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By JBM, September 4, 2010 6:35 am

The following is an article detailing some overall saving statistics among baby boomers:

Boomers Going Bust

Notice the median value of retirement accounts from ages fifty-five to sixty-four is one hundred thousand dollars.  Can you recall twenty years ago when grandma passed away and she had the same amount in her savings account?  Also can you remember how many years since then that medical costs went up thirty percent a year?  That spells doom for baby boomers.  At a minimum it spells no retirement.

One major problem that has led to this is our reliance on the stock market for savings.  What many people now understand is that  the stock market is one hundred percent risk.  A one percent interest rate, which is pretty high nowadays, would have been better for savings, than losing forty percent of it in the recent downturn.  Note that the Dow Jones first hit ten thousand in March of 1999, and it sits there today.  Wall Street made a killing off of personal retirement funds, and individuals lost the farm.

The second major problem is Social Security.  This program was designed to supplement the income of the elderly in case of disaster.  It was designed to feed retirees if they had severe financial problems, in other words, a last resort to prevent financial devastation similar to what occurred during the depression.  Fiscal conservatives knew it when Social Security was implemented, and know it still today:  Handing people money changes their behavior.

The baby boomers had the greatest opportunities of anyone in American history for income growth.  Jobs in many sectors of the economy flourished from the 1960s through the 1990s.  There were many years of high interest rates, such as 6.5%, on savings accounts.  But the fact that social security was waiting in the wings for them meant they would never save their money. They learned the bad lesson from their parents that  Social Security, designed as an emergency stipend, could be used as a primary income source.   Yes, a primary income source if one loves to live a life of  near destitution.  So we continually hear stories that grandma cannot afford her medication.  Now, mom and dad are never going to retire, never going to get a chance to just sit back and relax, and enjoy the fruits of their lifetime of extremely hard work.  They thought that SS was going to pay all of their bills.  Keep in mind we have not had severe economic conditions until the economic collapse of 2008.    In my mind, Social Security has caused people to live in squalor, even though the conditions of the Great Depression, until now, have never repeated themselves!

The strange thing is that although Social Security has actually caused poverty, the same poverty it was designed to prevent, few people will consider making any significant changes to it.  This is called the public being on the government dole.  Everyone gets a government payment now, so even fairly fiscally conservative people want to make sure they get as much of the payoff as possible.

Far be it for me to criticize without suggestion a solution, which is to offer social security as optional. The politicians can talk all day long about the greatness of this program, but how about freed om of choice?  (Do not tell Nancy Pelosi or President Obama, but “choice” only exists for killing babies in their mind, and real choice should never exist:  The government knows best.)   Let us give a generation of people the choice of Social Security or not Social Security.  After forty years of observation we can empirically compare the lifestyles of those that opted into the program and those that opted out.  Those with the better lifestyle will prove that their decision was correct.

Along with allowing people to opt out of SS, the populace needs a steep education on money.  All Americans must save more.  Our real wages, with the collapse of 2008, have taken a permanent dip.  Unemployment is here to stay, part time jobs are here to stay, the ability to increase ones standard of living is going to be extraordinarily difficult from here on out.  Thus, personal savings are the key.

As part of the Social Security Opt-Out plan, the government shall mandate that the employer contribution be paid to the employee.  I will gladly take a 15% raise, and will no doubt prove that I can do much more with this money than the federal government of the United States.

JBM

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By JBM, August 21, 2010 1:45 am

I highly respect this man and here is why: He is talking common sense. It is utterly negative and sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it all seems to match up to reality. I know little about economics, but have been telling friends for over a year that the federal spending is going to lead to a ten dollar head of lettuce at the super market. Even the citizens who voted for the people that put this colossal debt in place will be angry and highly motivated when they cannot fill their shopping cart. Batten down the hatches because the government is doing everything to create these problems while at the same time telling us how much improved the economy is. I know when I am being completely swindled, and like Celente wonder what the analysts are looking at. Every day the paper shows, “Unemployment claims rise unexpectedly.” Unexpected? For whom? Like Celente said how can fuel not be part of the inflation numbers? I paid a buck fifty for gas ten years ago and now gasoline has settled at three dollars. How can this not affect the average person significantly? The answer is: It is affecting us and not being reported. ”Jive Talk.” Right on Celente.

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By JBM, August 13, 2010 2:50 pm

I do not care to get political most of the time but I want to address a Time reader taking a potshot at former governor Sarah Palin:  ”Why can’t people cut the President some clack? Do they remember what he was handed? Did they expect the economy to rise out of the ashes in the first year? Obama is obviously committed to health care, the economy and other concerns. He’s not out playing golf, vacationing at Camp David or quitting halfway through his term like certain governors we know”  Randy Pettit, Elyria, Ohio from Time Magazine, August 16, 2010.

To Randy:

1) The people should expect that with the largest corporate and government payouts in all of history, that the economy should improve significantly.  The economy is now tanking again after little improvement, making most of the president’s major financial actions completely ineffective.  If we realize that the these huge payouts could result in deflating the value of the dollar, and that as a result we may be paying ten dollars for a head of lettuce in a few years, these actions may result in absolute catastrophe.

2) Please see CNN’s observation of the unofficial White House statistician.  President Obama, very early in his presidency, has already played more rounds of golf that President George W. Bush played in his eight year presidency.

President Obama plays more than Bush

I do not have explicit feelings about Sarah Palin leaving the governorship and I am sure there are many factors that contributed to this, such as her want of the presidency, and the distraction of the perpetual ethics charges against her by her political opponents.  I can say this:  The presidency overtly affects me, the Alaskan governorship does not.  Randy you appear to be a clear fan of President Obama, and that is fine.  However, I wonder if you are interested in opening your eyes to the realities of today.  Now that you know that during the worst recession in our lifetime, and through the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, that the president has played more golf than an eight year president, do you have any concerns for the country’s short-term future under President Obama’s rule?

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By JBM, August 8, 2010 12:59 pm

Charitable giving is ubiquitous in America, a phenomenon of the highest level.  Americans seem to have an inner feeling of always wanting to bring a better life to those around them, whether the answer is food, clothing housing, medicine, or other special services, we are perpetually called to provide these goods and services for literally anyone in need.  There is no doubt that Americans are the greatest givers in the history of mankind.  We love our work, do not mind being workaholics, and are happy to buy consumables as well as give freely to charities of all sorts.  I am quite worried though that our levels of charity are causing a great deal of harm.  There is simply too much charity today and not enough opportunities for people to take care of themselves. I hereby leap from the cliff and make the argument that most charity is bad.  I clearly risk the reader thinking that I am a horrible person but my possible reward is making people think think quite differently about what the United States truly needs.

Cancer

The money flowing into cancer charities must be spectacular by any count.   Quick Internet searches indicate that the American Cancer Society alone has put several billion dollars into cancer research through its history.  The list of cancer charities has grown much larger in recent years as people have it in their forethought to cure the mysterious illnesses classified as cancers.  However, what is the reality of cures and advancements in cancer medicine versus the dollars taken in?  The most popular treatments are radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy.  According to Wikipedia, radiation therapy for cancer has been around since the late 1800′s!  Chemotherapy and surgery, while helpful, seem medieval in how they attack the human body.  For all of the donations, what has truly helped cure people of cancer?  The answer is early detection.  Yes, age-old, visit the doctor once a year, and have standard tests performed based on the patient’s gender and age. By doing so, one can catch the cancers that commonly afflict people who are similar to you.  Once a cancer is caught early, many times it is eliminated with the old barbaric cures I listed above.  There you have it in a nutshell:  Catch the cancer early, and attack the little blob before it gets out of control.  Now I want the reader to compare and contrast these treatments against the billions of dollars flowing into cancer charities and research.  If cancers overall are not being cured, where is the money going? I am certainly not new to introduce the concept of “The Inefficient Charity”:

American Cancer Society: The World’s Wealthiest “Nonprofit” Institution

One would think that charity funds, whenever possible, would be directed to research or to those individuals suffering from the affliction. This recent Wall Street Journal article points out that a great deal of charitable money may go to attorney fees atsome charities:

Charity Brawl: Nonprofits Aren’t So Generous When a Name’s at Stake

If a charity rides the coattails of another charity by infringing on a trademarked name, and collects more money as a result, does it matter to the victims of the affliction? Why would a charity be so vehement in protecting its name if it has the identical interests of helping the afflicted? I fear the answer is the same as always, “Follow the money.” The money provides salaries, jobs, and a certain lifestyle for those working for the charity. I question that charities with such selfish needs are truly charities. The major charities have overtly grown into businesses but we do not call them such.  They have a selfish interest to support themselves above any cause such as a cure for the afflicted.  Even comfort for those suffering comes secondary to many charities.

United Way

With layers upon layers of management, and six-figure salaries galore The United Way has taken its share of criticism from people like me.  I ask the average reader, do you make a six figure salary?  If not then why would you give to a charity to support its six figure salaries?  If you have read my writings you already know that I am not an anti-success or jealous person. On the contrary  I would like all hard workers and entrepreneurs to become wealthy so that they may take care of their own.  I simply find it impossible to identify large bloated organizations with huge salaries  as “charities”.  United Way is even a “pass through” charity, meaning they give money to other charities while taking a cut of the money for themselves.  This poses another question, why not give directly to the charities and leave out the middle man?  The United Way is a business.  It is supported by, among other things, coercive efforts in major corporations where employees are highly pressured to give to United Way.  Many workers find it mandatory to fill out Untied Way donor cards even if they never give to the charity, an embarrassment of a high order.  Clearly the management of major corporations makes efforts to pad the pockets of their executive friends at the United Way.  I find my personal experiences with coersion as downright repulsive and I dare call the corporate efforts “evil.”

The Bible has always set a good example as the moral examples in it always best any alternate ideas that modern man creates.  The Old Testament sets the example of a ten percent tithing to the church, and the New Testament reinforces the general idea of giving of oneself to the less fortunate.  While church hierarchies are full of politics and even abuse of funds, when I see my local church feeding and clothing people who live down the street from me, I cannot help think of the church as a worthy donee.  Church services are perpetuated mostly by volunteers and thus make an efficient charity.  There are other examples of efficient charities but I hesitate to present names as I find myself disagreeing with people over the same organization.  And debate is good as I really do not know a charity’s effectiveness without looking at the books.

What would I suggest if Americans were to pull a great deal of funding out of the non-profit segment?  The following article is the piece that helped me decide to put my overwhelming and negative thoughts about charity onto paper, or screen as it were:

Job Creation Is the Very Best Charity

I agree fully with this letter to the editor and understand that to some, this argument may sound like a hard-core right wing pro-business argument that neglects the needs of real people.  However, my dream world is one with escalating salaries, where Americans canalmost exclusively take care of themselves and their families without charity.  Americans do need to put more money into health insurance plans in order to combat the unlikely disasters that sometimes happen to loved ones.  We need to forego the iPods until we have made sure that our immediate family, include grandma, have the resources to pay for their medicines and medical treatments.  We must be responsible as individuals, and not spend all of our money on toys, then spend years worrying about grandma being able to afford her heart medication.  However, some things that are out of our control are nose-diving real wages.  Some studies show that the real wages for non-supervisory workers are one-half of what they should be when indexed against inflation over the past thirty years.  Congress and large corproations are alwya promoting H1B visas for educated workers which has turned into a proactive effort to reduce wages in America.  The deck is stacked against the average worker there is no doubt about it.

Despite overwhelming taxation which will perpetually fund Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, all of which are broke, and America’s spectacular charitable giving, the roles of those in need never, ever seem to go down.  On the contrary, in the midst of this recession the roles have increased like never before.  I would like the reader to understand that despite their giving, most diseases are not being cured.  Charitable giving at most provides comfort to people (which is great!) but at the least gets eaten up by a bureaucracy of money managers, administrative assistance, and medial researches.  To help provide something better than the American Charity Economy, I encourage you to start a business, leverage the Internet and the ease of worldwide distribution, create great wages, and promote individualism to your children.  One must plan for medical costs, retirement, and unlikely disasters.  Teach as many people to fish as you can.  These tenets will help to make the so-called “charity” a nearly extinct species.  If charity were to become extinct it would only mean that the needy are finally taken care of.  That is the goal isn’t it?

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By JBM, June 21, 2010 10:42 am

Several days into the oil spill the president of the United States should have called all private companies and all foreign companies, with no prejudice to relations or oil skimming methods.  The Gulf Of Mexico should have quickly looked like a naval war zone, with so many oil skimming ships that it would appear the U.S. was under attack.  By brute force a significant amount of oil would have been cleaned up every single day, while the oil still leaked into the water.  Instead of this solution, the president refused to waive the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 which prohibits Continue reading 'The Gulf Oil Spill is no priority for President Obama'»

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By JBM, May 15, 2010 12:57 pm

Dear Mr. President: Buffalo needs ‘freakin’ jobs, billboard says

I think such in-your-face style demands are going to increase dramatically for president Obama.  With the excitement surrounding him during the elections, he certainly made it seem as though he would provide drastic relief in many ways for Americans.  Unfortunately, after billions of dollars in payoffs to his corporate buddies at the banks and General Motors, the president’s policies have had a net zero effect on the American economy.

Of course we here at the State of Affairs do not believe the federal government creates real jobs, so we do not rely on Washington unlike many others.   Additionally, while layoffs seem to have bottomed out, I do not see any substantial growth in jobs for five to seven years or longer.  What will that effect have on the presidency?  People vote their wallet, and with little improvement, the president with the most excitement surrounding him in all of history is clearly going to be out of a job come 2012.  The only remaining question will be if Hillary or other high ranking democrats can completely distance themselves from this administration in an effort to gain the presidency.  With the economic collapse of 2008 fresh in everyone’s minds, and with none of the promised relief from president Obama and the democratic congress delivered, the answer will most likely be “no.”

JBM

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By JBM, May 1, 2010 4:16 am

I liked this article:

Lost iPhone Brings Scoundrels, Sharks and Shysters Out of the Woodwork

The author of the above story poignantly demonstrates how sometimes morals are completely thrown out the window.  I myself would like to make one point from this story.   We are caught in an era where the populace will skewer the Wall Street Robber Barons ad infinitum, and rightfully so, for their colossal moral failures which have devastated the world’s financial economy.  We can plainly see though that individuals, nobody’s, will make deals with Satin all day long, just the same.  It is hard to point fingers at moral and ethical failures with a seemingly large proportion of our population that has no moral standards left.

Reading the above article I would surely believe that there are thousands of bloggers, lusting for cash, who would have done the same thing as the mentioned perpetrators.  There are certainly a large number of people who would sell their soul for the potential for such notoriety.  Too bad, I say.

A friend told a story about visiting Europe years ago.  This happened I believe in the 1980′s.  He left his camera equipment, a set of Nikon or some high-end hardware, in a high-traffic public place.   He discovered his mistake the following day, and went back to retrieve his camera equipment.  Astoundingly, it was sitting in the camera bad, on the public bench, exactly where he had left it.  It was completely untouched.

As you read this, you may be on one side or the other, but I sure long to belong to a community with such great respect for other people.  Unfortunately, no matter where one is, the ethics of the town are a crap shoot anymore.  How thoroughly sad this is.

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By JBM, April 16, 2010 3:44 am

Story Here

In lieu of the White House granting gay people the “right” to visit loved ones in the hospital, I wish to inform any Americans who see this as an advantage that it is meaningless. That is an important distinction because the president has now distracted many people from doing the things they need to do in order to assure that they do in fact have visitation rights! Please note I am neither gay nor an attorney so I have no stake in the recent proclamation, but all Americans in fact need to take the proper legal precautions or risk losing visitations to loved ones, or other significant financial problems.

If you have never retained an Estate Planner, please do so. You can contractually setup arrangements such as designating anyone your want be your beneficiary, have hospital visitation rights, etc. Your planner will guide you to state forms and procedures (yes, our freedoms truly lie with the states, not the federal government) that will guarantee your related needs. If a hospital were to violate these legal preparations they will in fact be violating the law. However, until you prepare, you are at risk, whether you are straight, gay, martian, or Purple Gambezian Poison Flower Chomper, of being turned away from your loved one’s hospital bedside unless you are in fact their legal guardian.

JBM

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By JBM, March 26, 2010 4:37 pm

ACORN offices are changing their names around the country.  They are keeping their same employees and their same tax identification numbers, but will attempt to hide in shame using aliases.  I thought I would provide some suggestions for names.

TOP SUGGESTED NAMES FOR ACORN BRANCH OFFICES

1) Walnut (Wild And Looney Nuts Undercover Today)

2) POOP (Previously Ostercised Operational Politics)

3) PECAN (Prostitution Easily Can Annoy Non-leftists)

4) CASHEW (Communists And Socialists Helping Elevate Welfare)

Feel free to share your ideas!  There are thousands of branch offices doing covert leftist political work, prostitution, drug smuggling, and more, and they all will need unique names so that you cannot find them.

JBM

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By JBM, March 25, 2010 4:47 pm

I like what Drew Carey has said.  He seems like a progressive thinker.  Note his statements about “rich kids’ syndrome.”

Can Drew Carey save Cleveland?

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By JBM, February 28, 2010 5:17 pm

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Justin Fox of Time Magazine has it nailed as to why I ignore the statistics that are published in the newspapers each day:

When Economic Indicators Aren’t Worth That Much

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By JBM, February 17, 2010 8:32 pm

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Please see the following article:        The U.S. Needs an Industrial Policy

Perhaps it does.  However I believe in the free market and it seems counter-intuitive to ask the same government that has screwed up literally everything it has done to command yet another top-down economic policy.  On that level I disagree with Mr. Hofmeister.

I agree with one aspect of this editorial and that is no one in the world has replicated the spectacular movies that Hollywood has created.  Hollywood is so good at what it does (notwithstanding the garbage that it also spews) it seems to be the most irreplaceable asset we have!   If that does not leave you with an “UGH!”, nothing I say will.  That being said, thanks for “Pirates” Hollywood!

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By JBM, February 14, 2010 10:23 am

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This editorial talks of how the Super Bowl ads were crass and sexist.  Let us face the fact that class is nearly gone from Hollywood.

Super Game, Stupid Ads

I would like to know who is the marketing weasel who selected Won’t Get Fooled Again to be played as the players took the field?  The Who performed at half time, so that just reaked of not being original.  Oh well, Mean Joe Green, here’s to you.  And where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?

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By JBM, January 31, 2010 4:55 pm

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Here is a chart produced by Wall Street Journal writers which ranks the top movies of all time.  Depending on how one looks at the list, it may differ dramatically from much of the uproar depicted by movie advertisers:

Reel Dollars

Sort the list by “Inflation-adjusted domestic box office”. AHA! Classic movies occupy a huge percentage of the top movies.    I am surprised to see how high Titanic truly ranks.  What was the draw to this movie?  A young talented, handsome actor?  Was not this a chick flick?  I cannot speak as I did not see it.

I am happy someone did their homework here, as I get tired of hearing about new movies being top dollar movies.  An adjustment for inflation eliminates most of the manufactured hype and gives us the reel [syc.] story.

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By JBM, January 31, 2010 12:14 pm

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This is the my opinion regarding the supposed unintended acceleration of many different Toyota car models. To begin the conversatino I refer you to this brief but excellent article:

Toyota’s Ghost in the Machine

Jenkins points out that sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) complaints plague all manufacturers, and that strange things happen in small numbers when millions ob cars are in use.  He argues that despite not having a well-defined engineering problem, Toyota will define a problem anyway, and subsequently provide a fix for it.

I am in agreement with this author and will take this argument even further.  Does anyone find it strange that Toyota is declared the number one seller of automobiles in the world, and all of a sudden Toyota’s everywhere are ramming into bridge abutments without any input from the driver?  The conspiracy theorists out there can certainly glom onto this one:  The media has magnified SUA complaints against Toyota dramatically.  For unknown reasons they have put a hit out on Toyota to knock them off of their high perch.

If you have a recalled automobile, I would not worry one iota, unless your accelerator is actually sticking.  Sticky parts will happen in small numbers and that is why we have mechanics – to unstick them for us.  I refuse to believe there is a Hal 9000 lurking inside my own Toyota (not on the recall list) waiting to drive me into a river because of my body odor is smelling up the cabin, or because I weigh the car down with too many musical instruments on gig night.

What is difficult to understand is why the hierarchy of Toyota is playing along with this charade, the president even apologizing to the public.  A problem here is that respectful Japanese are shamed by the rumors, and feel they must fall on a sword in repentance.  Akio Toyoda, understand this:  We the American consumers are just looking for someone to sue, for any reason.  We will sue you, get a big grab bag of cash, and quit our miserable jobs, which we otherwise could never do in this post 2008 apocalyptic economy.  Keep in mind, we did the same thing to McDonalds when we spilled their hot coffee on our lap.   After doing business in the U.S. for seventy something years, you still do not have a clue about how we like to coerce money-rich corporations into funding our personal lives.   With all of your high quality cars, you Mr. Toyoda, still fall short on developing a basic understanding of the American public.

Before you go, check out this article which rightfully so rips hard on the American public.  Enjoy.

Toyota Can’t Get The Floormats Right

UPDATE:

I stand corrected by the man, the myth, the legend, Steve Wozniak.

Wozniak cites ‘scary’ Prius acceleration problem

Woz, being one of few smart people in the public limelight, seems to have discovered a problem that Toyota does not know about, or has not defined yet.  He has a Prius that is not on the recall list, and he can produce SUA in his car at will.  SOMEONE LISTEN TO THIS MAN.

March 16 Update:

Runaway Prius Tale Prompts New Probe

It certainly appears as though this Reality Show seeker kept his Prius at high speed intentionally.  Toyota notes that the brake was pressedd 250 times.  He clearly was letting up on the brake to speed the car back up.    Note also that the driver was on a freeway, at a particular time, which just happened to be so open that he could fly at 90 mph without fear of hitting anyone else. Toyota engineers will be able to note that the damage to the brakes is consistent with slight pressure over a long period of time, and not a stomping of the pedal.  Lastly, the reader should know that slightly pressing the brake over many miles will in fact destroy the brakes although this driver is going to argue otherwise.

The law enforcement of San Diego and of the state of California should immediately issue an arrest warrant for this man and press the most severe charges against him, including endangering the lives of everyone around him.  The warrant should be based solely on the objective testing returned from Toyota.  Two years in prison will signal to all Americans that we cannot destroy companies’ reputations for our own selfish purposes.  The engineering data from this case has already proven Balloon Prius Man to be a complete fraud.

Respectfully to the highway patrolman:  Just because you saw this guy acting like he was putting full force on the brakes does not mean he did it – He was ACTING, even for you, in a thoroughly pre-planned event.  Again, the car data proves this to be right, so do not let your eyes fool you.

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By JBM, January 17, 2010 8:41 am

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Try this article:

The U.S. Needs an Infrastructure Bank

The president of Oracle is correct. We have a one hundred year old infrastructure and our politicians have put little money aside for maintenance and repair. My argument against the author’s suggested new account is that the federal government has decided to pay for everything else: Social Security, welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, education, the list is endless. A full two-thirds of the federal budget is social spending.

I think the government should only do the things that only it can afford to do, such as protect us and maintain the infrastructure. Alas, our million man standing army is gone, our bridges are falling down, and we the tax payers are tapped out. Unfortunately lives will be lost as a result of this situation. Now that Americans in all groups understand that they may vote themselves pay raises, I see it as impossible for our fiscal system to correct itself.

JBM

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