Indiana’s Governor Mitch Daniels is considering a run for President of the United States. This is the same Mitch Daniels, if memory serves me right during his time in our nations capital, was told the levees in Louisiana needed repair. Said no they are OK. (I could be wrong, but that is what I heard on a news cast). The great mind who thought Indiana which was originally in the Central Time Zone, should observe Atlantic Time during the summer, thus putting Indiana 2 hours ahead of the sun. So I have put 2 pictures up here for you to compare. One was born in 1952. The other in 1949. Both are 5 foot 7 inches tall. One is MITCHELL DANIELS. of Indiana. he other VLADIMIR PUTIN of Russia. Separated despite the age difference “At Birth”? (So to speak) Maybe later in life. Will the real Vladimir Putin stand up. That Is How I See It. Views: 389
Category: Economy
High School Sports Pay To Play
Want to play sports in Middle, or High School? Cough up the DOUGH! It seems schools are trying to eliminate sports from the learning process. they have found a new avenue to this means. MONEY. Pay to play. With unemployment so high, gas prices out of sight, and the economy in general, the states have less tax money so cuts must be made. What to cut? Schools are in the business of book learning. Te academics in charge of schools feel sports is not a learning experience. If it isn’t in the books WE approve, it is not worth learning. Most of you know sports teach the things we need to work with others, and get along. Things you can’t learn in a book. Team mates are not only mates on the field, court, or track. Real team mates are also mates in academics, and in many cases this is a lifelong friendship. I know some of the people on teams are just a member of the sports team. But if you are a REAL TEAM MATE, you will help your other members. A team mate is having trouble in English, some one on the team will tutor him, work with her. A team mate is having social, mental, or emotional problem, A real team mate will be there to help them in any way they can. Can you learn this in a book? Now in some school districts the Academics, have decided to impose a fee on sports. One district I know of has chosen to impose a fee of $170.oo per sport, per student. Pretty much eliminating the economically depressed students. Imagine you have, say one boy and one girl. Your son plays basketball, and baseball. That is $340.oo plus the other expenses such as, sales, and meals, to earn money to support the particular sport. Your expense to get him to and from practice, (even if he drives himself you are probably paying the expense or some of the expense for that car). Your expense to follow his games, and eating out before or after the game. Concessions at the game. Your daughter plays tennis, and soccer? That is another $340.oo plus all of the other above mentioned expenses. We all know if you are a real stand out athlete some one will cover you expenses. But how many of our children are a LeBron James, or Peyton Manning. How many potentially great athletes or leaders will be left behind because their families can’t afford that $170.oo. Why not charge our students, for each class they take, or a fee for school clubs, etc? That Is How I See It. Views: 791
State Looks to Raise Gas Tax
Our state. like most states, is looking for more money. With our unemployment above 9%. Where do you go. The solution they think of is raising GAS TAX. Earlier our Government was telling us to combat high prices drive less. Then we had the clunker thing. (All that accomplished was taking many a vehicle the lower income people could afford to buy and do necessary travel), out of service. Now Our State Servants, have an attitude of: if we need money add taxes, or increase taxes, or somehow get the people pay for it. An Aside here. I just looked and our Servants in the state capital make in excess of $30,000 a year for about 2 months of service. Not bad for a part time job. Any way now with less gas sales due to the economy, and as I see it Price Gouging by the greedy oil companies. Price in our state is now, as I write, is $3.55 9/10 a gallon for regular. We pay sales tax on gas at the rate of 7% (supposedly pre-tax STATE and Federal), we don’t know for sure as it is figured in at the pump. We presently pay 18% a gallon State tax. With 18.4% Federal tax. I’m not a mathematician so I won’t TAX my brain to figure out what the untaxed price of gasoline is. Just guessing total tax Federal what 65 cents, a gal. and about the same for State. That takes the price to what about $2.25 per gal. which would make us paying about 15 cents per gallon sales tax. Hmmm. Looks to me like the Government is making more per gallon than the dealer. So right now it appears that our State government is making about 80 cents a gallon from taxes. That with no expenses. I say no expenses but the dealer gets maybe a penny or two for collecting the sales tax. Will our state be satisfied making $1.00 a gallon. That would be about a 20 cent hike in taxes. Like I said our state likes taxes. You pay tax on everything you buy, rent, use, sell, earn, we even pay sales tax on every game we bowl. Use less gas. Pay more taxes per gallon. Combat greedy oil companies use less gas, they raise their price so they can live the high life at our expense. To me we taxpayers are in a no win situation. Government and Oil Companies are going to maintain their profits plus, regardless of the hardship it brings the people. Perhaps the hardest people hit by this is the people out of work and the retired person who has lost his savings due to the economy. For these people it is like locking them in their homes. Limited income will only stretch so far. When gas prices rise, so do prices of food, and about everything else. The increased cost of production and transportation has to be absorbed somewhere, (we the consumers). Oh and a bonus for the STATE increased price means more sales tax money. That Is How I See It. Views: 145
Vick Given Second Chance
Remember Michael Vick the Outstanding young Quarterback who was drafted out of Virginia Tech as the Number One pick. by the Atlanta Falcons. Vick led the Falcons the playoffs twice during his six years in Atlanta. He was making BIG BUCKS. Living high. In 2007 he was implicated in an illegal dog fighting interstate ring. August 2007 he pled guilty to federal felony charges and served 21 months in prison, with two months on home detention. He lost practically everything, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I think I read where he was working construction, during his down time from the NFL. Earning about $20,000.oo a year with his construction job, was a drastic drop from his NFL earnings. His second chance came in 2009 when he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles for a non-guaranteed $1.6 million. The in 2010 he received $5million. The 2011 season, (if played), Vick will receive between $16 and $17 million, I’m hoping Vick has truly learned has learned his lessons. 1. Public Image. 2. Fans made him. 3. He needs to give back to FANS not only on the field but off. AND. 4. The money won’t always be there. Live a little lower, and Invest wisely. Heck I could live very comfortably on what he makes for only one half of a quarter. That Is How I See It. Views: 132
Wisconsin Vs Unions Legal Vs Moral
Many of us have been watching the unfolding saga pitting GOVERNMENT AGAINST UNION. While the outcome is a loss for Unions/Working People. My question is: Where do you draw the line at LEGAL and Moral Ethics. Some of the people’s representatives left the State as a way of fighting for the rights of workers. Others stayed behind and plotted a sneaky way to push their agenda forward. My questions is who took the more ethical way to fight. We cannot deny the dissenters brought the government’s UNION ASSASSINATION PLOT, to light. Was there any other avenues for them to take. I don’t know of any, but there may have been. We know there was plenty of input from the residents against the passage of this bill. If you haven’t been keeping up on the situation. The Governor and 18 Republicans were acting in the best interest of Big Business. (Few small businesses deal with unions). To get this bit of business passed those 18 Republicans (One Republican dissented); conspired to strip out any item that would force them to have the required quorum of 20 members to pass the bill. Thus allowing them to pass it with only 18 of the 33 total voting members. I’m sure the vote was probably LEGAL. But was it MORALl? Did they show the ETHICS expected by the people of the state. I have always loved the state of WISCONSIN, But if the actions of the Governor and the Republicans, is a reflection of the people’s ETHICS then I am so very glad to not be a WISCONSIN CITIZEN. Where do you draw the line between Moral ethics and legalit? This a Question Wisconsin Voters must ask themselves when they visit the voting booth again. That Is How I See It. Views: 153
Day Light Savings Time
I’ll start this by saying. If you have a bank and you have a savings account, would you not be able to have at least a little bit of money saved? If you went six months later to withdraw some of that money, and found you had none, WHAT would you do? Would you go see a lawyer, just complain to the bank, or would you have an alternative of some kind? I have been on this futile trip many years, and when I go to withdraw the daylight I have none. So if you have a secret of how to get that daylight let me know. PLEASE! If you are a poor working stiff I’d be willing to bet you don’t like losing an hour of sleep. A shorter weekend. I know of some people who have lost their jobs because their body cannot adjust to the change. People who do make it to work on time are often drowsy, an inability to stay awake, thus increasing accidents not only at work but on the way to work. Till Roenneberg, is CHRONOBIOLOGIST, (that is a fancy way of saying he is an expert of how time affects life). Roenneberg is staff member of the University of Munich. Here is what he has to say about Daylight Saving Time. “Our internal clocks set themselves according to the environment”. “So, our natural chronometers keep time with the sun, not the alarm clocks sitting by our beds, and this is the main reason it is hard for us to adjust”. “The social time changes but the sun does not.” Supposedly, (per our government), The change is to save energy. There has been no proof of any such savings. There IS proof, however, the consumption of gasoline rises. I know most of my friends have to be at work between 6 am and 7am. It is still dark. When it doesn’t get dark until around 10pm it makes it harder to fall asleep at a proper time. Not to mention, have you ever tried to get children to bed when it is daylight? Good Luck. Children start going to school at dark. Not a real safe thing to do. While growing up in a small town, one of the rules was be home by sunset. Now that would mean 10 pm. Too late. Farmers do you have more daylight time to get your work done? Apparently not I see many of you in your fields after dark. Do your animals know you have changed the time on your alarm clock? ARIZONA is the only state that has a state government smart enough to leave the clock alone, and let nature take it’s course. Now for some it is even worse. You take Indiana for example. Indiana is a state which is actually situated in the CENTRAL TIME ZONE. But during the switch from mainly agricultural to manufacturing, the government decided to align itself with NEW YORK, rather than CHICAGO. My friends there tell me a few years ago, their Governor, Mitch Daniels, forced them to change to ATLANTIC TIME, during the daylight savings period. I guess the people never got to vote on it and some of their representatives even faced divorce, It seems the government did not have the votes in the Capitol Building to pass this atrocity, so what did they do. They put a hold on the voting for at least a day so they could bully the dissenters into changing their votes, going against the wishes of their constituents. The result is Indiana is 2 hours ahead of the sun. I would like to see them admit that there is no daylight saving, merely a shift of time zones. EDT = Atlantic Standard Time. CDT= Eastern Standard Time. etc. You get the picture If we have to endure this hardship so a few wealthy executives, can have a little more time to get their GOLF in, then why can’t we at least have a truth in time law. That Is How I See It. Views: 629
Layoffs Rarer With High Unemployment
I just had to pass this tidbit on to you. I found this headline quite amusing. “Layoffs become rarer even with unemployment high” Really? No Duh! Here we have nearly 14 million people out of work. Companies (in general) have already lain off the majority of their workers, or have let them go due to facility closings. Doesn’t it make sense? Less people employed equals less people to lay off? I look at it this way. I have a 5o employees . Business keeps dropping off each month I am forced to lay off 20% of the my employees, after 4 months I have lain off 80% of my 80% of my faithful employees. On the 5th month I realize, I am about out of employees. I only have 20% left. Assuming,, I now have the bare minimum I need. Each employee will have to do more, for me to stay in business. I can’t afford to eliminate anyone any longer. What do I do. I do all I can to maintain status quo. Instead I do my best to keep my minimum employees. If business does not pick up I may have to let an employee or two go. However I I may need them if the economy corrects itself. Now my remaining face a RARER, chance of layoff. It just seemed to be an unusual headline. Stating the obvious, Less workers has to equal less layoffs, or you are out of business. That Is How I See It. Views: 123
Anti-Union State Governments
Wisconsin and Indiana legislators are currently split over a bill which would essentially KILL unions. It would not be the first time for this type of Genocide. History shows the need for unions. Before unions there were no 5 day work weeks, rarely were there any benefits, medical, retirement, vacations, etc. We had child labor. Sweat Shops. Poor working conditions. So many things workers now enjoy. The quality of living was so low and little hope of getting better. Now for 3 views on UNIONS. A friend of mine is very anti union. He blames all the woes in the world on Unions. According to him we would have more jobs, and things would not cost so much. It is the greedy union members who earn too much and drive up costs of the products they make. Everyone would be able to own big houses, new cars, just about everything would be better without Unions. Another friend of mine works in an Union shop, and claims they do nothing for the members. This is true in their place of employment. Unions are only as strong as their membership. In this case the membership is so weak, they never fight for anything. They bargain for a benefits, working conditions, and shop rules. But when the company violates items of the AGREEMENT, the company falls back on “THE RIGHT TO MANAGE”. Example. One item calls for a 3 step procedure before termination. 1. Verbal Warning. 2 Written Warning. 3. Time off without pay. Recently in this down turn in economy. The Company has taken it upon themselves to make this a first time infraction…TERMINATION. How? Right to Manage. The Union just says OK. As you can see although the members pay the dues, the Company really runs the Union. Thank all Unions are not this bad. My view. Unions are very much needed. Without them many jobs would be eliminated. No overtime, vacation, retirement, medical and life insurance, no breaks, and many many other things we would be doing without. You anti-union people don’t realize you benefit from unions also. If the unions did not win these concessions, do you think you would be enjoying the higher wages, and benefits, you have. NO! How many of your children have benefited from the the things unions fought and sacrificed for. Just think how our quality of life rose during unions haydays. The fifties, and sixties. Were great for the people. IBM, known as a great place to work, A friend of mine who worked his way up from a floor laborer, to a Vice Presidential, position explained the reason for IBM’s success as a great work place, was managements recognization of union negotions. He told me they would offer the same benefits, and sometimes a step better to keep there people and not have any breaks due to strikes, etc. Things were going great. Then Reagan, a former Union President, became President of the United Stats. You remember him as the Great Union Breaker. After he broke the air controllers union, Unions began losing strength. I wonder if he would have approved of his own actions if the government had tried to break his union at the time he was prsident of his Union. Then we had Clinton as President of the United States, he was also a Union Breaker, only more deadly. He said. I have a great idea. If you don’t like unions in your company take the jobs to foreign countries. Code name, (NAFTA). What does this do with our legislators not meeting and staying out of their state? When you lack numbers to win a battle you have to look at alternatives. Boycotting has always been a very effective way of combat. Provided you can secure the numbers to be effective. As is see it this is the only weapon these legislators have at their disposal to do what their constituents ask of them. As for the UNION members. Members must also take into the state of the country, it’s economy, and the effects of NAFTA. when they go to the bargaining table. Use some common sense in what they are asking for. Unions are good for America. That Is How I See It. Views: 140
North Korea Hungry, Should USA Help
As most of you know the communist government North Korea, keeps threatening world PEACE. Now that government has been facing FLOODS, and LIVESTOCK DISEASE. North Korea has asked for food handouts. What do we know about food distribution in North Korea? We know the most important thing. When it comes to handing out the foods… It is ranking government members first, with their supporters… Average citizen only if there is something left. I understand their soldiers may eat only a little better than the average citizen. Should the United States of America, specially now with our own economic woes, many of our own either going hungry or barely able to find food, GIVE food to the enemy. My humanitarian side says “YES!” My practical side says “NO”! Practical side argument. Why give aid to our enemy, (or potential enemy, if that is more politically correct). Would we have given the NAZI government food while they were threatening our PEACE . We probably did. That was before my time. But it doesn’t make sense to feed North Korea with the circumstances we are in with them. We know more peaceful nations who need more food than we give them. Will the people of North Korea be told where the food comes from, so they may eventually overthrow the Communist regime, or will the North Korean government say..”Look we have taken care of you”. Humanitarian side argument. Should we let the average citizen, anywhere in the world starve as long as we have taken care of our own first. “NO”! BUT we can not help but see the need, and cannot stop the urge to help our fellowman. After all, did we not give aid to the U.S.S.R. during the COLD WAR. For most of us it will merely be an exercise of our conscience. We have no say what our government does in this situation, except by our proxies, our Senators, and Congressmen, (excuse me, to be politically correct, that should be Congressperson). As for me, I think we should give them food, with a stipulation that the food will be distributed by a group appointed by the UNITED NATIONS, consisting of the countries which contribute the food. The food should be given with MARKING of the donating country, so the people of North Korea, know where the food comes from. So they may some day see their government does not work, and eventually overthrow this communist regime. That Is How I See It. erely find find Views: 140
New Car or Old Car
My newest vehicle, other than my motorcycle, and project sports car. My daily driver is a 1995 Ford Explorer. I don’t know how many miles it has on it. The odometer doesn’t work. It had 150,000 miles on it when I bought it 3 years ago. I know I average 20 miles a gallon with it. I chase my kids and their kids in sports. I bought the Explorer 3 years ago, and have put about 75,000 miles on it. I paid $1500.00 for it then. I pay the minimum in my state for license. We have an excise tax added to plate cost each year, until the vehicle is X years old or bottoms out on value. I pay only for Liability Insurance. The insured value would be less than I paid for it. I don’t count in the usual expected expenses for maintenance. Tires, Oil Change, etc. These things come whether you have a new car or old. I was fortunate that that the Explorer had been taken care of and had no rust, or excessive wear on the interior. I subscribe to these beliefs as far as vehicles are concerned. A vehicle is to get me from point A to point B. Do I need a new car for this? NO! If I were to buy a new car, (and I have had a couple. Three to be Exact. the last one I had one year, before I got laid off, seems my vehicle had already lost 50% of what I paid for it. I was able to keep it with the help of my brother. Do I want to take that kind of loss again. No way. If I were to buy a new vehicle payments would run, probably between $250-$350 a month. that would be a minimum of $3,000.00 a year in payments. for about 5 or 6 years. So I figure if I can keep my Explorer on the road for $2000.00 a year I am ahead of the game. Knock on wood I have had to spend $0, beyond the usual maintenance costs for the these 3 years. So at $500 a year ($1500 divided by 3 years equals $500 a year). Well as you can see I have thus far save $2500.00 a year on payments alone. That is $7,500.00 I have saved. I know most of you think you have to have a new car for appearance sake, or mistakenly think you will spend more for maintenance. Think of it this way If you had an older vehicle YOU would still have put more money in your pocket. I had a cousin who only bought a new car every ten years. But he could afford it. By buying only every ten years he was able to pay cash. Pretending to make payments.(putting the money aside), he was able to take his family on many fulfilled vacations with the extra money. Why Buy a New Car when an Older one is just as good at getting you from Point A to Point B, at a huge savings. That Is How I See It, Views: 313
