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SSSHHHH You will Scare the House…I Mean Fish

October 3, 2008 By Godfadr 2 Comments

The Senate may have proved to be so great at fishing this week I think we should move them to ESPN or at least the Outdoor Network. 

The House is debating the economic bailout today and they are optimistic they will pass the $700 billion bailout (oh yea, and the other $110 billion in pork additives to buy their votes). Did I say that?

Come on; let’s just go over the facts. 

1. The Bailout gets shot down in the House. They don’t like it; they think it is a bad way to help. It falls 13 votes short of passing. 

2. Senate decides to take a shot. They add some pork to help sway those that didn’t vote for the bailout. Is this not bribery? “Hey, I know you think the bailout is a bad idea, but what if I throw in some stuff – completely unrelated – that you want?” 

3. House Approves the Bailout, the President signs it. 

Now the House all of a sudden “feels good” about the bailout? 

Rep. John Boehner, the House Leader, said “Is it perfect? No. But its clearly better than it was a week ago,” “I’m optimistic about today.”

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Bailout approved, Economic forecast, Economy, Government Bailout, Government Mortgage Bailout, House to vote on bailout, Mortgage Bailout, Politics, President signs Bailout, Senate Bailout, US Bailout Dangerous

Extra Bailout “Pork” is Really Going to Cost Us!

October 2, 2008 By Godfadr 2 Comments

Mmmmm Pork. No not the kind you may find next to eggs during your morning meal. I am talking about the pork “sweeteners” the Senate added to the bailout plan in hopes that the House members will bite. 

This is beyond sad and I can’t say I have seen a better example of a messed up government. Take a bad situation (the economy) and make it worse by throwing on a bunch of personal @#$! to get the bailout approved. 

Sure they call it adding “incentives”  to have the House push the Bailout through – it just looks like a load of you-know-what to me. 

So what gems will we get on top of the $700 Billion Bailout if the House approves it? 

Pork Additive #1 – Provisions to keep movie and television production in the U.S. It allows production companies to deduct the cost of “producing” the movies from their taxes. 

How Much? – It will cost taxpayers about $478 million over 10 years 

Pork Addictive #2 – Allow plaintiffs who won damages from the Exxon Mobile spill to average their awards over three years (as oppose to treating it as single year income). 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers about $49 Million. 

Pork Additive #3 – Allow a seven-year recovery cost for people who build motorsports racetracks. 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers $100 Million. 

Pork Addictive #4 – Allow citizens who do not pay state income tax also deduct what they pay in sales tax. 

How Much? – It will cost the taxpayers about $3.3 Billion 

Ok, there is too much to list and I am getting depressed. In all there is about $110 Billion Dollars in pork additives that will put even more stress on a bad situation. 

I think throwing this stuff in is borderline extortion – the “hey, we are not going to help the American economy unless I get some stuff for me” needs to stop. Spending is out of control. 

Stop thinking in terms of Left and Right and start thinking in terms of Right and Wrong! 

What do you think about this? Feel free to comment! 

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Economic forecast, Economy, Economy Issue, Extra Pork in bailout, Government Bailout, Government budget, Mortgage Bailout, politicians, Politics, Senate Bailout

The New Government Bailout Passes Step One…Here it is…

October 1, 2008 By Godfadr 2 Comments

Want to see the new Bailout Bill including some $110 Billion in extra added pork thrown in by the Senate?

You get 451 pages of our government in action. Click Here to see the actual Bailout…

Now back to the House…

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Filed Under Culture Tagged With Economic forecast, Economy, Economy Issue, Government Bailout, Government to bail out AIG, New Bailout Plan, Politics

$700 Billion Dollar Bailout: Take Two…

October 1, 2008 By Godfadr 6 Comments

It failed in the House on Monday so today the Senate plans to try and rescue the $700 billion dollar bailout. Why don’t you try and rescue Scott Baio’s career while you are at it – it just isn’t gonna happen. 

The bailout is getting messier by the minute. The Senate thinks by throwing in a few “sweeteners” the Republicans and Democrats who were against the plan will now throw all in. 

So what $@&! is getting thrown in? 

Increase the FDIC insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000. Forgive me if I don’t bother scouring documents to verify this…but I am going to guess that most people don’t have $10,000 cash in the bank let alone over the current $100,000 FDIC insurance level. So who would that help…wait a minute…maybe some fat cat lobbyists or political officials worried about the economy?! 

Additionally in the “sweeteners” is relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax and Renewable Energy Incentives. 

Here is my favorite part… 

Also included? The “Mental Health Parity” provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness. Yea, I guess some high level executives are a little depressed right now. 

The vote won’t happen until “Sundown” in observance of Rash Hashanah – I have to say, I hope this is the second knockout of the week. It needs to be done right…and without all this other crud thrown in. 

Update: Well, it passed. Want to see it before it goes back to the House? And you have got to check out the “Pork Additives!” 

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Filed Under Culture Tagged With Alternative Minimum Tax, Economic forecast, Economy, Economy Issue, Government Bailout, Government Spending, House bailout, Mental Health Parity, Politics, Senate Bailout, US Bailout Dangerous

Weekend Update: Bush Gets $634B…and It Is NOT Bailout Money…

September 28, 2008 By Godfadr 5 Comments

You may have missed it and that was probably intentional – it was buried in most newspapers on Sunday. Late Saturday the Senate passed (78-12) a $634 billion dollar measure to keep the government going through the next budget year (which begins on Wednesday). 

Everyone is so distracted by the $700 billion bailout proposal (expected to pass today) no one really noticed the government was out of money (so much in fact that we had to borrow $500 billion from China). So where does some of this newly printed (and approved) money go? 

$25 billion will go to automakers in taxpayer-subsidized loans. 

$488 billion will go to the department of defense (on top of the $70 billion already approved for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan). 

$23 billion in emergency aid for victims of recent hurricanes and floods. 

$6.6 billion for “pet projects” in numerous states. 

The White House spokesperson said this “puts the United States on step closer to ending our dependence on foreign sources of energy.” 

Excuse me? 

Yes the Senate is lifting a ban on offshore drilling and opening up a huge reserve of shale oil in the west, but that is not where any of the $634B goes. 

As if that was not enough…the big weekend did not end there…

The House also approved a pact that would allow the U.S. to provide nuclear materials to India.

I should never check the news on the weekend…

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Automakers to get taxpayer-subsidized loans, Bush gets $634 Billion, Economic forecast, Economy, Government Bailout, Government Spending, More government spending, Politics

Is Paying Taxes “Patriotic?”

September 22, 2008 By Godfadr 6 Comments

Joe Biden (Obama’s appointed VP) is calling for the higher income individuals to pay more in taxes. Although McCain would have you believe most people will pay more in taxes under Obama, the fact is about 94% of all Americans will actually pay less. But in either case Biden says, “paying taxes is Patriotic.”

An interesting stance. Not since Kennedy’s famous “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” has anyone went the route of “time to pay the piper.”

Is paying taxes “Patriotic?” You have to first decide the definition of Patriotism. Typically it is the “pride” and “support” of your country. Flying an American Flag – Check. Dedicated people in the Military – Check. Wanting to pay more in taxes – Ummm Houston, we have a problem.

I am not going to suggest paying taxes is “Patriotic,” but I am going to suggest most people in this country want a whole lot more than they are willing to pay for (surprise!) 

Everyone wants health care (and should have it). Everyone wants great roads to drive on. Everyone wants their children to be educated in superior schools by the best teachers. The catch is, when it comes right down to it, most people just don’t want to pay for it.

The new “you owe me” mentality will, for the most part, be the final destroying element of this great country. This is the time to step up to the plate. Not just the wealthy, everyone. The government bailout of both private and public companies is just the beginning – a band-aid over what is amounting to be a very large wound. It is not the symptoms we need to treat, but the underlying mentality behind it. 

If paying more in taxes will (really) get this country back on track – then I am all for it. And, if that is how we define being Patriotic going forward, so be it. 

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Filed Under Culture Tagged With Economy, Is paying taxes patriotic?, Joe Biden, Paying taxes, Politics, US economy, US Economy in Trouble

Putting AIG (and the U.S.) Back Together Again…

September 17, 2008 By Godfadr 9 Comments

Until this week, it would have been unheard of for the government to bail out an insurance company. Oh, how times have changed…. 

The government is about to do just that. 

Regulators know with Bear Stearns and Lehman (who filed bankruptcy on Friday) going under the financial world does not end. If AIG was to go under? Well, the damages are far reaching and, in some ways, no one really wants to even crunch the numbers. 

The deal? The government will lend AIG $85 billion dollars and receive a 79.9% equity stake. 

The upside, if there is one, is the government finally has a chance to find alternative methods (other than direct taxing) to pay down the deficit. Once AIG turns the corner and starts making money, so will the government (much like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). The downside is that I highly suspect this will be nowhere near the amount of money that AIG ends up needing. 

In the meantime, I am going to see if I can start a company, get overwhelmed with greed, make millions, then have the government come bail me out! 

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With AIG, Bear Stearns, Big change on Wall Street, Economy, Government Bailout, Government to bail out AIG, Insurance Company Buyout, Lehman, Money, Politics, Wall Street
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