Congress proved my point.

This past week a part of the sequester ( cuts in gov. subsidized programs to save money) affected some very rich and powerful people. God forbid if they have to sacrifice with the poor and humble folks of this great nation. Some of the programs that are taking a good hit are cancer patients ( they are being turned away from treatment), unemployment and food stamps ( I think), department of defence , and the FAA (delayed flights). Guess which one the super rich and powerful got all up in arms about? You got it, it was the flight delays.

Super rich and powerful Americans hate to sacrifice and be inconvenienced. They will throw fits and yell until they get their way. They are like that spoiled kid in your class that no one liked. A few congressmen and wealthy businessmen ( who complained to congress) had to sit and wait for their flight delay and hated it so much that they all reversed the cuts to the FAA in less than 2 hours. Do you think they reversed the cuts to the cancer patients? Heck no, they are sacrificing for the American good. Why? Because they are poor and it does not affect the rich and powerful.

The poor and powerless sacrifice 24/7 365. A segment of America hates to be inconvenienced even if it helps the rest of America. A certain group only cares about themselves.  If this does not want you to change the way America works, then I do not think anything will get you motivated to flip the switch.

If a law affects the poor and powerless, then it’s a great sacrifice for the American good. If a law affects the rich and powerful, then it’s class warfare and is unfair,and trust me they will change that law so they are not inconvenienced. If the rich and powerful profit from a law , then it’s capitalism at its best and a good profit motive law. If the poor and powerless profit from a law, then it’s people taking advantage of the American system. It’s people living off of the government. It’s people sucking off of the governments teat.

Whats it going to take for you to say you have had enough of the double standard?

Use your position for good, not evil.

I have to write this from a personal point of view. It’s about people with authority and power who do all they can to make others feel like they are less than what they really are. I see it going on with my daughter, and her track teammates. It even happens in the class rooms and offices across this country.  I personally find it very disgusting when people do this and grin while they do and say things to others.

A few of my daughters track coaches feel it necessary to degrade kids and make them cry instead of making them feel like they are part of the team no matter what their talent level is. I am doing all I can to not go up and make myself sound like a fool and say what needs to be said. A real coach or teacher will do what it takes to bring the best out in a child. A real boss will do the same as well. I have seen people of power do what it takes to make people quiet or give up just for grins and the satisfaction of knowing they can.

30 years ago mentors of kids ( coaches and teachers ) would bring the best out of any child. Not today, is it because the coaches and teachers have no clue as to what they are doing? Good supervisors bring out the best on co-workers as well. They are out there, but not as many as there use to be. I have a few real good ones above me, but I have been at places where they should have been fired instead of the workers below them.

I think all teachers and coaches should be evaluated and tested on their ability to deal with humans and not just books. A lot of them would be fired if you ask me . I feel we can do better instead of accepting that this is all we got to mentor our kids at school.

Information overload causes anger, rudeness, and entitlements.

Have you ever noticed how society and the younger generation have this attitude that you owe me and I get what I want, when I want it and how I want it? Well I have, and it’s even flowing into the 40 plus age group. What’s causing this? I have a few opinions on this and I will try to explain it.

First its people who grew up with parents never telling them NO just so the parents would not have a child getting mad or upset. So many young kids have no idea on how to handle rejection. In school and at home they are always told how good they are or how good they did even if they failed. The kids are always told that they can do whatever they want, even if they are incapable of completing said task.  Games at the lower lever are played with no scores being kept. Kids get a trophy for just playing even if they lost all their games.  So as an adult when they hear the truth, they become angry or very rude.

Second everyone has the ability to get what they want, when they want it, and how they want it via internet or satellite T.V… 30 years ago if you wanted what was fashionable in New York or Los Angeles and lived in Iowa, you had to wait a few years for the trend to hit. Now all you need to do is get on the internet and click a mouse. 30 years ago there was no cable T.V., all we had were 3-6 channels. Now you have hundreds of channels and can watch what you want, when you want it and how you want it. A person in Quimby, Iowa has the same access to anything a person living in Los Angeles, California has.  This type of access has even changed some folks who are 40 plus for the worse. They are acting out of control and will throw a fit if another human says no or thinks differently than they do.

So many people ( kids and adults) feel entitled to what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, without even thinking of others.

Remember folks that humans are not remote controls or a mouse connected to the internet. Other people have feelings and emotions. They can not be changed into what you want with a click of your spoiled little finger. Bring your disposition back a few decibels and act calm again. Put civil back in civilization, or it will only get worse.

Negativity can be the best motivator.

If you have never had a Debbie downer type of day in your life, then this post is not for you ( and you may not be human). We all have had rough times in our lives. Heck you may have one right now. I am here to tell you that’s a great thing. First it still means that you are alive and living. It is much better than the alternative, DEATH!
Your inner soul is letting you feel depressed for one simple reason. It’s the fuel to your fire so you get up and fix what’s wrong in your life. Have you ever had one of those days where you just sit and cuss yourself out ? Have you ever sat back and wished your life was different? You can change that. You can go in the opposite direction of where you are going.

Yes at first it will be difficult and it will feel like you are not making progress. But a huge train starts out slow and after a while it’s moving and nothing can stop it. You can be that huge train.  Look at being depressed and living a negative life as an old coach you had at one time. You know the one who kept yelling at you all the time. What did you do about his yelling? Answer: you tried harder to be a better athlete for two reasons, 1) to shut his tail up, and 2) to prove him wrong.

So use you depressed life and bad situation as that internal coach. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIX WHAT’S WRONG!!! It can and will be done. Your life will and can get better. It’s never too late to be what you have always wanted to be in life. There are many roads you can travel in life to get to where you want to be.

NEGATIVITY IS THE BEST MOTIVATOR IN LIFE. embrace it and use it for the positive in your life. Bad days are also there to remind you that good days are going to be better and they are in YOUR FUTURE!!!

Your mind is very strong. It’s way of thinking is the first step to success or the first step to being depressed and using excuses for failure. If you’re not happy with yourself no one will be. sometimes you are all you have. So be your best friend.

I dare you to read this!

There are those out there who think taking care of oneself or thinking about oneself is the best practice in life. Whether if it’s ones personal life, the business world or on a sports team. I am here to tell you that is the wrong way to go through life.

Here is a prime example of my belief system. Last week Kansas City,Missouri had a nice snow storm. After it stopped snowing , I went out and started to shovel the snow. Not only did I do my stoop and sidewalk. I kept on shoveling down the sidewalk and up other people’s stoops. All the while the other men on the street just did their sidewalk and stoop. They did however stop and stare at me as if I was nuts (I am the oldest man on the block and in the best shape).

Well this week we had another snow storm. By the time I got outside to shovel, the other men started doing what I did the last week. They did not stop at the end of their sidewalk. They kept on shoveling other folks stoops and sidewalks. I may have looked like odd man out the first time, but I led by example. The older folks and single ladies didn’t have to fend for themselves. Paying it forward is contagious.

Look at it this way in the business world. A good CEO or manager will only make themselves better, and a great CEO or manager will make the whole company or department better. It’s called leading by example. It’s called motivation. It’s called longevity. A good CEO or manager will cut cost on their product or use the scare tactic to make a profit. A great CEO or manager will get their workers to do the right thing out of the kindness of their heart and willingness to please the higher-ups.

A good athlete will go for the best stats on the team and not the win. When they get tired of losing they will ask to be traded. A great player will stay on the same team and get the rest of the players to step it up for the championship trophy. Their stats are secondary and the team’s success is primary. When the team becomes the best , then their stats will also be the leagues best in the end.

TRY TO BE THE GREATEST AND NOT JUST GOOD. HELP OTHERS AND PERSONAL GREED WILL NOT BE A PART OF YOUR LIFE. YOU WILL HAVE MORE SUCCESS.

Too much snow on the roof.

I am sitting in my house while it is snowing outside. I have about 12″ plus of snow on the roof of my house. If there is too much weight on a roof, it will break or come crashing down. All homes need little weight at the top and a strong foundation for the house to last a very long time. That is also the same for our economy.

Right now corporations and top executives are making record profits while the rest of us are suffering and living paycheck to paycheck. This is not because of lazy workers or lack of education, it’s due to the top being addicted to greed and power. So few have way too much power and money for the economy to survive at the current condition. At some point this economy will come crashing down fast and hard. The working poor is growing at an alarming rate while becoming more and more financially unstable.

Here is an article I found on the web talking about minimum wages from 1968 compared to todays standard of living. Minimum wages in 1968 was $1.60 and if it kept up with inflation and cost of living , minimum wage today would be $16.50 at the minimum. Instead it’s at $7.35 an hour.
http://blog.ourfuture.org/20130219/40-of-americans-now-under-former-minimum-wage
 .

How was it possible for the country to survive off of the wages back then and the corporations say they can’t pay better today? Yes the cost of living was lower back then, but in comparison to todays standards, wages were at a much higher percentage rate back in 1968 then today.  Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that we have to bow down to the few who are very powerful and very rich. That is not the case, we can stand together and demand a better life. We are the hardest workers and the richest nation in this world. There is no reason we can’t build a better and stronger foundation. Or this roof will come crashing down.

 

There is a reason the wealthy live in gated communities. They do not want to see the weak foundation they have built while the roof has been built beyond weight-bearing capacity.

Hey GOP it’s 2012 not 1912.

I could care less if the GOP gets it or not. I vote on HOW I FEEL,not what some old angry white man says on T.V. or the radio. This blog is my opinion as to why the GOP will keep having issues and never advance America.

To me IDEOLOGY is a bad thing for politics. The GOP has had the same ones since 1912 and we are now in the year 2012. All I see from the GOP and the followers is nothing but anger, anger like a 3-year-old not having a warm bottle of milk. If they want to get back on track, they need to get rid of the conductors like Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh,Sean Hannity,Bill O’Reilly,Dick Morris,Glenn Beck, Mitch McConnell,Eric Cantor,and John Boehner and Fox News. All of these angry white men still think like it’s 1912, and they just don’t get it and never will. They do not have a liberal mindset ( open to new ideas and happy ideas).

This is the party that brags about personal responsibility and yet all they have done was come up with excuses as to why they lost ( like blame everyone but themselves). The reason they lost and will continue to lose is that their ideas are dead to the rest of the nation. It’s that simple. If they do decide to come up with new ideas,they have already been taken by the liberals ( of all parties) . They will sound fake and phony because it’s too little to late. Sean Hannity is already trying to sound like he is up to changing his position on immigration laws ( way too late there angry old man).

The Tea party has destroyed the GOP and so has their 1912 ideology. It’s unrepairable at this point. Any ideas they come up with will not help at all. America will be better if Fox News and “conservative” radio just goes away. Their ideas are so played out and people are tired of hearing them complain,assume liberals are lazy,blame others for their problems,and the HYPOCRISY. If they try to be more diverse, all they will be doing is looking like they are trying to grab a few “tokens”.

As far as the 47% goes Mitt Romney, oh we built that and you lost.

Follow the smoke and rainbows if you want to move forward.

Does Guilt hold you back?

I have had this thought on my mind for a while now. I hope I can explain it in a way that you the reader understands where I am coming from. Talking from the economic stance in life, does having guilt of being a financial achiever while others are left behind hold you back from going after money? I often wonder how I would feel or think if I had an opportunity to make a lot of money. I often wonder if I have had the chance but did not notice it or go after it because of some silly excuse all because of a guilty feeling inside of me.

I sit back and think do people say they are where they are because of the lack of opportunity out there? Or is that an excuse masking their guilt they carry? Do I or others feel that if the money comes along they feel they will forget where they came from and/or leave family and friends in the dust?

The way I see it is there is a fine line between not following the money because of guilt and forgetting where you came from and not feeling guilty. Granted the opportunities to get to the top are so few in today’s economy, but there are still some chances . If I ever reached my goal, I would never forget  those that were there with me through thick and thin.

I sometimes wonder if athletes have the same guilt drama in their body as to why some fail at winning , and have all kinds of excuses for failure. Do athletes feel that their friends will no longer be friends if they beat them?

Guilt is very powerful if you have a conscious and care about others in life. If guilt is holding us back, then we need to figure out a balance for financial success and not forgetting those we care about. I know I will never have the mind set of “I got mine screw you”.

I would like for people to comment on this blog so a nice debate can go on. I want to hear your thoughts or ideas on this matter.

How to fix the debt. From my angle.

All you hear about is how Congress is in a stalemate. It’s gotten real bad the last 3 years. From the right all they want to do is make huge cuts or get rid of programs with small tax rates. Even if you get rid of programs the past debt is still sitting there. No thanks to Grover Norquist and the Tea Party, the taxes are very hard to raise to bring in revenue. The left wants to do some cuts , but maybe not enough and they want to raise taxes. Raising taxes is picking on the wealthy and punishing success if you are a republican.

The spending from both parties is so out of hand. It just sickens me to think how much they spend and borrow, and all they can do is blame the other person. All the while we as a nation are so financially weak, we could be punked by other nations. By then it will be too late and having all of those cars in your big garages will not matter.

If your house hold gets deep in debt for what ever reason, you trim costs and try to find more revenue ( either ask for more hours or get a second job). This is what Congress needs to do. Here is where my idea comes in.

To please the tea party and all of the Grover’s in this would, leave the Bush tax rates as they are. To please both parties just cut 3% of the spending on all programs but social security and maybe just 2% on military. Do not cut  more or get rid of any programs. Heck even cut 5% on government subsidies. Stop paying other countries money all together. Most of them hate us in the first place.

Now this is where we get more revenue to pay down the debt. Use a regressive consumer tax rate. Have a 3% tax on all non perishable goods sold in the U.S.A. if that item is $1,000 or less. If it’s $1,000.01 up to $10,000 make it 2% and anything over $10,000 charge 1%. Now the whole world will help this great country pay down our debt. If someone in Europe comes over here to visit and buys anything other than food, they helped pay down the debt. If something is ordered on the internet and they live outside America, they helped pay down the debt. If someone here works for cash, they to will help pay down the debt. If someone is unemployed , they will help pay down the debt when they go buy a nice outfit for their interview. Illegal immigrants will help pay down the debt when they spend cash on clothes or cars.

Try this on a 3 year trial to see if it works. If it does keep it going and if not, it’s better than what we have now ( which is nothing but arguing). Plus using a consumer tax also keeps the income tax down that so many folks on the right complain about. It also puts the whole world in play to help our problem.

If you want something to work, you will find a way no matter what it takes. If you want it to fail, you will find every excuse in the book and do nothing but blame others.

Who depends on the Government?

I decided to write this blog while at work ( I am writing it at home off from work). It all stems from Mitt Romney saying the lower 47% depends on the federal government for help. Well from what I have found out from my studying this comment, I came to the conclusion that everyone depends on the federal government, even politicians when they retire ( free paychecks and free healthcare for life from our taxes).

I started looking at numbers and what not. Yes most of the money spent is on these ( welfare,Medicare,Medicaid,food stamps) grouped into one group health and human services) $893 billion for 2012. Have the economy pick up ( jobs with livable wages and this number will drop). Then there is Social Security $815 billion for 2012 ( most is paid for from our payroll taxes from when we worked). What’s hurting this program is the federal government dipping into this to pay for their general fund ( see even the politicians depend on the government’s money). Then there is extended unemployment benefits ( probably from the general fund), could not find any numbers on this one. The 6 month unemployment is paid for by unemployment insurance from previous employer, not YOUR PAYCHECK. Any unemployment that is more than 6 months does come from the government. Yes there are people who takes advantage of these programs because they are lazy. But most are people who want to do better, and most are retired folks who did the best they could with what they had, so stop condemning the 47%.

Now here is the rest of my story. Subsidies paid to industries is not as big of a number as I first thought, but they do have a number. That to me says that even big rich entities rely on the federal government for help. The agricultural industry is looking at $140 billion for 2012. The biggest receivers in 2011 were the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Texas in that order. Most farms are now ran by corporations, the family farmers are the minority. Then there is the energy sector, looking at $43 billion for 2012. Exxon Mobil made $41 billion in profits in 2011, why do they need government help? The transportation industry is looking at $90 billion for 2012. That includes the airline, train, and bus industries. Bailouts for the airlines and trains have been going on for decades. It also includes the maintenance of the roads, airports, and rail yards.

Now onto the banks of America. Subsidies for the banking industry started way back in 1913, I think this was before President Obama was President ( I may be wrong in the eyes of the tea party or GOP folks). Since 1913 the banks have gotten subsidies totaling $7.77 trillion folks, imagine that. And people get catty over food stamps and welfare? Since 2007 the big six banks; JP MORGAN, BANK OF AMERICA, CITIGROUP, WELLS FARGO, GOLDMAN SACHS, MORGAN STANLEY has received over $460 billion in subsidies. The banking industry accounts for 63% of the daily debt to the government for this and borrowing money that we do not even hear about. And people think grandma and grandpa on social security are the nations debt problem ? Really?  Subsidies are for 3 reasons. 1 to stop an industry from going under ( record profits in most industries), 2 for keeping the costs down ( costs of goods are higher now), 3 to stimulate the industries to hire( unemployment is at a 50 yr high).

Now the military spending. I am all for the military, we need to keep AMERICA safe not the world. I was also in the Air Force as well. For 2012 thee government will spend $766 billion. Now this can be cut down by getting out of most of the countries in the world,and stop giving money to countries that want to destroy our way of life. Send our troops home and protect AMERICA.

Remember that the Congress sets the budget and decides what’s spent, not the President. Remember the government revenue is at a 60 year low, and experts say it’s because of the low tax rates set up by President Bush and extended by President Obama.

ALSO when MITT ROMNEY was head of the 2002 OLYMPICS and he is praised for fixing it, he GOT $1.5 BILLION from the federal government.

So who is DEPENDANT on the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? My answer is everyone that lives in AMERICA.

Hope you start to see the hypocrisy in the fact that people condemn one side of AMERICA and stick up for the other side.