Oh! I wish I didn’t have to see his Weiner…,

This week, I was working with a middle school class and I was asked what my opinion was of “The Weiner Thing”. Okay, I’ll admit that my first instinct was to make inappropriate jokes that were at the level of the student asking me. My second instinct was to make another, even worse, joke. I think my exact words were something along the lines of “I love it. I carry it with me all the time.” I told you, these are my first instincts. Eventually, I came around to answering the very serious and encouraging question asked by a student who hasn’t demonstrated (up till now) an engagement with current events. I’m posting a response more for the parents who might have questions to answer from kids who hear or see news (mostly accidentally), or who are force-fed a line by the government school system (it happens way more than you want to believe).

First, let’s get straight what this post isn’t about. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Conservative, based mostly on economic positions. On a personal level, I don’t like Anthony Weiner because I disagree with his politics. I’m not terribly interested in this subject. All that being said, the “Weiner Thing” is really about two separate and wholly unequal issues. One is incidental, and one is very important. Let’s start with the former.

The Facts:

-Congressman Anthony Weiner has, by his own admission, sent what are considered to be inappropriate pictures of himself to Twitter Followers.

-He has done this both before and after his marriage.

-He accidentally broadcast a picture of his junk in underwear through Twitter.

Those are the facts of the issue that are not important. See, Weiner is an adult. If he wants to display his shortcomings to the world via Twitter, FaceBook, or a Billboard in New York, this is his right and prerogative to do so. Weiner would like to leave this post at that, but then there is the little problem of the second issue, which is important.

Some More Facts:

-Congressman Weiner is one of 500+ people who make the rules of the Country. He should be held to a standard of ethical behavior and honesty.

-He repeatedly lied about what isn’t really that big a deal.

-(Pardon the pun) He was a real dick in the way he dealt with the media.

-He didn’t know the people he sent the pictures to.

This is important to young people because aside from the jokes and the overly jaded political ideologues out there, young people are told that they should trust those in authority. They should be able to look up to “officials”, and emulate their behavior. At the very least, they should believe that those in authority are smart enough to know that you shouldn’t send pictures of your junk to strangers, and especially not to people who may be under-aged.

Further, the Weiner debacle serves as a cautionary tale against arrogance. He might be destroying his career because of the way he approached the media, first in his lie, and later in his arrogance.

When further asked if I thought Weiner should be fired or jailed, here are my thoughts on that. I live in California, not New York. I’m never going to be in a position where Anthony Weiner will be on my ballot. His behavior certainly will have repercussions with his wife, the House of Representatives, and with his constituents in New York, my involvement ends at helping young people to learn to avoid the mistakes that Weiner made.

 

 

A Day in The Life

I’m not a Beatles fan.  I’ve said that before, and I’ll probably say it again.  Sometimes, though– there just isn’t a better way to express what is going on in the world.

I read the news today, oh boy!

Story #1:  Student told to take U.S. flag off bike

Here’s the gist.  Cody Alecia flies a flag on his bike when he rides back and forth between school and home.  The school district tells him to take off the flag.  I wrote about a similar situation back in May, dealing with the students at Live Oak High School.  Click HERE to re-read that story.  My take back then was that these kids were trying to piss people off, but they were within their rights to do so.  My take on young Mr. Alecia is that this is a kid that is doing what he believes is right, and he is doing it in the exact right way.

I’ve told you for years now that you need to stand up for what is right and not allow people (adults) to sit you down and shut you up.  This young man may not have ever heard of or read Finance For Youth, but based on all the stories that have been in the news about him, he certainly follows the QUALITIES OF SUCCESS that I’ve been talking about for a few years now. 

That’s all well and good, but the surprising thing is that this was in the news.  Young people express themselves.  Some do it in a positive way.  Others do so in a less positive way.  The problem is that we adults have forgotten that there is a difference.

About a lucky man who made the grade..,

Story #2:  Charles Rangel Convicted of Ethics Violations

House Ways and Means committee.  You know, the group that writes the tax laws?  Charles Rangel used to be in charge of that group.  Charles Rangel has been a Congressman from New York for 40 some years, and has recently won reelection by a wide margin.  Charles Rangel has been found guilty of 11 charges that he broke the House ethics rules by doing things like:

• Asking for money for a personal project from people who were asking for things from Congress. 
  • In other words, let’s say you work for Walmart.  I come in and ask for an item.  The item is in the warehouse, but not yet on the sales floor.  While we are walking towards the area where the item should be, you and I start chatting.  You mention that you need to buy a new car because you have to take your mother to her dialysis treatments and to get her medicine.  I give you money to help you.  Right after, you go to the back and get the item I came in for.  Is there anything wrong here?  Maybe.  Wrong enough that there is a rule against it.
• Using House of Representative stationary to write letters asking for money for Rangel’s center. 
  • If Charlie Rangel asks for money on a regular piece of paper, then its just a guy asking for money.  When he does so using the company stationary, it sounds like the House of Representatives is asking for money.  I can say no to some guy.  I think twice about saying no to a big group.
• Misusing his Congressional staff to ask for money.
  • I pay Charlie Rangel’s staff.  I want them doing Congressional things, not writing letters asking for money for his personal ego center.
• Failure to accurately report financial reports.
  • The guy had a house in the Dominican Republic.  He didn’t pay taxes on it.
  • He had several rent-controlled apartments that he used as campaign headquarters.
    • Rent control means that there is a limit as to how much rent can be charged.  This program is designed to allow people who couldn’t ordinarily live in a neighborhood because of the price to move in.  Charlie Rangel has enough money that he shouldn’t even qualify for the program, yet here we are.

You can read all of the charges in their entirety HERE:  In addition to violating many of the aforementioned QUALITIES OF SUCCESS, Rangel has acted with great dirtbaggery.  He’s one of those that I had in mind when I recently warned you to be careful of who you follow.  Here’s the very worst part of it all.  Charlie said he never did anything to enrich himself.  He said he might be considered stupid, sloppy, or any number of other things, but not corrupt.  He was in charge of the group that writes the tax laws!  He cheated on his taxes!  He is stupid but not corrupt?  That is too much.

And though the news was rather sad, I just had to laugh…,

Story #3: Bush-era “Tax Cuts” set to expire.

I didn’t set a link for this one because there are so many links with differing points of view that I don’t want to pick one over the other.  Let’s just boil it down.

In 2001 and again in 2003, former President George W. Bush cut the amount of federal income taxes.  The congress at the time wouldn’t do it unless the cuts were deemed to be temporary, expiring NOW!  Nobody knew we’d be in the early stages of the greater depression at the time.  Everybody believed that happy times would be here again.

Fast forward to today and the outgoing Democrat Congress wants to make permanent the current tax rates.  For everybody except those who do most of the hiring and already pay most of the taxes.  They cloak their desires in words like “middle-class tax cuts” and “protect 98% of the tax payers”.  Here’s the fact.  As I said in an earlier POST it is your money.  What the government employees don’t understand is that it isn’t their money.  What they are talking about isn’t resetting the tax rates to the way they were when Clinton was in office.  They are talking about raising taxes on people who pay more taxes than anybody else.  I’m not rich, and I don’t even want to be rich, but I don’t begrudge those who have put in the hard work to become so the fruits of their labor.

What does it all mean?

There are other huge news stories, but I just couldn’t rehash all of them today.  I mean, I could but doing so would only serve to depress me more.  I don’t always like being right about this stuff.  I really don’t even like being able to sit back and see how all these pieces fit together, but here we are.

For you, there are some things that you should consider doing as well.

1. Educate yourself.  Sure, read F4Y, but then jump online to do some fact-checking.  I’m not going to tell you that I am the only answer out there.  I’m not even telling you that I’m the best answer.  If you read something that you think smells fishy, if you are like my friend here, eat it.  If not, verify it. 
   1. But don’t stop with F4Y.  Go out and learn what’s going on in the world.  I generally don’t cover news stories.  I don’t do so for a reason.  There are a bunch of websites out there that do cover the news.  I follow a bunch of them, so should you.
2. Understand that EVERYBODY has a point of view or bias.  I’m admitting mine, but there are many “news companies” out there tat are far less forthcoming.
3. Get out!  Get out and meet with others.  Talk with them.  Argue and disagree with them. 
   1. Disagree without being a dick.  Some of the most fun I have on Facebook comes from heated debates I have with people.  We disagree on almost every issue, but we can still find humor in life. 
   2. As much as I hate to admit it, I want you to turn off your computer and go meet real people.
   3. We have compartmentalized ourselves, separating ourselves from each other by using “social” media (Facebook, MySpace, et al), iPods with ear buds, Nintendo DSi, or anything else designed for individual usage.  I’ve already mentioned one way that I use social media to be, you know- social.

Given the tenor of this post, I’m afraid there is only one song I can end this post with.  The problem is that dislike of the Beatles won’t allow me to post one of their videos.  I’d like to thank the band Phish for allowing me to keep to my personal morals.

 

 

 

Annual Reviews

Most employees go through a process about once a year at work that is stressful, and sometimes painful.  Whether this happens on the anniversary of being hired or on some arbitrary day designated by the company, everybody knows when review time is.

More than telling you how you did over the year, these reviews generally also tell you how much of a raise, if any, you may expect, and whether or not you should be worried about having to look for another job soon.

I’ve been through several of these over the years, but it wasn’t until later in my career that the stress and fear was taken out of these procedures.  My dad used to tell me stories about how he never even read his reviews, and he just signed them in order to get out of the meeting.  I never had that kind of confidence.  I always wanted to know what my bosses thought about me so that I could improve.  Later in my career, I realized that my reviews had less to do with my actual performance and more to do with the politics of the company I worked for.  So I too started signing without reading my reviews.

Some of my reviews were pretty funny to read.  Reviews generally list your accomplishments during the previous year, your progress on meeting goals, and commentary from your boss.

At one company, I took a failing branch, made it more profitable than the home office, and forged relationships with the customers that were unprecedented, all of which made the institution more profitable.  This institution was a small institution surrounded by at least four other credit unions that would have been able to buy my credit union outright.  Many individual branches of these credit unions were bigger than our whole institution.  My rating indicated that I met expectations.  More humourous was the commentary that I was a sub-par employee, despite the fact that I saved the credit union from losing one branch, and made the credit union much money.

At another, I was named Employee of the Year.  Not Employee of the Month, or the Quarter, but of the whole year.  Weeks later, I was fired.

Many of my reviews shared a couple of traits.  The subjective portions were almost always slated as negative.  According to these, I was a slacker who barely made it through each year.  The objective portions told a different story.  I always far exceeded goals, made the company tons of money, and was positively viewed by my peers (but not management).  I know what a tough review is.

Today marks the anniversary of B.H. Obama’s most recent job position.  I think it is fitting that we look at his accomplishments, his successes, his failures, and what this past year has actually brought us.

I suppose we need to define what we are looking at when judging the President on his Job Performance.  I saw an e-zine article by ERIC SCHULTZ and I figured this was as good a place to start as any. 

I’m thinking that with a job so important, we should allow the President to set the terms of his review himself.  Candidate Obama issued several criteria on his  CAMPAIGN WEBSITE to judge himself by.  But that wasn’t President Obama.  For that, we turn to his own words, as spoken one year ago today in his INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift.  And we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.  We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.  We’ll restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.  We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.  And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.  All this we can do.  All this we will do.

Mmm, okay that’s a lot there.  Let’s start with jobs.  At the end of December 2008, unemployment was 7.4%.  Today, it is 10.0%.  I can’t think of any measure that calls that a success.  To be fair, Obama will say that he has created or saved millions of jobs and that the unemployment rate would have been much worse.  Economists will disagree.

Healthcare?  Obama’s signature “reform” has devolved into union payoffs, congressional buy-offs, and senatorial kick-backs.  By any measure, it will cost more money for more Americans than it will save.

Schools?  As an unemployed teacher, i can’t say he is successful here either. 

Apparently, we haven’t done it yet.

Let’s see what else.  He went the Olympic committee to bring the Olympics to the US.  Failed.

He went to Copenhagen to get world leaders to do more for “climate change”, he was told, “Okay, you first.  And you pay for us.”

Politifact has a bunch of other criteria HERE:

Campaigning for his people?  Ask Criegh Deeds, Jon Corzine, or Martha Coakley how they feel.

Given all of this, were Obama to be like all of us who work for a living, he should be scared.  Were it not for the fact that he has a four year contract, he would most likely not receive a second year.

To the young people of America

Just a few minutes ago, 60 OLD MEN AND WOMEN have told young people that their voice isn’t important.  These old men and women have told generations of young people to go to hell.  Today, these old men and women have moved one step closer to passing what they call insurance reform.

Some people might be reading this thinking that health care reform is a good thing.  They might be thinking that people won’t have to die now due to lack of insurance coverage.  That is exactly what these old men and women want you to think, but once again, they are lying to you.  So who does win here?

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has sold his principles for a pay-off.  Senator Nelson, who had principled objections to federal funding of abortions, decided that it was more important to make sure that Nebraska was permanently exempted from increases in Medicare prices. 

Let’s make sure we understand what is going on.  Medicare, which is an unsustainable federal program (which means it will go bankrupt), is in place to help seniors with medical care.  As the price of this care rises, 49 states will have increases.  1 will not.  The 49 other states’ premiums will necessarily go up even higher to make up the difference.  This will mean much larger tax increases to workers.  Especially younger workers.

But Senator Nelson isn’t the only person who sold out his values, sold out the American people, sold out young people for a political victory.

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and a favorite of big banks, Wall St., big mortgage lenders who don’t want to follow the rules, and a favorite of Bernie Madoff.  He was never an issue.  He was always going to vote for this F-You to young people.  But he did make sure he got a new hospital for his state. 

He believes that getting a new hospital will make the people forget that Dodd got special treatment from Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide, who were instrumental in causing the current economic problems we are facing today.  Good job, Chris.  Is it too much to ask that after being voted out in November, he is forced to work in his shiny new hospital?

Senator Harry Reid, from the great state of Nevada, shown here responding to the question, of what advice he would give to young people.  He’s another one who not only wanted this, but actively fought for it.  His only goal is to be re-elected and maintain a position of power that a failed boxer from Searchlight NV would never have.

This is not the only thing.  He has also worked out a way to exempt his state from Medicare increases.

Mary Landrieu, from the great state of Louisiana, sold her vote for $300,000,000 (Three Hundred-Million dollars).

There are others, but these are some of the bigger ones.  Why is this bill such a bad thing?  I can give you many reasons, but I’ll stick to a few right now.  Let’s look at what we are saying for the first time in history.  In order to be a legal citizen of the United States, young people (along with older people), have to purchase a product.  Young people are going to be paying more than older people for a product that they will have no access to the benefits of , since Medicare will be bankrupt by the time they are old enough to apply for it.

Reid and others have tried to paint this debate in terms of the Civil Rights debate.  So in Harry Reid’s mind, forcing people to purchase a product that they feel unneccessary is equivalent to unequal treatment based on race.  Bravo to one of the whitest men in government (douchebag).

Another issue is bringing up the name of this man.  The late Senator Edward “Teddy” Kennedy, from the state of Massachusetts was for public (increased taxes) funded health care.  It is bothersome that a member of one of the riches families in America wanted you to spend your money on a product to help insurance companies make even more profits.  If only the late Senator would have been for the health care of Mary Jo Kopechne.  Instead of driving her off a bridge and walking away from the scene to protect his political future, she might have lived.

 

1940-1969
Killed so that Ted Kennedy
Could fight to take your money
from the grave.

I’ve heard the argument that we already have to pay for car insurance, so what’s the difference?  Not everyone has to pay for car insurance.  Only those who drive a car need this insurance.  Pedestrians, bicyclists, and skaters don’t need it. 

While we are on it, young people have always had access to the best medical care available.  Emergency rooms are not able to refuse service.  That is the beauty of America:  Sure, medical care is expensive, and in most cases, you have to pay for the services you use.  But if you are sick or injured, or if you can’t pay, nobody is kicking you out into the streets for emergency care.  That won’t change, but now you will have to pay for coverage whether you can or not.

This isn’t over yet, but it soon will be.  There may be nothing that you can do about this for now.  But there is one thing that you can do in the future.  Whenever groups like Rock the Vote treat you like stupid, horn-dogs who can’t get past your genitals to see the truth, like the do in this video:

Next time they think you are that shallow, do the research and follow both the money and the logic.  The RTV people promise to never F you?  But they want you to go on lockdown until the government gets a chance to?  No thanks, RTV.  Most intelligent people can get it without blackmail.

 

 

Wait a minute! Who works for whom here?

My wife, who works for a financial institution, got a letter in the mail in response to an email campaign her company had protesting legislation that will hurt consumers.  Below is the letter she received, and after we will talk about the issue at hand:

Dear [Finance For Youth:  The Wife]:

Thank you for contacting me about overdraft protection fees.  I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue.

As you may know, the Federal Reserve recently announced that beginning in July 2010 financial institutions will be prohibited from charging overdraft fees on transactions at automated teller machines and on debit cards unless the customer consents to such overdraft protection.  It is important to note that customers will still have the option to enroll in overdraft protection if they so choose, but banks will have to contact the customer to explain their overdraft services, including the fees associated with the service.

The Center for Responsible Lending has found that overdraft fees have increased 35% in the last two years, and they estimate that 27 million Americans overdrew their checking account more than 5 times in a 12-month period, incurring fees that range from $10-$38 each time.  I find these fees to be excessive and will support legislation before Congress that sheds light on overdraft protection policies, requires banks to allow customers to opt-in to overdraft programs and restricts deceptive fees.

Although we may not always agree, I respect your views and they help me to better represent you.  I look forward to hearing from you in the future on this and other issues of importance to our community, our state, and our nation.

Sincerely,

Lucille Roybal-Allard
Member of Congress

 

Okay.  My first problem is the cost that the “honorable” Mrs. Roybal-Allard went through to tell my wife to F*** herself.  My wife, along with many others, sent an email to her representative.  Said representative would have done better to email her response at a significant savings to the tax-payer she claims to represent.  This would have saved on paper, ink, postage, and the time it took some secretary to write a form letter.  I mean, this is the 21st century, and one could easily assume that everyone who sends email has access to receive email as well.  STOP WASTING MY MONEY!

Now, anybody can look up Lucille Allard and find out that she is almost uniquely unqualified to be determining what happens between banks and their customers.  Like many other political “representatives”, she’s never had a real job.  Her life has been spent in Congress or government.  But she did get a little pile of money from the American Bankers Association.  Let me get this straight.  There is nothing wrong with getting money from the ABA, but I’m not sure I could take money from an industry and claim to be objective when passing legislation connected to that industry.  I’m pretty sure she can’t.

Now, on to the subject the legislation.  Right now, people have a checking account, possibly a small savings account, and maybe even a line of credit attached to it for the expressed purpose of overdraft protection:

Checking account:  $500.00
Savings account:     $1,000.00
Overdraft LOC:         $500.00

Now, let’s say that payday isn’t untill next week.  Rent is due tomorrow.  Rent is $750.00.  Plus, you also have a car payment due tomorrow (Wow!  Sucks to be you tomorrow!) in the amount of $300.00.  Well, you could transfer some money from your Savings account into your Checking account.  But what if you forget?  Well, assuming your accounts are linked properly (which isn’t hard to do), the money will move from your Savings into your checking.  Either way, you were covered, so far.

Checking account:  $0.00
Savings account:   $450.00
Overdraft LOC:       $500.00

Now let’s say that something catastrophic happens.  Your car breaks down and the bill to fix it is going to be $900.00.  Now let’s up the ante a little.  You find out that you need to buy a book for school, and school books being what they are, this book costs $75.00.  Obviously you don’t have enough money (there are still a few days until payday).  You wrote a check to the mechanic and asked him to hold it a few days, but who knows?  So what do you do?

Right now, you go to the book store and swipe your card to get your book.  You cross your fingers, hope your mechanic waited long enough, and get your book.  If all works well, your paycheck will hit your account before both of the debits do.  If not, guess what?  The bank pays your book charge for you anyways!  Of course, they charge you $20.00 for the convenience. 

Under the rules as Mrs. Allard would want them, one of a couple of things would have happened.  Let’s say your mechanic waited, but not quite long enough.  Your book purchase comes through okay, but the check you wrote is now returned NSF (Non-sufficient Funds).  You are charged a $20.00 fee anyway, and when you go to pick up your car, your mechanic won’t release it without payment.  But since you bounced a check from him, you now have to go get cash.  When you go to the ATM, you are limited to $500.00.  The mechanic takes your $500.00 and tells you to bring the rest of the money along with his hefty storage fee.

The other option, your mechanic doesn’t wait, and when you try to get your book that you need for school you are declined.  Unable to do the required work for the class, you jeopardize your grade. 

The thing is, these overdraft protection programs have been out for quite a while now.  Most everybody knows how they work, how to maximize them, and how to avoid paying as many fees as possible.  They are only used (in most cases) as they were intended:  As an emergency stopgap.

With the economy getting worse, and the likelihood of a lost generation on a larger scale than Japan’s lost decade getting greater, more and more people might need these products.  Still as an emergency, but emergencies happen every day.  The fact that the usage of these products has increased only tells us that they are needed. 

When banks are forced to stop offering these services, and the consumer has no more access to them, will Mrs. Allard realize that she did exactly what the banks wanted her to do?  “Oh sure, we’ll give you a line of credit, but the rate is going to be much higher because your credit sucks!”  My guess is probably not.  My guess and fear is that she, like other clueless, political whores (and I mean no disrespect to honest women and even men who sell sex for money or other valuables, nor do I mean to demean women in general) will simply move on to the next item on the list provided by her political contributors.

So, Mrs. Allard, again stop wasting my money.  Realize that you were put in office to represent me, not to tell me to screw off.  Right now you are in a safe district, but only because you and people like you have GERRYMANDERED the system and have dumbed down the voter.  This is changing.  I, and many more like me, plan to educate people in common sense, economics, and how to think for themselves.  We eventually will put someone on the ballot who is courageous enough to stand up to you and your pimp Political Action Committees.  Of course, you might also consider not pissing off experts in their fields (like my wife and myself) in favor of political contributors.  You also might consider going out and getting a job in the real world where you have to make and stick to a budget and hope no emergencies come up that are beyond whatever jobs you and your husband have, as well as the salary for a retired Marine Corps officer.