keepthefaith

Our President is a Jackass. So he wants banks to loosen credit standards and take more risk after the whole system melted down due in part to those practices. Fact is, if you or your business has good credit and the income to support a loan, you can get what you need right now. Credit standards are tighter and for good reason. I want the banks to be careful with the taxpayer funds they have received.

There is nothing that prevents a person from writing a check or providing a credit card to the doctor for themselves or their kids if they need a simple doctor visit or test. There is nothing preventing a person from buying a catastrophic policy to provide them and/or their kids coverage in the event of a hospital stay or procedure. Prexisting conditions need to be addressed. Selling of policies across state lines would increase competition and choices. Medicaid and Medicare need some help which doesn't require a complete overhaul of our system.

Liberman ought to hold a press conference and expose Reid for what he is doing.

Fukk Reid. He needs to go away.

I'm familiar with the areas. My points are these. Having kids and not living with them is a choice. Committing a crime is a choice. Using drugs is a choice. Not doing your homework for school is a choice. Droppong out of school is a choice. Being a single parent and not being home with your kids is a choice. Joining a gang is a choice, Being careless with your property is a choice. Being dishonest is a choice. Living in an area riddled with crime is a choice. People make many small decisions each day that affect their destination in life. Many make bad decsions hour by hour, day by day and year by year. You reap what you sow. Yes, many are born into more difficult circumstances. There is a way out if you want that, but you have to want it and work hard at it. Cabrini Green is getting cleaned up. Many of the former residents were moved to public housing in other areas like Bloomington and Peoria and others. Many have since been arrested in their new surroundings due once again to making bad decisions. This has been reported. My neighbor's daughter attending ISU was raped last year by one of these people. Again, bad decision. Location had nothing to do with it. Obama's right about one thing. Education and jobs are essential to reversing the trend. I believe he and Congress would find broad taxpayer support for plans the truly address these issues but these plans have to be well designed and include big skin in the game by the individuals who stand to benefit. I can't believe more wasn't made of Pelosi wanting and defending including birth control in the Stimulus program. It was removed because it was heavily ridiculed. What surprised me was that nobody spoke of the arrogance of this. She's basically saying we can't let "certain people" continue to have babies. A huge slap in the face to many that the Democratic party would consider to be their own constituency.

Passed through the South side of Chicago tonight and have been through there many times. Things there will only change when the people of the South side decide to change it. That begins with every small decision they make throughout each and every day, including the decision to LEAVE. If you truly want your kids to succeed, you start with keeping the family together, making sure they do their best in school, teaching them good values and preparing them to succeed on their own. Many of the people in that area don't do these basic things. The formula for successs is not that tough to figure out. Being a victim of society doesn't usually yield much happiness and a sot economy generaly squeezes out the weak first and foremost. Just like mother nature. Entitlements don't solve the problem.

So you feel that ACORN should continue to receive taxpayer funds?

You really have to wonder.....Who the heck votes for Barney? I'd really like to meet someone that supports him to find out how that's possible.

OK. Let's say our objective is to create jobs and that we're willing to spend some taxpayer dollars but only if there is a return on the investment. We do a little math and we estimate that on average an unemployed worker will need 39 weeks to find a new job in the current job market. Let's also say that each unemployed worker will draw on average $16,000 in benefits during that time. What if we provided an incentive to businesses of $12,000 for each new employee hired (increase in headcount only) . Said employees must be individuals who are currently on unemployment and must stay in the job for some length of time (say 2 years) in order to qualify for the employer bonus. You can move the numbers around but you get the point. The Fed and states would have to have a formula to pass the funds back and forth. What would be the impact? Employers in a position (or on the fence) to hire additional people would have a good reason to do so. They might focus on hiring those out of work. The newly hired people would no longer be drawing taxpayer funded checks. The newly hired people would be paying taxes. The Dems would be geniuses for coming up with something like this (they would never support it if a Republican proposed it). The Dems could actually count how many jobs something like this created instead of publishing false reports as they have. The Dems could get re-elected too. This is the type of program I would have expected from a "stimulus program". No, this alone would not be enough, but with some thinking you could probably fill several pages with GOOD ideas. Things that have a chance to work and provide a return on the taxpayer investment. No, instead YOUR party threw billions at random low priority projects, pig shyt research, enlarging unneeded government agencies, taxpayer funded mortgage bailouts for people with NO JOBS, etc.... No incentives for hiring. So what do we have. A big taxpayer bill that we can't pay and high sustained unemployment. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is an ugly, smelly, ineffective and expensive turd.

Awful!!!!! It's amazing how committed voters in CA are to the left agenda and the left candidates while their state's financial foundation crumbles under their feet and in front of their eyes.

The defense

That comment she made. "first time I'm proud of my country" was an incredibly telling moment. She's known to some around Chicago (before the campaign) as an angry black women. Nasty. What's most fascinating to me is how Barack has kept a lid on her so well since the election as she must be kicking his butt all around the inside of the White House.

3% here in Illinois, but as a corporation I get to pay an additional 1.5% for the priviledge of doing business here. Don't worry, Democratic governor is talking about going to 4.5% + 1.5% or more. We'll catch up to the rest of the liberal states soon enough. Do you know we have free (or near free) health care here for kids. Nice idea but many of the illegals here who have kids enroll without any strings attached.

No. Overall I think Presidents get to much credit or blame for the rise and fall of the economy. Far too much. However, if you approve a $787 billion expenditure, call it a "stimulus" and you have to borrow the money to do it, you better damn well be sure you'll get a return on the investment. Problem is that we won't get the return and it was obvious to most at the time that it was a poorly conceived plan. Health care is another poorly conceived plan. While Obama's heart is in the right place, he doesn't have the head for this type of business and it is business that he is doing. Don't let his speaking ability fool you. Functionally speaking he's a very inexperienced dummy.

What don't you like about the 5% number?

Would you care to wager that Unemployment will increase beyond 10.2% before the middle of next year?

We're quite profitable. We've reduced our headcount 15%. We've cut overtime also. I've already met with all the employees and told them that if Health care is passed and we are taxed, they will have to begin to pay a portion of their premiums (today they pay zero, we pay 100%). I called my accountant and asked if there was anything in the Stimulus bill that would encourage us to hire, he said no, nothing. Anything that would encourage us to invest in equipment or training. No, nothing. The only thing we got from that was a 5 figure annual increase in our unemployment insurance rate and a property tax hike. We're battoning down the hatches because the looming or already in-place tax increases will raise our expenses significantly. Running a company is as much art as it is science. The art piece often comes down to "gut feels" on things. So you ask yourself, ho does it feel? It doesn't feel very good which usually means you play more defense than offense. Obama's ploicies and what business owners fear to be his future policies are stifiling to optimism and risk taking. That alone will slow our recovery.

Right, but how much taxation is too much? Upper bracket (federal only) in now 35% going to 39.6% plus another 5% for those over $1 million is possible if health care reform is passed. Add State tax (about 5% on average for the country) and you'll have people at or near 50%. You think that's OK? I don't. I think it embarrassing that we would ask anyone no matter how much they make to pay that much in taxes. It's plain wrong. Business owners in the upper brackets will make changes to reduce costs if faced with a tax increase. Taxes are an expense like any other. They'll simply hire fewer people, pay them less, reduce benefits, etc.... What the Dems don't realize is that those on the lower end of the economic ladder are dependent on others for jobs. When you shoot the provider, you often hit the little guy. Obama's "bottom up" approach (his words, not mine) is a ridiculous strategy, and he is hurting his most loyal supporters by surrounding them in the social safety net. He is preventing them from being their best. He should be challenging them to do better. Instead he has given up on them and is basically telling them that they aren't good enough to do it themselves and that the government will have to step in. Very sad approach.

Here's a good piece of business advice for you. 1 month is not a trend.

Just saw some clips from the speech. I couldn't help but think that Obama feels he should not have received the prize and made that clear to them with all the talk of past and present wars. Well done Barack!

Oh come on, your falses are false. You're just here for the attention, right? Kinda full of yourself? I've yet to see you defend your position on anything. You're not as cute as you think you are. Come back when you're more informed.

You mean the TARP Plan that Bush launched that is being repaid at a faster rate then expected? Actually I think we can credit Obama for that. His heavy handed regulation of these companies has frightened them into repaying as fast as possible. The auto makers won't be making payments anytime soon. How's the return on the Stimulus investment looking to you? $787 billion and we've got what from that?

National debt, worse Annual deficits, worse Unemployment, worse Return on taxpayer investment in $787 billion stimulus, trending very poor. Huge political payback at taxpyer expense Solution to health care reform, expensive, does not reduce costs, raises taxes. Action on securing borders, none. Gitmo, not closed and solution proposed is to simply move inmates to our soil. No benefit. Irag, followng Bush plan to a "T" Afganistan, slow to react before basically fulfilling 6 month old request Cabinet and Czar appointees, riddled with tax cheats and people of questionable character and experience Supreme court nominee, Racial biased and New Haven decision says it all Omnibus bill, filled with eamarks, breaks campaign promise My God, I could fill the page. Please defend what this President is doing without pointing the finger at Bush. Defend what he has done and what he is doing.

No, but the thought of Nancy going bye-bye is very pleasing which makes it worthwhile to participate in the discussion.

Yes, it's hard to support the cause of men that want to insert their penis into another man's rectum. That makes it difficult to be impartial in the matter.