political rant
Why does it bother us when companies spend bailout money?
I was adamantly opposed to the original wall street bailout now known as the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), which gave away around 800 Billion dollars. I was disgusted by the whole concept. I even went so far as to send out a massive amount of emails begging people to call their representatives and senators. And we were tremendously successful in showing our disgust and distaste. Of course our representatives didn’t listen to us because they knew we wouldn’t follow through with our threats and we promptly re-elected the clowns who shamefully gave away our money.
So now that these banks are given a fresh infusion of capital what do they do with it?
They spend it.
They spend it on corporate jets.
They spend it on corporate jaunts where they arrive on corporate jets.
They spend it on the naming rights of baseball stadiums where they can sit in luxury sky boxes.
They spend it on redecorating their offices.
They spend it on salaries for top executives.
And we have a problem with this because???
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican in the Senate Banking Committee tells us why we have a problem…
“But where you’ve got federal money involved, taxpayers’ money involved, TARP money involved, and the way they have spent it, with no accountability, is getting close to being criminal.”
And so now Obama and his newly appointed tax cheat, treasury secretary say that we should limit the executive pay of these banks to 500K per year.
Idiots.
I hated the bailout but now that we’ve given away money I say there should be no restrictions on how it is spent.
Why?
Because when it is spent it comes back to me.
When they buy airplanes California makes money.
When they visit San Diego for a week Sand Diego makes money.
When an executive gets paid 10 million dollars he spends millions of dollars. When and executive gets paid 500,000 he can’t spend millions.
Spending money is what gets the economy going.
The idea that the government can limit the pay of the successful is down right horrifying.
What have we become?
“It’s not fair that these guys make so much money!”
Evidently you don’t understand the meaning of the word fair. Would you think it “fair” to have your salary cut by 10%, 50%, 100%, 500%?
“500,000 is more than enough money to be able to live on.”
Granted. I will never in my life earn 500,000 a year (well maybe with inflation going the way it is I might). But think about people accustomed to earning millions per year now earning 500,000. What are they going to do? Make dramatic lifestyle changes. Meaning they will have to cut out of their budgets all kinds of things. You know what the number 1 thing people cut out of their budgets? Charitable contributions.
Remember getting that check from the government last year for 600, or 1,200 dollars? I didn’t ask for that check but they gave it to me. They gave you one too (assuming you’ve paid taxes). What did you do with that check?
I don’t care if you invested it, paid rent with it or put it on the spin of a roulette wheel, what you did with it is your business.
The government shouldn’t have given you it, but once they do they can’t tell you what to do with it.
“He’s gonna spread happiness. He’s gonna spread freedom.”
Freedom? Freedom? Freedom?
In another unrelated quote Obama said yesterday regarding the Senator Daschle debacle…
“We can’t send a message to the American people that we’ve got two sets of rules — one for prominent people and one for ordinary people,”
hmmm if we are all going to be held to the same standards then when are we all going to have our pay determined by the governement?
ANSWER: When the governemnt controls all the jobs.
And the unimaginable is now not so far fetched is it?
He’s gonna spread happiness.
He’s gonna spread freedom.
Obama’s gonna change it.
Obama’s gonna lead us.
He’s gonna change it and rearrange it.
He’s gonna change the world.
My Fav-5 Charger Memories
The Chargers beating the Colts on Saturday was an amazing game. But was it my all time favorite Charger memory? Read the rest of this entry »
NFL Playoff Predictions
It’s the classic situation where you might find yourself saying, “Stranger things have happened.” And yet as I sit here today the fact of the matter is that as far as NFL playoffs are concerned nothing stranger has ever happened.
The Chargers have been everywhere this season; I mean that in terms of both their play and their travel. They have been on a strange path to say the least, becoming just the first team ever to make the playoffs from a 4-8 record. Becoming the first team ever to overcome a 3 game deficit with 3 games to play. Becoming the first team ever to make the playoffs while a team with 3 more wins than they have stays home (hehehe).
And now the pre-season darling to win it all is right there in contention to, well, win it all.
But will they? I know the answer to that question and so much more in my magical look into the future… Read the rest of this entry »
Fresh brewed?
I’m having a bit of a chatoic morning. Mondays are usually a little busier than most days, hence the expression, “somebody’s got a case of the mondays.”
While I don’t think it’s that bad yet it appears to be well on its way. One of the things the really got under my skin today was a debate about how long coffee can sit on the burner and still be considered “fresh”.
Rather than explaining the circumstances of the debate and clouding your judgment I will ask some simple questions…
1) If you walked up to get a cup of coffee and knew the exact time that coffee had been sitting on the burner, what is the minimum number of minutes you would feel that coffee has been there too long and a new pot is in order?
2) What duration of time sitting on the burner do you feel the freshness and quality of coffee has been compromised?
3) If you are person who adds things like sugar, sweetner, cream or milk does the acceptable time change? If so, how?
4) How long do you think places like starbucks, dunkin donuts, 7/11 and your average gas station keep their coffee out before brewing a new pot?
5) If someone tells you at coffee is “fresh brewed” how long ago do you think the coffee was brewed?
Ok so I realize these questions sound similar in many regards but I really feel that injustice is occuring this morning so please give me your honest opinions and include what kind of coffee drinker you are (i.e. black, sugary, ceamy, social, emrgency, starbucks latte dotte, etc).
Doing it by the book
So I was throwing out some trash and I uncovered the fantasy football magazine that I had paid 8 bucks for this past summer to help prepare me for the FFL season. Just for kicks I thought I would take a look at some of their projections and compare it with how things actually worked out.
ok, ok, so only a nerd would do something like this and only a nerd would enjoy it. So if you’re a nerd, this post is for you… Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s Make Like George Clooney And Solve This Thing
There is extreme chaos in fantasy land and so in an effort keep our inboxes a little less cluttered I have volunteered my site to act as a message board for all commentary regarding the conundrum. I ask that Bruce S please not read this post because we are discussing the possibility of requesting you as an unbiased mediator. If that is the case then you reading the comments could taint your judgment.
My Top Ten Movie Theme Songs
The other night we went to see the IMAX version of Eagle Eye. One of the great features of IMAX movies is that they don’t have 20+ minutes of previews even before the previews. Instead we were sitting there staring at a blank screen. However while the screen was blank the room was far from silent because they had a delightful compilation of movie scores playing.
I love movie soundtracks and often hear them playing in my head while performing different everyday tasks.
Have you ever run to the theme from “chariots of fire“, or heard the ominous “da-da, da-da” of Jaws while swimming? Of course you have, and so have I.
So as I sat and enjoyed the miscellaneous themes I was inspired to consider my own top-ten list of movie sound tracks and to post them for all of my faithful readers. Before you get all bent out of shape regarding my selections allow me to break down the criteria I used for this list. First consideration goes to the title track; the main theme of each film. Is it instantly identifiable with the film? Secondly I excluded all musicals. Third, they did not have to be original compositions for the film (3 are not), but if they are not they have to be MORE identifiable with the film than with their original purpose. Fourth, does the song play in my mind on a semi-regular basis for no particular reason? And finally if the movie had a bonus of an amazing soundtrack this helped to compensate for title score deficiencies. Read the rest of this entry »
Padres Cold-Hearted Stove
As my loyal readers know I have been the most staunch Padres apologist over the years. I always see the glass as half full. I always anticipate things will turn around. I always believe the Padres are committed to and are going to win the world series. And while last season was an abysmal display of Padres baseball from the top down I was convinced that the mistakes were minor enough that the core of this team could quickly rebound and contend. Read the rest of this entry »
2008 Elections: What I care about. part 2
Way back in January I wrote a post about what I care about in this upcoming election. Well that election is in a few hours so here is the scorecard of my issues and how the top 2 candidates rank…
Bail out of the bailout!
I am very proud of the brave men and women who actually did their job and represented the people who put them where they are by refusing to vote for this horrible misuse of taxpayers money.
It has to stop. If it means 5 to 10 years of financial struggles for the country than so be it. Suck it up.
Nancy Pelosi is ticked off because she stands to lose millions of dollars in stock if we, the taxpayers, don’t loan her our hard earned money.
Well Mrs. Pelosi and the rest of you evil, greedy, “lawmakers” let me say this in paraphrasing a well known Alaskan governor…
“Thanks, but no thanks on the bailout to nowhere!”
