Replace the word “Spam” with “Spend” in the great Monty Python anthem and, by George -- or should I say by Barack-- I think you’ve got it.
As the country embraces yet another hundreds-of-billion-dollar spending plan coming out of Washington, I’m sitting here scratching my head, asking why? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what Washington – both sides of the aisle, mind you - is doing to move things along and fix our sagging – need I say near-depression -- economy.
The economic news continues to be bleak and yet Congress and the other powers-that-be seem to be hell-bent on spending our way out of this mess. I understand the value of coming up with a solution to the healthcare problem, but I can’t understand the value of spending $850 billion on it with what seems to be little or no real research. It is important to fix this mess but spending recklessly is not going to solve the problem. It seems that all Congress wants to do is throw good, hard-earned taxpayer dollars after good, hard-earned tax payer dollars. It is really a nightmare of massive proportions.
And while they swipe the national credit card, Congress and the President talk of the evils of Wall Street and the need for increased regulation and oversight of the markets and everyone involved in finance.
Regulation that does something is, I believe, good, yet regulation for regulation’s sake is simply foolish. Clearly the system is broken and still there seems to be no good ideas that I have heard that will right the wrongs of the past. It seems that all we hear out of Washington is that we need more regulation and oversight, but nothing seems to be coming out of the Beltway except empty speeches and words with little or no meaning.
I have a number of ideas that will not necessarily right some of the wrongs of the past, but may help avoid a repeat performance.
1. Make hedge funds mark to market on a daily basis -- as mutual funds do -- and publish performance data.
2. Remove any and all conflicts of interest between auditors and the companies they audit.
3. Make investors take and pass investment knowledge tests before they are allowed to invest.
4. Make brokers and other investment professionals personally liable for transactions that cause their clients losses due to fraud or just plain bad advice.
5. Do not allow investors to only have long-only investments in their portfolios.
You may agree with some, none, or all of my ideas. I welcome your comments. The main theme of my suggestions is personal responsibility. If we force people to be responsible for their actions, the country will be a better place and we will avoid recklessness.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
There are two things this week:
1. I hate going to a hotel that is dirty, disgusting and gross. This happened to me this week at the Sheraton in Needham, Mass. It was really bad; the sheets where ripped and stained, the bathroom floor was filthy and furniture was pretty beat up. Not to mention that there were tears in the wallpaper and the shower had enough patina on it to be considered for a photo example in Merriam-Webster. This is a hotel that I will never stay at again nor should you or anyone you know. It is simply terrible and not worth it at any price.
2. I don’t understand why supermarkets can’t just give us the best price for the products instead of always demanding that we use our “customer rewards” card in order to get the discount. Since we are “rewarding” the stores by spending our money there, can’t they reward us by giving us the best price/lowest price without having to register or carry something in a wallet or on a key chain? Aren’t we showing our loyalty by shopping there in the first place? Why is this not clear?
COMMENTS
The comments function is now working properly and I have only one thing to say about it: I will post any comment, good or bad, as long as the commenter provides his or her name. I will not post anonymous comments or those that use vulgarity or profanity – my mother reads the blog. Someone sent in a comment last week saying that my September 11th post was disrespectful to those who where killed. I did not post it because the writer did not provide a name. Had he or she done so, the comment would be up right now.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
My Thoughts on September 11, 2009
This is a solemn weekend for many, as people around the globe take part in ceremonies that commemorate the events of September 11, 2001.
The wicked, heinous, cowardly terrorist attacks seem to have left virtually no thinking person in the United States untouched. And while the wounds of those lost may never mend and the holes in many lives remain empty, out of the sadness and grief, we have all found a way to survive. Eight years later, I am not sure if we are better or worse off then we were on the morning of September 12 in our understanding or ability to deal with terrorists but we have moved on, the markets have continued to function and commerce has returned, albeit, slowly to downtown Manhattan. It appears that one day in the not-too-distant future a new World Trade Center will grace the skyline of the Big Apple.
So what, where, is the outrage at the terrorist groups, where is the outrage at the people who still want to push us into the sea and where is the outrage at the fact we seem to care more about the rights of terrorists then the rights of the American People?
I just don’t get it.
How can our leaders be so blind, how can they be so misguided and how can they not see the writing on the wall that the only way to win is to bring the fight to the terrorists and not let the terrorists set one foot on American soil? Does this not make sense? Is it foolhardy or just plain out there? I don’t think so. I think that it makes sense. I am not for erecting borders that keep people out of this country; we are after all a nation of immigrants. I am, however, for keeping criminals and those who show no value whatsoever for life out at all costs. I know it is not as simple and easy as I think it is, but I think it should be a priority of this President and this Congress. It is their job to protect us and letting terrorists onto our shores is not a good idea.
There is a reason people fight through the desert, the oceans and the borders to get into the United States: Rightly or wrongly they believe it is the Promised Land. The land where they can build a better life for the family, get access to jobs, education and medical care. We should demand that our leaders protect this dream and keep it alive for both those in and outside our borders.
The wicked, heinous, cowardly terrorist attacks seem to have left virtually no thinking person in the United States untouched. And while the wounds of those lost may never mend and the holes in many lives remain empty, out of the sadness and grief, we have all found a way to survive. Eight years later, I am not sure if we are better or worse off then we were on the morning of September 12 in our understanding or ability to deal with terrorists but we have moved on, the markets have continued to function and commerce has returned, albeit, slowly to downtown Manhattan. It appears that one day in the not-too-distant future a new World Trade Center will grace the skyline of the Big Apple.
So what, where, is the outrage at the terrorist groups, where is the outrage at the people who still want to push us into the sea and where is the outrage at the fact we seem to care more about the rights of terrorists then the rights of the American People?
I just don’t get it.
How can our leaders be so blind, how can they be so misguided and how can they not see the writing on the wall that the only way to win is to bring the fight to the terrorists and not let the terrorists set one foot on American soil? Does this not make sense? Is it foolhardy or just plain out there? I don’t think so. I think that it makes sense. I am not for erecting borders that keep people out of this country; we are after all a nation of immigrants. I am, however, for keeping criminals and those who show no value whatsoever for life out at all costs. I know it is not as simple and easy as I think it is, but I think it should be a priority of this President and this Congress. It is their job to protect us and letting terrorists onto our shores is not a good idea.
There is a reason people fight through the desert, the oceans and the borders to get into the United States: Rightly or wrongly they believe it is the Promised Land. The land where they can build a better life for the family, get access to jobs, education and medical care. We should demand that our leaders protect this dream and keep it alive for both those in and outside our borders.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Taxing The People Will Not Spur The Economy!
Over the last two months while I’ve been on hiatus from this blog, two things have made me wonder:
1.Why are there no economists or other great minds telling the government that it’s impossible to tax an economy to prosperity?
2.Why doesn’t anybody seem to be willing to take responsibility for their own actions?
Both of these questions have kept me up at night. I just don’t get it.
I believe that the economy is getting weaker by the day and that increased income, sales or corporate tax revenue or maybe one or two other things that I haven’t heard about yet are going to cause things to get worse. The key to getting things going again is to decrease spending and rein in the pork, not to tax people to the point of deincentivizing them to work.
I just don’t get it, but then again, who am I to question the powers that be? I’m not one of them.
It also makes no sense to me that people are still blaming Wall Street, the banks and unscrupulous mortgage brokers for all that ails the world. While I’m not going to get involved in the blame game (I’ll leave that for the folks at 60 Minutes and other “news” programs and outlets), all I’m going to say is the following: If you signed on the dotted line without reading the document you have only yourself to blame. Am I the only one thinks this way?
In the end, the lesson of the last year, as Rodney Dangerfield said in the movie Back To School is, “You’ve got to look out for Number One but don’t step on Number Two.”
Greed, you see, has been good for everyone, and while clearly Wall Street, the banks, Congress, the former Administration and others are to blame for some of the ills that have wreaked havoc on our economy, the American people are also to blame. They bought the houses, bought the cars, and used the credit cards. The American people took advantage of the easy credit and did whatever they wanted and now are demanding solutions that "only the government" can supply.
As we look to the fall and at what's going on in the markets, one thing is for sure: The death of the hedge fund industry has been highly overstated and capitalism, while bruised, battered and broken, is not dead. While I don’t believe the economy is getting better, I think it's exciting to see that other people believe things are righting themselves. But remember this: Just because stocks are going up doesn't mean that the economy is getting better; it just means that stock prices are rising.
My suggestion is to talk to your friends, neighbors and even strangers and ask them if they’re spending money, making money, saving money or out of money. I’m almost positive the answers will lead you to my conclusions. If the answers do not, please email me. I could use some good news.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY:
I have come to the conclusion that all retailers believe both that all shoppers are stupid and that their employees aren’t worth caring about. I arrived at this conclusion recently when shopping at the Modell’s Sporting Goods Store in Watchung, N.J. The salespeople and managers there are fantastic. On a recent Sunday, they helped my wife and me find the right shoes, socks and shin guards for our kids’ soccer needs. They really worked hard for us. I was quite impressed.
Then we went to pay, and the whole system broke down. The only people to blame are management. The items we wanted, while advertised in the circular that was published that day, at one price, rang up at a higher price and it took two people and three or four tries to “override the system” to give us the advertised price.
It’s clear that management didn’t think that their shoppers are capable of reading letters and numbers and won’t notice being overcharged or maybe were to lazy to program the computers on time. It also shows how little management thinks of their employees in the front lines who have to deal with customers irate or not when things break down. Why should they care? They’re sitting in their offices – out of harm’s way - while their soldiers are at the front taking fire.
It’s a sad state of affairs consumers and retail employees unfortunately have to deal with.
1.Why are there no economists or other great minds telling the government that it’s impossible to tax an economy to prosperity?
2.Why doesn’t anybody seem to be willing to take responsibility for their own actions?
Both of these questions have kept me up at night. I just don’t get it.
I believe that the economy is getting weaker by the day and that increased income, sales or corporate tax revenue or maybe one or two other things that I haven’t heard about yet are going to cause things to get worse. The key to getting things going again is to decrease spending and rein in the pork, not to tax people to the point of deincentivizing them to work.
I just don’t get it, but then again, who am I to question the powers that be? I’m not one of them.
It also makes no sense to me that people are still blaming Wall Street, the banks and unscrupulous mortgage brokers for all that ails the world. While I’m not going to get involved in the blame game (I’ll leave that for the folks at 60 Minutes and other “news” programs and outlets), all I’m going to say is the following: If you signed on the dotted line without reading the document you have only yourself to blame. Am I the only one thinks this way?
In the end, the lesson of the last year, as Rodney Dangerfield said in the movie Back To School is, “You’ve got to look out for Number One but don’t step on Number Two.”
Greed, you see, has been good for everyone, and while clearly Wall Street, the banks, Congress, the former Administration and others are to blame for some of the ills that have wreaked havoc on our economy, the American people are also to blame. They bought the houses, bought the cars, and used the credit cards. The American people took advantage of the easy credit and did whatever they wanted and now are demanding solutions that "only the government" can supply.
As we look to the fall and at what's going on in the markets, one thing is for sure: The death of the hedge fund industry has been highly overstated and capitalism, while bruised, battered and broken, is not dead. While I don’t believe the economy is getting better, I think it's exciting to see that other people believe things are righting themselves. But remember this: Just because stocks are going up doesn't mean that the economy is getting better; it just means that stock prices are rising.
My suggestion is to talk to your friends, neighbors and even strangers and ask them if they’re spending money, making money, saving money or out of money. I’m almost positive the answers will lead you to my conclusions. If the answers do not, please email me. I could use some good news.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY:
I have come to the conclusion that all retailers believe both that all shoppers are stupid and that their employees aren’t worth caring about. I arrived at this conclusion recently when shopping at the Modell’s Sporting Goods Store in Watchung, N.J. The salespeople and managers there are fantastic. On a recent Sunday, they helped my wife and me find the right shoes, socks and shin guards for our kids’ soccer needs. They really worked hard for us. I was quite impressed.
Then we went to pay, and the whole system broke down. The only people to blame are management. The items we wanted, while advertised in the circular that was published that day, at one price, rang up at a higher price and it took two people and three or four tries to “override the system” to give us the advertised price.
It’s clear that management didn’t think that their shoppers are capable of reading letters and numbers and won’t notice being overcharged or maybe were to lazy to program the computers on time. It also shows how little management thinks of their employees in the front lines who have to deal with customers irate or not when things break down. Why should they care? They’re sitting in their offices – out of harm’s way - while their soldiers are at the front taking fire.
It’s a sad state of affairs consumers and retail employees unfortunately have to deal with.
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