I actually like cold and snow like today. Reminds me of my misspent youth where I went gadding about the maneuver-rights boxes in the Bundesrepublik.
Okay. Now we're talking about possibly bailing out the losses of people who invested in the Ponzi scheme Bernard Madoff was running.
And possibly two of the Big Three.
Not too mention all that TARP money. More money committed in two months than we spent on the war. Sigh.
So - apparently I'm simply a sucker. A dope. Here SWWBO and I have paid our bills, managed our mortgages, set aside money in investment accounts and 401(k)s, and now, because I make enough money that we actually pay taxes and don't get 'em all back in one form or another... we're going to get to pay the bills of those people who couldn't simply apply the "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true" filter and live within their means. And not a few of those people make more money than I do, but I'm still gonna get to help 'em pay their bills.
Oh, I got it. They were teased and tricked into it. It's not their fault.
Heh. I was offered all those fancy mortgages, too. Silly, stupid me. I stuck with a conventional (well, first one was a VA no money down) 30 year fixed rate mortgage, sold that house, made a little money on it, plowed that into the second house, on a stodgy old 30 year fixed rate mortgage, with a payment we could afford (meaning we didn't buy a McMansion that we'd have to bail from to keep *that* Ponzi racket moving) and generally lived within our means, until Mom's passing enable us to take on Castle Argghhh! Farm. But we did so with a stodgy old fixed rate 15 year mortgage, and doing so within our means - a good thing, since while I've kept the 401(k) moving forward, the investment accounts have been in a long, slow contraction.
And now we (and Prodigal Son, once he makes enough money to start paying taxes) are going to get to bail all those smart, clever people out, so, I get to pay my bills *and* theirs.
And, because of Mom's legacy, we didn't score a stimulus payment this year either.
It *may* be necessary. But it ain't just.
And yeah, government, both Democrat and Republican, has some real culpability here. But, sadly, all culpability there means is - more digging around in my wallet, and smacking me around in other ways. None of them are going to take it in the shorts.
Feh. Merry Christmas!
Okay. Now we're talking about possibly bailing out the losses of people who invested in the Ponzi scheme Bernard Madoff was running.
And possibly two of the Big Three.
Not too mention all that TARP money. More money committed in two months than we spent on the war. Sigh.
So - apparently I'm simply a sucker. A dope. Here SWWBO and I have paid our bills, managed our mortgages, set aside money in investment accounts and 401(k)s, and now, because I make enough money that we actually pay taxes and don't get 'em all back in one form or another... we're going to get to pay the bills of those people who couldn't simply apply the "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true" filter and live within their means. And not a few of those people make more money than I do, but I'm still gonna get to help 'em pay their bills.
Oh, I got it. They were teased and tricked into it. It's not their fault.
Heh. I was offered all those fancy mortgages, too. Silly, stupid me. I stuck with a conventional (well, first one was a VA no money down) 30 year fixed rate mortgage, sold that house, made a little money on it, plowed that into the second house, on a stodgy old 30 year fixed rate mortgage, with a payment we could afford (meaning we didn't buy a McMansion that we'd have to bail from to keep *that* Ponzi racket moving) and generally lived within our means, until Mom's passing enable us to take on Castle Argghhh! Farm. But we did so with a stodgy old fixed rate 15 year mortgage, and doing so within our means - a good thing, since while I've kept the 401(k) moving forward, the investment accounts have been in a long, slow contraction.
And now we (and Prodigal Son, once he makes enough money to start paying taxes) are going to get to bail all those smart, clever people out, so, I get to pay my bills *and* theirs.
And, because of Mom's legacy, we didn't score a stimulus payment this year either.
It *may* be necessary. But it ain't just.
And yeah, government, both Democrat and Republican, has some real culpability here. But, sadly, all culpability there means is - more digging around in my wallet, and smacking me around in other ways. None of them are going to take it in the shorts.
Feh. Merry Christmas!
*sigh*
It's definitely not fair or just. And I can't help but think that it's the same as bailing out a child in trouble, they won't learn, and we'll end up doing it again. That's my fear.
That's what the calvados is for.
The only bright thing coming out of Madoff is that the Senior Senator from NJ may be broke and may not be able to support himself. Oh...I forgot this is NJ and the politicians will make money the old fashion way. We make IL look like pikers.
Although we might want to toss the Starbucks instead if we want anybody to notice...
Don't waste good tea. It's high time we broke out the tar and feathers and gave a few special people a ride on a rail.
Think, learn, plot connive, scheme, but keep it all legal and don't give the guvmint a dime more than you have to.
We are already near the tipping point where fewer than half the citizenry actually pay taxes (the income kind). When that happens, the impetus will be to merely tax the producers out the wazoo. I don't know about others, but my wazoo is tired of being taxed to support the ungrateful, the unwilling, the indolent, the wasteful and the imprudent. Screw the whole lot of them. Live within your means, or get a job, or do without.
As Reagan said "The government is not the solution, the government is the problem."
Quite the start to read the title of this post.
Don't go putting airs.......you can be crabby.....but I am Princess Crabby.
I know that's not very good, but let's not pad the figures, eh?
These things take time. As in years, at least.
Riffing on John's joke about "you know you're older when..." who here remembers the Cold War at its height? Deep concerns about an accidental nuclear war, or the Soviets spending us into submission while the moral equivalence crowd cowered? Remember the Survivalist movement, when people seriously anticipated the fall of civilization? Overpopulation? The loss of the Ozone Layer?
Did any of that happen?
P.S. Spellcheck works fine, now boss. Thanks!
And they don't really talk about it, but if you pressed them, they'd probably still claim that the ozone layer is disappearing as well, just on general tree-hugger principles...