Money Talks in our Nightmares       March 7, 2013

            I kept telling my wide awake self it was not a nightmare.  Sadly, it IS a nightmare.  2016 has begun.  They haven’t even finished wasting ’13, ’14, or ’15 and they’re already sullying the airwaves with the 2016 campaign.  Break is over.  Our 21^st Century national nightmare is back.  It makes me so mad I just want to pull up my shrubs.

            Jeb Bush debuted with his first flip-flop.  We are informed of his belief that a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is not something he supports.  Plus, he believes that there should be a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and he supports that too.  It’s like a neat little belief, with a fringe.  As former Governor of the “voting fraud” state, he will probably provide the 2016 campaign with a full range of facts-that-never-were and policies-that-never-should-be, much like so many candidates we have encountered.

            Around here, we know that for every Presidential (and congressional) candidate, the first run is for the money.  If they have to court the fringes, they do it.  While eighty per cent of Americans are left or right centrists, if the money is in the hands of 1% of our citizens, or in outer space, candidates go there.  By watching which fringes the candidate courts, you can tell who will pull the strings in his or her term of office. So in choosing a candidate, you may just be selecting whose money will talk.

This Ain’t Rocket Surgery                February 28, 2013

            Face facts.  If you are of lower or middle income, the U.S. congress won’t be doing you any favors.  They have, by acts of commission and omission, been causing you financial harm for over forty years!  High income mouthpieces can say all they want about class warfare, for low and middle income people, the motto of the U.S. congress is, “We hurt you less when we recess.” 

Are you and yours working harder and more than ever, and still struggling? These days, congressional help is unreliable.  Do you depend on Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicare and/or Medicaid?  There are many in congress, and in state legislatures, earnestly trying to reduce or eliminate these things, and who want the government to keep subsidizing employers with below poverty minimum wages. 

That is why you MUST put together an emergency (or independence) fund.  You must insure yourself against death, disability, and health problems.  You must avoid interest by eliminating debt.  You must save for retirement, and for the costly items you need.  Around here, all of us brain surgeons, rocket scientists, and hammer slammers have no idea HOW you’ll do this.  Maybe you’ll work three jobs, and garden, and avoid restaurants, and walk or bus instead of drive, and buy used clothes, and adjust the thermostat.  How ever you do it, we know year 5 will be easier than year 1, and despite the casual cruelty of congress, year 40 might be really pleasant.