Hope for tomorrow..............

July is over now and the country has seemed to make a turn around. The health care reform bill has been watered down enough to not do us any good who really need the help. The stock market is up and the rich who lost all our 401k's are gaining their money back, wonder if they'll send us a check. Crude oil prices are up, unemployment is up, groceries are up and the goverment wants to raise the price of milk to help out the farmers. Its wonderful to see things turning around for everyone, but just in case you are interested their is a whole bunch of us who are still broke, hungry and needing hope. See, in a trickle down economy it takes a long time for it to trickle to the bottome and by the time it has helped everyone on the way down, well, crumbs from the table are better than starving to death. Thank you America!

The new Party..........Blue Dogs

For the last 15 years the blue dogs of the democratic party have mostly been what we like to call "conservative democrats". These elected officials have been coming from areas and districts of the country which have for years have been republican. These dogs have been able to take advantage of the descent in the republican party and the growth of the independents to win them positions in the house. The dogs have not had the power and clout which they have demonstrated this year though......and remaining in office and with the support of some very powerful lobbyist they now are making their mark on history. How? They are basically unraveling the democratic initiatives to move more liberal views into washington which would help the middle class. They are representing big business and that growing sector of people in the us who do not represent the middle class but are not elitest. What does this mean for you, either compromise or lose. They have the votes to derail any changes which the president wants to make for the next 4 years. He will either compromise or they will become sterile as democrats. This plays directly into the hands of the republicans who know that they cannot push anything through but be a pain in the side of liberal democrats. So set back and watch for the next 3 years, there is a new party in town, with a new agenda!

health care reform......not

The conservative democrats are holding up healthcare reform in Congress as we speak..and when I say hold up......i mean as in robbery! They are stripping the program of any initiative which were designed to help middle class Americans. The remaining bill is going to nothing but an insurance reform bill which will not really hurt the insurance industry at all or hinder them from doing business as usual. Several of the blue dawgs on crucial committees now dealing with the health care reform bill recived on average $700,000 in donations from insurance companies to their election campaigns. For example, Bart Gordon from TN recieved over $741,000 from insurance companies for his election campaign. Do these guys think that America doesn't realize that they are being influenced by these insurance companies? They are selling us out again......the sad thing is that they are again siding on the side of personal interest and politics rather than what is best for the American people. I hope that registered voters remember these people on election day.

falling oil prices.........no more space for speculators

December orders for crude were down this week.......speculators have no where else to put all this crude oil they are manipulating.....so with tankers full, storage tanks full they will be looking to dump this crude on the market for the last quarter of this year especially since their looking at a $4 a barrel profit.....and setting on 1,000,000 barrels guess what......they would like to buy a new car for christmas.......so looks like we will have decreased demand with falling gas prices for our winter........again.......where is the supply and demand......we need to reighn these guys in....or we will be looking at $5 a gallon gas again.....not because of shortage but because of price manipulation

Bank regulators resist giving up powers!

The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all testified before congress this week against giving up some of their authority to a consumer protection agency established by the goverment. What are these guys afraid of, they have not been able to police themselves or establish regulations which would slow down the risk or deceptions of the banking and investment industry. Who is protecting the consumers, the FDIC was the only one that said they did not care, in fact said they could spend more time looking at banks. What ever happened to goverment for the people by the people!

What's the difference in fair.......and minimum wage?

Everyone is happy that the minimum wage is now going up to $7.25 an hour now and for millions of Americans we should be happy for them but at the same time we should be asking our selves a question qbout the difference between minimum and fair. Now at this new standard a person making minimuw wage might be abloe to afford a daily newspaper and a cup of coffee but we will come back to that! Someone making the minimum wage and working a 40 hour week job can look forward to making gross about $1160 a month, that is before taxes, social security and welfare gets taken out and lord help you if you have a state income tax. So lets say they take home $1000 a month. The average rent/mortgage in the US is $684 a month, that leaves $326 dollars a month for electricity, water, natural gas, groceries, toilet paper, you get the picture. Thats about $80 a week, oh and by the way they may need to get to work so they may have to pay for public transportation, and if they have a car then they will need gas for that car. But wait what about health insurance, and the rainy day fund that so many of these gooroos say that we are suppose to have. Yes, this is impossable. No one can live on the minimum wage except maybe a kid living at home, but if he has insurance, car payment, gas for the car etc he never has any money. Whats happened in our country is that we have become so preocupied with making sure these companies and these business are doing good that we have forgotten how they got where they are. On the backs of blue collar workers all over the US! By keeping the poor ......poor.....by keeping the poverty level low.......then it looks like they are doing everyone a big favor.......i say its time we started having a fair wage in this country............not a minimum wage............lets start requiring companies which recieve all these tax breaks, federal funds, etc to pay what is fair.........for what a man or woman does all day.....how can it be fair to pay an executive $1 million dollars a year.....when he is driving the company in the ground.....but yet pay the person that shows up everyday busting his tail giving a hard days work......not enough to feed his family and pay his bills.........

Don't ask ........cause they won't tell

The house committee on oversight had meetings today where they held the Treasury Departments feet to the fire on transparency and knowing where the 700 billion dollars taxpayers gave banks is going. All the TARP funds designated to saving these so-called failing banks are being spent by banks to build new banks, purchase other banks, make investments and repay their debts! What happened to helping out the average American and increasing lending to Americans...well forget that.....instead they are strengthening their positions in the market place and taking advantage of the system by increaseing interest rates on credit cards, changing them to adjustables and basically shutting middle class America out of the bank. You and I cannot go to the bank and cash a check over $10,000 without having to answer to the federal goverment.....filling out forms and letting them know where all that money came from.........these guys took billions of taxpayers dollars and are like a kid in a candy store............and nobody knows where the money is going.........maybe its not don't ask..but rather turn your head.........one thing about it if someone robs you at least they hold a gun on you........these guys get away with robbery.......and expect you to give them the money.......

The new supply and demand..........

According to analyst the crude oil market is rising and falling with the stock market. Experts say that OPEC will have to stick to their guns in holding back supply or the price of a barrell of crude may go below $60 a barrell. What ever happen to supply and demand! This is market manipulation! There is no oil shortage other than the one that refineries and oil comapanies are generating let alone these investment companies holding on to tankers full of crude waiting to dump it onto the market when prices go up. Something as valuable to the recovery of this nation as crude oil should not be open for manipulation, but it is. Now lawmakers are wanting to raise the price of natural gas......why we have lots of it.....oh thats why we have too much of it........the prices may go down.....and the consumer may get a good deal........hogwash.......i think we should all retrofit our vehicles to run on methane because the bullshit is getting deep around this country............

Bankrupt on paper........

Banks which accepted Federal bail out money just months ago are now posting big earnings as in billions! How can they go from imminent failure to now making billions of dollars? It is long been know that a good accountant can manipulate the facts, and on paper it probably looked like these banks were in trouble but in reality......they were fine. Manipulation of the facts......yes! While the rest of the middle class and the poor are struggling to turn this economy around the rich are seeing windfalls........at our expense! The American taxpayers are the ones which have bailed these banks out but we still cannot get loans we are facing outrageous credit card rates and seemingly the banks are no closer to being reined in than they were in January. And what are we seeing on capital hill, finger pointing, a big show called the "blame game". Well, I am for one not buying in to this distraction. Congress and the American people got duped into loaning these banks all this money and now we should demand it back with interest. Take that money and put it where it belongs. Helping the small businesses of America, the middle class as we struggle to once again see this country thrive.

Banks are busted.........

Four more banks failed this week.....two in California and two in Georgia. The cost to the FDIC almost 2 billion! Why are the little banks, little as in comparison to some of the large national banks, in these states failing? Look at my post yesterday. The middle class is the driving force in this nation! If we do not have jobs, if we cannot pay our bills, if we do not borrow money, buy new cars, build new homes.......small town American suffers.........America suffers!! Had the government bought all those loans......paid the banks off........and refinanced with the home owners to 2% an outrageous number the country and the government would still be better off!! Why? Less banks failing, more money in America's pocket! These large securities and investment banks have no power to turn this economy around, we have all lost confidence in them already. They are just manipulating the system. But put that money into the middle class, put that money to work, instead of setting in someones bank who got a hefty bonus for nothing or severance package for failure! The stock market finished up last week because housing permits, and housing starts all went up more than expected. What does that have to do with someone like Citi group or AIG? Nothing! But crude prices went up, confidence in the market went up, people started investing again because middle class Americans are working again. Wake up Obama......we need jobs to turn this country around.........we the people that is....here in blue collar America

Rebuilding America...........from the bottom up

Housing starts for single family homes has exceeded expectations for the last two months. The largest gain since 2004 was seen last month. Analyst believe that this is a sign that the housing industry is beginning its rebound. Most of the construction of these homes is done by blue collar workers! These workers are now getting some money in their pockets and guess what .....spending that money. I have from the beginning said that the best action with the billions of stimulus money should have been to start massive funding of middle class housing development and construction. Now I know what you are saying, "but there is all these houses on the market".......then how did there become a need for over 500, 000 new homes in the last month! Had we have just paid off all those bad loans at Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac....and gave people their homes we would have been better off than we are now! The banks are paying back the money we loaned them now already!.......Had we paid off these bad mortgages then those people would not have foreclosed, then the banks would have gotten the money anyway....and we would not have the distress in the credit markets...because people could pay their bills because they do not have a mortgage anymore....novel idea I know....but what we did is bail out the fat cats and all those people that have money anyway.....who really.......do not stimulate the economy anyway.........you stimulate the economy from the bottom ....up.......housing is proving that now.

10 Percent unemployment........no jobs......ba hum bug!

Analyst at the fed say that the unemployment rate across the nation is going to go over 10% and stay that way for awhile. Times are going to be hard for American workers and predictions in the market are good for economic recovery? What are these guys thinking? Economic growth and jobs go hand in hand and in the last two recessions we have seen this tried and true relationship get broken. Why? No one is sure...but one thing is sure we have to fix it. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas ....now! And if we are trying to figure out how we are going to pay the fuel bills, and the heating bills, and the grocery bill on unemployment I do not know how things are going to turn around without some stimulus in the jobs market. the goverment has tried to do its part. You have got to put the American worker back in the picture....he is the one which is going to turn everything around, money in his pocket then he will spend it! Demands for goods and services go up and guess what... demand for materials go up......more people get jobs.......they spend more......get the picture guys! Every major business in this country needs to find some way......one way .....cut all those big bonuses and perks at the top.....trickle it down to the guys at the bottom ....hire some minimum wage workers........its time for business to do its part ...especially the big business who have made all the money for all these years.....if we could do this put people to work doing anything.........tighten our belts and create jobs.....then the domino affect...would take place and the economy would turn around. Here is some food for thought...the Fed is looking at greater clarity and oversight of hedge funds companies that serve as clearinghouses for trades of derivative instruments. These guys do not generate jobs! The market is not functioning like it did when mom and pop started investing. You had a good company....you went public...people invested in the success of your company and that gave you money to hire more workers to expand to grow. The comapny won and the stock holders won! Stock holders reinvested the money, purchased goods, etc and the economy grew, people had retirements and everything was good. Whats happening now! the group which is making money on the trends in the market the cycles of the econmy but yet do not generate any jobs due to their small numbers. These people manipulate the market, they destroy the concepts of supply and demand! They purchase tankers full of oil! they are not an oil company, a refinery, or a distributer, they are a group which based upon the risk holds on to the oil they bought and when the price is right dumps it on the market to make a bundle. this is not supply and demand but rather market manipulation! You have a hedge fund manager who is watching a company, who is doing good....their stocks drop based upon market cycles and he knows that.....but it will go back up.......he watches and buys low...........when it gets up their he drops it like a hot potatoe..........makes a fortune for his group and himself..........does he care about the success of the company.......does he care about millions of stock holders....NO!..........so the company loses...the stock holders lose........and the cycle is falsley skewed......now the stock holders start getting nervous......they jump ship and the company loses more......lays off workers and its the same vicious cycle over and over.................the rich get richer..........and the poor get poorer.

Where is your outrage GM stockholders!

General Motors announced today details of the severance package they have worked out with ex chairman Rick Wagoner. How about 8.2 million over the next 5 years and $75k for the rest of your life, a 2.6 million dollar life insurance policy and who knows what other perks! This is a guy who, during his tenure watched the company lose over 85 billion dollars!! Are you kidding me! They should kick his ass out the back door and anyone and everyone that bought into his philosophy of success along with him! Come on what type of logic are these guys using. If I was a stock holder for GM I would be appalled! So now that they have run the company into bankruptcy and thousands of employees have and are going to lose their jobs let alone their pensions, their livelihood their futures we are going to compensate this guy for the rest of his life!! I know that a lot of those employees that have lost their jobs would love it if they could have a little of that 8.2 million! We really need to start holding these guys with all these MBA's to a different level! I want they guy who negotiated this severance package for Wagoner working for me.........that way I can screw over my company, its employees and stockholders and retire in luxury for the rest of my life......

1 Trillion Dollars!

That's how much the deficit is now! The average person cannot comprehend how much money that is. What you can do or not do with that kind of money. The sad thing is that our country just 8 years ago had a surplus! When Bill Clinton left office we officially had a surplus and now we have went into the hole. Has a lot happened since then, of course, but has a lot of greed, mis management of the tax payers money happened, absolutely! Government requires states to balance their budgets, you and I cannot go without paying our bills, they will shut the lights out and throw you out on the street. But lawmakers in Washington have a blank check and its you and I who are having to pay their IOU's. I don't know about you........but I think its time government started taking their own medicine............

The Backbone of America...........

Matthew Vogel white house representative states that the present administration is toying with a plan to include the small businesses of America in the recovery or stimulus money that they have been handing out to only the banks and auto makers. Wow! Thanks for tuning in! Any American could have told these guys that if you wanted to stimulate the economy you would need to help the small busyness first. These big banks, holding companies, stock companies and yes the big auto makers have been manipulating the economy and the financial sector for too long and by the way making a fortune at it. And now that they have failed they want America to bail them out and give themselves bonuses for running their companies into the ground! No! Let’s help the people in America who really create the jobs and who are the backbone of America and that are the small business man. He is one with all the innovation and the drive to succeed, he is one living week to week right now, and he is the one that doesn’t have a safety net called stock holders and the federal government to bail him out. If his company loses money, he loses money! If his company goes belly up he loses his livelihood! Yes, thank you President Obama……for realizing who the backbone of America is…………

Supply and demand.......what a joke oil companies

The oil companies could learn a little from Wal-Mart executives! They know who the larges consumers of goods are…the middle class and right now the middle class do not have jobs, cannot afford health care, are paying out the nose for what they do have and have trimmed their budgets to buy what they only need, and are attracted to best quality product for the cheapest price. That is what Wal-Mart is demanding from its suppliers, the best possible product at the lowest cost, so they can pass it on to consumers! And that is why they are doing so well. June was supposed to be a big month for the oil companies but instead demand was down for gasoline. And I guarantee you with the economy not doing any better the job rate not increasing as wished that people are not traveling, not wasting money on $2.50 a gallon gas! What the oil companies need to do is bite the bullet, they have made billions off Americans the last couple of years, and drop oil gas prices! Drop gas prices to $1.50 a gallon and watch what happens the whole economy would get a boost! Small business owners would have decreased cost, employees less cost, they start traveling, they start flying, they start going out, staying in motels…..we all do better……and the rich get richer…when the blue collar worker has a few Nichols to rub together.

IOU!

Well the big news today is that Wells Fargo and two other major banks are no longer going to cash the state of California's IOU's! Now what do they know that all the credit unions in the state who are still cashing the IOU's don't know? SEC states that the IOU's are like securities and are treating them as such. Why? Because some smart people are trying to buy up these securities offering holders 70-95 cents on the dollar for exchange! And I bet they get some takers. I think alot about that every time I look at a dollar....know what it is.....Federal Reserve...Note......IOU! Backed by the US government.......bet alot of people in China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.........hope their IOU's......keep holding up in this troubled economy. Makes you think back to when in our society we used gold coin and silver certificates for trade. Wish I had some of that gold now........its worth more than these notes we are all caring around.

Natural Gas Mr.Boone!

Do you remember all the commercials last year by T.Boone Pickens about wind farms and natural gas cars. Well, natural gas has dropped in price so interest in the wind corridor has diminished and he is scraping his idea to build the wind farms...what about all those people employed making those 600 turbines Mr.Pickens? And now that natural gas prices have fell we are not hearing anything from him about the natural gas cars! Hey, if these guys would find some way of me filling up one of those cars i would jump on it. Are we serious about energy conservation in this country? Don't think so! Obama.....if we were would be pushing for support of the wind farms, the renewable energy, and the natural gas cars........There are tons of jobs to be generated in the green energy resources....here in Tennessee we are building plant to make solar panels, and people are getting jobs! Come on, big business and lobbyist win again!

Good bye Michael! Blue collars will miss you too..

Today was a sad day, we celebrated the life of an icon. I know that I have spent many long nights working and listening to his music. He put rhythm into our lives, somehow the time seemed to pass faster and the moment seemed more joyful and you felt more alive listening to his music. Michael Jackson will always be alive, he lives within our hearts, and his melody will always be on our lips. Thank you Michael............

Battling for the Giant!

According to the Wal Street Journal Germany, China and Russia are all battling for stock in General Motors. European stock in Opel and Vauxhall that is and the labor unions love it. GM America keeps major stock control but guess what the German government is backing the deal. Why am I talking about this, GM is building a SUV plant in Russia they have every interest in seeing the success of the giant, German labor unions see an opportunity for jobs to remain in their country so they are backing the deal, and finally China sees opportunity to get a piece of the Giant which will give them more control of the automotive industry. Why is this so important too us, as my dad use to say it isn't what you see that should worry you but what you do not see! GM comes out of bankruptcy with sweet deals, all this new influx of revenue from foreign investors, reduced labor cost abroad, but the beauty elimination of divisions in America, elimination of skyrocketing pension plans, debt, health care cost and a new beginning. What do we get out of the deal, paying for their bankruptcy, losing our jobs, our security and our trust. The American blue collar worker made GM the giant. Who loses in this deal, the little guy, the tax payers, the blue collars. Made in America, America bought out! Foreign countries own so much of our national debt, our major companies, no wonder our jobs are going oversees and our livelihoods down the drain, who will GM sale out later on to keep these major players comfortable with their market shares. Wake up America........

California IOU!

Well if the federal government can do it why can't California! What happened to the law requiring states to have a balanced budget? Other than a federal reserve note I wonder what California is issuing their citizens. Can they buy bread and milk with these IOU's, do they collect interest, will the electric company take them so they will not turn of their lights? We have started down a slippery slope here, who pays?! Where California goes so follows the nation!

Jobs! Justice! and July 4!

Here the day before celebrating another day of Independence in our society! Even with all the struggles that we face the hardships that people are going through this country is still the greatest place on earth to live. Where with a dream, some drive and determination you can become anything you want to be. Yes, even in these hard times people are making it, people are succeeding, they are climbing the ladder. Life is a struggle, if you are not pedaling then your bike is rolling backwards, sorry that is the way it is. But remember one thing as we celebrate our country's Independence, whether you choose to pedal or not whether your climbing or not, its your choice to fail or succeed! You can move and get a new job, you can start a new career, whatever you choose to do, its your choice because of this blessed land we live in!