View Larger Map

Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

Shouldn’t we reserve legislation for systemic problems?

Friday, March 11th, 2011

laws This country in general, and Oregon in specific has a sever lack of perspective  with regard to the laws we let our representatives discuss and pass.  We’re passing bills left and right and the public mindset for some reason seems to be “the more laws, the better”. I feel like I’m the only one in Oregon that thinks congress should just stop passing laws. Period. Stick to solving our current budget crisis.

I cringe when I hear someone say we need a “bi-partisan effort” and get this legislation passed “for the good of the people”. Or “Congress needs to work together on this”. No they don’t. There are very few laws in the past 20 years that have actually been for the “good of the people”.  Honestly, we’ve passed thousands, and I really can’t think of one off the top of my head that is actually beneficial.

Our state and federal reps routinely use rare one-off events as excuses to change huge facets of our way of life.

One person gets mad in traffic and shoots someone else, so we draft sweeping road rage laws. Is road-rage really a problem? Of course not. The incidents are extremely rare.  But it’s a good excuse to pass a law.

A careless biker gets hit by a car, so we pass tight restrictions and stiff fines for drivers who look at a cycler wrong.

Give a job to someone who is not an “approved” government sanctioned minority and you could face prison time.

One kid in some rural town accidentally gets shot playing with their father’s gun so let’s make it illegal for anyone to own a firearm…  till the end of time.

No Smoking in public; No talking on cell phones while driving; No bike trailers carrying children under 6; No eating fattening French Fries; No guns – ever; No walking people to the airport terminal;  No liquids on the plane; Red light cameras at every intersection; On-star tracking in every car;

Isn’t it time we just STOP making laws?

The Oregon House approved a bill Thursday that would remove legal protection for parents who choose faith healing over medical intervention when treating their children.

The bill passed unanimously, though two Republican representatives raised concerns that the legislation was taking the issue away from juries and sending the state down a slippery slope.

The legislation comes in response to an Oregon City church, the Followers of Christ, that has a long history of child deaths even though the conditions from which the children died were medically treatable.

Oregon House unanimously votes to end faith healing exception | OregonLive.com

I hate it when these fringe churches and Christian sects do stupid things that make the rest of us look bad.  I can’t stand the thought of people letting their children die of very curable illnesses. I think it’s stupid, irresponsible and shows the gospel in a very negative light. But really, that’s beside the point. This legislation is potentially dangerous if walked out to it’s logical end and ultimately infringes on the religious (and ethical) rights of all US citizens.

I agree that this is a bad situation. But can’t we find a better solution to this isolated incident of stupidity than making a state-wide law?

 

Am I way off here?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Corrupt Politics, Local News | No Comments »

A down Acconomy – Don’t save your money!

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

OK, I’m no economist. Although I did take some economy classes in college, I’m not a professional who deals with stocks and bonds and I can’t tell you when to buy “puts” and when to purchase “calls”.  

 

However, it seems to me that in this declining economy people are really doing the opposite of what makes logical sense. They’re “saving” their money.  The trend seems to be to save up your cash and avoid spending anything you don’t have to. Be frugal. Save, and only spend when you absolutely have to. This will leave you more for when times are tougher down the road.

 

I am certainly open to correction on this, but that thinking makes no sense to me. Why? Well, we know that we are in a time of massive impending inflation. The government just passed a series of bills (with many more to come) that literally creates cash out of thin air and pumps it into the economy.  This action, just as it always does, is going to cause our dollar to plummet in value. And the enormity of the cash that is going to be released in this country soon is something we have never seen in our history. The inflation we are going to encounter is projected to be huge and fast.

 

So why would you want to save up something that is going to be worth much less in the near future than it is now? It seems to me the logical thing to do is to spend your money on things that will last that you won’t be able to afford in the future. Or to convert your cash money into something that won’t be affected as much by inflation. Like gold or property, etc.

 

For example, if I have $100 now. For the purposes of this argument, let’s assume that in 6 months that $100 will be worth 1/3 of its original value due to inflation. By simply “saving” my money I just lost 2/3  ($66) of what I’ve worked so hard NOT to spend.  Where did it go?  Out the window. It is just gone.

 

It seems to me that money would have been better spent putting it towards buying a car, or a Sony MP3 player, or making memories in Disneyland, something useful. At least a trip to the beach will leave you with memories for the rest of your life. The savings account left you with virtually nothing. And let’s face it, you’re out the money either way. If it isn’t spent by you, and soon, it will be literally robbed from you by inflation. The only way to beat inflation is to put your money into things that can’t be taken by inflation…. things that you can afford now, that will be out of reach in the future. For example, if you would not be able to afford a toaster in the future, but you need one, buy it now while it costs $25 rather than $250 down the road.  A savings account does not shield you from losing your money to inflation. The more money you have saved in cash form in the bank, the more you will lose.

 

Think about this.  Have you ever said, or heard somebody say… “We could have bought that house for $25,000 – X many years ago.  What were we thinking? Why didn’t we do it”.  Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. But now, because of inflation, that house is worth $600,000 and nobody can get a loan for it, and you wish you had that $575,000 in property equity.

 

The flip side:

I’m trying to come up with a flip side… reasons why what I’m saying is actually NOT true, and I just can’t. But like I said, I’m not an economist. So if you have any thoughts on the subject, and have reasons why you think I am in error, please comment on this post below. I would like to hear your opinion.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in General Living, Money issues | No Comments »

AIG was a setup. We’re watching a play in Washington.

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Before we all get on a bandwagon and start criticizing these AIG executives for taking their bonuses on our dime, we need to evaluate the entire situation.  It’s easy to lose perspective when we’re constantly listening to slant.

Let’s look at the facts: 

  • The American people didn’t want this bailout in the first place.  This was pushed through by the president and congress against the obvious will of the people.
  • The total bailout (and I use the word “bailout” lightly) package for AIG was supposed to be around $85 Billion. They actually received somewhere around $140 Billion from the Government. The bonuses paid out with that money totaled somewhere around $165 Million. So we’re talking less than 0.001% of the total payout went to bonuses.
  • Congress could have included a ‘no-bonuses’ clause in the bill when drafting it, but purposely chose not to.
  • Congress now owns an 85% market share of AIG stock.
  • Many if not all of these bonuses were given with the understanding the executives would only receive $1 salaries for 2009.  Not really a bonus, is it? It’s more like a paycheck advance.  And, by the way, congress knew about this arrangement before drafting the bill.
  • The threat was given by our legislators that if the bonus money wasn’t returned it would be taxed at 100%. (so congress can now tax people at will ? – interesting)

 

Here’s how it distills out.  This is what I call a “template”.  Congress right now is establishing a pattern by which it will conduct itself in the future.  The model is being instituted and they are persuading public opinion (using CNN and other news media) to back them in these decisions. They are simply setting precedence and convincing the public it’s the ‘moral’ thing to do.  After all (they say) “Why should these guys get that much money in a bonus?”. Jealousy is a powerful thing.

Honestly, do you think the congressmen and women really care if AIG employees get bonuses?  No. The people in Washington make more than that while stirring their morning coffee with their pinky finger.  

This is simply about government taking over privately owned business and then telling them how to spend their money. And I fear that this is just the beginning of this tactic.   

In the future, when Washington does this again, they’ll put in the bill a restriction on how the business can spend its money from that point on. And they’ll tell the public “we have to do this…  Remember what AIG tried to pull with their bonuses?”.   

I encourage you, don’t give into the urge to hate these executives because the bonus they just received is more than you’ll make in the next 10 years. That’s a red herring.  It’s a diversion – a smoke screen. That’s not the real issue. The hope for becoming a millionaire is what makes this country great. Don’t let jealousy cloud your thinking. 

The real point is…  why did congress give them the ‘bailout’ money in the first place? Is it really as they say, because AIG is “too big to fail”?  No, I say… let it fail. The public would have never felt the impact. That’s what makes America great – success and failure.  No, congress gave them the money because the federal government wants to OWN them. They didn’t “Bail them out”. They “Bought them out”. Now they’re trying to say “We (as in the American people) bought them out”. But really, are you ever going to see a dime of profit from this accusation? I don’t think so.

 The federal government shouldn’t own businesses. Period.  That’s socialism, and it will completely destroy our civilization. (More on that in another post). This AIG thing is simply a show,  a play, put on for the American people to establish a governmental takeover pattern that can and will be used over and over in the future.

The tragedy isn’t that the execs took bonuses. Who cares about that? The tragedy is that the government feels free to steam-roll private businesses and employees at taxpayer expense.

Get ready, we’re about to see a whole lot more of this.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session.”  Mark Twain

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Government Takeover, National News | 1 Comment »