I’m
certain there are a
huge number of
people in this
wonderful country of
ours that are much
smarter than me. We
have lots of folks
who have PHD’s and
have studied
economics as well as
finance, chaos
theory and many
other concepts to
help explain our
method of government
as well as business.
So, these people
must know something
I don’t know since
they keep coming up
with schemes and
plans which most of
us can tell at first
glance haven’t a
snow balls chance in
hell of working.
Take for instance
this rebate check
we’re supposed to be
getting. $600 for
the single people
and $1200 and some
change for the
married folks. How
long do you think
this is going to
last anyone out here
in the real world? I
bought gas yesterday
and it ate up $60 in
the blink of an eye.
Driving around town,
not on vacation is
costing me $500 a
month. All of the
rebate I’ll get will
go to gas or to pay
for higher prices at
the store. How can
the folks in
Washington think
this is going to
somehow ‘stimulate’
the economy? All
this is going to do
is allow us to pay
some bills that we
already owe, not
spend it on new
stuff. Who can
afford to buy any
new stuff?
I feel as if I am
slowing sinking into
a pit of quicksand.
Instead of life
getting better for
all of us it seems
to be getting worse.
I don’t see any
change on the
horizon by either
political party. All
I see is a repeat of
the same stuff over
and over which
changes from day to
day depending on
what the polls say.
I wish for once we
would have a
candidate for one
party or another
that says what they
believe in and what
they think is best
for the country
regardless of what
their handlers or
the polls have to
say about it. I
don’t think that
will ever happen.
They swing with the
current winds of
opinion. How sad.
Years ago, when I
had a lot of
employees we found a
strange reality. If
someone had to leave
the company for one
reason or another
and went out for
unemployment or
workers
compensation, they
would take the
amount they made
while on
unemployment or on
compensation and
subtract that from
what ever we were
paying them to work.
So, let’s just say
the difference was
$80 a week. If we
tried to get these
people to return to
work at their old
rate of pay they
would refuse and
tell us they could
not come back to
work for $2.00 an
hour. At first we
didn’t understand
what they meant, and
then they explained.
If they were getting
$420 a week for not
working, and we
wanted them to come
back to work for
$500 a week for 40
hours of work, then
they were (in their
minds) working those
40 hours for just
$80 or just $2.00 an
hour, it wasn’t
worth their effort.
In one state where
we had an operation,
the prevailing rate
for any workers
compensation rate
was higher than what
they earned while
they were working.
It doesn’t take a
rocket scientist to
guess that a lot of
people hurt their
backs and went to
the doctors who
advertised on phone
book covers for long
term care and
rehabilitation. We
didn’t stay in that
state for very long.
Today I heard that
there is a move
afoot to issue a
second round of
those $600-$1200
rebate checks since
the first ones won’t
do much good to
jumpstart the
economy. Why not
just issue one out
to every American
every month? In fact
why not just print
enough money, save a
million dollars, to
give to every
American…..that
should help,
shouldn’t it?
No, Bunkie, I’m
afraid it won’t.
Look at what
happened to Germany
in the late 30’s.
People were carrying
German marks around
in wheelbarrows just
to buy a loaf of
bread. There is this
thing called
inflation.
We don’t or can’t
make the economy
grow by handing out
money to every
citizen. We make the
economy grow by
allowing businesses
to expand, develop
new products and
remain competitive
with the rest of the
world. We make the
economy grow by
eliminating waste
and fraud in
government programs
and lowering taxes
to people and
businesses which
results in more
dollars available to
spend on capital
improvements and
salaries. Higher
taxes and more
governmental
giveaways puts us on
slippery slope to a
faltering economy
and a less
competitive society.
We need to encourage
achievement and
innovation, not
penalize someone
because they work
hard or think of a
new idea or concept.
Adopting punitive
practices such as
excessive taxation
and regulation
encourages not only
capital flight but
relocation of human
assets necessary to
insure a growing
economy.
If we want to
compete in a global
world we need to
think about how best
to do so before it
is too late.
