Capitalism to the rescue with a real stimulus plan

Leave it to a private businessman to offer some stimulus that makes sense.  It seems obvious now, but who else but a true capitalist would come up with a great way to encourage new business?  

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is offering funding for those who share their idea for a new business on his blog.  The really interesting part is that he is calling it an "open source funding environment".  Since the plan will be available to all who visit the blog, there is a good chance others will "steal" the plan and duplicate it elsewhere in the country.  After all, he says the idea is to help the whole country, not just one or two.

What a refreshing idea this is compared to the absurd pork spending that our government is offering.  It's comical to even suggest that our overbloated, non-functional government would know anything about starting a competent business.

 

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Going against Nature is for Fools

Does it seem odd to anyone that our government is so interested in discouraging saving?  How can anyone argue that savings is not the very essence of our personal security.  Our savings are the primary foundation we have to fall back on in tough times, to get us through ordeals such as what we are now facing, and of course, to build a better life. Yet, our dear leaders, have little interest in encouraging savings.

Why is saving no longer in the interest of the public good?  Simply put, the economy has been depending on consumer “overspending” for years with the government injecting stimulus at every downturn.  It is a false economy.  The consumer has been driving this engine and this dependency is not a healthy underpinning for any free market.

It hasn’t always been that way.  At one time, a very long time ago, saving was encouraged.  Saving and then investing money into one’s private business or even into the stock of other businesses helped to fund the building of products and drove job creation.  When US products could no longer compete in price with other countries, we stopped building and the economy began to rely excessively on consuming.

This didn’t happen overnight.  It took years to change laws and eliminate sound lending policies to free up the credit to fuel this monster, to keep consumption growing.  It has been a case of growth at all costs.  Leverage yourself to the hilt, take out more credit, just keep the engine going a little longer. 

Obviously, we are desperate for change, but it has now become apparent that there will be no change in economic policy.  This administration plans to keep on kicking the can down the road.  In fact, the “can” is doubling and tripling in size.  It is and has been easier to keep kicking, rather than to actually stand up and lead; to make the tough, unpopular decisions.  Eventually, all of this will settle out, this farce can only continue for so long.  Propping up unsound businesses will not work.  There was a day when a business did not make a profit, it got squeezed out.  It was economic survival of the fittest and this natural process produced the strongest and most competent businesses.  Evidently, there are many who think they can change this law of nature, but we all know that nature can not be fooled.

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Two chances to win Money

Here's an opportunity to win a couple of free gift cards.

Your Money Relationship is offering a contest for a $50 Amazon gift certificate.  You can increase your chances of winning by doing various things on the site such as asking a question, subscribing to the feed by email, leaving a comment, etc.  The contest runs until 11:59 PM on January 31st.

Single Guy Money is offering a $100 gift card to your choice of Target or Wal-Mart.  To enter the contest just leave a comment on his site describing how you would like to spend the money.

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Novel device provides feedback to stop slouching

Now, here’s a gadget that I would really like to try out: the iPosture.

“The iPosture is an intuitive electronic device designed to improve posture. Just over one inch in diameter, the iPosture automatically senses when the body slouches, and it alerts the user with brief vibrations to correct it.“

I have no doubt that it’s just as tough as this reviewer says it is.  He actually had sore muscles from just a few hours of use.  Of course, as with any new habit, good or bad, it typically takes 3-4 weeks for good posture to become natural.

Like most people, I would like to improve my posture.  I remind myself several times during the day, particularly when at my computer keyboard, to straighten up, throw my shoulders back, etc.   So, I have decent posture for a few minutes and then before I know it, I find myself drawn in closer to the PC and scrunched over the keyboard once again. 

Even though, it may be distracting at first, I think the continuous feedback from an active monitor like the iPosture just might get me over the hump, so to speak.

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Save Thousands in Taxes with an “honest” mistake

It has never been more obvious than now, that we live in a society of haves and have nots.  The nominee for Secretary of the US Treasury did not pay taxes for several years and when he got caught in an audit, he paid only the back taxes that the auditors found, not all of the taxes that he knew about.  On top of that, he was not fined, no penalty.  If you don’t think we have a double standard between public figures and regular, non celebrity-type citizens try that and see how you are treated in the federal pen.

But that is not the end of this guys sordid tale.  The WSJ points out a few more “goofs” of this supposed genius:

“Other tax issues also surfaced during the vetting, including the fact Mr. Geithner used his child's time at overnight camps in 2001, 2004 and 2005 to calculate dependent-care tax deductions. Sleepaway camps don't qualify.

Amended tax returns that Mr. Geithner filed recently include $4,334 in additional taxes, and $1,232 in interest for infractions, such as an early-withdrawal penalty from a retirement plan, an improper small-business deduction, a charitable-contribution deduction for ineligible items, and the expensing of utility costs that went for personal use.

The other cloud for Mr. Geithner involved an immigrant housekeeper whose work-authorization papers expired during her tenure working for Mr. Geithner. “

It takes some real audacity to try to deduct your kids summer camp.  Sure some accountant could have prepared his paperwork for him, but once again try that excuse with your tax  filings.  You and you alone are responsible for what goes on your tax forms. 

The other real kicker for me is the fact that this financial whiz took an early withdrawal from his retirement plan and lied about it to the IRS.  That action calls into question not only his honesty, but his money management skills.  After all this is no run of the mill, inconsequential nominee, this guy is going to oversee the IRS!!!  And all of our tax dollars in US Treasury.

His defense is simply that all of this was an “honest mistake”.

The guy can’t manage his own personal finances let alone oversee the finances of the country.  This is the change that we have been promised??  This is considered acceptable behavior by BHO??  What would be unacceptable?

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