Don't let the hype and scare tactics fool you

From The Silicon Grey Beard....
http://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2013/02/sequestration-fun-facts.htm
Original info here... 
http://mercatus.org/publication/federal-spending-without-sequester-cuts 

Data from the Congressional Budget Office...

Bottom line...






This pretty much says it all....

Who Says Crime Doen't Pay

1% or 99%, this tells the truth

It doesn't matter if you are a 1%er or a 99%er, these statistics from the IRS tells it all. Watch it yourself and see. I'm not a 1%er by their standards, but I don't consider myself a 99%er either. I am an American that wants our government to get back on track. Everyone needs to pay taxes, or like Bill says, "everyone needs to have skin in the game." You decide.

Insanity Gone Wild

You have heard of Girls gone wild, but the next story should be labeled Insanity gone wild. What does that mean, you say? Well after you read this article you will say "that's insane". Who was the PhD that thought of this deal? And better yet, is he still employed? Let me break down a few points of the article for you.

The government agreed to keep Fannie and Freddie afloat four years ago through a complex arrangement where the Treasury injects capital into the firms as needed every quarter to keep them afloat, and it receives preferred shares in exchange. Those shares pay a 10% dividend.

Well there you have it. It starts out pretty good, except for the 10% dividend. Why 10% when the common folk only gets maybe 2% interest. Okay, I know, because it was a risky loan. I mean, it is a government agency, US Treasury Department, bailing out Freddie and Fannie who are other government directed agencies. 

But the arrangement wasn’t expected to last this long. Congress and the Obama administration have taken few steps towards advancing any overhaul. That has led to perverse outcomes like the one currently facing the companies: Even if they’re profitable, there’s no mechanism for them to pay off the government–and they may continue to borrow money simply to pay those dividends.

Look at that section highlighted in red. Read it again and let it sink in until the light bulb comes on over your head. Yep, I see the lights on...you have figured it out. They may have to continue to borrow money just to pay the dividends. Now you might have thought, "well the economy has tanked further than anyone expected, so they may have to wait for the housing industry rebounds before profits return enough to pay those dividends". That is until you read this:

Fannie currently has to pay $12 billion in dividends every year. That’s more than the company has ever earned in one year.

Wow, more than they have ever earned in one year! Again, where were the PhD's and Accountants that are paid to figure these things out BEFORE they sign the contract. Anyone involved with approving this contract  should be fired.

In 2009, the Treasury Department said it would provide unlimited help for three years. But beginning in January, the companies once again will have a fixed amount of money available from the Treasury: $125 billion for Fannie and $150 billion for Freddie. 

Really, did they not learn the first time? Insanity Gone Wild I tell you. We peasants should be outraged as this is our money they play with. These actions cannot be sustained. The house of cards will collapse. 

Well 

Teenagers Speaking The Truth...

Now if we could only get the politicians to speak the truth as well. If someone would not be afraid of getting up in front of the cameras in America and speak these truths, maybe...just maybe they would get the majority of votes.

Would You Like To Get 78MPG?

Well, not for any time soon. It seems, according to this video, our gov is working against us. It is not about getting better mpg, despite what they say to the media, it is about the bottom dollar they get in taxes.

Inflation and Confiscation

This speaks for itself...

More states considering pay-by-the-mile car taxes

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/08/more-states-considering-pay-by-the-mile-taxes/1Well, you don't think you pay enough taxes, do you? It seems the politicians think you should pay more. Of course, Oregon will drop state gasoline taxes which now is at $0.30 per gallon.

Okay, let us say your fuel loving pick-up truck gets only 15 miles per gallon. That would mean you pay a $0.02 per mile in state taxes. And of course your tree hugging neighbor that drives a hybrid gets 60 mpg, so he only pays $0.005 per mile in state taxes. That seems fair, huh. Well now Oregon is considering to drop all that and charge you $0.85 PER MILE driven. So your Oregon state gasoline "tax" for that gallon of gas that get you 15 miles is $12.75. I don't live in Oregon, so I don't know what they are paying for a gallon of gasoline there, but here we are paying right at $3.50 as of today. Let us do the math. $3.50 minus the $0.30 in state gas taxes that they will stop charging is $3.20, for those 15 miles you you get in that pick up truck you will need to add $12.75 for the "new" per mile charge. So now your cost just went from $3.50 for 15 miles to $15.95 for the same 15 miles. Now that's fair, because what that neighbor pays will be the same you pay is what spin they will probably put on it. You see, it doesn't matter if you have a "good gas milage vehicle" you will be paying per mile, not per gallon. That ought to get the tree huggers panties in a wad!

But, wait....You don't think your state is considering the same thing? Think again. I would bet that any state that is having budget problems (which is most) would be looking at something similar.

Keep your eyes WIDE open folks.

Mandatory IRA's For All?

In doing research for my last post, I came upon this. Senate Bill 3760 proposed by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John Kerry (D-MA.). This bill proposes to established mandatory automatic IRAs for full-time workers who are not covered by company retirement programs. This will require employers to take 3% from your compensation and put into a government run "retirement" program.

There is alot of wherefor's and whatnot's in the legalize writing but this one caught my eye...
‘(B) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO PROVIDE FOR PERIODIC INCREASES- In the case of qualifying employees under an automatic IRA arrangement for 2 or more consecutive years, the Secretary may by regulation provide for periodic (not more frequent than annual) increases in the percentage of compensation an employee is deemed to have elected under subparagraph (A).

So let me work something out. If a lower income employee is making $8.00 and hour and works 40 hours per week and works 51 weeks per year he will earn $16,320 in a year before FDIC and SS. The government will then require him to pay 3% or $489.60 (let's round up to $500) towards his "retirement". I propose the questions...will it really help him in the future, and will he have it waiting on him or will it be like the bankrupt Social Security?

Watch Your IRA's and 401k's

The Fed is calling for hearings on Sept. 14-15, 2010 to see if they would like to confiscate some of our pension plans. The hearings are being conducted by U. S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).  Of course, they won't use the "confiscate" term so they use the term " lifetime income options for retirement plans".

I had read a few months ago that this was going to be an option put forth, but I blew it off as it just didn't seem possible. To me it seemed to much of a "tin-foil hat" kind of thing. I said to myself, "who in their right mind would turn over some or all of their retirement monies to the government?" Well after seeing this article and the term they used, "lifetime income options for retirement plans", I can see them putting a "spin" on this that the sheeple will buy into.

Remember that there is almost $6 trillion of assests in IRA's and 401k's at the end of 2008, according to The Investment Company Institute. Of course the government could not just come and confiscate our funds, well they could but they won't as that would lead to quite a rebellion. What I would guess they will do is try and take a little at a time, over time. They may start small and "require us" or we would "volunteer" to buy into some sort of government run pension plan or government annuity. CONgress would then pass a bill that the amount we would have to own would increase over time until the government would be the sole provider of pension plans (let's call it govpension). These plans would have the employer take a certain amount, let's say 3% of our pay, and put it into this govpension. If we wanted to save 10% of our income then we could invest the other 7% wherever we want. Over time though the employers will be required to take more and more until the government has what they need, as this will become just another slushfund!

Don't think this can happen? Well look at your paycheck. The government already mandates your employer to withhold FICA taxes, Social Security, etc. In fact, wasn't Social Security originally set up to be our "retirement program?" See The term, in everyday speech, is used to refer only to the benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death.  What happens to all the money you have invested into the govpension when you die...the same thing that happens now to your SS benefits when you die...the government keeps most of them, not your family.

This isn't new, look at this article from NASDAQ in January 2010...Obama Administration Mulls Creating Retirement-Savings Bond . Here are some quotes from the article in case you don't want to read it all.

Representatives of the financial-services industry have remained neutral on President Obama's proposal to mandate payroll-deposit Individual Retirement Accounts for workers, but many support the idea of a federal retirement bond as a low-cost investment product. The industry has proposed that the U.S. Treasury Department manage the retirement bonds, similar to the way the agency manages Treasury savings bonds.

President Obama proposed creation of an auto-IRA system in his fiscal-2010 budget, but it lacked specifies regarding how the system would be structured.

Can you imagine what kind of mis-management there would be with this GIGANTIC slushfund for CONgress to have access to!!

People, we need to watch this meeting closely as we may be losing what little we have saved. If this goes through, whatever the shape or form it takes, you can bet it won't be in the interest of "we the people."

School Bus Ride Will Cost A Fee

Douglas County school board 50-cent-per-ride transportation fee. This will continue to happen around the country as city, county, state and school boards will need to have creative ways to raise money. It is a TAX! They won't call it a tax, but that is what it is, except in sheeps clothing. We will see fire departments continue to charge for responding to auto accidents, structure fires, police agencies charging for alarm calls, shool boards charging for "free meals", school bus rides, etc. There will be more and more and more, mark my words.