Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Gas Tax

I had a conversation with a friend a month ago about the price of gas and taxes on it. My position was that if gas stayed low very long the Dem's would start talking about taxing gas to raise revenue and discourage people from buying suv's and driving more. Sure enough I turned on CNN a couple of days ago and they were talking about some in congress talking about raising taxes on gas for the above reasons. This makes no sense at all. The lower gas price is giving Americans hundreds of millions in savings. Money they all need to make ends meet. A gas tax would hit lower and middle Americans the hardest . If the new Obama administration allowed this they would be breaking their promise of not taxing the middle class. The economy is in a fragile place and any new taxes in any form would just make things worse. Pay attention to this issue and let your representatives know where you stand.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Auto Bailout

The government seems determined to bailout Detroit. If we ( and yes its not the government but you and I ) bailout the auto industry where does it stop. Yes we bailed out the banks which I also think was a mistake. The autos have dug their own hole. Lack of vision by the executives not understanding where the market was headed in regards to small cars. Too many demands by the unions over the years and legacy costs that the auto makers cannot deal with. Until recently sub-par performance compared to the foreign car makers. The real point is there are too many auto makers. We have several foreign car makers making cars in the U.S. and three domestic makers. That is too many. The market alone should decide who survives. Tell me what you think. Should the auto companies be bailed out ?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Tax Holidays

There is alot of talk about how to get the economy going. One of the ideas is for states to have sales tax holidays. A sales tax holiday is when you can shop on certain days and pay no sales tax. I question if this really works. If people are not shopping when stores are marking down items 60 % then why would 6-8 % make a difference. We have a tax holiday in Illinois when the kids go back to school , but that is stuff we would buy anyway. So my question to all of you is if a sales tax holiday really makes a diffence to you. Don't get me wrong if there is something I need and I can save the tax great. I just wouldn't go buy something just because of tax holiday. Let me know what you think!!! Good government policy or just a gimmick ?

Friday, December 26, 2008

Stimulas Package

It is now getting ridiculous . When do stimulas packages ever work ? Now the new Obama administration is talking about a 850 billion dollar stimulas package. It will end up more around 1 trillion by the time its done. All we are doing is loading up our children with mountains of debt that they may never be able to pay back. It would be much better to bite the bullet now and let the economy fix itself. The government is not an efficient spender of money. Never has and never will be. We are either a free market society or we are not. If we are not then we are headed for socialism. Looking at Europe that should scare every American . We are also setting ourself up for huge inflation down the road. With the mounting deficits we will see the dollar weaken and inflation will accelerate as the economy comes back. We should let the economy work its own problems out without government involvement. Let me know what you think , should the government get involved or do you want the markets to work it out.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Pardons/ Good or Bad ?

Looks like another 19 pardons were handed out by the Bush Adminstration. The latest poll I saw showed 65% of Americans think pardons are a bad idea. I have to agree with the majority of Americans. It seems like a missuse of power ( although legal and done by every departing president) to undo sentences that a court and jury have decided upon. Now there may be some cases where new evidence has come to light that can justify pardons, but it seems pardons are handed out like candy at Christmas when a president is leaving office. The first thing that should be done is eliminate pardons the last year of the presidency. The reason they wait till the end of their last term is to not suffer the backlash from the public and other side of the political isle. By waiting to the end of their last term they don't really have to answer to anyone. If they had to issue pardons before their last term they would have to stand up to the political and social pressure for their actions. Making them announce pardons before their last year would at least make sure they can justify it. Tell me your thoughts on pardons ?

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Government Failure/ Credit Card Protection

Once again our government on both sides of the aisle have failed in their responsibility to protect the American taxpayer. The new credit card protection for consumers will not take effect until 2010. It could have been passed and put into law as of 2009 and stopped the credit card companies from raising rates on millions of americans. With so much time until the legislation goes into law you can bet the credit card companies are already speeding up plans to stick it to all of us. This is the kind of thing all of us should be upset about. Call your local congressman or woman and demand that the credit card reforms happen right now. These politicians serve all of us and we should never forget it. If they won't protect us from the loan sharks in the credit card business then they should be voted out. Call today and raise some you know what!!!!!!!!!!