"

So?

Those bank CEOs, your 'boss', anyone who makes more money than you do got where they are by the decisions they made.

They have the experience.

They have the education.

If you want what they have do what they did.

EARN IT.

No one ever got rich by working for someone else. The government has never made a constituent rich. Money doesn't grow on trees nor does good jobs or successful businesses.

You have to WORK.
You have to GET AN EDUCATION.
You have to put in SWEAT EQUITY.

That's how you get what they have.

Stop sticking your hands in my pocket. I earned what I have and you don't deserve it no matter what your excuse of the minute is.

Taking something you didn't earn is theft no matter how you paint it. Robin Hood was a thief. So are you if you're whining that you want what I have and want the government to take it from me.

If you're going to whine that expecting you to work and get an education is too hard and not fair, then you deserve to be exactly where you are.

I don't want to hear about your reasons why you CAN'T, JUST CAN'T! do what you have to in order to get rich. It's just a whiny assed excuse.

And I'm tired of hearing them.

Go whine somewhere else.

A Message to President Obama

I've been offline for a while and I have many thoughts,all directed to the president I didn't vote for.

Mr. Obama has it not occurred to you that this massive spending plan you're shoving down the throats of the average working class might come back to haunt you and your cronies in 2010 and 2012?

Have you even considered how we, the American people, will ever begin to pay it back?

There are limits to just how much anyone, the rich and the employed alike, are willing to pay toward taxes.

Those of us who are in the working class know something your overly educated so-called financial experts seem to want to ignore. You can't borrow your way out of debt.

You cannot create jobs out of thin air.

You cannot find employees willing to do the labor out of thin air.

You create favorable spending conditions by removing the barriers/penalties: TAXES, not increasing taxes.

You create a need for supply generation by increasing demand. Spend what you have, not creating more debt (borrowing).


Those of us who don't have accountants and financial experts are pros at balancing budgets and dodging the debt bullet. Try listening a bit more closely to the common man.

Bail Outs

Fine and dandy, let's discuss bail outs.

If you're going to put a cap on the amount a CEO who took the bail out money can earn then why can't we put a cap on welfare recipients?


What is a welfare check, exactly? I don't mean food stamps, I mean disability, AFDC...those checks. They're bail outs for people who chose not to work. I know there are legitimately disabled people out there. I don't' mean them. I mean people like my former renter who kept complaining to her doctor that her knee hurt until he recommended knee surgery and declared her disabled. She filed for and got her disability check, never had the surgery, and sits around all day gossiping, eating, writing bad checks, and smoking pot/popping Oxycontin.

Here's an idea

Or better yet, my former neighbor whose rent was paid by the government while he owned nice lakeside property in a popular tourist resort area, owned two cars and a boat. HE claimed his back was hurt so he couldn't work.

He freelanced drafting projects for contractors (he was paid under the table), mowed the back yard of our rural apartment 'five'plex, and chopped wood for the little fire pit he dug behind the apartment 'five'plex.

Those are the people I mean.

If you're going to take welfare payments then perhaps you shouldn't be able to buy lottery tickets, beer, cigarettes, alcohol, cell phones, TV converter boxes, satellite or cable TV, big screen TVs, gold chains, diamonds, three cars, boats, or computers. After all, you're so desperately poor you can't afford to buy food, what makes you able to buy all those LUXURY items? Of course the answer to that is, you took my money from me in the form of taxes so I can't buy them for myself.

It's only fair after all, everyone should be on equal footing.

I think, Mr. Obama, that if the economy were truly on the brink of collapse,a s it allegedly has been since October last year, that it would have already collapsed. It has been more than one business quarter since imminent collapse was announced and, well, Mr. President, we're still here. The economy is still creeping along, sure jobless claims are up, but then Christmas seasonal workers were just laid off last week so that is to be expected.

Have you checked your job description? It isn't to create jobs. It isn't to spend taxpayer money. It's to protect and uphold the US constitution. You know that super important paper you're trying your darnedest to trample on? You're supposed to be protecting us. You're not doing a very good job of it, sir.

Try letting us handle our own problems. Let the automakers go bankrupt. Let the major banks go bankrupt. After all, the airline industry went bankrupt, but it's still here, leaner, meaner, and running quite well, not the all the same players as before, but it's still with us.

Have you not noticed our history?
We've survived recessions.
We've survived a depression.
We've survived two devastating attacks on our soil.
We've stared down the Russians.
We've survived numerous wars.
We've stared down disease and starvation.
We've stared down the entire British empire, 13 measly ne'er do well colonies took on the once mighty British armada and won.
As a result we colonized and cultivated a now mighty nation.
We revolutionized and industrialized the world with cotton gins, trains, automobiles, airplanes, and spacecraft. Better yet, we have re-usable spacecraft.
We put a man on the moon.
We developed nuclear weapons.
We are the most reviled country, next to Israel, yet we're the first other countries turn to when they suffer devastating natural disasters or attacks.

We have a generous and giving people.
We have a creative and innovative people.
There is a reason why it's called American Ingenuity.
We are survivors.

Don't stifle us with yet more taxes, fines, and regulations or you're going to find out about another facet of the American people.

We like to work, think, speak and vote for ourselves.

*THAT* Mr. President is what we do best.

And that, Mr. President, is not why you were elected.

Let me tell you one more thing, sir, People didn't vote for you.

They voted for your lies.





They voted for themselves out of greed.



They voted for you to prove they weren't racist.

An open letter to racists vote Obama

And most of all, Mr. President, they were voting against a man who wasn't even running for office.

They voted against Bush.


So if you want to consider that a mandate for spending every penny of my money you can get your greedy fingers on for 'failed programs and policies of the past' then please continue to do so.

You provide us bloggers with plenty of entertainment and you're only sealing your own re-election bid.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out in 2012.

Say Again please?

When you don't know the numbers....make something up.

Government Created Jobs

My home computer is having Internet connectivity issues. However, I would like to know where Obama thinks he will get the employees to man these massive infrastructure projects he wants to government to fund?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the current unemployed are tech workers, production workers, and thousands of finance employees and construction workers (okay, so they will be first in line for the alleged millions of government created jobs in construction. But these particular construction workers build houses and buildings not roads...there is a difference). These people are not trained to operate heavy machinery. Most road construction workers are STATE EMPLOYEES and are not unemployed.

Tech workers, finance workers and the dozens of white collar titles who are unemployed went to school, did the work to get a degree, many have advanced degrees, to be white collar employees, not go dig ditches. They went to school to be able to get a job where they didn't have to do 'hard labor' like their parents or grandparents did. How are you going to convince them to pick up a shovel? How do you plan on telling them their effort to make their own lives better was a wasted effort and now they should suck it up for the good of their elected officials and get to work in the sewers and pipelines and by the way they STILL have to pay back that student loan for the education they now can't use because Obama said so.

I'm certainly not about to go build roads, dig ditches, or operate heavy machinery. Call me lazy if you want, but I'm not standing in line with my hand out to the government either.

My husband is 43 with a master's degree in education and 20 years experience in mental health and working in the juvenile court system. I doubt he'll join the government road crew.

Obama's efforts at reviving the economy might be better served by sending money to individual states who need it most, like California, to resuscitate their sagging economies. What about juicing up efforts to get that border fence built? There's a construction job that this country actually needs for him to undertake.

Point out to me, in the Constitution, where it is the government's responsibility to make sure everyone in the United States has a job, and eductaion, and healthcare. If you can find it, I'll happily be quiet on the issue.

Trickle Down vs Trickle Up

What Does Trickle Down Theory Mean?
An economic theory which states that investing money in companies and giving them tax breaks is the best way to stimulate the economy.

Investopedia explains Trickle Down Theory
Proponents of this theory believe that when government helps companies, they will produce more and thereby hire more people and raise salaries. The people, in turn, will have more money to spend in the economy.

Quick example (hypothetical): I have a small in home pet care business that expands into two counties because the rich need and want my services while they are at work (earning more money) or on vacation (spreading their own wealth around). This means more money in my pocket, but I need help now that business has expanded so I hire 4 people. More money in their pocket and they go out to buy the products and services they need and want.

As a result of expanding business I make purchases of products and services to make my business grow. More money in those business's pockets therefore in their employees pockets as well so they start purchasing more products and services from their vendors and so it goes. That's how trickle down works.


Trickle Up

Investopedia did not offer a Trickle Up definition

The trickle up effect is an economic theory used to describe the flow of wealth from the poor to the affluent; it is opposite to the trickle down effect.


Relationship to the trickle down effect

Proponents of the trickle down effect[who?] believe that a free market, which is uninhibited by heavy taxation and other forms of government controls, will cause an increase in wealth for society as a whole, part of which will "trickle down" from the affluent to the less wealthy, making the latter group better off. In this model, relative poverty may increase, but proponents state that this is a moot point because absolute poverty decreases. Opponents to this theory may point out that a large gap in the distribution of wealth can lead to a similarly large gap in power and influence, thus making this economic model undesirable.

The trickle down effect is usually used to describe a process by which benefits to the wealthy "trickle down" to benefits for the poor. The trickle up effect, in a corollary to this, states that benefiting the poor directly (for example through micro loans) will boost the productivity of the society as a whole and thus those benefits will, in effect, "trickle up" to benefits for the wealthy.[1]

Possible causes
The trickle up effect states that benefits to the wealthy will be realized due to an increase in sales relative to the amount of benefits that are given to the poor. The trickle up effect argues itself as more effective than the trickle down effect because people who have less tend to buy more. In other words, the poor are more inclined than the wealthy to spend their money. This being so, proponents of the trickle up effect believe that if the lower and lower-middle classes are given benefits, such as tax breaks or subsidies, the increased funds would be spent at a much higher rate than would the upper class, given similar fund increases. Furthermore, the trickle up effect argues, many upper-class individuals do not spend their entire yearly salary to begin with, which is an indication that they will not spend any additional funds. Instead, they will save additional funds, thereby withholding those funds from the economy and increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. The trickle up effect avoids this pitfall by giving more money to those who would be more inclined to spend it.
*****************************************

In other words, take money from the rich, give it to the poor to spend. What incentive is there for the poor to save their money instead so that they too could become richer? Isn't this rewarding bad decision making and encouraging yet more bad decision making?

The rich are rich because they made good decisions ie...saved/invested their money. Fine art, valuable jewelry, property purchases, stocks/bonds/mutual funds, nice homes . . . all have high resale values. They INVESTED their money in things of value.

Trickle up is simply another term for Marxism or socialism. Take your pick. It's a redistribution of wealth taken from laborers in the form of taxes. It's another way to incite class warfare/envy.

Swaminomics

I chose this article/example simply because of its absurdity. However its author does live in a socialist country so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

First, the cotton farmer grows his crop, pays the agricultural labour involved, and then sells the crop at a profit. Note that the agricultural worker gets his money first, the grower second. Next the cotton moves to a ginning factory to remove the seed. The transporter and ginner make their living in the process. Then the cotton moves to a mill. The staff there are paid their wages and salaries even while processing the cotton, whether or not the mill is profitable. When the cloth is ready, it is sold through agents or traders who also earn commissions or profits. Only at this final point, when the sales are made, does any profit accrue to the textile magnate. At this point, profit trickles up the top.
************************

My questions are: Where did this supposedly poor (since we're using trickle up economics) cotton farmer get the money to purchase his cotton seed, fertilizer, and irrigation, his land, the implements needed to plant/harvest the cotton seed, and pay the taxes on the property? Borrow it? Let's say he borrowed it, because if he stole it he'd be in jail and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Now, who does the lending? The rich. Or did he get a government small business loan which is actually a redistribution of wealth gleaned from some taxpayer somewhere.

Why and how is he paying his employees before he sells his crop?

Did the transporter buy the crop from the farmer so he could sell it to the ginner?

And you can see where the rest of this is going. How do you pay staff if your mill is not profitable? How long can you possibly stay in business if you are not turning a profit? If you have employees does that not make you one of the rich?

But wait, the author isn't done with his article yet: The business magazine Fortune discloses that the average profit of the 500 largest companies in the world is only 3 per cent of sales. That means 97 per cent goes first to other participants in these businesses, and only 3 per cent trickles to the top.

Could the other participants in these businesses who swallow up the 97% of sales be employees? Share holders? Suppliers? They do have to be paid too.

Screech about evil capitalism/rich/trickle down all you like, it works far better than things that trickle upward defying the laws of physics.

Questions regarding climate change

Okay all of you who have bought into the evil greedy man caused climate changes because we dared to make life better by driving cars, refining oil, preferring electric light to candle light, and dare to exhale co2 or defending ourselves against our enemies, I have some questions for you and I'm certain you will be able to provide answers for this simple country girl.

First and foremost, why did you change from global warming to just climate change? Is it because you needed something that would cover all the bases?


1)What caused the warming trend that turned a large part of the African Continent into a desert?

2) At one time most, if not all of the US and Canada was under water, take the Badlands in South Dakota for example, ocean fossils have been found there, but where did the water go? Freeze or dry up? How could man cause that if we weren't around then?

3) Why is the cure the same for both global warming and global cooling?

4) What effect do the ocean currents La Nina and El Nino have on the climate? How would man affect their influence?

5) What effect do the sun and moon cycles have on the the climate? How would man affect their influence?

6)If you look closely at geologic studies, you will find the layers of the earth clearly demonstrate that there have been wildly fluctuating 'global climates' in its existence, evidenced by sea/water creature fossils found in now arid dry deserts or high atop mountains in areas that haven't' been under water in many millenia. Where did the water go and how did man cause it (never mind we weren't around then)

7) Does the Earth's rotation, which has been know to 'wobble', have any effect on the climate? How would man affect this influence?

8)Does the Earth's geomagnetic field have an influence over the climate? How would man affect its influence?

9) Would catastrophic natural events (like CAT5 Hurricanes, Tsunamis, or high magnitude earthquakes have an influence on the global climate? How would man affect this influence?

10)How does war, wealth (or lack of), education (or lack of) affect the Global climate?

11) If it's mans fault that the climate is changing and animal species are going extinct then why do scientists keep finding new animal species and 'discovering' some species thought long extinct in different and or remote areas of the world?

12)Use google search using this term 'thought extinct found'. Tell me what you find.

And I have several more questions that just devil the hell out of me: Why would I want to purchase carbon offsets/credits? To assuage my burdensome guilt over killing a tree? Who determines how much credit I need? How do they determine this? If all these carbon credits do is pay for someone to go plant trees for me, why can't I buy my own trees and plant them? What kind of trees do they plant and where? How do I know they really went and planted trees? Do I get one of those nifty certificates with a picture of my tree?

Enquiring minds wanna know!

What happened to tradition? In my little world anyway.

I have been busy with my job with the 3rd largest retailer, finally the holiday season is winding down and I can't help but feel blah. I worked Christmas Eve. Slept most of Christmas day only to return to a 9 hour shift the day after Christmas. I know I went to my sister's house after work on Christmas Eve for the yearly family get together. The kids opened gifts. We ate finger foods.

No turkey. No dressing. The only deviled eggs I ate were the ones the HR manager made for our finger foods dinner at work. I'm coming to loathe finger foods in lieu of holiday dinners.

I didn't cook for Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, I did cook for Thanksgiving, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, that is. I don't feel like there was even a holiday season this year because I was either working or so thoroughly exhausted I barely noticed blinking festive lights, had heard Christmas music every single day since November 1st, it just didn't register.

I had to force my kids to put the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve. How sad is that? I even threatened to just put their gifts on the table, unwrapped, and forget the whole holiday existed. We have some lights in the front window. Nothing else. I have tons of decorations no one bothered to put up this year because it was only my two sons home. My husband and I were just too tired to care about decorating or celebrating. And I hate that.

I'm not doing this again next year.

This house will be fully decked out for the holidays. Trees, wreaths, lots of red and gold and holiday plaids. I will cook REAL holiday dinners, have friends and family over. Huge piles of gifts under the tree. Candles, lots of candles. Christmas music (of my own choosing)

I know it's about being with family and friends and being happy and healthy, but where did tradition go? We didn't even go to church. We didn't go to any of the Christmas programs we usually do. We went to see the Nutcracker with the school. The boys marched in a Christmas parade with military veterans. Know what was missing in that parade? Santa Claus. How do you have a Christmas parade with no Santa Claus? Where was Santa Claus this year? I didn't see him anywhere near this end of TN. Sure, he was at the mall, 55 miles from here. WalMart and Kmart used to have a little Santa House where Santa sat and had his picture made with the kids. Not this year.

Have we become so very politically correct that kids can't enjoy the holidays themselves for fear of offending someone else? What if that offends me or my kids? Maybe I'm old fashioned. But I'd love to be able to sit around the table fully decked out with Christmas table linens and Christmas dinnerware, bow my head as my husband gives the blessing, then carves into a huge turkey that I spent all night preparing. I'd like to have seen my kids eyes shimmer with anticipation and glee while eyeing stuff stacked under the tree. Instead I slept in. Oh, they waited impatiently for me to wake up. There was some anticipation and glee, but not as much as 'aw c'mon mom getup already!' in their attitude. I'm not upset with them over it, they're just kids, I'm more upset with me.

No one cooked the usual Christmas morning breakfast that has been tradition in this house for twelve years. Instead they waited for me to wake up while my husband slipped around and hid the Wii. Then I had to deal with two very upset kids who'd been promised a Wii, knew I had the Wii, they'd seen it in the car and now... it wasn't there. My husband thought it was funny. I wanted to cry because my kids looked like they were going to cry. They thought we'd had to return because we really didn't' have the money to buy it, but did anyway. I hated that they thought that. All the while, my husband had this evil glint to his eyes, enjoying that they were disappointed. He has a strange sense of humor.

I was mad at myself for going along with it so I finally told them where it was, along with an electronic dartboard they'd seen at a store. I found one like it, just not as expensive. They're happy. I'm happy, but disappointed with this Christmas overall because it never really felt like Christmas. Next year will be better, because, as I said, I'm not doing this again. Retail can kiss my backside.

So here it is, New Year's Eve. I'm off. My husband is at work. My kids are here.
I'm cooking a New Year's Day dinner, but where will I be New Year's Day? Working a 10 hour shift. Hope there's left overs....

The Carbon Credit/Foot Print Hocus Pocus

Obama has little time to curb global warming Mother Nature, of course, is oblivious to the federal government's machinations. Ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. Experts say it's thanks to a La Nina weather variation. While skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.

Does anyone think that last sentence is about as dumb as it gets? '...cooling trend demonstrates how fast the world is warming'? Where did that line of reasoning come from? Perhaps they're listening to Katy Perry's Hot and Cold?

I also note that one of their 'experts is claiming we're out of time because things are going extinct.Really? Better yet use the following google search 'thought to be extinct discovered'. Amazing what a little simple research of your own will reveal.

While I'm all for a cleaner earth as in don't litter, I'm not at all convinced man is the sole perpetrator in global warming. It's ocean currents, sun and moon cycles, that play the major role in determining what our global climate is. Yammer all you like about carbon dioxide, carbon credits, whatever...carbon dioxide is what humans and animals alike breath out in exchange for the oxygen breathed in and there is nothing to change that (unless you die of course), no matter how many non existent carbon credits you buy.

What is a Carbon Credit, anyway?

Who's keeping count of how much carbon I emit? EPA? Nope, YOU are trusted (at this point) to tell the truth about your reckless carbon emitting ways.

Who profits from them and what do they really do with the money?Fear mongering through guilt.

So, lets see if I understand this correctly: As a human I inhale oxygen produced by trees (what a bitch I am for stealing that tree's oxygen!). I exhale carbon dioxide that the tree needs to survive. (Do I get to charge the tree for using up my co2?). My home emits co2 as well. (Okay, now I'm overworking the trees. Do they get paid overtime or do I just buy an extra carbon credit to cover all my bases?) My car actually emits Carbon Monoxide, not the same as carbon dioxide, (ask any chemistry teacher that one). So why would I buy a carbon credit to cover that?

Where was I? Oh. Let the guilt set in. I'm killing innocent trees and wildlife.(Evidently wildlife gets a free pass on its carbon dioxide emissions) I go online to any carbon credit calculator and figure out how much carbon dioxide I emit, then find someone to sell the credits to me and they go plant trees using my money? Why does every carbon calculator come up with a different amount of carbon use? Can they prove they actually planted the trees? Why can't I just go plant a couple trees of my own and be done with it? They already trust me enough to tell them how much carbon I emit,

Because it's a get rich quick scheme, that's why. It's a form of power and control over the useful idiots who buy into this stuff and would rather pay a couple hundred dollars to 'offset' their guilty lazy asses from actually doing anything substantive toward cleaning up litter from the side of the road or dragging trash out of the river or ocean.

It's also listing toward government control over our daily lives. It's listing toward wealth redistribution. We are being repeatedly told we have to learn to do more with less conveniences. It's only a matter of time before we either revolt or submit. Right now, it looks like people are more willing to submit. Anything else is too much like work, self reliance, and responsibility.

UPDATE
Strong As An Ox compares carbon offsets (now being sold at an airport kiosk near you!) to the pet rock fad. I humbly suggest a chia pet instead, as they're green!

My Annual Christmas Prayer Post

It always bears repeating as it squarely hits the nail on the head.

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery,
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare,
We have killed our unborn and called it choice,
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable,
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem,
We have abused power and called it politics,
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition,
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression,
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen" ~ Reverend Joe Wright, before the Kansas State Legislature, 1996

Wait wait, back up here

So we, the tax payers, are giving the big three 15 billion dollars to save their back sides until Obama can get sworn in and stroke a big check while calling it a loan?.

We're effectively purchasing jobs for the union workers and their underlings so we can continue to buy cars they produce? WHY?????

We, the people, are the guarantors. If we don't' purchase the cars we just paid them to continue to produce, then we lose our money. Not that it isn't lost anyway, but still this ticks me off.

Someone want to buy my job so I can keep it too, not that I'm in any danger of losing it yet.

Anyone?

Any takers?

Thought not.