"We don't have a revenue problem in Washington, we have a spending problem in Washington," has been spouted incessantly by Representative John Boehner and Paul Ryan for the past few weeks as the budget has been discussed. Have they lost touch with the revenues being brought in across the country because of the lack of employment? Actually Representatives Boehner and Ryan, we have both. But then again, what can one expect with theTeaParty mentality running the right side of "The Hill" at present. The group that only is concerned with reductions in taxes, forgetting that this also will mean an increase in unemployment when government is forced to reduce to cover reductions in programs. Does that mean I'm for an increase in taxes? Nope, I think I pay enough.
I think that we've also seen the big reaction in the business climate to the "cuts". Businesses investing in offshoring, investing in bonuses for those at the top, retaining revenues and not investing in new people, services, capabilities. Figuring out how to pull revenues and profits offshore so as to pay less tax. Can we quickly figure out that government needs to live within their means and not overspend, but not under tax those that can afford it? And within reason of course.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Losing touch with retirement possibilities
I went to the store a couple nights ago on a random errand, and my radio is pretty faithfully tuned to 850 KOA at all times. I like the programming, either because it is good humored talk like "The Ride Home," or provides me with my political laugh quotient because of the heavy handed conservative talk show programming. One of those conservative others is one of my all time least favorite talk show hosts, Michael Brown. You might remember Mike as the head of FEMA back during the Bush regime, and he loves to start his show with the "you're doing a great job Brownie" single highlight in his mind of his career at FEMA. Of course, the people of New Orleans might feel a little different, but 'nuf said about that.
So, as his guest, he had the new Colorado Treasurer on, one Walker Stapleton. A good guy I'm sure, but something he said caught my attention and I just had to write about it. He said that (and I'm not quoting verbatim) public sector workers should take on the "risk" of their own retirement instead of counting on pensions. Now, please don't misunderstand me here, I am not saying that pensions are the be all or end all of financial retirement planning, I'm instead challenging the assumption that anyone who invests in retirement should have to take on an inordinate amount of risk. What do I mean by that? Well, let's explore.
First, I do understand the risk he is talking about, people who work in the private sector regularly are expected to invest in their own future. I do this, my friends and some of my family do this, and it is a way to set aside something for our future. However, we are betting our future on the fact that the executives at the companies that are turning a profit and paying out to the market are trustworthy, and will invest in sound and positive directions that will also benefit our private 401K, Roth IRA's, etc. We're hoping that these executives haven't lost touch, and will make revenue and profits the honest way. Well, scratch that, see Citibank, Lehman Brothers, JPMC, more recently HSBC (look up off shore tax shelter if you don't know about that one) as the companies that have taken your dollars and placed it on risky investment portfolios that have made short-term gains, and big bonuses, but pulled down the market with a HUGE adjustment. I estimate that I lost at least 20% (or more, I may be being very generous) of the value of my private 401K, while the C's at these companies are going to be quite comfortable in their retirement based on the bonuses alone that they have been and are now making. Oh, and by the way got a bailout through our tax dollars and by borrowing more debt from foreign markets, we saved their butts. Tell you what, they should have paid the interest on my home loan and credit cards or frozen it and allowed me to pay on original debt until they paid back the debt my tax dollars bailed them out with just for the privilege of using my money. And, yes, that is a rant, I admit it.
But back to Treasurer Stapleton and risk. Both public and private sector employees work hard all their lives so that they can afford to retire at some point in their lives. To hear that retirement is a risk cannot be a good thing for anyone. And until the playing field between those who have way more and those who want but don't or can't have evens out a little, it is a governmental responsibility to assure that those who want and need do not go without. So here is where one of my real pet peeves comes into play, and unfortunately this division is along party lines. I hear all of the time that Republicans are the more God fearing, and that Democrats have lost touch with God and religion. These lines are so severely drawn that is does make me sick at times. So the party that fight for providing for the populace through governmental programs is the one that is less closely associated to religion and wants to do away with God. And the party that is on the side of the almighty has no qualms pulling dollars away from those that have invested time, dollars, and trust into a populace and government to take care of them. Am I crazy? Maybe. I'm also aware that this is a hard road to hoe because we don't have the money on hand to be able to support these programs.
Right now as I type this, I can hear folks on the right of center saying that "allowing big business to make more without overburdening them with taxes" is what will allow us all to have a bigger piece of the pie. Well I haven't seen a company that wouldn't rather pay less tax, but I also haven't seen them reduce their own pay unless they are small companies trying to stay afloat during the great recession and foregoing their own salaries just to keep their businesses afloat and keep their employees paid. That is rant 2, sorry. I just can't agree that repubs are all bad and dems are all good, or vice versa. Another of what I call my laughable talk show hosts, Rush Limbaugh, would say that a middle of the roader like me that wants fiscal responsibility, good governance, and social responsiveness is a fence sitter that can't figure out my own identity, but I disagree. Instead, I feel that those of us who span the middle ground and choose those parts of the discussion that benefit us all are the more responsible to the needs of the majority.
I don't pretend to have the answer. I'd rather see everyone win, even those that need to be taken care of in their advancing years and are totally dependent on the government. We all need to pitch in to solve this, and it is not limited to the US. These are global issues. So how can we all keep in touch with those that need our assistance? Join the conversation, and let me know what you think.
So, as his guest, he had the new Colorado Treasurer on, one Walker Stapleton. A good guy I'm sure, but something he said caught my attention and I just had to write about it. He said that (and I'm not quoting verbatim) public sector workers should take on the "risk" of their own retirement instead of counting on pensions. Now, please don't misunderstand me here, I am not saying that pensions are the be all or end all of financial retirement planning, I'm instead challenging the assumption that anyone who invests in retirement should have to take on an inordinate amount of risk. What do I mean by that? Well, let's explore.
First, I do understand the risk he is talking about, people who work in the private sector regularly are expected to invest in their own future. I do this, my friends and some of my family do this, and it is a way to set aside something for our future. However, we are betting our future on the fact that the executives at the companies that are turning a profit and paying out to the market are trustworthy, and will invest in sound and positive directions that will also benefit our private 401K, Roth IRA's, etc. We're hoping that these executives haven't lost touch, and will make revenue and profits the honest way. Well, scratch that, see Citibank, Lehman Brothers, JPMC, more recently HSBC (look up off shore tax shelter if you don't know about that one) as the companies that have taken your dollars and placed it on risky investment portfolios that have made short-term gains, and big bonuses, but pulled down the market with a HUGE adjustment. I estimate that I lost at least 20% (or more, I may be being very generous) of the value of my private 401K, while the C's at these companies are going to be quite comfortable in their retirement based on the bonuses alone that they have been and are now making. Oh, and by the way got a bailout through our tax dollars and by borrowing more debt from foreign markets, we saved their butts. Tell you what, they should have paid the interest on my home loan and credit cards or frozen it and allowed me to pay on original debt until they paid back the debt my tax dollars bailed them out with just for the privilege of using my money. And, yes, that is a rant, I admit it.
But back to Treasurer Stapleton and risk. Both public and private sector employees work hard all their lives so that they can afford to retire at some point in their lives. To hear that retirement is a risk cannot be a good thing for anyone. And until the playing field between those who have way more and those who want but don't or can't have evens out a little, it is a governmental responsibility to assure that those who want and need do not go without. So here is where one of my real pet peeves comes into play, and unfortunately this division is along party lines. I hear all of the time that Republicans are the more God fearing, and that Democrats have lost touch with God and religion. These lines are so severely drawn that is does make me sick at times. So the party that fight for providing for the populace through governmental programs is the one that is less closely associated to religion and wants to do away with God. And the party that is on the side of the almighty has no qualms pulling dollars away from those that have invested time, dollars, and trust into a populace and government to take care of them. Am I crazy? Maybe. I'm also aware that this is a hard road to hoe because we don't have the money on hand to be able to support these programs.
Right now as I type this, I can hear folks on the right of center saying that "allowing big business to make more without overburdening them with taxes" is what will allow us all to have a bigger piece of the pie. Well I haven't seen a company that wouldn't rather pay less tax, but I also haven't seen them reduce their own pay unless they are small companies trying to stay afloat during the great recession and foregoing their own salaries just to keep their businesses afloat and keep their employees paid. That is rant 2, sorry. I just can't agree that repubs are all bad and dems are all good, or vice versa. Another of what I call my laughable talk show hosts, Rush Limbaugh, would say that a middle of the roader like me that wants fiscal responsibility, good governance, and social responsiveness is a fence sitter that can't figure out my own identity, but I disagree. Instead, I feel that those of us who span the middle ground and choose those parts of the discussion that benefit us all are the more responsible to the needs of the majority.
I don't pretend to have the answer. I'd rather see everyone win, even those that need to be taken care of in their advancing years and are totally dependent on the government. We all need to pitch in to solve this, and it is not limited to the US. These are global issues. So how can we all keep in touch with those that need our assistance? Join the conversation, and let me know what you think.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Losing Touch with our valuable assets, people and places!
Well, I thought I'd have trouble writing one blog a week, just goes to show you how much there is to discuss (read: complain, rag on, etc). And this one is a little personal, and really does upset me because of the value I place on our National Parks and the connection with nature they provide, one of the real jewels our government can actually brag about (for those of you unaware, the United States and her National Parks will celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2016).
So, our government is on the brink of shutdown because we can't collectively determine how to fund the budget for the next 6 months, let alone the next year. And one of the "dispensable" services that our tax dollars pay for is our National Parks and the people that run and manage them. Now, this is why it is personal - for the past few summers, our family has taken a trip out west from Colorado to various National Park locations. Our first real road and camping trip was to the absolutely awe inspiring Grand Canyon (which brought back vivid memories of being there as a kid and remembering that thunder storm that scared my sisters half to death when lightning flashed and banged within the same instant, yes, we were that close). On the way there, the kids got their first look at Mesa Verde, a park I fell in love with as a kid. We stopped not only at National Parks, but state parks, one of our all time favorites being the pink sand dunes of Utah (absolutely stunning salmon and pink coral colored sand dunes). We stopped at Sunset Crater, because my son wanted to see a real volcano, even if it was very extinct, stood next to petrified trees at the Petrified Forest National Park (another of my faves as a kid), wandered through painted deserts that had more colors than any painting could ever convey, and had a great car road trip, camping, campfire food, great pictures, even better memories, and the knowledge that I had passed on a legacy I'd inherited from my parents, wanting my children to be able to connect with nature.
We'd been to other Colorado National Parks and monuments before, the Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountain National Park, Florissant National Fossil Beds, list goes on. But the road trip to Arizona really allowed us all to connect and have fun. So what did we do the next year? You got it, but this time it was Wyoming, and the incomparable Yellowstone and Teton parks. I had thought that the Grand Canyon was incredible, but this was my first time to the park, and the magnificence of the animals as well as the sheer humbleness you feel before nature in these parks just blew me away. Seeing Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the sound of water crashing over the Lower Falls, there is nothing like it. And throw in to boot our first live view of a grizzly, and the beautiful and mesmerizing Tetons, this was a summer trip worth taking! And one more stop on the way home for the kids, Dinosaur National Monument!
So now we're looking at our summer road trip for this year. Is it Nevada, California, maybe a trip to the Dakotas, we haven't decided quite yet. And if we have no employees and wonderfully dedicated Park Rangers there to watch over visitors, what happens to that summer trip? What happens to their families? One of my snowboarding buddies works for the National Parks (talk about a job I would love to have) what happens to him and the estimated 800,000 other employees that would sit out of work? What would that do to our slightly recovering but still anemic economy? I'm ready to do my part, pay for my yearly National Parks pass, hit the road (though my wife wants to ditch the tent and get an Airstream or the like, which isn't such a bad idea when I think about it, and I am drooling over the Eddie Bauer edition Airstream right now.....). I've read figures like 7.9 MILLION jobs lost during the great recession, this little gov't snafu will be 10% of that number, can you believe it? I'm hoping I wake up in the AM to better news, our legislators working together to stave off this issue, our partisan bickering forgotten as we do what is best and right for these employees. Do I have faith? Always. Do I have confidence? Well.....
"I think I know something about investments, and there’s no better investment than our National Parks." —HANK PAULSON, Secretary of the Treasury
So, our government is on the brink of shutdown because we can't collectively determine how to fund the budget for the next 6 months, let alone the next year. And one of the "dispensable" services that our tax dollars pay for is our National Parks and the people that run and manage them. Now, this is why it is personal - for the past few summers, our family has taken a trip out west from Colorado to various National Park locations. Our first real road and camping trip was to the absolutely awe inspiring Grand Canyon (which brought back vivid memories of being there as a kid and remembering that thunder storm that scared my sisters half to death when lightning flashed and banged within the same instant, yes, we were that close). On the way there, the kids got their first look at Mesa Verde, a park I fell in love with as a kid. We stopped not only at National Parks, but state parks, one of our all time favorites being the pink sand dunes of Utah (absolutely stunning salmon and pink coral colored sand dunes). We stopped at Sunset Crater, because my son wanted to see a real volcano, even if it was very extinct, stood next to petrified trees at the Petrified Forest National Park (another of my faves as a kid), wandered through painted deserts that had more colors than any painting could ever convey, and had a great car road trip, camping, campfire food, great pictures, even better memories, and the knowledge that I had passed on a legacy I'd inherited from my parents, wanting my children to be able to connect with nature.
We'd been to other Colorado National Parks and monuments before, the Great Sand Dunes, Rocky Mountain National Park, Florissant National Fossil Beds, list goes on. But the road trip to Arizona really allowed us all to connect and have fun. So what did we do the next year? You got it, but this time it was Wyoming, and the incomparable Yellowstone and Teton parks. I had thought that the Grand Canyon was incredible, but this was my first time to the park, and the magnificence of the animals as well as the sheer humbleness you feel before nature in these parks just blew me away. Seeing Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the sound of water crashing over the Lower Falls, there is nothing like it. And throw in to boot our first live view of a grizzly, and the beautiful and mesmerizing Tetons, this was a summer trip worth taking! And one more stop on the way home for the kids, Dinosaur National Monument!
So now we're looking at our summer road trip for this year. Is it Nevada, California, maybe a trip to the Dakotas, we haven't decided quite yet. And if we have no employees and wonderfully dedicated Park Rangers there to watch over visitors, what happens to that summer trip? What happens to their families? One of my snowboarding buddies works for the National Parks (talk about a job I would love to have) what happens to him and the estimated 800,000 other employees that would sit out of work? What would that do to our slightly recovering but still anemic economy? I'm ready to do my part, pay for my yearly National Parks pass, hit the road (though my wife wants to ditch the tent and get an Airstream or the like, which isn't such a bad idea when I think about it, and I am drooling over the Eddie Bauer edition Airstream right now.....). I've read figures like 7.9 MILLION jobs lost during the great recession, this little gov't snafu will be 10% of that number, can you believe it? I'm hoping I wake up in the AM to better news, our legislators working together to stave off this issue, our partisan bickering forgotten as we do what is best and right for these employees. Do I have faith? Always. Do I have confidence? Well.....
"I think I know something about investments, and there’s no better investment than our National Parks." —HANK PAULSON, Secretary of the Treasury
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Has the government we elected lost touch with the constituency?
I read an article in my hometown newspaper, The Denver Post, (article here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17774563?source=mng_fulltext) about the impending budget/government shutdown. Now, as I admitted in my first post, I am a democrat, and party trumps person for the most part when I vote in elections (and as a quick aside, if you're reading this, and can legally vote in the USA and don't, well then shame on you!) but a quote by President Obama caught my attention and made me determine this weeks rant.
First, the quote... Obama, eager to regain the confidence of independent voters as he seeks a new term, said the American public expects that its leaders "act like grown-ups, and when we are in negotiations like this, that everybody gives a little bit, compromises a little bit in order to do the people's business."
Though I believe the healthcare act is a step in the right direction when it comes to treating our fellow human beings with decency and respect and is truly important legislation, what continues to irk me slightly is the fashion in which it was passed. No compromise during the time that the government was democratically controlled is part of the reason we have a republican controlled congress at this point in time. And for the President to expect compromise after his unwillingness to adopt any of the republican agenda just shows how polarizing our current government as a whole is right now.
I have certain beliefs, but I am a better steward of listening to and compromising with differing points of view than our government is at this time. My hope is that at some point this current body politic can see past the petty differences, look at what is good and right for the country, show the globe a position of leadership and compromise, balance the budget without cutting our own leg off, find ways to stimulate business and at the same time provide tax incentives to once again make this country a place where business is done and done the correct and honorable way.
That is why I feel that our government has definitely lost touch with the people they are there to represent. If you feel the same, remember to vote, make your voice and vote part of the discussion and participate. Because when you don't participate at least with your vote, you have absolutely no right to complain about the person or people that are supposed to be representing your view. But that is a completely different rant of mine that I'll save for another time.
Agree? Disagree? Join the conversation by adding a comment, or let me know what you think by checking off a reaction box. If you have an idea for a blog about someone or something we're losing touch with, please send them in to losttouchwith@hotmail.com or losttouchwith@gmail.com. I can't promise to use all of your ideas, but I promise to read them all. And if you're a twitter fan and want to know when I post a new blog, follow @losttouchwith. See you in the blogsphere!
First, the quote... Obama, eager to regain the confidence of independent voters as he seeks a new term, said the American public expects that its leaders "act like grown-ups, and when we are in negotiations like this, that everybody gives a little bit, compromises a little bit in order to do the people's business."
Though I believe the healthcare act is a step in the right direction when it comes to treating our fellow human beings with decency and respect and is truly important legislation, what continues to irk me slightly is the fashion in which it was passed. No compromise during the time that the government was democratically controlled is part of the reason we have a republican controlled congress at this point in time. And for the President to expect compromise after his unwillingness to adopt any of the republican agenda just shows how polarizing our current government as a whole is right now.
I have certain beliefs, but I am a better steward of listening to and compromising with differing points of view than our government is at this time. My hope is that at some point this current body politic can see past the petty differences, look at what is good and right for the country, show the globe a position of leadership and compromise, balance the budget without cutting our own leg off, find ways to stimulate business and at the same time provide tax incentives to once again make this country a place where business is done and done the correct and honorable way.
That is why I feel that our government has definitely lost touch with the people they are there to represent. If you feel the same, remember to vote, make your voice and vote part of the discussion and participate. Because when you don't participate at least with your vote, you have absolutely no right to complain about the person or people that are supposed to be representing your view. But that is a completely different rant of mine that I'll save for another time.
Agree? Disagree? Join the conversation by adding a comment, or let me know what you think by checking off a reaction box. If you have an idea for a blog about someone or something we're losing touch with, please send them in to losttouchwith@hotmail.com or losttouchwith@gmail.com. I can't promise to use all of your ideas, but I promise to read them all. And if you're a twitter fan and want to know when I post a new blog, follow @losttouchwith. See you in the blogsphere!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Welcome to @losttouchwith!
Welcome to @losttouchwith, the blog that will attempt to look at the things we seem to have forgotten or lost touch with (imagine that). Things like decency, making sense of your beliefs in concert with other's beliefs, remembering that free speech doesn't mean you can say whatever you want without consequence, and that words sometimes can hurt more than action.
So, what is really pissing me off lately? Well, politicians who are disingenuous about their beliefs, partisan BS, (and yes, even though I'm democratically inclined, even the dems ramrodding through bills without compromise), and I'll attempt to use this blog to point out some of these wonderfully idiotic views, ideas, and see if I can at least assuage my conscience through typing like a madman. My goal is to add a post a week, probably on the weekend, we will see how effective I am with that.....
One note, if you have something that you feel we've lost touch with, you can email me at losttouchwith@hotmail.com, or losttouchwith@gmail.com. I can't promise I'll use all ideas sent to me, but i'll read every one that comes my way and listen as openly as I can to your ideas. And if you happen to be a twitter user, please feel free to follow my feed at @losttouchwith, I follow most of the politically bent feeds myself, which is where I get most of my ideas from at present.
And lastly, please feel free to leave a comment, add to the discussion. And who knows, if I value your contributions to the discussion, you may be invited to do a guest post on the blog!
On with the show, and please enjoy. We'll see where it takes us!
So, what is really pissing me off lately? Well, politicians who are disingenuous about their beliefs, partisan BS, (and yes, even though I'm democratically inclined, even the dems ramrodding through bills without compromise), and I'll attempt to use this blog to point out some of these wonderfully idiotic views, ideas, and see if I can at least assuage my conscience through typing like a madman. My goal is to add a post a week, probably on the weekend, we will see how effective I am with that.....
One note, if you have something that you feel we've lost touch with, you can email me at losttouchwith@hotmail.com, or losttouchwith@gmail.com. I can't promise I'll use all ideas sent to me, but i'll read every one that comes my way and listen as openly as I can to your ideas. And if you happen to be a twitter user, please feel free to follow my feed at @losttouchwith, I follow most of the politically bent feeds myself, which is where I get most of my ideas from at present.
And lastly, please feel free to leave a comment, add to the discussion. And who knows, if I value your contributions to the discussion, you may be invited to do a guest post on the blog!
On with the show, and please enjoy. We'll see where it takes us!
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