“Cash for Clunkers” is a Real Clunker

Most experiments require blind tests and double blind tests to ensure that the hypothesis and theorem is valid and I think this is a good idea from a consumer standpoint.

So the federal government develops a program, “Cash for Clunkers” to spur car sales and to begin fixing an ailing economy. I think, personally, it is a great idea as it will rid the road of old vehicles that emit too many pollutants and use too much gas. Really, it was a well devised program except…

Once again, the people who are in charge of our tax dollars can’t see one inch beyond the end of their nose. Why? They so totally underestimated the consumer’s acceptance of this program that it ran out of money in basically two weeks Now, the program has a moratorium as Washington tries to fund more cash to it so it can continue.

I think a billion dollars (that’s with a “B”) is a lot of money but at $3,500-$4,500 per vehicle and given the number of old cars that are still out there it wasn’t nearly enough to fund the program on an ongoing basis.

Couple with the amount of money spent by the car manufacturers (oh yeah, aren’t they bankrupt and trying to watch their dollars?) advertising this program and now it is “on hold”, I think that Washington has shown one thing in this experiment…they are ill equipped or under funded intellectually to take on nationalize medicine.

If there is a failure in that program people just might die.

The Art of No Offense

It really is getting harder and harder to do anything and not offend someone in the process.

Take the “Gates” affair…

What a weird set of circumstances that took place there..

What I can surmise from what little I have read is the Mr. Gates came home from a trip from China and his front door to HIS house was stuck so he called his driver to help him open it and then a neighbor, being ever vigilant, calls the police because she thinks there is a break-in in a house down the street and the cops come and by that time Mr. Gates is in the house. Understand that the caller did not identify the men on the porch as being from any race, just that it appeared men were breaking into a house.

The police come onto the porch and maybe into the house and ask Mr. Gates for his identification and he promptly tells them, “No!” and so an argument ensues.

To make a long story short he gets arrested for being disorderly.

Only one problem…Mr. Gates is a well known professor and academic and he is black and the officer was white. Oops, there is a real politically correct incorrect thing to do.
Now at first blush and with little inside information I am asking myself why Mr. Gates knowing full well that it was his house didn’t just show his ID to the police officer and tell him the door was stuck and what happened?

Why the anger and why the play the race card right out of the box. Easy, it was to disarm the white police officer and to try and gain, what Mr. Gates perceived to be a level playing field. I am not saying he was wrong in being upset but a little discipline on his part could have gone a long ways to not having an incident at all.

I wonder how he would have felt coming home from China and seeing his house totally ransacked with all valuables missing. I wonder if he would have settled for an excuse from the police that, “we thought it was just you coming home and your door was stuck and we thought you would eventually get it worked out so we just stayed away”.

Then the plot thickens as the “Chief Law Enforcement Officer” in America weighs in and basically proves his ineptness in the matter by saying the police acted “stupidly”. What a nice word from a man who acknowledged that he didn’t have all the facts.

So how does it all turn out, with Joe Biden, Barak and the guys enjoying a beer at the White House. Hopefully Joe didn’t open the meeting with his comments on Ukrainian women (although I do agree with him on that one).

Now I have read that one of the early Presidents had a wheel of cheese in the entry way to the White House so that when visitors came there they could have something to eat and it is nice to see that our President is making the “Happy Hour” a possible staple of America’s first house. I can hardly wait to go there and have a wine and cheese hour with the first family.

One of the things that seems to be coming back to me over and over with President Obama is that he lacks “class”. He doesn’t have it, never learned it and quite frankly must have laid off the Protocol person that should be assisting him in such manners.

One of the sad things is that I am afraid that he will never get it and from his disappointing responses from other world leaders I am sure that they also see this deficiency.

Well, he is not the first one that was seen as a social buffoon and he probably won’t be the last but with the economy in the dumper, increased death toll in Afghanistan I really think he has more to do then have a beer with a few of the guys in the backyard.

Did you see the guy delivering the beers? Now that was class…

Losing Weight is HARD Work!

I have been going to Weight Watchers since the end of January of this year and it has been one long battle but it is worth it, I think.

A lot has been written about diets and I applaud anyone who goes on one and stays on it and reaches their goal but Weight Watchers is really not a diet it is a “way of life” in eating. What does that mean?

Well, we mostly view food for satisfaction in our lives and not for the nutritional value it brings to us; that’s why there is an ice cream store and other pleasure food venues in our local shopping areas. These vendors have found that we are all suckers for the quick sugar fix and less interested on what sticks to our bodies after the fact. I mean, how many vegetables stores and stands can you find in your local town? I am sure there are a few but not like Starbuck’s, 31 Flavors and the other taste teasers.

So what to do…
Eat more in the morning and early afternoon. Minimize calories after 2:00pm.
If you want sweets eat them early in the day but be sensible about it.
Start the day with a big breakfast to kick-start your metabolism. Cereal, small bagels with Weight Watcher’s cream cheese, banana for potassium, fruit, even an omelet with bacon is ok.
Eat a snack at least every 3 hours, one fruit, one veggie, one sweet treat. Don’t let yourself get hungry and you will eat less during the day.
Eat a small dinner, salad, veggies, fruit. Portion size is important.
Nothing to eat after 8:00pm every night.
Exercise each day if only for a few minutes even if it is a stroll around the neighborhood. Exercise raises your metabolism and aids in burning calories.

The one true adage of all weight loss is…you have to burn more calories than you take in on a daily basis to lose weight…it is that simple but the hard part is doing it.
So I will continue to push myself daily and will continue to try and lose weight not so much for myself as for what I am giving myself, more days to spend with my family and friends.

It is HARD work but I am glad that I am able to do it.

Not Surprising

So I was reading the newspaper this morning (on-line because it is the new green way) and it was being reported was that President Obama has gone back to bashing Bush again.
Not surprising when you see his polls numbers are beginning to show the direction of the voter’s discontent with his policies. It was obvious that the fickleness of the Democratic voter has been well documented as the easiest to sway but the hardest to please.
One report on the stimulus is that it created jobs in Oregon, yes it did, and the jobs only lasted ONE WEEK. Now, that’s what I call stimulating.
Listen, I want America to succeed through the financial mess we are in but we need thinkers that are outside the box and not trying the same old same old way to solve problems.
I do feel sorry for the President because I think anything John McCain would have done would have garnered the same results, the economy is sick with a bad cold and the flu (who knows, it could be swine flu) and it will take time to recover but only if the home market recovers without continuing foreclosures. Another onset of foreclosures is scheduled later this year.
President Obama’s problem is that he raised expectations just like John Kennedy and now he cannot meet them and the people are discouraged.
So what to do…
Simple, treat the disease and wait it out but do not spend us into bankruptcy with extravagant medicines that we cannot afford and will be paying for years to come.
In the old days the flu and colds were treated with home remedies and maybe that is what is needed here. Let’s acknowledge the problem and treat it by pulling back some and stop acting like we can will it away. It is a disease we created and we need to live with it for a sufficient amount of time to really feel it. That is the only way we can learn from it and possibly not recreate it again in the future.
And President Obama, stop bashing Bush; this is your problem and your deficit so live with it because we are and it is an uncomfortable fit, believe me.

A Scary Proposition

Man, am I scared! I admit it; I am scared to my very core; probably more scared in a controlled manner than I ever have been in my life. I tremble inside even as I write this because I think that I have let the proverbial genie out of the bottle and now what will be the results of such an action on my part?
What I am really feeling is a lack of confidence in my faith, not in God because I know His power but in my power in assisting God in making something of a calling that He gave me a few days ago in a blog that I wrote.
What scares me is that in that time there has been a mobilization of other Christians that have stepped forward and started the “grassroots” projects of making this calling a real breathing thing. I won’t bore you with the details but there has been a minor groundswell of fellow Christians that is amazing to see and we have just begun.
It is hard for me to picture one million Christians marching in our nation’s capital, peacefully demonstrating to our government the peaceful intents of our hearts to be heard and to be understood.
I cannot even fathom this yet but God has shown me in the early hours of this event’s life that there is a hunger for this not only in my neighborhood but as this is reaching out across America. We are getting responses from different areas of the nation but it is still early and there is still yet much to be done.
Pray for this effort to continue as God blesses us as we move forward to proclaim His message.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Reverse Compassion

I was thinking the other night about a comment that I had read regarding Christians and their lack of compassion for the poor and downtrodden and it made me think.
It made me think about love and the different aspects of it and can love be used in a reverse manner that appears to be love but really isn’t love at all?
When I look at the poor and downtrodden I can see two specific large groups that should be identified. One being the physically disadvantages either through illness or injury and the other is the socially disadvantaged that through actions on their own part, whether conscious or not, have put them in a disadvantaged position. Plainly said, the poorly educated population that decided early on that education was not a goal in their life.
Ok, so what am I getting at?
The comment made painted Christians as people that profess their faith but do not show it through their actions to the poor and downtrodden and I think the statement at first blush might look correct but is flawed when you look at it. I will not take the time here to list the many religious organizations that serve the poor daily.
I think it is safe to say that the mainstream Christian and also mankind in general makes a valiant attempt to assist those in need especially those that cannot take care of themselves because of some unfortunate circumstance in their life.
I also think that there is an attempt to assist even the socially disadvantaged in some manner but I do agree that it is not as pronounced as services to the physically disadvantaged group.
But I see the two groups as being significantly different in manner and temperament and therein lies the rub.
The Bible has several passages about work being a staple in a person’s life and that we are not to be slothful. Now work comes in many different forms and the stay-at-home mom works plenty hard to maintain the family unit but there can be a vast difference to the working poor that refuse to work or refuse to be trained to go to work.
There is a large segment of our population that has lived in the entitlement framework of our society and they like it. They feel, I am sure for whatever reason, that they are to be taken care of and maintained in some manner that suits them. I will fully admit that the entitled poor don’t seem to be demanding a mansion to live in so they seem content in their current living conditions.
So get to the point already…
Love of the poor and downtrodden is not giving them anything they want any more than you would do for your own child. As parents haven’t we taught our children to expect reward from work? If we expect it from them then how can we expect less from the ones that can work but refuse to work because welfare is easier?
Coupled now with a national health plan that will also entitle them at taxpayer expense; aren’t we loving them in the wrong direction. Shouldn’t we be coaxing them to work and earn the benefits that are there for all of us?
I understand the liberal bent on social caring for all poor but isn’t this being painted with a broad brush when a smaller one might make us look at the details a little more closely?
Maybe then even the non-believer might see that Christians, although not perfect by any means, are not heartless because they do not agree to reward laziness.
Could there be a meeting of the minds?

We Need to Stand; We Need to March

One of the basic tenants to fundamental Christianity is that Christ is coming again to the earth at an unknown time. Another is that God will allow His people to suffer when they fail to demonstrate His will by doing what is required of them. I believe this without a doubt.
The world is in disarray and I believe that one of God’s earthly emissaries, our country, has become paralyzed by the current rush to humanistic beliefs and goals. I believe that this is foolishness and needs to be countered by the “religious” citizens of our land. While I am hopeful, l am also pessimistic about the Christians of this great land doing anything but sitting on their hands and waiting for judgment to fall.
What little I do know of the Bible one thing stands out perfectly clear to me and that is that God does not do the work but rather his people do it for Him so this is what I am proposing…a 1,000,000 Christian march in Washington D.C. as soon as it can possibly be done.
Now that looks like a monumental task and it is but it starts with the first step of saying it and then beginning to implement it. With God all things are possible and so is this plan.
America needs 1,000,000 people of all Christian faiths to march on Washington D.C. and tell our politicians and our courts that we want a “Christ” centered government and if they do not wish to be a part of it then we will all go home and begin the process of electing people that will find a way to do this for us.
While I am not sure how any march of this magnitude has been accomplished I do know that God willing it can be done, it WILL be done.
So I am asking all of the readers of this blog to copy it and send it via email to all of your contacts and ask them to forward it to their contacts and allow God to work in a manner so enormous that when this march is done we will all know the power of His love not only for us but for this country.
I believe that God will make a way for churches to begin the process of making plans to coordinate this great goal of 1,000,000 Christians marching peacefully in our nation’s capitol showing that we are not going to be lost in the current ‘godless” administration.
Amen…yea, yea let it be so.

Nature Can Teach

Nature is like an old school teacher, you remember the ones with the gray hair, half glasses that they peered over when they called on you? The ones that were so old that you wondered how they were still standing much less teaching.
Well, nature is the same.
Nature has so many different subjects that it can teach us if we are willing to learn.
I am most intrigued by snow because it is a natural substance that is manufactured in a manner that no one has really been able to explain. Its shape looks like something that could only be drawn on a draftsman’s table, it is light yet solid and supposedly no two exact flakes have ever been replicated.
I am most attracted to the color…white. Why white? Why not blue or some other color?
I recently drove through the Sierras in California and there is still some snow at the higher elevations and it was interesting to see the contrast of the white snow on the brown earth with green trees. It was beautiful and the snow which appeared to be the most fragile element present was the most dynamic in my memory.
The snow that I saw had never been walked on, that I could see, was brilliantly white in the midday sun and had such a pure elegance about it and there it was fighting off the ravages of the noonday sun in its intensity and it was winning.
There’s a lesson here, I think…that strength is not made in mass but rather cohesion. If the snow flakes decided to separate they would be gone in no time at all but they bonded and in the bonding do not allow the other elements to gain a foothold in their dominion.
Then there were the mountains and the cliffs and crags and the outcroppings and so many different contours and textures. Rocks hanging out into the open air with little holding them from crashing down into the valley and yet they remained. The different color formations and strata and each tells a tale of when they were made and the external pressures that were brought to bear to impact them in such a manner that we can study them years later. But it was the “holding on” that made the biggest impact on me because it was like a band of brothers holding on to the one going over the edge, willing them to remain and expending the energy necessary for it to happen.
There is a lesson here also, I think…that we are nothing without those around us constantly pushing and pulling, holding on, refusing to let go, willing us on, valuing us as a member of the team.
And then there were the trees with little that I can say that will add one scintilla to them that is not already theirs. The beautiful stand of trees for miles and miles were carpeting the earth with their majestic height and even more important the shade and protection that they provided for the creatures below. Out of all of the things I looked at the trees were the most fragile; the most endangered of being destroyed and with them the most important gift that they give to us…clean air.
There is a lesson here, that the strongest are not always that way and that we tend to take them for granted and cater less to their needs. We need to understand how each person strengthens us but at the same time we need to be aware of their needs and be willing to tend to them also.
So the great earth spoke to me that day about my relationships and how I need to respond to those around me but most of all the teacher asked me to ask myself one question…are you here to learn or are you just goofing off again?

Are We Paying Attention Yet?

It is interesting that the news media is beginning to report in very minor detail the economic indicators and the news is not good.
There used to be a political saying that, “How California goes so goes the rest of the nation” and if that is so then we are in for some dire days.
California is bankrupt from a failed policy of entitlements to unions and other social programs that have so impacted its ability to gain clear air that the 7th largest economy in the world may be forced into bankruptcy. No kidding…bankruptcy is the only hope that I see to allow California to peel itself away from the past indebtedness and forge a path to financial solvency.
California for to long has been held in check by unions and the welfare state and that needs to change. That is a harsh statement because it is devoid of all of the compassion that liberals are looking for but you have to be able to pay for what you have and when you no longer have it then you need to make adjustments.
It is less compassionate to build a welfare state so large and complex that is makes the rest of the state’s economy sag and that is where we are at this moment. It is also wrong to give to the entitled masses the hope that they are taken care of for as long as they wish.
One area of attention is the development, once again, of a clear delineation of state’s rights versus federal rights. We have lost one of the basic anchors of our political process…that a state has a right to mandate its laws to its citizens. By not doing this it creates a void that the federal government is more than happy to fill.
A case in point, I think that all states have the right to choose whether marriage is between a man and a woman or allow gay couples to wed and have those marriages recognized as law. If the states were allowed to decide then the federal government does not need to meddle in this discussion. States would set their boundaries and the citizens of those states would hash it out until it was decided. The same is true of the death penalty.
Those unhappy with the decision have two choices, continue to live in the state or move to a state that supports their position.
I can hear the cries of “but I have a job here and I would have to move” and I say that every decision in our life has a price to be paid, some big, some small. If marriage is that important to a gay couple then I would think that they would jump at the chance to move to a state that fully supports their views.
The same applies to the death penalty, environmental issues and any other societal issue of public import.
I, for one, am looking at moving to a state when I am retired that more closely aligns to my political views and why not? By doing so, I have an opportunity to surround myself with people I agree with on issues I agree on and paying my taxes will support the things I support. That sounds like a win-win to me and hopefully to the community that I join.
So “state shopping” should become the new buzz term for Americans and let’s start researching to find the right area to live because the alternative is a continuation of the insanity that is now called our nation.
While public debate continues to be a good thing it has moved from the “let’s solve our problems arena” to the “you are dead to me arena” because of the polarization on most public issues.
So happy shopping and I hope you find that piece of paradise, I sure hope I do.

A Pardox in Modern Times

Anyone see the great disparity between the death of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson?
One died knowing they were going to die…one died suddenly.
One died having the opportunity to say good bye to the ones they loved…the other was taken away so suddenly that their kids thought they were fooling around when it happened.
One died with dignity after death…the other died with allegations of bad behavior, bad medical treatment and bad police investigations.
One died with a simple funeral closed to the public…the other will have an extravaganza in a large public forum with thousands in attendance.
One leaves a fairly non conventional family relationship with a child incarcerated in a public prison…one leave three minor children with legal battles to ensue for custody in a private compound with private security.
One died a Christian…the other died in a state of unknown grace.
One died with few comments regarding their financial situation…one died with numerous reports of financial ruin and estate issues that will last for years.

Through it all, I am amazed at how the press has latched onto Michael Jackson’s death like a pit bull and constantly thrashes the same issues around as if they will be able to expose new flesh for them to feed on. Broadcast networks have spent untold millions of dollars rehashing the same information and trying to spin it a different way to increase viewership.

Yet I look at Farrah and she had the audacity to die on the same day as Michael Jackson and her funeral press release was subjected to the 7th page of my local newspaper; while Michael’s drug history and doctors curriculum vitae were spilled all over the front page.

Americans have become so voyeuristic that they literally hang on every news bit and they mourn so publicly that there is little left to the imagination of the public at large. 1.6 million people emailed for tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial service when only 12,000 will get tickets. What is our society turning into when we idolize our stars and 12,000 people can attend a funeral?

I understand that is good to applaud talent and enjoy them and the art that they create but we need to stop idolizing and anguishing over the loss of even two people like Farrah and Michael. We need to realize that they were flawed just like we are and that they made bad mistakes in their lives but that they were loved by their families and fans…but that’s it…STOP! GO BACK TO YOUR OWN LIVES!

While the death of these two stars is sad we need to keep it in perspective and more than anything value the loved ones in our lives whom we will mourn someday if they do not mourn us first. Every death is a loss to our humanity and to our culture but we devalue life in general when we elevate certain lives to a place that few people dead or alive can aspire to in any lifetime.

Sadly, we will lose other celebrities and the press will have their normal feeding frenzy until something else catches their short term attention. Unfortunately also, people will still flock and run to the next event like birds in a park when bread crumbs are thrown on the ground.

It is too bad that we are unable to learn from our past actions and unable to contain our joy or grief to an acceptable societal level. We really need to work on this.

Abandonment

I had a hard time deciding whether to write a poem or use prose to discuss this topic. It seems a little strange for a subject but if you are adopted then it is really at the crux of your inner being.
I define my inner being as my self respect, self esteem, self worth, self confidence, ego, and there are probably a few others but I can’t think of them at this time.
I just finished watching Australia (an above average movie) and most connected with the young lad in the movie and basically how he was treated in that country. The Australians felt basically the same as white southern plantation owners regarding the parent child bond…that it really didn’t exist. What a sad miscalculation in judgment that was for all concerned.
I always tear up when a movie is about someone being left and whether they get back together or if they never do. I remember the first time I felt this way was in the seventh grade while reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline.
The main characters were separated and spent their whole life looking for each other and at one point in the story they were SO CLOSE and yet they missed each other. I remember the internal rooting for them to look around the corner and put this travesty in their lives to rest forever but it wasn’t meant to be. So I get a little misty when this happens.
A psychologist told me once that every time I tear up and get a little misty it is the reaction to an unresolved emotional problem in my childhood and I know they are right.
In watching Paula mother her small children especially when they were infants; I saw firsthand how important maternal bonding is to the development of the child. To miss out on that causes a big hole that is never really filled.
I have a big hole that will never really be filled.
Wow, how can I say that especially when I have been blessed with a great family, children, grandchildren and other relatives? It’s easy, it is really about me personally and it has nothing to do with the other relationships in my life. It is a situation so personal that it is akin to baking a cake and forgetting to put an important ingredient in the batter and you bake it. It comes out and no matter how much frosting you put on it; you cannot fix the batter.
That is how adopted children feel, they have something missing and it can never be added back into their life; they will just need to adjust their life accordingly.
Now some adoptees are adopted at birth but if they know they are adopted then they will probably wonder. Adoption makes a child feel different.
I went through my early school years and probably high school feeling different from all the other kids that had a natural mother and father. Maybe to a certain extent I was using it in a manner to make myself feel special but I do know as I got older that I tried harder to conceal it as if I was genetically deformed because any interested woman in my life would be turned off because I had no family medical history. Hey, it was a silly idea but that is what I thought.
As I got older and became aware more of the people around me I discovered that adoption was sometimes a whole lot better than divorced and remarried families or single mom homes with rotating uncles living with the family. So I started to open up about my life and tried to have some order to it.
Having a child in high school didn’t help either since she was given up for adoption so I had, in fact, perpetrated the same disastrous life style on her that I had gone through. I had always hoped that her story would be different but sadly years later when a relationship was formed I was able to hear that she also had an unsettling home life.
So how does this hole in my life present itself in my day-to-day living? I think in a couple of ways, one being that I still have a fear, although a minor one, of being forgotten or left behind. Now, I have no incidents in my current life that I can remember at this time but I am sure there have been ones that have caused me stress. The larger problem is that I am unable to nurture a child when they are injured and I know that this is wrong but there is no internal programming in me to do what is necessary to comfort. I am working on it and I am better but I am still pathetic when compared to Paula or others that I have seen. I will continue to try and do better but there are no guarantees here.
I had an opportunity to be in a group therapy class several years ago and as part of the course I spoke to the psychologist about this nurturing problem that I have and she told me that when a mother holds her baby and talks to them, coos and the other sounds that they make, that, along with the eye contact opens up a information superhighway between the mother and child. That highway transfers to the child the sense of belonging, love and acceptance…that is the nurturing development that a baby learns during that period of their life. The statement that struck me was that if you do not get this during infancy then you can never get it. It will be part of the missing programming in my personality. I thought, “Well that sucks”.
Parents need to make sure that they really concentrate on this aspect in their child’s development because it is a building block that every child needs.
Me, I will continue to tear up at moments of abandonment but at least I know why this emotion surfaces and although I wish it was different I am ok with it as much as I can be.

How I Look at Love

Ok, so let’s get real personal here because love is about as personal as it can get.
I had an interesting situation happen in the family unit this past week where some feelings got hurt or bent out of shape.
The reason for the hurt or bent out of shape feelings is really not important, I think, and not nearly as important as understanding how family members should feel about each other, in good times and bad.
Love is all encompassing to me; it is the very reason that I get out of bed everyday. It is the reason that I have a family and try to be involved to whatever degree that I can in their lives and it is also the base line of how I try to live my life.
I find love to be all inclusive in my life and I do not see it as any kind of a bargaining chip on how I do things.
If I am involved in a discussion on any topic I will do my best to make my point(s) but I will never use love as the reward for winning or love as the chip you lose if you prevail. Love is never on the table as far as I am concerned.
Now, that doesn’t mean I won’t be mad or disappointed or any of the other well known emotions but I will never stop loving any member of my family based on what they think or believe, that just doesn’t make sense.
Now, could there be an instance where I might withhold my love from someone? Yes, but that would only be after a long protracted period of time where they have basically shown me that I have no reasonable value in their life. It wouldn’t be any fly-by-night issue of life and I am sure that the other person would know long before how I was feeling.
Love can come in different degrees but the base feeling is the same…that we care about the other person, we want them to be happy and fulfilled and we want them to be a part of our life.
It really is that simple so as we continue to grow and mature as a family; take care of each other and always remember that love is not an option it is always a given.

An Interesting Conversation

I was sitting in a local Super Cuts yesterday, just sitting on the couch and spending some time with Jordan waiting for my name to be called. As I was sitting there I overheard (and no I wasn’t intently listening at first) a conversation by a customer getting his hair cut and the person doing the cutting. I am paraphrasing but it went something like this…
Customer: So I lost my job and I fell 6 months behind on my house payment and they were ready to foreclose.
Stylist: (like the politically correct job term?): Oh that’s too bad.
Customer: So I called my mortgage company and told them that I would like to do something about modifying my existing loan.
Stylist: Did it do any good?
Customer: Well it took some talking on my part but I was able to get them to forgive the 6 months that I had not paid my house payment.
Editor (that’s me) my ears perked up to hear what happened.
Customer: Well I did some real talking to them and I got them to forgive the late payments and all fees and they rewrote me a new loan at interest only. I will only be paying interest and nothing on the principal.
Stylist: Well that sounds like a good deal what do you think? (I love how she ended most comments with a question.
Customer: Well that’s not all either.
Stylist: What else was there?
Customer: They rewrote the loan to a 40 year loan for me. It was 30 years but now it’s 40.
Stylist: Well that seems like a long time doesn’t it? (I love her style of keeping the conversation going)
Customer: Well the house lost $40,000 in value over the past 2 years and with me only paying interest I am sure that the price will go up over the next couple of years and then I can sell it and make some money.
At this point I just shook my head. What I learned in this short conversation about this guy was that he went from being a HOMEOWNER to a renter and he isn’t even aware of it. His contribution to the payment of the house is to do nothing more than to keep it in good order until the interest rate goes up so high he will have to move out and the bank can resell it to a more financially stable customer.
This is the new scam in American homeownership and the banks have seized on it. There are too many vacant houses that are plundered by the locals so it is better to have someone living there (and hey, making an interest payment too) then have it vandalized.
This guy is a total schmuck if he thinks he will get any money ever from this financial venture.
All he got is a roof over his head for the foreseeable future but I guarantee you once the economy changes in a few years he will not see any return on his investment, oh yeah, that’s zero, isn’t it? So I guess he will afterall.

When is Right Wrong?

The world is spinning at such a high rate of speed that things appear to be peeling off the earth and spinning out into the cosmos.
The politics of our time are becoming more fractured and polarization is spinning at the rate of the earth as if a large centrifuge is pasting us and our issues to a wall.
The fact of right and wrong is now a hazy idea because the reference points of any discussion with any two groups are generally based on different reference points. While this makes for more difficult mediation of issues it also is causing a major distrust in the participants.
What I struggle with is that doing what is right by societal standards might be wrong when looked at in the bigger picture.
I am sure that most people would help a person in need and do it gratefully and many times with no expectation of being reimbursed. But let’s put that thought to a larger problem, national healthcare.
I am sure that no one debates the fact that there are people that need healthcare for themselves or a member of their family. Maybe healthcare has been lost through the loss of a job or the death of a family member and COBRA is too expensive.
What is the current course of action of any uninsured person that need medical attention…the local county hospital who is charged with treating all patients in a triage manner, that being the sickest are seen first. This medical system has been in place for decades and although it is time consuming; it is inexpensive to the person being treated.
I have heard no conversation on why this system is bad or ineffective. It is paid for by the tax dollars of the citizens of the county where the hospital is located.
Now, I understand that a patient using this type of medical coverage will not receive cosmetic procedures unless they are in accordance to an injury or other related illness but they will be seen and treated in some manner.
Is this not good enough to a person that is paying basically nothing for the service? If there were national healthcare and the person using the county facility cannot pay for that service then how can it be determined that they will be able to pay the premium on a national health plan?
I am not sure what benefit there will be in a national health plan when there has been no effective tort reform on medical malpractice in the past decade, that I am aware of. Are doctors under the NHCP (National Health Care Plan) not going to be sued by patients for the bad care that they receive? Are hospitals going to be exempt for malpractice under the NHCP? Without the threat of lawsuits or a cap on damages the doctors will be made to continue to pay for high end malpractice insurance to protect themselves, I would think.
Such a plan has multiple tentacles and all of them have to be addressed so that no party is left out in the cold under the new plan.
So it is right to take care of those that cannot take care of themselves and we should do it for free, if we have to. Isn’t that what we are already doing under the current county hospital system?
If we are doing that then why is there a need for a change? I’ll tell you my idea…the users of the new system want a more robust allowance for all types of medical procedures like cosmetic procedures that are expensive or not covered under most medical plans and they want it paid for by taxpayer dollars. So in order to get a breast enhancement under the current plan where it is not generally covered by medical insurance and has to be paid by the patent; the new plan will do it and it will be paid for by all taxpayers and not just the patient (that is assuming the patient works and pays taxes that subsidizes part of the cost).
Pretty nifty, eh?
Now, how do we build this system and what model do we use? Canada, Great Britain where there are cases of people chaining themselves to a gurney so that they will be seen by a medical professional? What is the model? I heard today Massachusetts and I will admit that I know nothing about it but Massachusetts is a small state and how does it cross over to a state like California? Hey, if it works I am willing to listen.
But back to right and wrong…
What used to be seen as a healthy discussion of the issues is now a more pointed effort in not convincing but also putting a thumb on the issue to quash any further discussion. This in itself is a deadly cocktail of disaster, as I see it.
The geo-political landscape of America is in tatters and it has not come quickly but rather there has been a disassociation of peoples in this country for many years. Watching the last few national elections we have seen more of a 50% in power 50% out of power mentality so half of our country is unhappy at any given time.
I believe that the problem truly stems from a falling away of the Puritan ethic that held grasp of our country for many years. I am not just talking about the religious effects of that time but rather the work ethic of the American people at large.
I point to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) as the main focal point of the then moderate turn to liberalism to where it is today. His grasp of the American id during the time of his presidency was that we needed to be taken care of during the depression but there was a glaring error in his thought process…that we needed continued care by the government after the depression was done. While I do agree that the government needed to be beefed up during the depression I also think it should have been scaled back after it was over.
I do not think that the American government can take care of me better than I can take care of myself but I also believe that I am in the minority in this thinking today.
The tragedy of the FDR era is the welfare state that was created in that time and continued under every president since then. The Republicans do not escape this matter.
What we have now is a large sector of the population in an “entitlement” mentality fully expecting that the government will and, in fact, has to take care of them for as long as they live.
In an economics class that I took several years ago; my professor stated that 3.5% of the unemployment rate is hardcore unemployed. That being persons that because of their educational or skill level cannot get a job. This made me start looking at unemployment in a different manner.
If they are unable to get a job because of these issues then they are part of the other sector which is the entitlement group and they are demanding benefits all the time and will expect these benefits to be forthcoming for as long as they want or need them. Politicians cater to this group and, in fact, gerrymander voting districts to include them on their voter roles.
The true division of America really is the citizens who want to work and those that don’t, it is just that simple.
The citizens who want to work pay the taxes and support the other part of the equation. The non-working, non-tax paying group is the recipient of the goodwill and hard work of the other side. Unfortunately, the other side is beginning to break under the strain of the governmental support that is currently in place with the current tax system and the Cap and Trade bill that is being considered in Congress at this time.
The continued raising of taxes to pay for programs for the “entitled” group is slowly draining the reserve of capital of this nation but even more dangerous is the effect on the psyche of the working American.
We have all heard the saying,” There is no such thing as a free lunch” but we have forgotten what it means and what it means is that the governmental incursion into our daily lives will eventually become so burdensome that America will be gone as we know it and that is a sad thought indeed.
The middle class has been called on far too long to support the “entitled” masses that just keep getting bigger and bigger. There is a carrying load on the American taxpayer in how much they can and will sacrifice and the initial signs of unrest are being seen in various parts of our country.
The next six months will probably determine the course of America for a long time.
The current power group is not looking at the global impact of our growing debt in relationship to the other countries that are no longer buying it. If this continues there will be the possibility that the recent ARM interest rate reduction will be offset by higher fed rates. Those that were helped by the reduction will see an increase in their mortgage rates and will be back where they were or maybe even worse.
I am not sure that this juggernaut can be stopped because there is not enough information coming through the media to spark any type of debate and debate has always been a powerful thing in our country.
I kind of feel like the first day of my senior year in high school when we took over the quad and A.S.B. and ruled the school for a whole year and everyone else lived with the consequences of our actions. The current power base feels to me like those seniors in the quad and it will be a long time until the 2010 mid-term elections to see how America will be affected by the political push that is currently going on in Washington D.C..
Time will tell.