So which of these two is going to lower taxes, again?

Let’s face it folks. No one is going to lower taxes. The economy is in tough territory, global markets are plummeting, and people are panicking. China will start calling in some their loans and America won’t have an easy time keeping up with it, particularly following this multi billion dollar bailout. Add to that the costs for war, hopefully the cost of increased veteran’s benefits and subsidized health care and every tax dollar will be stretched thin.

Regardless of who you support, taxes aren’t going anywhere but up. Trickle down, bottom up, it doesn’t matter. No president will be able to push through any sort of significant, and probably not even any insignificant tax breaks for any brackets. We’ve got a Democratic house to boot.

So don’t talk about who will actually cut taxes for whom; I seriously doubt it will happen. Let’s focus on how we can “clean up” wall street, pick up the pieces, reenergize the markets and restoke investor confidence.

It’s my opinion that if you have money to invest, you should invest it right now. The darkest times are the best time to get in on the action. After everyone gets out of the pool, the water levels are lower, you can get in at a good price. Assuming the entire US economy survives, which, despite the problems, I think is a sure bet, the water has no where to go but up. So get back in it.

Sicko

My health insurance benefits ended roughly two weeks ago, so for the past month I have been seeking a new health insurance provider. Ironically the day after I saw this movie, I was informed by Blue Anthem that my application was denied due to an expensive medication I require. I was then told that no insurance company in my state would take me because of this, and that my only option would be to get a job offering a group plan, but there would still be a chance of being declined here as well.

I left the movie completely aghast at how not subtle the differences between public and private health care are, and with many seeming myths about public health care debunked. I do know that Moore’s movies aren’t known for being a modest middle-ground voice of neutrality. However, even I was convinced that my typical 5-week waiting period to see my doctor was a blessing compared to the months I would have to wait to see doctors in Canada or the UK. After seeing the movie I asked some friends I know in Canada who confirmed that they almost never have to wait more than an hour. One person who needed to see the only dermatologist at the clinic she visits informed me she waited about an hour and a half. Though, she could have probably gotten in earlier, but she told them it wasn’t urgent and that she wouldn’t mind waiting.

Unfortunately for as many people as this movie may touch, I have my doubts that it will have any actual effect. Health care and pharma companies are too well entrenched with too much money and too many lobbyists for us, We The People, to intervene at this late date.

I’m not sure why people have been so apprehensive about socialized health care. I would like to think people have moved past this “communist” fear thing. The cold war is long over and was ridiculous enough on it’s own. Why can’t we adopt this mindset of taking care of each other and letting doctors regain their dignity and humanity? When did we all start believing that health should only be available to the wealthy?

It all reminds me of a poll I participated in not too long ago that asked if I would rather be granted health or wealth? I was saddened to have to select wealth, because I knew that wealth is the only way to claim AND maintain health.

Support The Troops

I got an email from a friend of mine about the need to support the troops. The email compared the hardships a hypothetical “you” feels with the hardships a soldier serving in Iraq. Here are a few excerpts:

You stay up for 16 hour.
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You put on your anti war/don’t support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You’re angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He’s told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You make sure your cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him.
If only there were more men like him.

If you don’t support your troops well, then don’t repost, it’s not like you know the men and women that are dying to preserve your right…

This is not some humble request from some ubiquitous entity known as “the troops” to be respectful; this is a bunch of absurd tear jerking comparisons someone thought it would be appropriate to slap together and turn into a chain email. Everyone has their own challenges, and it is wrong to say that your challenges don’t matter because someone else faces different challenges. It is wrong to say that someone’s struggles matter less because someone else struggles more. Life isn’t measured by comparisons unless you want to try to shame someone, like this attempts to do.

This email is cavalier enough to assume we all run around wearing “fuck the troops” t-shirts and criticize soldiers in our spare time and then live self-indulgent, hateful lives. But, it’s not bold enough to mention the politicians who started the war; the politicians and business war profiteers who are financially benefiting from the war; the military officials who signed stop-losses on soldiers; the politicians who won’t set specific objectives, goals, or deadlines.  No, this email tells you that it is your fault the soldiers are shaken awake by mortars and forced to stay months after their contract is over.  It is clearly your fault “the troops” don’t have enough food, water, or supplies (or combat armor).

I would like to go line by line and rail against this email, but it would be far too long and some are too easy.  The clutching the cross next to his dog tags sure is a heart-breaker, isn’t it?  It definitely evokes images of Platoon or Saving Private Ryan in my mind.  Must be absolutely true, because obviously all of the troops are devout Christians who pray to Jesus while clutching their cross on the battlefield.

These are the sound-bytes that are hurting free speech in this country.  The nation needs to learn that dissension is not unpatriotic.  Dissension is part of the democratic process – the very thing we are attempting to instill in other countries.  It’s true that not every nation grants as much liberty as the United States, but it doesn’t mean that your right to disagree is some cushy privilege that you don’t deserve since you aren’t serving in the military.  I dare not even imagine what the country would be like if everyone who wanted the rights provided for in our founding documents was required to actively serve in the military.  Criticizing the government, in the situation we’re currently faced with, is support for the troops.  Supporting the troops means criticizing the government that uses stop-loss tactics and doesn’t provide adequate armor. Supporting the troops means criticizing the government that attempts to increase troop levels arbitrarily with no end in sight and no clearly defined goals or objectives.

—

Not to drag this out much further, but the “anti-war/don’t support the troops shirt” line made me kind of laugh, actually.  Does anyone have a “don’t support the troops” shirt?  I’m not sure I have ever seen one.  Though, I have seen plenty of yellow ribbons with the affirming version of the catchphrase on plenty of SUVs.  Maybe, instead of paying $1 to a charity for a yellow ribbon sticker, you could not drive an SUV that fuels the instability that fuels the war.  Does anyone else get angry, and I mean really ANGRY when you see a shiny pick-up truck or SUV (that has clearly never seen a day of heavy hauling) with a “Support the Troops” sticker planted 12 inches above the exhaust pipe that churns out, literally, TONS of CO2 every year?

Youth and Debt

Suze Orman has made it an unofficial anthem of the youth generation of today: young, fabulous and broke.  Many 20-somethings in America complain that there’s no money for the young; that by the time you’re old enough to enjoy your money, you don’t want to anymore.  Or, we want to party and travel and adventure and live modest lives paying our bills and doing what we need to do when we’re older – once we’re past this “phase” in our lives.  Yes?

Many advisers from all walks (financial advisers, career advisers, parents, relatives, counsellors) will tell youngsters to save their money – don’t buy that something or other, don’t throw that party to celebrate whatever, don’t go to wherever.  You need to save for that retirement nest egg, right?

That’s not what people want, though.  People want to adventure, travel, party, and enjoy themselves now.  The time in people’s lives where they are capable of enjoying such extravagances and hi-jinks is when they are young thrill-seekers.  I don’t know about all of you, but I can’t imagine myself enjoying getting lost in a big city and tossing some cash to eat at some crazy scary hole in the wall diner when I’m 50.  But, I would totally enjoy such endeavors while I’m vibrant and adventurous.  Spend now, pay for it later is what a lot of people, myself included, would like to indulge in.

Now look at the way the market of debt operates in this country; it is exactly what today’s youth generation demanded.  People now have the option to incur massive debt and pay for it over long stretches of time, well into their adult lives.  I’m not saying it is the responsible or even sensible thing to do.  I certainly haven’t taken out swatches of credit cards to live an indulgent youthful life (though I sometimes dream of being so reckless).  But, the possibility exists, for better or for worse.  People have the power to live the lives they think they should while they’re young, pay for it for the rest of their lives by being good model credit customers.

Unfortunately, the need for credit doesn’t end with youth in America.  The sad truth is that you can incur thousands of dollars in credit card debt right out of high school, but what about that car loan?  How about that $200,000 mortgage when you’re 30 and settling into a career?  How about the credit you’ll be taking out for a wedding or your kid’s college education?  It is pretty much a hard hitting reality that the average American couldn’t possibly live without debt.  Even if you’re a model credit card client and pay off your balance every month, you still needed that little pinch extra for gas or that birthday present for your best friend.  You still needed to sign a three year car loan or five year car lease for your car.  It is pretty much impossible to live even a comfortable life without some cushion of debt.

Allow me to briefly contrast this with Japan.  In Japan, credit exists, but not nearly as widespread or necessary as it is in America.  You typically earn enough, even as an average wage earner to indulge occasionally in the things you want outside of your necessities.  You can carry a large sum of money in your wallet in cold cash and not in credit cards or debit cards.  This isn’t just because of the differences in the debt culture, but also because of the drastically reduced crime rate.  But the fact remains, people have the physical money to pay for things and don’t need to defer to liquid money.  People don’t live on liquid bank accounts and credit lines.  People make the money they need to live and even modestly indulge without needing loans for everything.

Back to reality though, can you imagine carrying $1000 in your wallet or pocketbook and no credit cards or bank cards?  Can you imagine paying for a car with actual money and not signing a legally binding lease?

Bizzaro.

May 15th: The Sheep (and Oil Companies) Will Have Their Day

Apparently the social network websites are crawling with calls to boycott gasoline on May 15th.  As it turns out, environmentalism and sticking it to “the man” are still sexy and people will be doing their part to be sexy.  For a day.

The idea that if the entire nation, or even all of North America decides not buy gasoline on the 15th the oil companies and gas station owners will “choke” on the reserve and be forced to lower gas prices. Sounds good, right? I will probably participate in this event without even realizing it.  I buy gas at a rate of about three times a month, so the odds of me buying gas on the 15th are already fairly low. This will likely be the case with most people.  However, some people will hit a quarter tank on the 14th and decide not to tempt fate and fill up on the 14th.  Some people will chance it, and fill up on the 16th.  Regardless, the gas will still be used and the money will still be spent.  It’s just a matter of the day before or the day after the “gas-out.”  There is no reduction in usage or consumption – people will still drive on the 15th, heat their homes, and fly airplanes on the 15th.  A one-day boycott will have effect on long-term or even short-term gas prices.  The best case scenario would be a few cent decline on the 16th to rid of the “excess.”

More likely though, the surge of people purchasing on the 14th will result in higher gas prices on the 14th, then the sudden drop out on the 15th will make prices fall a few cents below par. Of course, no one will buy gas on the 15th to enjoy the brief $3.05 prices (down from $3.09).  Then, on the 16th, people will buy again and prices will probably go up a few cents to $3.12 or so.  So in reality, people will be spending more money on gas than if they just bought as normal and let the price stay stable at 3.09.  Not that a few cents really matters when it’s already over $3.

The only way to successfully boycott gasoline is to simply consume less.  A very, very minimal start for the 15th could be to walk that day, or bike, or get around in some fashion that doesn’t use any gasoline.  Better yet, we could consume just a little bit less every single day instead of consuming none on one day of the year.  So next time you want to drive to the bank or the grocery store or to whatever minor errand you are running, think about this…

• If 10% of Americans aged 18 or more walked/biked/whatever-ed a half a mile every week instead of driving, we would save over 29 million gallons of gas per year.
• If we did it every day, it could be over 203 gallons a year.
• If half of Americans 18 or over did it, it would save over a billion gallons a year.
• If 3/4 of 18+ Americans did it for a mile each day, it would save 3.05 billion (3,045,000,000) gallons a year.

So get out there and walk.

The Cost of War

 

The Senate recently passed a bill approving President Bush’s request for funding to continue the war at a taxpayer cost of $124,000,000,000. There was, however, a stipulation that troop withdrawal would commence in the coming months and all troops would be out by this time next year. The idea is that the President will have to make concessions in regard to removing military presence to be given the money he requested.

It went without saying that he would veto the bill (though, he did have a staffer say he will reject it on principle).

The amount of money being spent on the war is absurd, and to request 124 BILLION dollars additionally is ridiculous. The only way to get that amount of money from us, the taxpayers is to put some stipulations on the remainder of this war, something that we, the people, want. I certainly can’t say this for everyone, but I believe a majority of Americans see the need for change and a different approach. Letting the war become a money, energy, and human life sink is not what we have in mind when we say we want victory.

Needless to say, it is a lot of money, and as such, it should come with strings. Perhaps negotiation is still needed, but it is insane to think that we should willingly hand over such an amount of money knowing that without considerations for the future of the war, we could be signing another appropriations bill 12 months from now for a similar or perhaps grossly higher figure.

Just so you know just how big 124 billion dollars is here are some breakdowns:

• Every person in the US 18 years or older is footing $571.43
• If stretched over an entire year, we would be spending $3,932.01 every. single. second.
  • There is a significant number of Americans who make less than this amount in 6 months of work.
• Instead of spending this money in Iraq, we could give every single person on the planet $18.49
• In one-dollar bills, this amount would weigh 273,373,205 lbs.
  • In $20 amounts, it would weigh 13,668,660 lbs.
  • In $100 amounts, it would weigh (obviously) 2,733,732 lbs.
    • 2.7 million lbs is more than 411 Ford F150 pick-up trucks.
    • If all 124 Billion were stacked in $100 bills, it would be 444,333 feet tall.
      • 444,333 feet is over 84. miles. tall.
      • The Sears tower reigns in at a meager 1,730 feet, less than 0.4% the height of the $100 bills.
• We would be spending 117% the entire GDP of New Zealand in a single piece of legislation.

It is worth thinking about where your money goes.