Friday, January 29, 2010

Make it Stop! Make Him Stop!!!




A close friend pointed out that my anger lately at the President seemed a little, er, obsessive.

Ok fine, I moved to city where I barely know anyone and I work from home and have a lot of fee time to read the news ok?

I decided she had a point especially after I realized how angry today’s news made me.

My blood pressure reached dangerous levels when I read about how the White House asked the GOP to allow the news media into his meeting with them. So instead of having a real discussion and making peace he turned it into a news event. The guy never stops campaigning. You can’t be bipartisan with TV cameras on. Both sides blew the one real chance at any real dialogue because they were trying to get in pretty soundbites for their campaigns. That's what polticians DO when you point cameras at them. The President, who was born with a microphone coming out of his mouth, KNOWS THIS - he KNEW it would tuen into the debacle that it did. The guy has no intention of ever reaching out and changing how DC works...Does everyone see that now? Oh, one more thing - Republicans, who are your political advisors? The Tasmanian Devil and Elmer Fudd ? How stupid where you to walk into this trap?

ANYWAY, so I put myself on a news blackout. I can’t change anything by having daily heart attacks so why bother. No more. Nein!

SO…. since my beloved Syracuse Orangemen are 19-1 and may very well be ranked #1 next week, I decided to read about them on ESPN.com
And I saw this headline:

"Obama administration exploring legality of BCS"

AAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Is there any friggin part of my life you WILL STAY OUT OF, OBAMA!?!?

*&%^%^$%$er, ##@#@%^*&^(*()&*&^&%er, ^%^^%$$$$$#$#$#@$@#$@$#@!@$%#^%!!!!

Oh wait, you did choose to stay out of helping me with my mortgage after I lost my job through your stupid useless program....

Actually, oddly enough, this won bipartisan support from Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah whose team was passed over for the title game...Hope and Change, baby!!!

Please, please leave my sports alone. Leave me this one thing.

Just.
This.
One.
Thing.

What are you going to do next - tax rounds of golf?

Sigh.

So many of my posts end with that these days.

Just...

Sigh.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Sigh



There were a few points that riled me up in the State of the Union tonight, but for now, Im putting those aside.

I really wish he had just said:

"Im inviting, no, wait, I'm the President - I'm ORDERING, the Congressional leaders of BOTH parties to the White House, you petulant botoxed millionaire children that you are, and we are going to lock ourselves in a room for a week and figure out what we agree on, what we can get done.

Then you will go back and do it and announce it together so people have faith in government again. 7am tomrorow. Wear comfy clothes. Lunch will be provided from the White House Garden but we're going halfiies on dinner - its a recession people. See ya". Sigh. O well.

At this point throw us a small bone like a bill that just does ONE thing -
like get rid of the pre-existing conditions clause for health insurance -
no add-ons, no special clauses just ONE THING.

It would mean so much right now. That would be change I could beleive in.

Sigh. One can hope.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Adventures in Landlording




My political ranting on the blog of late is due to a combo of my boring new life here in NC and our ridiculous leaders but finally, I have some good blog fodder from my new tenants.

So my phone rang with the dreaded caller ID of my new condo tenants today. They moved in on the 15th. Today is the 24th. I made it 9 days.

He called to tell me he shower wasn’t working.

Water was coming out of the sink. Hmm, so there is water coming into the condo – that’s good sign.

I Think to myself "HOW DO YOU BREAK A SHOWER IN 9 FRIGGIN DAYS?"

He tells me the dial to turn on the shower is at 6 o clock.

Hmm, well that’s great and all but you do realize you have to pull the dial OUT to turn on the shower right?

Tenant " "

I hear rushing water coming through the phone.

Has he not taken a shower in 9 days?

Ok, send the rent check…byebye

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Safe on First


Tip O Neill, former Democratic Speaker of the House in the 80's when things were slightly more civil, tells a story on compromise in his biography. Its about a baseball game where the Umpire calls a runner safe on Second base. The managers both run over to argue with the Ump. There is a lot of back and forth and fighting until the Ump calls over all the players and asks:

“How many people think the runner was safe on 2nd base?"
The runner’s team raises their hands.

“How may people thought he runner was out at 2nd?”
The opposing team raises their hands, not one hand is raised from the other team.

He then asks:

“How many people thought he was safe when he rounded first base?”
Every one raises their hands so the ump sends the runner back to first

I am against the health Care BILL not health care reform. Everyone should have access to health care. I am against the current bill which just adds more people to a bad system and was negotiated with a series of bad back room deals.

Obama said it himself yesterday – and for the 1st time this is the guy who sounds like the one who campaigned on bipartisanship.

"I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on," Obama told ABC.

"We know that we need insurance reform ... We know that we have to have some form of cost containment," he said. "And we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance for their families. Those are the core, some of the core elements of this bill."

On both side there is agreement on certain issue like insuring preexisting conditions and cutting costs (which allows more access) etc.

Let’s go back to first base and re-write the bill - it wouldn’t be failure, it would be victory for everyone.

If the President can’t explain the next version of the health care reform bill to us in less than 3 bulleted PowerPoint slides, then start over again. And again. Let’s get it right, not get it fast.

And just in case you think I have gone soft – the fact that we have an employer based health care system is due to the meddling of the Federal government in the private sector during WWII. See everything has a consequence. SO therefore let’s be careful what we let the government do now for fear of the unintended consequences later.

"How we got our Health Care system (or 'a cautionary tale on why the government shouldn’t tell companies what to pay their employees...')":

In 1942, the US set up a National War Labor Board. It had the power to set a cap on all wage increases. But it let employers circumvent the cap by offering "fringe benefits" - notably, health insurance. The fringe benefits created a huge tax subsidy; they were treated as tax-deductible expenses for corporations, but not as taxable income for workers. The result was revolutionary. Companies and unions quickly negotiated new health insurance plans....And we ended up in the mess we are in now... http://www.truthout.org/121508R

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Morning Tirade (unfurling the Don't Tread on Me flag today)

I didn’t want this to be a political blog but I cant hold back anymore. If I can educate even ONE person on the lies of omission by Obama , I will have done one good thing.

Don’t believe the Main St vs Wall St campaign lies coming out of this guys speeches.

The banks giving bonuses PAID THEIR MONEY BACK WITH INTEREST TO THE GOVT- it NOT YOUR TAXES. "The government has taken profits of about $1.4 billion on its investment in Goldman Sachs, $1.3 billion on Morgan Stanley and $414 million on American Express. The five other banks that repaid the government...each brought in $100 million to $334 million in profit."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/business/economy/31taxpayer.html
ttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/business/economy/10tarp.html

Citi and Bank of America paid back in December. It’s the auto industry and AIG that haven’t paid back – why not focus on them?

And Obama wants to tax the banks that DIDNT TAKE ANY MONEY. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/14/politics/main6096968.shtml

"We're not going to let Wall Street take the money and run. We're going to pass this fee into law," Obama vowed...http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE60D1PA20100116

What did they take and run? They PAID IT BACK! aaaaaaahgghh! Is anybody checking the facts?

Please find me the line in the constitution that says the federal government can and should have a say in how much a PRIVATE COMPANY pays its employees? Or was that a line from some document in the Soviet Union or Cuba?

You: "But Obama says we want our money back?"

Mr. Hope and Change is just as bad as any other old ordinary politician.

He is using your fear and ignorance and soundbites to make you think that Wall Street bankers are using your tax dollars for bonuses. They aren’t! He is trying to sway the voters of Massachusetts to vote for the Democrat. That’s all this is - look at the timing.

He never had a press conference last summer to announce the bank pay backs. He doesn’t want you to know the government made Billions in profit when the money was paid back.

Why is Mr. Unite using divisive politics to pit us against one another? So someone makes a heck of a lot more money that you because they work on Wall Street. Stop whining, go get a finance degree and join them if you are so angry. You have a choice (for now, who knows what industry is next on the government’s radar?

This is not good policy that will help our country - this is just poltiics. All this is is a warm up to the elections in November - he is trying to brand his party as the party of the people and the Republicans the party of the rich.  Meanwhile there are 237 millionaires in Congress (who each make $175k a year plus expenses) and the President makes $400k a year in pure profit since he has no rent or expenses either. Why isn't anybody taxing THEIR pay?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Happy Anniversary - Heck of a job, Barry

1 year later - it’s a little harder to govern than it is to talk pretty words, ain't it?

Promise: More transparent government and open health care debates
Candidate Fluffandstuff: "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN..."

BROKEN - with all those closed door deals (Cornhusker Kickback and The 2nd Louisiana Purchase)and vote buying done in secret

Promise: No tax on the middle class

BROKEN with support of health care tax

My favorite quote from Candidate HopeyChangey:
"And I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase – not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. My opponent can’t make that pledge, and here’s why: for the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits Apparently, Senator McCain doesn’t think it’s enough that your health premiums have doubled, he thinks you should have to pay taxes on them too." 9/12/08

AP January 6, 2010
"Obama OKs taxing high-end health plans" (Lots of people in these plans make less than $250,000 - see above)

Promise: No former lobbyists in the White House

BROKEN - Exemptions and former lobbyists now serve in the White House
("Obama skirts own ban on employing former lobbyists in White House" - http://www.tampabay.com/news/article984866.ece)

While this wasn't a campaign promise, it was an early failed policy by Mr. RanibowsandUnicorns - one of the 1st well intentioned (hope!) but not well executed proposals (change!)...
Mortgage Relief: The Obama housing plan allocated $75 billion for a program identified as "homeowner stability imitative." Obama says in a speech this will help roughly three to four more million homeowners (actually in some speeches he said 7-9 million would be helped!).

Reality: As of early December, less than 5 percent of the more than 700,000 homeowners enrolled in the program had moved from initial to permanent loan modification. And some 30,000 homeowners who entered the program either dropped out or were disqualified (I was one of those who gave up).

Last time I checked, 5% of 700,000 was 35,000 and does not equal 3-4 million.

Plus this President seems to be waging a war on capitalism instead of terrorism...

...for no other reason that "Main Street versus Wall Steet" is a politically popular schtick (meanwhile Al Qaeda is packing their underoos with C4 and getting on our airplanes).

I don't have time to go over the rest of the promises broken by Mr. "I'll say what's popular to get elected". I still make 40% less income than I did a year ago, I need to chase down some leads and close some business before President SunflowersandTeddybears dreams up another tax.

Happy 1 year Anniversary (2 days early), Mr. President. While you are buffing your Nobel Peace Prize, some of us are trying to make a living here and you really aren't doing much to help us.

***Not my best writing -somewhat disjointed, but I am frustrated this guy is still getting such a pass on this stuff and I peck away to feel better. I didn’t type in the source info for everything above (no one pays me to do this,  so there) but everything was fact checked online. All true - Google it yourself. You will find more broken promises from Mr. PuppiesandPandas.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Bill Collector

One of my favorite work stories...

This week is the lead up to the 1 year anniversary of my layoff and the reason for the blog so I was looking back on my time at the company that will not be named (I don’t want to violate my non-disparagement clause).

Like some service companies, we bill our clients in "arrears".

Arrears billing just means you pay for your services AFTER you have received them.

I was asked to chase down a late payment from a client of mine and asked my colleague to send me any email exchanges she had with the client so I could have all the info I needed to make the call.

The email sent to the client said something along the lines of - Your payment is late…yadda yadda and

"Company X BILLS IN THE REAR"

Er?

I wouldn’t have paid my bill on time either!

I called my colleague over and maturely (for me) stifled a giggle and asked:

Me: "Did you spell check this before you sent it out?"

Employee X: "Yes"

Me: "Um, read this line...."

Employee X: "Yea, so what? Company X bills in the rear. That’s right isn’t it?"

This was a younger colleague so I miraculously managed somehow to not fall off my chair laughing and thought I’d play the part of the grown up and use it as a teaching moment...

Me: "Did you mean "arrears" not in the rear?"

Employee X: " "

Me: "Ohhh, you thought the term was ‘bill in the rear’ instead of ‘billing in arrears’ didn’t you?"

I had an image of the client laughing his rear off at that email.

The one colleague I confided this story to (cause I would have exploded if I had to keep it to myself) told me she was on a call a few days later with ANOTHER young coworker and he used the same term “We bill in the rear...”!

Somehow I was the one laid off...

***I apologize to the innocent but I never actually revealed to anyone (minus one person) who Employee X was AND it wasnt ever really the fault of Employee X as it sounded like there was some broader mis-understanding of the term "arrears" around the old bowl, er, I mean office***