So as I sit here watching
the gas prices go up and up and my money go down and
down, it leads me to wonder if the government has a clue
about what is going on?
Take for example, the chairman of the Federal Reserve,
not an elected position, an appointed one. Yet, this man
is so powerful, when his eyebrows go certain directions
the stock markets react as if Moses spoke from the
mountain. People chase after him wanting to know what he
ate for breakfast in hopes it will tell them what kind
of a mood he might be in this morning. Granola and
prunes…might be bad….bacon and eggs…might be good.
Now, I’m sure Mr. Greenspan is probably a very nice
person, but do we really want to know if he’s regular or
not? Do his personal habits influence us this much in
our daily lives? Apparently they do
If he buys a new car does that signal a return to
prosperity? What happens, pray tell, if he decides to
sell a car? I haven’t tracked anything along this line,
but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the market take a
drop based on his getting rid of his 1993 Oldsmobile or
whatever.
Last week, Mr. Greenspan was discussing the possibility
of changing the rules when it comes to social security.
I don’t know about you, but it seems very suspicious to
me that about the time I start to get close to the year
I can start to draw out of the plan, they move the age
up another couple of years. If I recall, it seems to me
that you used to be able to start collecting social
security about age 60. Now it seems, its 62, almost 63
and then you can wait until 65 or so to collect more and
then if you’re really feeling lucky, big boy, you can
wait until you’re 70 and get the whole shebang.
Seems to me that they are watching me and me alone to
come up with the policy changes. About the time I get to
the magic point where I might want to consider slowing
down and collecting some of those bucks I’ve paid in for
nearly fifty years, they come around and change the
rules to the point where I have no choice but to keep on
going. I hardly think anything I could actually collect
is enough to warrant the attention of the mighty Federal
Reserve, but I’m not so sure.
In fact I’m not so sure about anything anymore. I can’t
collect Medicare since I’m not old enough nor am I in
bad enough health. I make too much money to qualify for
any kind of assistance programs, but not enough to pay
all of my bills each month. I know I should save more,
but by the time I pay my taxes, there doesn’t seem to be
that much left over. It seems as if the only option left
to me is to just keep on plugging away at what I do and
keep on doing it until I either fall over or win the
lottery.
I’m not eligible for any governmental grants or programs
that might help me get from here to there. It’s as if
I’m stuck in a sort of semi-retired- must-
keep-working–to-live limbo.
Somewhere I read a sign that said…”The faster I go, the
behinder I get…”
I can identify with that one for sure.
I’d consider taking bankruptcy, but I owe too much for
that to happen. It seems you have to plan on taking
bankruptcy, if you want it to come out right. I guess I
haven’t planned well enough.
I wish they had taught us stuff in school about what to
look forward to when you get old instead of dumb things
like…”In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..” Was I
absent for those classes on how to invest? Did they even
have any in the first place?
The trouble with being a middle class American is simply
this, you’re too well off to get any help from the
government and you’re not well enough off to get any
help from the government. We don’t qualify for big tax
breaks, since we don’t make enough to get a break on
anything. We make too much to get paid for not working
since we work. I don’t have any farms to collect
subsidies for not planting crops and if I planted
anything it wouldn’t qualify anyway. I don’t have a
trust fund stashed somewhere in the Caribbean islands
since no one trusted me to establish the fund in the
first place.
I’d like to sue someone over all this, but can’t find an
attorney who’ll talk to me without wanting a lot of
money I don’t have.
It’s kind of like the bank charging you an overdraft fee
for a bounced check. You didn’t have enough money in the
account and that’s why the check bounced, so they charge
you more money that you don’t have?
Can you explain this to me Mr. Greenspan?
No, better yet…eat your Wheaties…you’ll need them.
