Dear Treasury Secretary Paulson,

I am writing from Main Street, so to speak, to let you know that our small business is in need of your assistance. While you've been so exceptionally generous in helping save the asses profits of the big guys, and I guess we will have to see how well that works out, we little guys are suffering too.

Instead of adding to the modest debt we have been working so hard to eliminate (and avoid), I am requesting that you send us a bailout grant of $50,000 $100,000 to recover the costs of all our outstanding accounts receivable. This amount comes from all the people who have not paid us for our products and services rendered, and frankly, I'm using the accounting tricks of the big guys to inflate that amount. What's fair is fair.

Without this expected income we are not able to pay our own bills from the suppliers and possibly won't be able to cover our payroll. It is very concerning that we might have to lay off our employee due to this problem, and that will hurt all of us.

As a small sole proprietorship, if we cannot pay our bills then those we owe can actually try to sue us for our home or other real assets. You surely realize these are much more serious consequence for us than any of the consequences for the CEOs of the failing financial services companies that you've already agreed to help. As far as I can tell, none of them will have their personal assets seized to cover their inability to keep their companies solvent, even if it is their own fault. Clearly, that is very unjust, don't you agree?

The amount we are requesting is such a tiny percentage of your previous "rescue" packages, and as such we believe that this very modest allocation will actually be very immediately effective in relieving our local economy.

However, out of our own benevolence and altruism, we are open to some negotiation. It might be acceptable to us to be absolved from all federal taxes for some period of time, measured in years not months. Please do consider this option. Although it is not really the most helpful for us, it is better than nothing.

I expect to hear from you or your representatives regarding our request as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rae Ann
Office Manager/Bookkeeper
[edited for privacy] Heating and Air Conditioning
Knoxville, TN

Viruses of the Soul

Title comes from a previous post, Broken-Hearted Savior.

Dawkins calls religion "viruses of the mind." The viruses of the soul are hubris, greed, and other purely human traits that separate us from God/Love. The war on religion and God that so many militant atheists are trying to fight is nothing less than an attack on the Freedom of Thought which is the root of our First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech and Religion. It's terribly unfortunate that 'distinguished' scholars can't or won't see that, ignoring it like a (spiritual) mole that is destined to become a malignant melanoma (of the soul).

As we've seen so dramatically in recent days and weeks, all these viruses of the soul have overwhelmed humanity and is seriously threatening its health overall.

Hubris, greed, intolerance, condescension, bigotry, hatred, maliciousness, treachery, and on and on and on. There are too many viruses that have overtaken most of the souls in the world.

I feel sick to my stomach knowing that there are so many evil, rotten people in the world and that they are somehow controlling us all. My heart is broken to see all the providential principles upon which our country was formed being throw in the trash. It breaks my heart to hear supposed allies betraying and belittling those of us who cling to our righteousness. Well, all you hateful and heartless atheists, see where you are taking things now? Are you happy to see all the good things die? Does the world really look like it's that much better without God, or faith in something other than your human hubris? I don't see it.

I don't want to stay in a world so full of pestilent souls. If there is such a thing as the Rapture, I want it now. The humanity is very, very sick and I want away from it.

O'Reilly Got His Groove Back!

I'm impressed. Bill seems to have regained the power of his testicles. ;-) (Apparently the code from Fox doesn't work here, so I'll look on youtube later. But right now I have to take a child to the dentist.)

http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/index.html?playerId=oreillyhomeplayer&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3129030&referralPlaylistId=bbeb11095dff273e354ffbd0dfa4c070c9e8730b&maven_dartZone=undefined&maven_dartSite=undefined

From Youtube:

Congressional Term Limits

It just hit me. The best solution and prevention of Congressional corruption and inefficacy is term limits. Let's demand it! Sign a petition if you like.

Dear Foreign Friends and Populist Comrades,

I do understand all of your concern about the current "crisis" in the US economy and that you are also very deeply concerned about how it will affect you and your own economies. Please don't assume that the American people don't care about you. We do. But we also would appreciate your understanding about our own reluctance to throw hundreds of billions of dollars into something that has not been adequately explained and justified. We Americans are generally pretty cautious and careful about demands for huge amounts of money without some assurance that it's not some exaggerated version of a Nigerian email scam.

I hope now that the Senate has passed its "rescue plan" (new name for "bailout" that's actually just their lipstick on the pig) and is sending it down to the House, all of you people around the world who have been throwing blame and hatred towards the "ordinary" Americans will finally begin to appreciate us and maybe even send us a little love for all the sacrifices we are going to make for the *global* economy's benefit.

I was thinking last night that perhaps, since it looks like the US economy is the cash cow that keeps the global economy fed, then perhaps we should just extend this socialism to everyone who depends on us. You know, if we fall, they all fall, so wouldn't it be fair to ask for all to contribute? If every man, woman, and child in America is going to have to be 2-3 thousand dollars more in debt to prop up the global economy, then why wouldn't it be fair to ask every man, woman, and child in the *world* to contribute about $50 which would cover about half of the original $700 billion. Well, what's fair is fair, right?

We "ordinary" Americans have had the weight of the world put on our shoulders and the strain is really too much. What we need right now, instead of blame and derision, is a little love and appreciation for our philosophical and practical sacrifices to join the populist socialist comrades around the world.

I'm willing to say that it isn't really the club that I wanted to join, and all of us "ordinary" and "populist" Americans have been involuntarily drafted into it. Generally, our true populism is not socialist nor communist in nature, and that is why America has been so different from the rest of the world. But now you might have some reason to celebrate our coerced conversion. Actually, it would be pretty nice to see some footage on the news of people around the world sending us praise and blessings, instead of all the previous scenes over the years of people cheering about our tragedies. Well, it's a nice but unrealistic thought.

So please, the next time you are thinking evil thoughts about all the selfish and stupid American masses, stop and try to remember that we are paying the largest price, philosophically and fiscally, to keep your world functioning. And while you're at it, the most helpful and constructive thing you can do is to write and send a $50 check to the US Treasury. That would be the best expression of appreciation possible, but I would personally be happy with a "thank you" or "bless you" or even "I love you." :-)

Sincerely,

Your Comrade (in name only), Rae Ann

PS Here is a video that I always thought had a socialist/communist look to it (but it's a great, fun song):

We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're, no friends of mine

Say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind

...

We can dance if we want to
We've got all your life and mine
As long as we abuse it, never going to lose it
Everything will work out right

I say, we can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine

I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything's out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We're doing it from pole to pole

We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody's taking the chance

...

"Emergency" Senate Pork

I've actually taken some time to read through the Senate version of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008". Every interested person who wants to express an "educated" opinion about it should actually read it.

The basic bill is not very different from the original House bill, but it's still full of porcine garbage. For example:

SEC. 117. CARBON AUDIT OF THE TAX CODE.
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to undertake a comprehensive review of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to identify the types of and specific tax provisions that have the largest effects on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and to estimate the magnitude of those effects.
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Academy of Sciences shall submit to Congress a report containing the results of study authorized under this section.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $1,500,000 for the period of fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

Now seriously, this is supposed to be the 'biggest national crisis' since the Great Depression, and they're wasting time talking about a "carbon audit" of the tax code? But that's not all of it. There's so much more, including funding for race tracks! (look it up!) Well, how about a carbon audit of the race tracks too? ;-)

On the more reasonable side, there are some extensions of some current but about to expire tax credits and other incentives meant to stimulate business. Those are supposed to make the socialism a little more palatable to the conservatives, but I think it still looks like lipstick on a pig that still stinks really bad. ;-)

As for that carbon audit at a cost of $1.5 million, I guess that's supposed to look like pocket change compared to hundreds of billions. Great. So some climate scientists will get more funding to waste time studying something that is completely irrelevant and unimportant.

My prediction is that this bill with pass the Senate tonight, and then it will go back to the House to have even more "emergency" pork added to it, and then back to the Senate again. But honestly, the way that everyone has chastised the "ordinary" Americans for not supporting the bailout is just scapegoating us because it's easy. But the real villains here are those Congress members who are delaying this "urgent" legislation to avert "catastrophe" by squabbling over carbon audits, wooden toy arrows, race tracks, "substance use disorder" benefits, TV and film production tax breaks, and lots of other non-emergency nonsense.

The Credit "Crisis" and Zombies

I read an article with a somewhat hyperbolic title, Main Street America angry over credit crisis. Here is an example of how the credit market has tightened in response to the over-extension of credit that has led to our current financial troubles:

David Zugheri, co-founder of Envoy Mortgage Ltd, which has 475 employees in 20 states, has also seen a big slowdown. He said 30 percent to 40 percent of prospective buyers who could have qualified for mortgages two or three years ago are being shut out.



"There has been a mad rush back to the basics and if you don't have the necessary documentation you cannot get a loan," Zugheri said. But he noted that not all credit is dead.



"If you have decent credit, a verifiable income and want a loan for under $400,000 it's business as usual."

Well, I think it's pure scare tactics and exaggeration when the President and the media are telling us that we won't be able to get any credit at all. What is happening now is exactly what needs to happen. The banks need use more discretion and tougher requirements for credit than the free-for-all orgy of credit that has been going on for about the last decade. People will have to learn to live within their means and to stop expecting to get credit that they don't really deserve. What ever happened to the wisdom that credit has to be earned?



The article opened with a story of a guy wanting to buy a new truck with a $3000 down payment. The trouble was that he owed more on the old truck than its trade-in value, and he couldn't get approved for a loan without more down payment. That always happens when you buy brand new vehicles. They are already overpriced, and as soon as you drive off the car lot they automatically lose at least 25-30% of their resale value. This is one of the problems with the auto industry. It costs so much to build the cars because the auto unions demand that the employees are paid $30/hr to make the vehicles. But in the real "free market" of used cars the actual value is much lower than the new ones, and so people always end up owing more than they are worth for several years. The lender knew that the guy with the $3000 down payment would still end up driving off the lot owing much more than what the truck was worth. The bank knew that if they had to repossess the truck then they would be stuck with a loss because they couldn't resell it for enough to cover the loan amount. That is the proper decision of a lender. But people have gotten so spoiled with all the too-easy credit that the banks, for whatever reasons, foolishly extended.



Harsh as it might seem today, I have to say that this whole push by Bush, Congress, and so many supposed capitalists for keeping that kind of credit orgy going is absolutely insane. And as Neil Cavuto described it, they've all been turned into some kind of government bailout zombies:







Neil, you're not all alone in feeling like you've entered into some kind of "Night of the Living Dead" Zombie-land. I feel it too. But there are still others like us, who haven't yet been infected by the zombie virus which apparently morphed from the toxic loans and became contagious.



Well, I guess we are on some kind of precipice to disaster either way. But must we have to choose between two evils? Do we really have to protect all the spoiled rotten people who can't bear to face the consequences of their irresponsibility and orgy of credit spending?



I'm a vicious momma, and that means tough love sometimes. I don't coddle my children and try to protect their feelings too much when they've made really bad decisions. I want them to learn to face the consequences of their freedom. Freedom means being allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. A good parent can't prevent every bad decision a kid makes, and a good parent can't really pay the price for them. If they do, the kids become spoiled and entitled and irresponsible. I love my children more than life, and they love me. We are very affectionate, but they know that I won't excuse a bad decision or bad behavior. They know that they must take responsibility and face the consequences. I don't want them to think that the government will do more for them than I will.



Part of America has become some kind of sub-nation of entitlement zombies. They think that are entitled to as much credit as they want, without having to earn it. They think that they are entitled to college educations, paid for by their parents and/or the govenment at huge expense. They think they are entitled to get a house and cars that they can't really afford. This is not a good economic strategy.



What is wrong with all the so-called free market conservatives who are trying so hard to preserve a totally unsustainable economic status quo by injecting some ungodly amount of money into it? It will only calm the credit junkies for a very short time. I remember when interest rates were in the double digits and when getting a mortgage required jumping through all kinds of hoops. We survived that just fine. We worked hard and earned what we got.



I'm so disappointed in how the world is turning out for my kids who will be saddled with this for the rest of their lives. Some of us are more prepared than others for hard times, but in today's world somehow we are seen as the bad guys or the selfish ones for expecting others to be responsible and prepared too. It's just not right. I have plenty of compassion and empathy for people in truly desperate places, but cruel as it might sound, there's not so much for those who've been reckless and foolish and have expected so many entitlements without earning them.



Whatever happens, it won't be painless. But by God, I'm not letting the zombies eat my brain.