Is Not The Econmy, Stupid

Win-Win with this Business Model

2007-11-23T04:25:00.000-08:00

In the US, there is a "for profit" business model that provides services without requiring results.
People been serviced by such businesses are required to pay for services even if their needs were not met at all.

This business prey on customers that often aren’t in the position to bargain for better prices, terms and conditions. In occasion they lack awareness or consciousness.

If services provided by this business are in error, you could die and your family is still responsible for paying the bill.

As with any other "for profit business", their main goal is generating revenues for shareholders. For this, they often rely on false advertisement and scare tactics through use of all available communication media.

Services provided to you by this business will be determined in great measure by other "for profit" businesses that also prey on weak clients.

As a business owner you are encouraged to discriminate by gender, race, age, marital status and any other factor to determine the type and fee for service.

This "for profit" business model is regulated, protected and subsidized by the US government.

This business is the Medical Services Industry.

Please, don’t get sick in the US if you can’t afford it, It wouldn’t be a smart business decision.

Is conserving the English language so important?

2007-11-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

What really defines us as Americans? Speaking English? If so, then British, Canadians, Australians and anyone living in an English speaking countries should be considered an American.

I was under the impression our passion for Liberty, Justice and Fairness was our trademark. We all know these concepts didn’t originate in America but are now (and should continue to be) fundamental for our nation.

We are asked all the time to embrace change. We are told to evolve with the times and adapt with the needs dictated by the economy. Back in the days, my father was able to make a great living without a high school diploma. He had a decent job paying great money. He was the only one working while my mother stayed at home.

Changes in the world economy and the advent the Global Market, phased my father out in such a way that he wouldn’t be qualified today to occupy any of the positions he once did.
We are told "that’s OK, we must adapt or die…"

Then came September 11, and all of the sudden the world turned dangerous and hostile. Now we must take our shoes off before boarding an airplane. We must carry drive licenses when going for a walk and present it on demand to any requesting authority or face consequences such as been arrested or tasered for non-compliance. Our private conversations and library records can be seized without a warrant. We can be arrested, taken abroad and interrogated for months or years without ever been charged for a crime and without the right to legal counsel. All done for the greater good, all done for "national security".

Once again, we are told that we must embrace "CHANGE". "Change is good for us."

Now, who is to say that embracing a language such as Spanish, becoming bilingual or even completely changing to Spanish speaking isn’t part or the labor pain that we as a nation must endure to adapt and grow?

I think it’s clear, if more people speak Spanish in this nation, and they are all considered Americans (some documented and some not), then we must embrace this change in the same manner and for the same reasons we did all the others. It’s only logical. Isn’t it?

Who is to determine that giving some of my right is a change I must accept, but learning a new language isn’t?

I will continue to embrace unchanged Liberty, Justice and Fairness.

I think I could learn Spanish or French. Hey, I should even consider learning some proper English.

We must question what has happened to all of us when we give more value to the code (language) used for communicating than our rights to communicate…

After all, haven’t we all learned the new languages for chatting, texting, and e-mailing?

Gracias.

Middle Class: Where is your money? Who will take your cause? Who will voice your concerns?

2007-11-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I was awarded an increase during my annual performance review. Shortly after that, I was told my medical coverage had increased and it won’t start paying until I had incurred three thousand dollars on medical bills. That would be an increase of two thousand dollars in my medical expenses.

So, where did my money go? After working for the same company for 5 years this is the first time my take home income is less than that of the previous year.

Welcome to the middle class experience.

I know I’m not alone on this. But, why isn’t the media covering this? This is a big deal for me!

The fact is that people getting paid a little over the Federal minimum wage are considered "lucky".

We are the Middle Class.

We are The American Dream.

The government repots on the 4.6% of unemployed Americans but fails to offer a status of the working class.

Now, how many of the other 95.4% working Americans are struggling just like me?

How many of the working 95.4% can’t afford medical coverage for their kids? They won’t qualify for state funded medical assistance because they work?

How many of the working 95.4% can’t afford to send their kids to college because they make too much to qualify for Federal Pell Grant financial aid but don’t make enough to cover the high cost of higher learning. (Unless they take in some considerable debt, having to pay more on interest and keeping less of their take-home income).

We are not asking for handouts, we just want to keep a bit more of what we make.

We should pay less in taxes, pay less for energy, pay less or nothing on medical care and higher education.

It would be a good start.

Please, don’t blame us for spending too much or not saving enough. If we can’t take it home then it’s literally "out of our hands".

Please don’t punish us for our loyalty and stability. It takes lots of courage to work in the same company for a long time.

At this rate, I don’t think we will be in the middle class for too long, without turning into a third world country…

Syndicated AM Radio talk show host from GA calls Warren Buffet "Big Fat Hypocrite"

2007-11-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

I was listening today to a syndicated talk show host form Atlanta talking about the economy. One of his callers was a brave soul commenting about the dollar and the real reasons for its devaluation.

It’s important to mention that the talk show host has been pushing a book proposing a new tax scheme for the nation in place of our current tax code.

However, I don’t want to comment about his tax book, regardless of how "Fair" some people would consider it to be.

Back to my original point. The caller suggested that the current devaluation of the dollar wasn’t a direct result of our current tax code. He proceeded to indicate other contributing factors for the shrinking dollar such as the barrel of oil nearing 100.00 dollars and the rampant government over-spending.

Not only is the government spending more than ever, but it has also lowered taxes reducing some of its revenue. Although reporting record income for the same periods…(I wonder who ended up paying more to pickup the slack? More on gasoline, food, utilities, medical services, state & local taxes?).

The caller mentioned the recent comments maid by Warren Buffett regarding his "Administrating Assistant" paying the government 36% in taxes on her 60k income while he only paid around 17% taxes on his several Million dollars income for the same year.

Well, how dumb we all must be for not understanding the difference between "Taxable Income" and "Capital Gains". I’m so glad this thoughtful talk show host was so kind as to explain the terms for us.

It’s very simple, most of the people belonging to the lower and middle classes get paid for their work or service. Lets use for example Warren Buffett’s Administrative Assistant, she reported earnings of 60k dollars for this past year. Of that, she would have reported some deductions bringing her taxable income lower that the 60k originally reported. 36% of the taxable income went to the IRS.

Warren Buffett belongs to a smaller but very powerful group of individuals. They are more affluent and count with the means and resources to invest in the stock market, real state or any other business venture. Some if these investments yield return called Capitol Gain. This is obviously an oversimplified explanation of what could be a very dry and complex subject.

This type of income is taxed at a much lower rate than that of the Taxable Income. In Warren Buffett’s case, he reported paying only 17% on taxes for his 46 Million dollar Capital Gains income.

This disparity is caused by the current tax laws that allow a much higher tax rate to be imposed on an individual that earns less, leaving him almost with nothing at the end of the year wile allowing other more wealthy individuals to keep more of their already high income.

Having said that, it’s easier to comprehend how is it that a weaker dollar could hurt more the middle working class making less than 100k a year.

This is all done in the spirit of Reaganomics and the theory of "trickle down economics". Ronald Reagan thought that by helping the rich get richer, wealth would magically trickle down like fresh water from a mountain spring reaching everyone on its path, way down the river stream, I must add.

Ronald Reagan and all of his followers conveniently overlooked GREED as disabling factor for the purported wealth reaching the lower levels of Reagan’s pyramidal economical scheme. Conveniently I say, because great wealth is created. However, the current tax law causes this wealth to stay within the upper echelon of society; and 17% Tax bracket for the elite versus 36% Tax for oppressed Middle class won’t make things any better…

Of course, the talk show host didn’t eve get close to explaining any of this to us. He just repeated several times that the caller was comparing apples and oranges, just saying that Taxable Income was not the same as Capital Gains. Perfect!

What the caller was really talking about was the gross disparity between the classes and how the brunt of this dollar decline is affecting the middle class in a much grate way. All while the government continues to protect Big Corporations and the Big Wigs that can afford to get paid in the form of Capital Gains to circumvent falling into higher taxable scales.

Unfortunately, the caller failed to make the talk show host empathize with him. Little does he knows that this and many other well known talk show host belong to an elite group of people that are wealthy enough to be oblivious to "minor economy adjustments" such as the ones we are suffering now.

The talk show host proceeded to call Warren Buffett a big fat hypocrite for complaining about his low tax rate, saying that no one is stopping him from voluntarily writing a check to the IRS for a higher tax rate than the one he originally paid.

Of course, this wouldn’t take care of the original problem.

Wouldn’t it be fair if it was FAIR for all of us?

Taking from the Rich, giving to the poor and feeling good about it

2007-10-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

Is taking money away from the Rich to give to the poor immoral, undemocratic or anti-capitalism?

Actually, it could be the right thing to do… If "we the people" are the ones taking it away, and NOT the government.

In our actual Capitalist system, it is perfectly normal for a Corporation to offer goods for a profit. After all, they owe it to their shareholder to produce revenues resulting on gains for everyone willing to take a risk by purchasing the company stock.

We wold agree that it’s only fair for a company that goes through the trouble of setting up complex operations such as research & development, product design, testing, trials, marketing, and everything involved on delivering a product to the public in a safe and cost-effective manner, should harvest profits for a job well done.

The level of profit will probably be relative to the risk and the markets need for the goods offered.

The problem is (and there is always a problem), we are not contemplating some factors. Mainly, the government intervention or participation on the profit generation by some big private corporation.

Lots of research and development sponsored by taxpayers money has been used and is currently used now to develop products and services that are produced and then, sold to us for a profit.

What is wrong with this picture? To start, the government is giving a helping hand to a corporation through offering funding, creating policy or just providing patents on products developed specifically for national consumption (NASA, DOD, to name a few).

To top it all, some of these companies obtain greater government handouts in the form of tax brakes, federal bailouts and exemptions, all guided towards protecting corporate gains.

Government’s intervention on private corporations obtaining record profits can’t be called FREE MARKET CAPITALISM. Now days it’s almost impossible to separate Governments and Politics from Corporations and the Market.

So, who is looking up for us? We can't expect the government to take away the excess profits accrued by so-called private corporations through questionable alliances with unscrupulous politicians, willing to hand out our hard earned money to them in exchange for votes or other favors.

Will the Judicial System help us with this problem? This is the question today.

I believe there is a chance for some type of class action litigation against companies that demonstrably have abuse the system to fatten their corporate wallet and then criticize us when we complain about price hikes.

Unfortunately, money talks. In our current system, the news media is sponsored by commercials from the same corporations that hare taking advantage of this situation.

It’s not surprising to hear the constant drumbeat in the news saying; "That is how the Fee Market works", every time there is a ridiculous raise in the price gasoline, prescription drugs, milk, or other vital products or services (among others).

It is obvious that there is no free marked for Government sponsored record profits.

We must educate ourselves about the way the Government conducts its business. We must request change were change is due. We must act now.

It isn’t socialism to take money away from supper rich corporations to give to the people it belongs to. It is JUSTICE!

They are lying to us; intimidating us and making us feel guilty or unpatriotic for having these thoughts.

What would you like to do about it?

IS NOT THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

2007-10-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Why do we sit idle wile our financial wealth is disappearing? Why don’t we do something to protect our investment? Why do we feel completely helpless when told that we must pay an extra $1.00 for a gallon of milk, over $0.90 more for a gallon of gasoline, plus increases in electric, gas, water and other utilities bills?

To compounding our predicament I must add the increase in the cost of medicine and medical services, reduced coverage for us lucky enough to have a medical insurance, drastic increase in premium and de replacement of a $600.00 deductible for the $3,000.00 one. This is done while having to give a complete invasive personal profile called “Complete Confidential Wellness Assessment”, to a third party company that will grade and assign you a risk number that “can and will be used against you”, at the moment that your reduced medical coverage will have to kick in.

We must also accept quietly the increased power given to banks, credit card companies and other financial institution to arbitrarily change the rules by increasing penalties and fees to take away more of your hard earned money. This is done by designing very hard to avoid triggers that will reduce your grace period, increase you penalty fees, rise you annual interest rate; all this wile negatively affecting your credit score creating a virtual catch 22. Is this part of inflation?

I could go on-and-on about how much in the hole we really are. But, we all know it. The problem is that we are been constantly told by the government and The Media “we are doing great!” The economy is humming and we should just count our blessings.

The truth is that government reports won’t tabulate how many people are taking home less income that the previous year. No, because they are still employed, and it won’t benefit the government for us to know that. We only told the news of how low the 4.9% unemployment rate is. “HURRAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT!”

This situation is creating a slowly, but steady erosion of Americans savings, wealth, standard of living and buying power. Just like the proverbial “crab been slowly cooked alive”, we are witnessing the demise of America as we used to know it…

The question remains: Why are we allowing this to happen?

One of the reasons is that we are all make participants of the dynamics that are causing this problem through the direct and indirect participation in the Stock Market. There is no doubt that government policies favor Big Corporations. Evidence of this is the amount of money and resources (over and under the table) spent by this corporations to persuade law-makes to promote laws and policies that will allow Big Corporation increase their profits.

None the less, this is not the only thing they do. While there is nothing wrong with a corporation making a profit, it’s completely outrageous that for them to obtain greater margins, the consumer is undermined and reduced to a mere source of resources for their means. New laws are created to protect corporations and the way they do business at the same time, policy changes make it easier for this same corporation to reduce benefits, reclassify, fire at will and covertly discriminate against individual or entire groups of employees. Take for example the lack of enforcement of illegal immigration laws that have created an over-abundant bank of resources threatening the legal and qualified US working force by promoting dishonest competition for available jobs (some lower skills, and some mid to highly skilled worker), lowering the pay rate and covered benefits.

Another indirect consequence is the increase load of resource consuming individuals that lack the benefits that Big Corporations do not have to pay them for been NON-DOCUMENTED workers. These savings are turned into profits, and this is just one example.

Policies that will allow companies to create the ideal conditions to force hard working, law following people to pawn gold, or go to a Pay-Day Loan agency for money to survive have also been passed further reducing us all to a lower class of individual compared to some corporations.

So, how do we participate in all this? Each one of us collaborates with this Big Corporations that are hell bent in screwing us in one way or another. This participation could be voluntary and with our full knowledge such as our direct investment in a company stock, or by the subtle participation on a diversified fund through the company 401k, IRA or any other similar Money Market type of investment. The fact is that once we participate on any of this investment we are aiding and approving or condoning these Big Corporations actions, including the ones that negatively affect us.

The indirect way of collaborating with our own economic and social demise is by consuming products and service offered by companies that due us wrong. This is the toughest habit to break. How can we say no to lower prices provided by some of the Super-Mega Chains, or pass by a lower gasoline price offered by a company, or stop banking with some Ultra-Big Bank? How are we going to say no to infinite growing credit lines or 0% closing points refinance deals? After all, our take home money is shrinking, bills and consumable prices increasing and we need to survive.

You will never se a fan at the Yankee’s Stadium dress up in white with blue stripes, face painted blue with the team’s logo, cheering for the visitor team while his own local team is wining 10 to 0.

That is the spirit created in corporate America. This is all like a game. We all participate in one way or anther, even when we thing we are not.

The problem is that “This ain’t no GAME”, or if it is, we are not the cheering fan… We re the LOOSING TEAM!

Some will argue that voting is the way we can change policy, but who are we kidding. Like it was so eloquently presented by a Comedy Central “South Park” adult cartoon, we are given the option to chose between a “Turd Sandwich and a Douche Bag” .

People, there is no easy answer, but I’m sure there is one. Do your research; don’t get your information from corporate sponsored cable news channels. The internet is free for now. So, lets us it wisely.

We can’t be afraid to read the constitution, learn a little bit about the law and history.

Let’s try to avoid some of our must egregious mistakes as a Nation!