It seems like the only solution that any of these so-called leaders -- whether they be in Washington or in State Houses across the country -- seem to have to our financial situation is higher taxes. Across the nation, the answer is the same: Increase taxes after taxes after taxes to get rid of the financial havoc that has taken hold of our economy and gripped our country.
Is it me or is this just plain silly? All of us – I believe that I am speaking for the masses -- are trying to make better lives for ourselves, our families and our communities, and yet the government on every level is hell-bent on not allowing us this basic right.
Taxing our way to prosperity is not a solution; it’s a means to a terrible end. From the governors’ offices and state legislatures to the White House and Congress, our leaders seem to be making one terrible mistake after another with our money. They’re wasting our time with their hearings that describe their great, sophisticated plans to solve the economy on the local, state and federal level. Their plans are ludicrous, their ideas are terrible and essentially they’re just robbing Peter to pay Paul. The Madoff Ponzi scheme has nothing on these guys. Some day, probably in the not-too-distant future, someone will write the story of the largest fraud ever and it will be about what our government did to its own people. Our leaders are clueless, their solutions are baseless and as far as we’re concerned, educated, thoughtful people need to demand more.
It’s time to get fiscally responsible, it’s time to cut programs, it’s time to get up and demand answers. We the people need once and for all to demand that our leaders actually lead and provide us with some services other than merely expanding the bureaucracy for their own benefit. It’s easy to say “I want to raise the sales tax, I want to do away with property tax rebates and “Only the government has solutions to what ails our nation”. Blame someone else is the name of the game.
The reality is that our leaders need to start making hard choices. They need to start acting like fiscally responsible adults with some higher aim than perpetuating their own existence.
The people of this country who work hard should be awarded for their actions. They shouldn’t be taxed into obscurity. Maybe the government should simply spend less.
What a concept!
It works well across the nation at homes of all shapes and sizes. Why don’t they try it in Washington, Boston, Sacramento, Trenton and Albany? These leaders say they feel our pain and are here to help. Well, how much help are they providing by increasing taxes and reducing our take-home pay?
I am not a scholar of our Revolution, but I believe that this is taxation without representation. We can no longer simply stand idly by and wait for the government to act responsibly; we have seen that this impossible. I believe that our misguided government is setting us on a course for bankruptcy.
Until there is true fiscal responsibility and structure to budgets at all levels of government, this country will never get back on its feet. If President Obama wants to set a real agenda for the future of America, it won’t just be focused on clean energy; it will be focused on teaching people to spend not only wisely, but effectively. It’s time to stop this nonsense, it’s time to get real, it’s time to deal with issues head on and it’s time to stop taxing the people for things they simply do not want, need and, frankly, can do without.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY!
I find it absolutely funny that people send me press releases. It seems that a number of people who work in various public relations departments at money managers and service providers believe that I have an interest in their "news" and that it will make it onto this blog. Is it me or are they simply not reading the blog? Just for the record, I don't read, want or use press releases.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Here’s my sales pitch, inspired by Bernie
What to do, what to say, what do people want to read, these are the questions I’ve been asking myself over and over again this week. I have spent an enormous amount of time thinking about how to answer these questions. And every time I think about it, the same thing pops into my head: Mr. Madoff and his minions. They all knew what to do, what to say, and what people wanted to read.
Anyway, I’ve come to one conclusion: I am just not that smart. In the end, I guess, I just don’t know how to sell it or maybe I’m just not as sick and twisted as Bernie and his minions.
For weeks now, I’ve been saying this whole thing is a four-act play. The first act was his birth, his marriage and his beginnings on The Street. Act two is the thirty year fraud. Act three is the confession and guilty plea. And act four is his all-expenses paid vacation to Florida or some other minimum security prison where he sits around and laughs at all of us for the rest of his days. He laughs because he has won. Sure, he isn’t free and he no longer lives on Park Avenue or can fly off to here or there at a moment’s notice but I bet he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care because he was able to do it for thirty years. He lived better then 99.999 percent of the world for decades. Now he is reduced to a cell, a bunk, three squares a day and a jumpsuit – Act Four.
Don’t you get it? Don’t you see that he won? We all are collectively the losers. The hedge fund industry has been turned upside down in the last twelve months. People don’t know who to trust, how to trust or even if they want to trust anyone in light of the massive losses experienced in the Madoff fraud and market turmoil. It is not good and it is not going to get any better until people realize that this whole thing is a nightmare and that it is time to wake up.
I, like many people today, am mad as hell and have decided not to take it anymore. My solution is not to get angry, go mad or think of ways to get even. That would be too easy, not necessary and frankly a bit of a bore. Instead, I am paying closer attention to everything, starting first with my wife, my kids, my community and my country. I suggest you do the same. Time is too short to be wasted on being mad about things that we can’t control. That is what I have decided to say, to write and to sell to you.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
I really don’t care for the check engine light in my car. I have a 2001 BMW that is just awesome except for one thing: the check engine light. It came on this week and the only way to figure it out is to run a series of tests using a machine that I don’t have nor am going to buy. I find it funny that while technology has improved all aspects of transportation, it has also made owning a car more difficult.
Anyway, I’ve come to one conclusion: I am just not that smart. In the end, I guess, I just don’t know how to sell it or maybe I’m just not as sick and twisted as Bernie and his minions.
For weeks now, I’ve been saying this whole thing is a four-act play. The first act was his birth, his marriage and his beginnings on The Street. Act two is the thirty year fraud. Act three is the confession and guilty plea. And act four is his all-expenses paid vacation to Florida or some other minimum security prison where he sits around and laughs at all of us for the rest of his days. He laughs because he has won. Sure, he isn’t free and he no longer lives on Park Avenue or can fly off to here or there at a moment’s notice but I bet he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care because he was able to do it for thirty years. He lived better then 99.999 percent of the world for decades. Now he is reduced to a cell, a bunk, three squares a day and a jumpsuit – Act Four.
Don’t you get it? Don’t you see that he won? We all are collectively the losers. The hedge fund industry has been turned upside down in the last twelve months. People don’t know who to trust, how to trust or even if they want to trust anyone in light of the massive losses experienced in the Madoff fraud and market turmoil. It is not good and it is not going to get any better until people realize that this whole thing is a nightmare and that it is time to wake up.
I, like many people today, am mad as hell and have decided not to take it anymore. My solution is not to get angry, go mad or think of ways to get even. That would be too easy, not necessary and frankly a bit of a bore. Instead, I am paying closer attention to everything, starting first with my wife, my kids, my community and my country. I suggest you do the same. Time is too short to be wasted on being mad about things that we can’t control. That is what I have decided to say, to write and to sell to you.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
I really don’t care for the check engine light in my car. I have a 2001 BMW that is just awesome except for one thing: the check engine light. It came on this week and the only way to figure it out is to run a series of tests using a machine that I don’t have nor am going to buy. I find it funny that while technology has improved all aspects of transportation, it has also made owning a car more difficult.
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