99 Weeks Later, and my Beni's Ran Out. Woe is Me!

99 Weeks Later, and my Beni's Ran Out. Woe is Me!

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Quote:

Jobless army grows as aid ends Facebook holds stories of unemployed WNYers crying out for help They call themselves the 99ers and with each new week their numbers grow by the thousands. There are so many of them — nearly 3,000 in Western New York alone — they have their own statewide Facebook page. "Nobody is hiring, and I can't afford to lose my place to live," said Mike Papay, one of the hundreds of jobless who have told their story on Facebook. "I've already had my vehicles taken. This is crazy! Somebody please help!"

Funny, I see lots of help wanted signs out. Maybe these 99 weekers should stop holding out for that CEO job and go stock shelves at the market, flip burgers at Mickie Dees or cut some grass already. It's work, it's money, and you ain't too good to do it dumbass.



Lets "create" a job for the "there's no jobs out there" folks.

1 Get off ass, knock on doors. Ask old person "Is it worth $10 a week for me to come by and put your garbage can at the curb for you, then come back the next day and put it away?"

Each YES = $520 per year. 10 = $5,200. 25 = $13,000

2. Get off ass again, knock on doors. Ask person "Is it worth $20 a month for me to stop by and wash your car, $35 a month for a wash, wax and detail?"

Each YES = $240-$420 10=$2,400-$4,200 25 = $6,000-$10,500

3. Get off ass yet again. (See a trend here?) Go door to door, ask "Is it worth $20 a week for me to come by and cut your grass with my mulching mower, and sweep up the sidewalk after I'm done?"

Each YES = $1,040. 10=$10,400 25=$26,000

Wow. just shy of a $50,000 income, and it's all cash. Yeah, theres some expense involved. Gas for the mower, bottle of car wash solution, a bucket, a sponge and a shammy, but still. $50 down, $6-10 a week in expense, and you've made $30k-50k cash.

Can you find 25-100 people to do this for in 2 fracking years?

If the answer is no, then you are not looking hard enough.

Obama Tax Jokes

Obama Tax Jokes

"Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit Obama's national debt." -- Tip o'the hat to Herbert Hoover



Based on his performance in office so far, President Obama should do just fine on his future tax returns. After all, he will be able to write off his second term.


It's too bad that we can't buy stock in the federal tax system. With Obama as president that will be only thing sure to go up.


President Obama is angrily calling for more federal tax increases. He just heard from his advisors that some American taxpayers weren't completely broke yet.


The best things in life are free but President Obama's tax advisors are working hard trying to solve that problem.


Barack Obama isn't planning on buying TurboTax®. Obama can turbocharge our taxes all by himself.



President Obama's tax return should list Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright as dependents.


President Obama plans to start printing income tax forms on Kleenex, so it will be easier for us to pay through the nose.


President Obama has just announced that he has a new plan to simplify the tax code. From now on only the Republicans will have to have to pay any taxes.


Q. Who should be listed as the most expensive dependent on your tax return?
A. President Obama.


President Obama will make it a lot easier for most people to do their income taxes next year. No jobs, no income.


Under Obama everyone in America will be working for the government. Democrats will be on the payrolls and Republicans will be on the tax rolls.


In the interest of full disclosure, President Obama's should declare all of the fawning media coverage he's received so far as a gift on his tax return.


Despite what some people are claiming, this country is just as free under the Obama presidency as it ever was . . . unless you happen to be a taxpayer.


If President Obama listed free enterprise on his tax return, it would have to be listed as a liability. That's because he just writes it off.


Today the IRS released new guidelines on how to avoid audits while Obama is the president. Number one - Don't list excessive deductions. Number two - File your return on time. Number three - Register to vote as a Democrat.


Judging by his wild spending so far, President Obama has apparently decided that it is easier to trim the taxpayers than to trim federal spending.


Don't think of it as paying more taxes. Think of it as giving Obama a big tip.


Thanks to President Obama we will become a more honest people. Once we're all jobless there won't be any point in lying on our tax returns.


Next year's "stimulus" tax return will fit on a postcard.

* How much money did you make?
* Mail it in.



President Obama intends to reward ambition. With higher taxes.


Now that Obama is the President you can still get ahead if you get up early in the morning, work late every day and hit the lottery.

Who's Poor?

Who's Poor?

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So, a discussion I had got me thinking. I, and all of us are rich.

I just came back from a Walmart that is the size of a 70's era mall. It had the -best- selection of videos, tvs, groceries and more than I've seen in ages.

I'm seeing new construction all around me.

I'm surrounded by an over abundance of stuff, food, clothes, toys, stuff I need and stuff I don't. Surrounded!

We (my wife and I) own over 1,000 dvd's. Have 5 working computers in my house, have high speed internet, 6 phones, a car, dvd players, tvs, vcrs, several printers, scanners and terrabytes of storage. We dine out regularly, eat shrimp, crab and lobster regularly. We do not lack for good nourishing healthy food. We care for our cats and lizard.

By comparison, my grandfather wore hand me downs, ate lard sandwiches, had no tv, no phone, and scraped by as a kid. 20 years ago a treat for the family was to buy a pizza.

Today we enjoy that a few times a month.

Shrimp was rare, and lobster was reserved for New Years, every other year.

Shrimp's a staple in my household.

No, I don't currently own a house, no I don't own either a mansion or a yacht, and no I don't jet set around the world.

But I can usually come and go as I please, can travel as needed, and know I'll be eating dinner tomorrow.

Compared to so many, in so many places, I am wealthy beyond their dreams.

Too often we get hung up on all stuff we don't have, that we forget how truly blessed we are, and how fortunate we are to live in a time and a place where we are surrounded by so much, and have so many choices.

Why is the economy a mess and businesses going under? A reason. by Bob Hubbard

Why is the economy a mess and businesses going under? A reason.
by Bob Hubbard

I recently got married. As part of that life's journey, one contacts a number of businesses and key people to make the day run smoothly. We contacted several facilities, visited 3. We received no call backs or follow ups from any of the places, other than the 1 we ultimately chose. We contacted several photographers, and were waiting on a promised call back from one when another contacted us out of the blue. We went with her and its a good thing we did as we still haven't heard from the one who promised to call us. We left messages with several dj's, tux rental places, and 2 hotels. Not a single call back. Are you seeing a trend here? All over the place people are crying "business is down", "I'm not sure if I'll make it" and similar. Yet we had a hard time finding anyone to take our money.

We stopped at a local fast food chain the other day. Place was empty. We waited 5 minutes before walking out, as no one felt like taking our order. Cleaning the back counter was more important, as obviously was the smoke break. A few days earlier, another chain store, we got indifferent service, mediocre "food", and a shrug when I complained about it.

Last year I made several calls to the management of a local mall, looking for information about possibly renting space there. Despite calling every day for 2 weeks, I never managed to reach the one single person there who could talk to me about anything rental related. He was always "just stepped out" or "gone for the day". I finally asked if he ever comes in, and when the person expressed surprise, I said I'd been calling all week, leaving messages and hadnt heard back. They said that was common. The mall has quite a few vacancies. I wonder why. Another local mall has a waiting list as it's full. They answered their phone and were available to talk. Big difference.

A couple months ago a family member had a plumbing emergency. We called at least a dozen plumbers (with the 24 hr service ads) before reaching a live person. We left messages at the earlier ones, and not a single one ever called back.

The economy may be shaky, a few large companies may be facing ugly restructuring, but the core of the economy has always been the small businesses. Maybe the reason why the core is seems to be rotting lies with the core it self. Maybe, it's shooting itself in the foot by failing to follow up, provide quality service and a quality product, and failing to follow through. Maybe, the solution to the economic mess isn't trillions in bailouts to a few big names, but for consumers to find and reward those companies that do go the extra mile, that do care about their product, that deserve to survive.

Maybe then the slackers, drifters, and such will wake up and step up, or die out like they deserve to make way for the real economic stimulus.

Re: "Redistribute the Wealth"

Re: "Redistribute the Wealth"

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Quote:

How many Americans here have friends and associates who's deepest concern is who won what game or who's topic of conversation is always "man I got so wasted last night"?

But that's ok. Those of us who work hard, educate ourselves, start businesses, or work 2-3 jobs while putting ourselves through higher education....we can pay more taxes so that lazybones and slacker can have government subsidized health care (while we pay top dollar for ours), government subsidized heating and electric (while we pay for ours), and even free money to spend on lotto and lobster (while we watch our money and live frugally). It's ok. It's our "Civic Duty" to help those "unfortunates".

On education: I read several hundred books every year, own a thousand+, read 4 newspapers (onliine) daily (SF CA, Austin TX (2), Buffalo NY), plus dozens of discussions like this one every day. I've taken extra training classes, community ed courses, online training, and am at Borders/Barnes & Nobel or my local ibraries weekly. I also run history chanel, food network, HGTV, DIY and Discovery as background. If our "unfortunates" did 10% of that, they'd be miles ahead.

Schools today in the US are woefully behind the technical requirements. Teaching methods in many cases are outdated, classes are over crowded, and teachers are still using maps that show the Soviet Union, and still using text books that list Sadamn as the head of Iraq. Unfortunately, even if they were up to date, balanced, and truely designed to learn, even the best teacher can't teach when the student isn't open to learn, or isn't there in the first place. Kids don't want to learn because they know they can grow up, go on welfare and have the government pay for everything. They have no idea of the value of a dollar, not because it's arbitrary imaginary money, but because they aren't required to know how to manage it.

We argue people go bankrupt because of medical bills. Those lotto winners went bankrupt because they were incapable of handling money.

Before you redistribute the wealth, maybe you need to revamp your education system so that people will be able to handle that which you give them.

Then again, maybe it's time that kids learn that they aren't entitled to anything, anything! that they didn't earn themselves.

We're the Government -- and You're Not

What if the U.S. government released an "educational video" to teach today's Americans how to be good citizens?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvsADU2OOWM

RON PAUL - Audit the Federal Reserve!!! - HR 1207

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlmXUiEgNO8

Encourage your representitive to support HR 1207 - the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. The Fed is a private institution and is therefore not subject to normal Governmental Freedom of Information requests, as Bloomberg recently found out.

HR 1207 will help to reveal where the Fed is funnelling trillions of dollars of taxpayer's money.

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/cam...

"Redistribute the Wealth"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJyS1WJNisM

In this video clip Democrat Congressman Jim Moran expresses his disdain for people who want to keep what they have earned.


"...because we've been guided by a Republican administration who believes in this simplistic notion that people who have wealth are entitled to keep it...."

Considering that over 70% of lottery winners end up broke, bankrupt, divorced, etc within a few years of getting their winnings, maybe the reason alot of people are broke isn't because Bill Gates wasn't forced to hand over 85% of his money to people who didn't earn it, but because alot of people are really bad at managing what they have in the first place.

Our Troubling Tax System

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGIfbAt8voU

Last September I played with the numbers, and switching to a flat 15% Federal sales tax would generate over $300 Billion more for the government. But of course, most people don't get it. They don't understand they won't have to take time to file, won't have it withheld, won't have to pay someone to fill out forms, to get it back.

"Heres to You Mr Jefferson" Awesome by Mike Church

Awesome video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUJoB5Z6u0w

In reply to "April 15 is patriots' day"

Commentary: April 15 is patriots' day

• Story Highlights
• Paul Begala: April 15 is one day most Americans sacrifice for government
  
• Begala says paying taxes to support worthy government services is patriotic
  
• "Tea parties" are being pushed by GOP supporters who lost election, Begala says
  
• He says President Obama and Congress have cut taxes for most

In the article above, Mr Begala makes some interesting points. I disagree that these "Tea Party's" are simply disgruntled losers from the last election. I'm sure some of them are, but I think the vast majority of American's are reaching the boiling point in frustration with administration after administration simply selling us out to the special interest groups, and covering their buddies asses. We The People are tired of paying more and more for everything, while watching government subsidized incompetence continue. We're tired of our so called leaders pushing flawed laws through then later going "oops, we've no idea how that was missed / got in there" after someone finds a problem with the latest 10,000 page maze of confusion they dump on us, while ensuring their buddies get a little something on the side. Our so called leaders are more worried about getting on a more prestigious committee, or impressing a campaign donor, then caring what we want.

Mr Begala makes an excellent point here:
He wrote "You want something to protest? How 'bout protesting how little we give back to our veterans? Or how 'bout protesting that the entire budget of the National Cancer Institute (where government researchers battle a disease that will strike half of all men and a third of all women) is 0.03 percent of what we gave the bandits at American International Group alone? Oh, but veterans benefits and cancer research might cost money. It might require -- dare I say it? -- paying taxes."

Yes sir, you are right. It will take tax dollars. Maybe rather than bailing out collapsing businesses and rewarding the people who brought them to ruin with million dollar pay outs, it could have been funneled to help those who fight to keep this a free country. $11 Trillion dollars would have been a hell of a boost to our discarded veterans and their long term care.

In the mean time, it's time to start working to vote the elite's out. Rather than pick one of the tired old 2, look up the Libertarian, Green, Constitution or other third parties and see what the Democrats and Republican's don't want you to know. You have a choice. More importantly, you have the power to retake your government. Use it.
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Redistribute the wealth.

Redistribute the wealth. (originally posted on MartialTalk 09-30-2008)

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People look at things like the following, decide that wealth in the US is unfairly distributed, and look for more ways to take money from the top 10% and pass it out to the bottom 10%, usually without the bottom having to actually earn it.

Quote:

Here are some published numbers, taken fom Forbes magazine. This would be the top 10 on their 400 list....1. Bill Gates Net Worth $57.0 billion 2. Warren Buffett Net Worth $50.0 billion 3. Lawrence Ellison Net Worth $27.0 billion 4. Jim Walton Net Worth $23.4 billion 5. S Robson Walton Net Worth $23.3 billion 6. Alice Walton Net Worth $23.2 billion 7. Christy Walton Net Worth $23.2 billion 8. Michael Bloomberg Net Worth $20.0 billion 9. Charles Koch Net Worth $19.0 billion 10. David Koch Net Worth $19.0 billion 'The rich haven't gotten richer--or poorer--this year. The price of admission to this, the 27th edition of The Forbes 400, is $1.3 billion for the second year in a row. The assembled net worth of America's wealthiest rose by $30 billion--only 2%--to $1.57 trillion.' (quoted from Forbes) Now, take that in perspective. The 400 richest americans have a net worth of 1.57 trillion dollars. The entire GDP of Canada from a 2007 estimate, as found in teh CIA world factbook (correct or not?) https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat.../print/ca.html is listed as being 1.432 trillion dollars. Really... stop and think about that. The accrued wealth of 400 people essentially exceeds the annual value of the national economy of 33 million people. You would really have us believe that there is NOT an uneven distribution of wealth? Whether it's right or wrong is an entire other debate, but I don't think the numbers or the fact of the matter is a subject of much informed debate. Rod

A reply to the above was this

Quote:

How about, it's their money, and you don't have any right to it. You want more money, go work for it.

A statement I agree with.

Having worked retail in supermarkets, convenience stores and the like, I can say that simply giving people money won't make them suddenly know how to manage it, or even appreciate it. Many arguments occur over people trying to use welfare and food stamps for beer, lotto and cigarettes.

A discussion I had on the idea of taking money from the top earners and passing it out included comments like "they owe it to us", and "they have plenty" and similar. Bill Gates, who isn't one of my favorite people, earned his money. He already gives plenty to charity. The Walton's inherited theirs from their father Sam, who earned it. Sam you may recall drove a pickup truck and not a Caddie because "you can't put hunting dogs in a Cadillac.".

People rarely appreciate something that is given to them unearned. The gift is usually squandered, and all that has happened is they have been trained to expect a handout.

One comment is that if you evened out the bank acounts so that everyone had the same amount, within a short period of time, the previously rich will be so again, and the previously poor will be so again. One only has to look at the bankrupsty rate of lottery winners (80%) to see that wealth without understanding causes wealth to vanish.

Rather than taking cash from the wealthy, a better system would be to encourage a voluntary system that would teach people how to manage their money, and become self sufficient. As someone once wrote, teaching someone to fish sustains them for life, giving the a fish only feeds them for today.