What drives the economy? Consumer spending. Does consumer confidence affect consumer spending?

When the president of the U.S. holds a prime time speech and announces that the financial markets are on the verge of collapse that would throw the economy into deep recession, what does that do for consumer confidence?

The president has requested a $700,000,000,000 bailout of Wall Street financial institutions by recommending the government purchase mortgage backed securities, with unknown value, from these firms. The president states failure to act quickly will lead to recession.

How does the congress respond? Heads of banking committees in the house and senate, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank propose a plan for the bailout. To quote economist Dr. Walter Williams, this is like calling an arsonist to put out a fire.

How did these financial institutions get to the point of collapse? Our government. We now know that in 1999 Secretary of Housing Andrew Cuomo in response to Clinton administration directives, ordered Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to make 50% of all loans to low or middle income families. They went so far as to change lending requirements that lenders had to count unemployment checks, and welfare payments as income to qualify for a loan. The goal was to put as many low income families into home ownership as possible. Who could be against that?

We now know the Bush administration attempted to reform the regulations on these quasi government companies 12 times. The most aggressive was the reform act of 2005. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd blocked the legislation, with the help of some Republican legislators. To paraphrase Frank in 1995, the problems are exaggerated, these institutions are not in trouble. Now we want these two to oversee a bailout, and reform?

Frank and Dodd failed the American people in historic fashion, as has President Bush for not getting the reforms passed.

This is important because what has been proposed by the president and the Democrats won’t correct the problems that created this mess. Failure to do so will lead to a future meltdown. How many of you believe throwing your hard earned tax dollars at Wall Street will solve the problem? How many of you want to live through this again?

Thank God for the Republicans in congress for putting the brakes on this insane bailout proposal, by proposing a free market solution. The proposal is to create a Federal Insurance fund to cover these bad mortgages, that will accomplish the same goal of the $700,000,000,000 Wall Street welfare check that you would pay for.

In my opinion a free market solution in lieu of the presidents, and Democrats plan to bailout Wall Street firms, adding nearly a trillion dollars to our debt, is much more desirable.

Here’s why. Did you notice what happened to the price of oil this past week? The biggest one day increase in history, taking the price for a barrel of oil well above the $100 mark again.

What caused this run up in price? The threat that the president’s proposal could become reality, which certainly would save Wall Street financiers, however would devalue the dollar seriously at a time the dollar was rebounding in strength. Investors ran from the stock market to commodities once again. Another reason the president’s plan is wrong headed, dangerous, and should be defeated in congress. Not only will your tax liability increase, the cruel tax of higher fuel prices would be worse than ever.

The Democrats sure seemed to be in a hurry to pass the presidents plan with some quid pro quo attachments. Do you think Frank and Dodd want this to be swept under the rug as quickly as possible?

Why haven’t the Democrats passed a plan yet? They have a majority in both the house and senate. The president is in agreement, there’s no veto threat. Why not move forward with the bailout? Because 80% of Americans are against the plan, and the Democrats don’t want to go back to the campaign trail during recess to face an angry constituency, or Republicans that opposed the foolish bail out.

Americans are fed up with our dysfunctional, corrupt, wasteful, and ineffective government. That is why the taxpayers may be saved from the arsonists called upon to put out the fire.

The value of your home is at stake. The ability to sell your home when you need or want to is at stake. Time to get our economy rolling again, time to restore confidence in government, by finally saying no to the miscreants who want you to pay for their social engineering project gone bad. Call or e-mail your senators and congressmen today. Tell them if they vote for a bailout instead of a help out, you’ll vote them out.

Fritz Pfister is a licensed Realtor with RE/MAX Professionals Springfield Illinois.
Fritz is a leader in the local real estate market and hosts a live one hour radio program, now in its’ 13th year.
Fritz’s website is
SpringfieldHome.com
Fritz hosts home buyer and home seller seminars providing advice that helps consumers succeed in the sale or purchase of homes. Fritz leads all agents in the local market since 2000 with over 1125 closed sales.

If there is one thing Sarah Palin is not it is that she is not a work at home Mom. In this day and age where more and more women are trying to find ways to work from home so that they can spend more time with the kids, Sarah Palin is one step away from uprooting her whole family and moving to Washington.

One of the silliest arguments against her that I have heard is that she has no family values. The argument goes that she is not doing what is best for her family because if she gets elected then she will obviously have less time to spend with her children. What the Liberals don’t get, however (and they never will), is the concept of putting your country first. Sarah Palin is in the unique position to serve her country in a capacity that no woman has ever done before. For this opportunity, she is willing to put her family second and I am sure they will be just fine with her stay at home husband in charge.

The new Liberals of the Democrat party don’t care one bit about helping this country and in fact are openly embarrassed by it. The Democrats want to know what this country can do for them and not what they can do for the country. They want handouts, freebies, free health-care, social services, and anything else they can get their hands on. What they really want is Canada and socialism.

Sarah Palin is exactly what this country needs right now. She is getting more popular by the minute and has ignited a eyeglass fashion frenzy, has Sarah Palin action figures, the Sarah Palin hairstyle, the Sarah Palin smile, and who knows what else, all in less than a week. If she is not an example to young girls and women then I don’t know what is.

John McCain’s choice of Govenor of Alaska Sarah Palin is one of the most “crazy like a fox” choices and is revitalizing the Republican’s campaign and has every one talking. Sarah Palin could have never run for government office and decided to do what so many other women are doing nowadays: look for work at home jobs. Instead, she decided to see what she could do to make her state of Alaska a better place and she just might end up making America a better place as well.

Do you like Sarah Palin? Are you wondering where you can get Sarah Palin glasses? Or maybe you want to get buy those great looking Naughty Monkey Sarah Palin Shoes. Please head over to my website Work From Home Jobs for more interesting posts like this one.

Since she was picked by John McCain to be his vice presidential running mate the media has jumped all over her, relentlessly.

Most of their attacks were rude, personal, vitriolic slams out of bounds where common courtesy is concerned, but we really shouldn’t be surprised by that.

Since the personal attacks on Sarah and her family by the media and the Obama camp failed - in fact had the opposite effect of mobilizing some very unlikely people and groups to come to her defense, they’ve put the attempts at character assignation on the back burner.

Today the persistent claim is that she is not really qualified to be President.

When they say that Governor Palin is not qualified to be President, the Obama campaign and the media must think the American people are stupid.

From the moment someone becomes President, long before actually, until they leave office - everything that they or the hundreds of aides, advisors, and subject matter experts that surround them do, becomes characterized by the expression the Roosevelt Administration, Carter Administration, Regan Administration, Bush Administration, or the Fill in the Blank Administration.

When we read about the Clinton Administration for example we know the reference is not to a specific decision made by Bill Clinton all by himself.

When the Clinton Administration approved the remodeling of a building or new plantings in the Rose Garden we knew that Bill was not there wearing a hard hat with a roll of blueprints under his arm.

Decisions made by the President are made in consultation with their advisors and carried out be the people who are best qualified to handle the task.

The signature of the President on a law or decision is actually the signature of the Executive branch of our government.

So, if is a McCain Administration or an Obama Administration, the decisions made will be based on those agreed upon by the members of the Executive branch - not those of the President himself by himself. And we should all be grateful for that.

Therefore if Sarah Palin or Joe Biden were thrust into the Presidency - the decisions they make would be made with the advice and counsel of the same assistants, advisors, experts, and Cabinet members who were already helping their immediate predecessor.

When the media and the Obama people say that Sarah Palin is not prepared to be President they characterize the situation differently and think we don’t notice - maybe you don’t.

They make it sound as if she would immediately have to step in and run the government by herself.

She would not have a Cabinet like the President did. She wouldn’t have legions of assistants and advisors like the President had.

She would be on her own.

At night the White House switchboard operator would just transfer incoming calls to Sarah’s room upstairs and assume she or one of the kids would pick up.

It does not surprise me that the Obama people and the media create and promote this picture. That’s their job.

What surprises me is why Sean Hannity and others have not pointed this out.

It is not whether Sarah Palin can type and it’s not about whether she knows where the President’s documents are located, or even which fork to use at State dinners. She, like forty something Presidents before her, would have people for that.

It’s whether or not Governor Palin has a clear idea about the future of our country and a commitment to help us move toward it, whether from the Vice President’s office or the oval office.

Wayne Messick reports on how Main St. businesses are poised to succeed in the 21st Century on his blog
www.WayneMessick.com

Back in 2006 the Democrat Party and their Mainstream Media sponsors initiated an ad campaign that rightfully exposed those Republicans who were abusing their power. The Republicans who had seized control of both Houses in 1994 by promising Conservatism had reneged on their, “Contract with America”. Of course they were aided by a White House that had misplaced the veto-pen and replaced it with a rubber stamp.

What made the Democrat landslide so easy was that just about all of their candidates ran under the guise of being Conservatives. They made promises to end ear-mark corruption, raise consumer confidence, lower fuel prices, help provide affordable housing for all Americans, and create a bi-partisan spirit of unity within both houses. These were all the things Americans wished for and the Democrats promised to change the nation.

Since the Democrats took back control in January 2007 (in less than two years) we have witnessed consumer confidence fall from a record high. Gasoline prices have risen from $2.19 per gallon to just over $4.00. The unemployment rate has risen from 4.5% to 5.5% and the Dow has dropped from a record of 14,000 down to 11,300 and still dropping. That represents a $2.5 TRILLION loss in mutual funds, stocks and bonds that many Americans were counting on for their retirement incomes. The homeowners in the USA have watched in horror as home equity has suffered a $12 TRILLION drop and 1-3% of all homes were forced into foreclosure.

Do not forget that corruption is running rampant in both houses including both parties. There are just so many charges and allegations, and way too many players to even begin to try and mention here. This unbelievable corruption is about the only thing that’s happening in congress in the spirit of true bi-partisanship.

In essence, where it took ten years for the Republicans to become drunk on their power, the Democrats took control by opening a Frat Party on day one and they have been “beer-funneling” in a Mosh Pit ever since.

To our horror the lunatics have gotten control of both asylums (Houses) and now are looking to take control of the administration building by promising more changes with the omnipotent being called, Barack Obama, the “Lord of Fix-A-Flat”.

The Democrats are so invested in winning the, “Trifecta of Power” that they made the unusual blunder of forcing this untested novice down the throats of their party members. You see, Senator Barack Obama has as much right as being the DNC Presidential Candidate as that of Paris Hilton becoming the Secretary of Education.

If you have seen Ms Hilton’s recent political ad you might actually think that she sounded highly intelligent reading from a studied teleprompter script. Of course that is until you talk to her or see any of her other numerous “bimbo” videos on the net.

I believe that all this ad proves is that even a dimwit can appear intelligent while reading from a teleprompter. This wholeheartedly confirms what many of us are saying about Senator Obama. Once off the teleprompter script, he becomes a clueless lap dog for the powers that are now controlling the Democrat Party.

If you haven’t noticed it, Senator Obama cannot intelligently string together a coherent response to any question that has not been scripted out for him. In all honesty, some of his responses would make Miss Teen South Carolina look sharp as a tack. As an example chum-up his infamous “Breathalyzer-Inhalator” ad-libs. That is a classic example of what I humorously call a real winning response.

His inability to coherently speak off-script is the primary reason why Senator Obama absolutely refuses to debate on Fox News. He and his controllers know that many more people watch and trust Fox News than any of the other networks that are promoting his campaign. In truth, his handlers know that Fox News will ask the hard questions none of his other network promoters will ask and they do not want the nation seeing his garbling and incoherent responses.

Of course his MSM sponsors would likely attempt to cover his ineptitude by relentlessly exposing Fox News as a Conservative attack dog racially bashing the poor man, but the damage would already be done. Even Senator Obama, his handlers and his MSM bodyguards realize that even spin cannot erase any idiotic ad-lib responses he botches out. Thus he must stay in hiding from Fox News.

If you think about it, how would a “President Obama” react to facing a clear and present nuclear danger if he’s so terrified of just facing Fox News moderators? Would he run away and hide as the United States goes up in flames? How would his MSM affiliates spin the nation burning to the ground?

With that in mind, maybe we ought to dub the entire 2008 Presidential Elections as the “Do-Over Race”. That is because since Obama became more scrutinized after the earlier primaries, Senator Hillary Clinton has beaten him to a pulp. It is a fact that if the DNC were to run a “do-over” Senator Obama would be lucky if he could finish third behind Clinton and John “Love-Child” Edwards.

It is looking more and more like the DNC is suffering from buyer’s remorse now that Senator Obama has been exposed to be the political hack that he has always been. Perhaps they’re even regretting stealing those Florida and Michigan delegates from Senator Clinton so that he could clinch the nomination. That spoke so much for their mantra of every vote counting.

Yet you just know that it was nothing unusual for the Democrats to try and steal an election. The entire history of the Democrat Party is littered with election irregularities and fraud. The only difference is that now they got what they wished for. Truly, that is a change you can believe in.

John DeJong is the lead creative designer for NotMeUSA. He has been writing humorous advertisements for over twenty-five years. All of the funny t-shirts, prescription pill bottles, and gag spray bottles were created by him. You can view these by visiting www.notmeusa.com.

[tags]obama, democrats, conservatives, presidential, elections, fox news, hillary[/tags]

The writing is on the wall (street, that is), and it is telling us that we need to reaffirm the United States as the dominant force in the global economy, and that we have to do more to protect our citizens’ retirement and investment programs.

Most economic research suggests that tax code replacement surgery is essential for long-term economic progress. The goal of my plan is to make sure that you are not grumbling ten years from now about the same things that trouble you today. Here’s a fifteen-point plan to end the cycles of economic frustration and global disrespect during this administration:

One. Take Social Security out of the public sector and replace it with a mandatory, deferred, fixed benefit, single-life-annuity program managed by existing annuity providers. Employee contributions would be reduced nearly 50% and employer contributions eliminated over a five-year implementation period— immediately for the self-employed. Participants would have no investment discretion or access to funds until retirement.

Two. Mandate that no less than 50% of all self-directed benefit plan Working Capital be invested in government securities, and not qualified for withdrawal until retirement. Bring all alternative investments (options commodities, futures, hedge funds, etc.) under the purview of the SEC, and subject to the same suitability standards as RIA’s recommendations.

Three. Institute a 3% Federal sales tax on all goods and services purchased by end consumers, but not a VAT. Subsidize a universal basic health care insurance system and public education expenses from sales tax proceeds plus a 5% tax on personal annual income, of any kind, in excess of $5 million dollars. Cap State and Local Sales Taxes at 3%. Eliminate all nuisance taxes in utility bills, hotel room charges, gas prices, etc.

Four. Reform Tort Law at every level, and protect both businesses and individuals from frivolous lawsuits. Adopt a rule of personal responsibility for one’s own stupidity and clumsiness. Submit all product liability, medical malpractice claims, and personal liability lawsuits to qualified arbitration panels instead of juries. Ban class action suits of all kinds and cap jury awards and lawyer compensation at 50% lower average levels.

Five. Eliminate all Estate and Gift Taxes.

Six. Mandate a ten-year term limitation on all members of congress, retroactively, and impose a mandatory retirement age on Supreme Court Justices. Reduce taxpayer compensated congressional staff by 50%.

Seven. Simplify the Internal Revenue Code by adopting a Fair Tax of 10% for all persons with annual employment income above $40,000. Eliminate all forms of tax deferral and stock option programs that are not available proportionately to every company employee. State and local income taxes would be capped at a flat 4% for family incomes above $80,000. Individual tax avoidance schemes would also be banned— 10 years retroactively.

Eight. Abolish all taxation on any form of retirement income.

Nine. Abolish all taxation on any form of investment income, including rents, royalties, interest, dividends, and capital gains. Increase the federal sales tax by 2% once numbers 8 and 9 have been implemented.

Ten. Eliminate the Corporate Income Tax and create auditing entities to assure that the savings translate into new jobs, higher salaries for non minimum wage employees, lower product prices, and higher shareholder dividends.

Eleven. Appoint federal supervisors to the Board of Directors of public corporations paying annual salaries in excess of $3 million. Board members, corporate attorneys, and financial officers would be required to allocate any performance incentive compensation on a dollar-for-dollar basis to all employees, including part timers but excluding minimum wage recipients.

Twelve. Examine the economic impact of Government Regulation and oversight in many industries, particularly small business practitioners in personal services fields. Provide an arbitration and review system to identify and control abuses of regulatory power and a separate department within each agency to deal with small businesses.

Thirteen. Reduce government staff in all departments and at all levels by at least 10% per year for the next three to five years. Reduce by 50% the number of Government jobs filled by presidential appointment.

Fourteen. Reduce all import tariffs to zero for countries that reciprocate and who insure the quality of their exports.

Fifteen. Establish a catastrophic relief fund for victims of all forms of natural disaster throughout the USA.

In all instances, regulatory services will be needed to assure implementation consistent with the intent of the new code. Any person or entity that takes advantage of loopholes in the new rules, or manipulates normal operations to match new definitions will be fined. Their legal and tax advisors, if involved, will be responsible for 60% of the fine.

The plan outlined here is investor and economy friendly. Where jobs are lost, new entities will be needed, based on the premise that regulated capitalism can work well. As shoppers and homeowners, as retirees and employees, as business owners and investors, this is the reform plan we need.

Is for real? It could be. Investors represent the biggest voting block in the country. We could elect the next president, change the tax code, fix Social Security, and strengthen the economy. If only we weren’t the most apathetic group of people on the planet. As investors, we want less government, lower taxes, and purposeful regulation. We want laws that aid economic freedoms, and lawmakers and judges who facilitate it.

Survey Question: Would you vote for the person with the guts to propose this plan?

Steve Selengut
Sanco Services
Kiawa Golf Investment Seminars
Author: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read” and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”.

[tags]social security,income tax,IRS,IRC,IRA,investment income,opportunity,government,estate tax,gift taxe[/tags]

The investor’s eye view of politics is a simplistic, practical, dot-connecting approach to sorting things out so that win/win change can be considered. Real world politics is not concerned with such things, and that is one of the most serious problems facing investors today. There are at least ten issues that require government action if we are to maintain our competitive position in the world economy. Most of these are interrelated and need to be acted upon simultaneously— thus causing a major political dilemma.

Politicians are much more interested in talking about change than they are in actually legislating it; they prefer to champion just one specific issue at a time so as not to appear too independent; and they can’t keep themselves from back sliding into the now archaic distinction between investors and poor people. Rich or poor, most Americans have investments. For the small investor to become wealthier his or her efforts must be encouraged by the tax code– the wealthy will become wealthier in spite of the tax code. And, believe it or don’t, the vast majority of the wealthy (even corporate executives) are good, productive, caring-about-the-environment, people.

At the root of the problem is the tremendous investment the major parties have in nurturing divisiveness, jealousy, and misunderstanding in the electorate. The Republicans or Democrats in power are always ruining the country and, of course, the guys who are seeking power, will undoubtedly do the same. Perhaps the most obvious example of misguided political handiwork is the negative attitude of most individuals toward corporations, big business, and international economic collaboration.

As non-voting but taxable entities, corporations are easy to blame for all that is wrong in society, easy to sue frivolously with no remorse or control, and popular to tax— by both parties. The sad thing is that most people don’t take the time to appreciate just how important business success and profitability are to their own financial interests, short and long term. Mutual funds, for example, perform better when businesses, large and small, prosper. Profitable businesses produce jobs, provide higher salaries, and (once all the extra fees, mandates, taxes, and handouts are eliminated) lower prices.

Politicians have never been shy about dictating proper behavior to individuals or hesitant in shamelessly picking the pockets of businesses to fund their projects. Self-employed business owners, for example, pay a minimum 35% Federal Income Tax, state and local taxes of various kinds, and the usual Workers Compensation, Medicare, and double Social Security Taxes. It adds up to better than 50% quickly, and, at every level, all taxes, fees, subsidies, assessments, withholdings, compliance costs, etc. are:

(1) Added to the price of goods and services, (2) considered in hiring decisions at all levels in all business entities, and (3) factored into decisions regarding new plant locations and service function outsourcing. Businesses will only produce jobs in an environment that recognizes the importance of the contributions they make. Meaningful tax reform needs to begin where the jobs begin. Reforms to the Individual Tax Code and the Social Security/Retirement System can then be integrated into the business framework.

Just as Congress picks corporate pockets, corporations pick those of their shareholders. The compensation of corporate officers is a clear example of how this has gone totally out of control, even if it is understandable under existing tax codes— both corporate and individual. Million dollar salaries, bonuses, deferred compensation and option packages are all designed to avoid and/or to defer taxes while, at the same time, they are deductible on a dollar for dollar basis from business taxes.

Changes on the personal side could clean this up quickly but, for now, politicians need to focus more on protecting shareholders from these creative, and excessive, compensation schemes. Eliminating the Corporate Income Tax, and all tax deferral/option/bonus mechanisms that are not available to all employees at all levels, would be an excellent start. Then cap total compensation packages at a specific number— any excess being paid only in the form of dividends to all shareholders.

The Corporate Income Tax is a non-productive weight on business decision makers, causing expenditures that would not be considered were they not tax deductible. Ironically, jobs are not created to reduce the tax bite because every dollar of salary brings with it an additional 40% or so in overhead. All the actual costs of doing business (and all the perceived risks associated with doing business) wind up in the price of goods and services. The fact that governments can raise corporate costs so much more easily than they can raise individual’s taxes is perhaps the biggest shell game threatening our economic well being today.

If instead of taxing them into leaving the country, Congress would cultivate the profitability of corporations, while focusing regulatory efforts on the economic abuses of shareholders, employees, and consumers, a whole new era of economic expansion and productivity growth would ensue— and we’re just getting started.
Investors need to impress upon candidates that they expect meaningful change throughout the tax code, and that a second term just won’t happen without it.

After the Corporate Tax environment changes, politicians will be able to devote their energies to defining “proper corporate and non-corporate business behavior”, and monitoring compliance with a whole new set of rules and regulations. Converting the United States into a Free Trade Zone, by eliminating all nuisance assessments from all levels of government, would: increase employment, reduce prices, and multiply distributable dividends. Making it happen should not be that difficult, particularly with the growing outrage concerning the obscene compensation of high level corporate executives, and considering how successful the FTZs have been on the local level.

Managers will make these changes work because the incentives are where they belong— on the bottom line instead of the tax return. Small businesses would benefit from the reduction in taxation, and fees, and would be less constrained in their efforts to grow. If they don’t do the right thing, they will become less competitive in the marketplace, and that is the way capitalism is supposed to work. But, don’t be naive. Publicly held companies will need direction, guidance, and policing— an excellent new career for displaced accountants and lobbyists.

Steve Selengut
Sanco Services
Kiawa Golf Investment Seminars
Author: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read” and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”.

[tags]Corporate Income Tax,Tax Reform,Investors,politics,world economy,job creation,executive compensation[/tags]

Ask anyone you see how the economy is doing and there is a good chance he or she will tell you it’s terrible! At this point in time, it is a fair assessment the economic conditions have softened, but the truth is we are a long way away from a lousy economy.

A lousy economy is usually marked by high unemployment, negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and inflation. Inflation means high interest rates. None of these things are occurring in our economy today!

The economy has slowed down

While it is true there is a slowdown and many economists believe we are heading toward a recession, there is no recession now. There hasn’t been a recession since the mild one that started in the final year of the Bill Clinton administration and remained in place until shortly after the George W. Bush tax cut of 2001.

A recession is defined as two consecutive or more quarters of negative growth as reported in the GDP. As of yet we have not had one! So, why is there a common misconception the economy is doing poorly? Well, if you constantly beat people over the head with false statements and half-truths, they will believe you after a while. Why are we getting these false statements and half-truths? Look no further than politics!

Misleading news reporting

Elections are often won on the strength, or should I say the weakness of the economy, because the party who is out of power usually wins the presidency when the economy goes sour. Therefore, the Democrat party with the assistance of their parrots in the media have been berating the economy for the last 7 years. An excellent GDP of 5% or a record low unemployment rate of 4.5% did not stop them.

In short, the fact they weren’t reporting factually didn’t faze them in the least! Their hatred for George W. Bush inspired them enough to abandon all ethics and tell untrue horror stories about the economy every day.

Interest rates, a key indicator

When making a true valuation of economic conditions, how high or low interest rates, especially mortgage rates interest are, play a key roll. The fact is interest rates are excellent right now and though some may argue it may not be all good, it looks as though they are headed still lower, at least for now.

In order to see just where we are within the realm of mortgage interest rates, it would behoove us to take a look at where they have been historically and see if we can gain some perspective by doing so.

In 1971, the rates were just about where they are today, namely in the area of 5.5%. From that point, they increased through the 70’s. While it is true they, or any stock or commodity’s price in its rising stage, never goes straight up, interest rates remained in an upward trend until 1983.

Controlling the price of gas

There were many things that contributed to high interest rates at that time. One of them was the fact price controls were instituted on oil. When price controls are instituted in a supply and demand driven economy, the commodity whose price is being controlled becomes unavailable. Unavailability of oil caused a true hardship for the economy of the U.S. and its citizens for many years while these controls were in place. Until they were lifted the economy suffered.

Anyone who is saying the economy of the last 7 years was bad was either not alive during the late 70’s and early 80’s, they have amnesia or they are running for office in 2008. A case in point is the fact in 1983 interest rates on fixed rate mortgages peaked at around 15%! This was the rate given to people possessing A-1 credit. Others had to pay more. As much as 23%!

Interest rates came down, in large part due to the policies of Ronald Reagan. His free market capitalism based agenda was sorely needed by the economy and it worked well during that period. The interest rates reversed in 1984 and went into a downward trend that has yet to come to an end.

Bill Clinton the free trader, Bill Clinton the protectionist

During the last 3 administrations, Bush-Clinton-Bush many free trade policies were put into place. These policies made the cost of consumer goods and capitol goods cheap and spurred on strong consistent growth during those years.

Bill Clinton was particularly good at drawing up free trade agreements. Now he, Mrs. Clinton and Barak Obama are running against these same agreements. I guess the lust for power transcends all logic.

So, where are the interest rates headed now? Lower, of course! Until we see a real bottom to the market they are still on a downward trend. Certainly, we will see this bottom if the White House changes parties this fall.

Looking for a change?

We have candidates talking about ending Bill Clinton’s NAFTA and GHATT trade agreements. This would be inflationary because, in part computers would probably cost about $15,000 each if they were made in the U.S.A. Wouldn’t that be good for business?

Also, these presidential candidates can’t wait to put price controls on oil! So, look out 15% mortgage rates, here we come again! On top of that they have announced their proposed spending programs and these programs add over $1,000,000,000,000, that’s one trillion dollars to our deficit! All this is really bad, but at least it will be an educational experience because finally a lot of people will find out what a lousy economy truly is!

Ed Lathrop is a successful Real Estate investor. He has developed EzCalculator, a Mortgage Calculator that shows you how to save $100,000 on your mortgage. Come visit this free site at Free Financial Calculator. Also, find out how to get your amortization schedule and use it to save big money at: Amortization Schedules Free. These sites are not owned by any lender, so no one will harass you for visiting!

[tags]Mortgage Interest Rates, Health of the economy[/tags]

Hillary Clinton’s camp came up with an impressive Internet Safety Guide that no one really knows about. Why isn’t she isn’t talking about it?

Barack Obama lists the topic of Internet safety for our children and families as one of importance in his technology issues section of his official website, while John McCain states, Children are our most valuable asset in his protecting kids from internet pornography and sexual predators section of his official website. So why are none of them discussing Internet safety and education issues, the increase in Internet crimes against kids’, and media literacy efforts on the 2008 campaign trail?

It is safe to say that the motto, Educate Not Regulate, could create lasting, concrete results when it comes to Internet safety and media literacy. For example, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was passed by Congress in 1998 in an effort to restrict minors’ access to adult-oriented websites. Now 10 years later, it was recently struck down again by a lower court. Just think about all the money that has been spent litigating this case that instead could have been spent on media literacy and online safety awareness campaigns that would have reached children and families around the world.

Education is a vital part in online child protection efforts. In fact, parental control tools that incorporate education as a key component in product offerings, such as the Children’s Educational Network’s kid safe browsers. They are making big statements in the Internet safety world.

For parents, combating the problem of unwanted online media exposure means they must rely on a mix of technological controls, informal household media rules, and, most importantly, education and media literacy efforts. Pioneers and experts in the Internet safety field, such as CEN Founder/CEO Greg Writer, use a compelling metaphor to explain why education is the most important tool on which parents and policymakers should rely:

Internet safety when thought of in the form of fences around pools, pool alarms, and locks can help protect children from drowning in swimming pools. However, teaching a child to swim and when to avoid pools or other bodies of water, not simply focusing on what is only in our own backyard, is a far safer approach than relying on locks, fences, and alarms to prevent him or her from drowning. Locks, fences and alarms provide substantial benefit. But parents cannot rely exclusively on those devices to keep their children safe from drowning. Furthermore, teaching a child to swim and to exercise good judgment has relevance far a single swimming pool.

Regrettably, we often fail to teach our children how to swim in the new media waters. To rectify this situation, a serious media literacy agenda is needed in America. Government should push media literacy efforts at every level of the education process and they should be talking about it during every phase of their election process. And those efforts should be accompanied by widespread public awareness campaigns to better inform parents about the parental control tools, rating systems, online safety tips, and other media control methods at their disposal.

A good example of an effective awareness campaign is one that began in the early 1980s, when the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) developed its popular “McGruff the Crime Dog” campaign to assist law enforcement agencies seeking to deter crime or build awareness about criminal activities. The McGruff campaign, which included the “Take a Bite Out of Crime” motto, offers publications and teaching materials on a variety of topics; programs that can be implemented in communities and schools, local, regional, and national training programs; public service announcements broadcast nationwide starring McGruff the Crime Dog; and support for a national coalition of crime prevention practitioners.

The NCPC reports that “now 25 years after McGruff’s first TV appearance, more than 75 percent of children recognize McGruff and over 4,000 law enforcement agencies own a McGruff suit. CEN is now partnering with NCPC and launching the “McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Internet Crime” via the McGruff Parental Control Browser using CEN Technology.

This same type of effort, as listed above for the McGruff original campaign, needs to be emulated on the Internet safety front. Government officials should seek to incorporate these examples, using Private Label Browsers with their image, as McGruff has done with CEN, if they want to construct a seriousl public awareness campaign about parental controls and online child protection efforts.

If policymakers want to encourage more widespread awareness and adoption of parental control tools and online child safety methods, they will need to expand their current efforts considerably and look at a bill introduced by Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) entitled the “Safeguarding America’s Families by Enhancing and Reorganizing New and Efficient Technologies Act of 2006,” or “SAFER NET” Act (H.R. 1008). The measure seeks to better coordinate and expand online safety education and efforts at the federal level by creating a new Office of Internet Safety and Public Awareness at the Federal Trade Commission that is explicitly responsible for improving public awareness and education about Internet safety.

If the legislation she introduced were ever implemented, the new FTC Office of Internet Safety and Public Awareness could co-create plans and materials for other lawmakers and communities. Officials from that office, along with experts such as Greg Writer who can speak out from personal experience and share the importance of the educational aspect of CEN’s technology, might be available to assist lawmakers or even accompany them on speaking tours to discuss parental controls and online child safety.

I say someone needs to light a fire under these candidates and get them talking about an issue they say, except on the campaign trail so far, is important to them.

Greg Writer is the Founder/CEO of Children’s Educational Network, a software company dedicated to empowering parents with tools and information to keep kids safe online. You can get free parental control software at http://www.childrenseducationalnetwork.com

[tags]keeping kids safe, online safety, hillary clinton, barack obama, john mcclain, campaign issues[/tags]

For decades left of centre political parties in Europe have been trying to tax the most affluent in society, but have been scared off from doing their worst by centre-right Conservative Parties and the majority of the media with threats of how it would irrevocably damage their economies with a flight of capital abroad.

And politicians from both the left and the right have seen globalisation and the free movement of capital and people as key to improving economic growth, allowing investors and entrepreneurs to engineer new companies and improve exisiting ones - often for the benefit of the consumer who has seen major commodities such as cars, televisions, foreign holidays and other luxuries fall in price in real terms.

The UK, and the City of London in particular, has benefitted from the free flow of capital introduced when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, and has seen the City rival New York as the world’s most important financial centre.

But the British Government has announced it will be taxing ‘nom-doms’ - non British people working in the City - 30,000 Sterling a year (around US $60,000), with some considering moving from the UK to Switzerland.

And in a second attack on those who work in London but live elsewhere the number of days allowed into Britain is being reduced. 90 days are allowed in the UK, and up to now the day travelling to and from the UK didn’t count, so Monday to Friday would count as three days - but now it will count as four, reducing the amount of time the nom-doms can work in the UK.

But the surprise perhaps is not that the British government - Labour for over ten years - has decided to squeeze extra taxes out of the affluent, but that it has taken them so long to do it - and the inspiration that gave them the courage to pursue the well off came from the Conservative Party.

It was David Cameron’s Conservative Party who suggested the policy of taxing the nom-doms at their annual conference in the autumn, and with no opposition to their plans a week later Labour announced the new tax.

‘It seems astonishing that it took Labour over ten years of government to hit the rich’, comments a company specialising in the European tax havens of Monaco and Andorra, ‘But once the Conservatives announced the policy instead of facing opposition - they were given a green light and immediately took the chance to raise tax revenues by taxing the wealth creators - classic tax and spend policies from Labour in the seventies which New Labour had supposedly abandoned - but it was a gift from the Conservatives that made it politically acceptable.’

Meanwhile over in Germany, their first woman Chancellor and leader of the right of centre CDU since 2000 has also been showing Europe’s socialists that there’s no need to worry about hitting the rich, and not only has her government happily paid for stolen documents from a former Liechtenstein banker who illegally took the details of bank account holders, but shared the information with other governments.

‘If another bank or commercial enterprise was caught paying for and handling stolen data there would be quite rightly a furore’, comments the tax haven company, ‘But it seems it’s quite ok for national governments to do it, and to receive money from other governments interested in seeing which of their citizens had a Liechtenstein bank account.’

Not content with threatening Lichtenstein with reprisals if they don’t play ball in the future, Merkle has her sights firmly fixed on the small and independent European countries of Andorra and Monaco, neither of whom are in the EU, but are both members of the UNited Nations and recognised as seperate independent countries.

Both Andorra and Monaco offer her citizens a tax friendly regime, with no income tax, and extend this to offer outsiders residency if they buy a property. Monaco real estate is more expensive with studio apartments over a million Euros, with Andorra real estate has two bedroom apartments start at around 300,000 Euros.

‘Germany likes to see herself as the central power in the EU, and the EU is all for the freedom of trade and the movement of people. But when two small countries adopt the same policy to newcomers the German government doesn’t like it. They see German people moving to Monaco and the loss of tax revenue, and demand the countries change their tax policies and provide information on their citizens.

So far both Andorra and Monaco are resisting German demands and pressure, although both have and are putting in place mechanisms to stop fraud and illegal money entering their banking systems. But Germany is quite happy to turn a blind eye to the fraud and wastefulness in the EU that costs billions of Euros a year. It’s easier to threaten and bully small countries who welcome entrepreneurs than sort out wasteful bureaucracy in the EU.’ suggests the tax haven company.

‘The irony is that for ten years a left of centre British government was happy to see entrepreneurs and business people move to London, and Germany wasn’t worried about Monaco and Andorra. But at the Conservatives’ suggestion Britain is now imposing extra taxes, and Germany is trying to dictate policy to two independent countries. The right-wing in Europe has shown the left there’s no need to be afraid of taxing the rich, and have introduced a new concensus politics which will see successful businessmen and women being taxed more and more.’

With the British Conservative Party stating recently that they would not reduce taxes for at least four years if they beat Labour at the next election there is now a void in British politics of a Party that believes in reducing tax, and with Germany still a couple of years away from another election small independent countries like Andorra and Monaco will need to keep a careful eye on Germany’s aggressive stance towards them.

Tribune Properties are the only company who specialise in both Monaco and Andorra real estate and they offer a service for Andorra residency

On their sites they carry advice and offer both Andorra property and Monaco property

[tags]Andorra, Monaco, Germany, London, tax, taxes, politics, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives[/tags]

The biggest news so far this election, is former front runner Mitt Romney dropping out of the race. Where will this lead the country? Will Huckabee or Ron Paul step up and seriously challenge John McCain, or will the party just join together to beat the democrats?

The longer Obama and Hillary are attacking each other the better it is for the republicans…

What is the only problem? John McCain just does not appeal to the conservative base like Mitt Romney did. I am finding myself hard pressed to believe that the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and Jay Severn will have an easy time throwing their support behind John McCain.

These people, along with most serious republicans, are not just going to support John McCain. John McCain is an independent and is very far from a conservative. Then again, are these not the folks that supported George W. Bush the second go around, and then regretted it?

More…

The American people are faced with, perhaps an election for the “lesser of two evils”. The question is, are the American people willing to go through another 2004? If they are not, which I don’t assume they are, there will be many independents running for President this year.

These events could and just may, change the way we know politics. The American people’s anger is at an all time high, and no longer will they just side with somebody just because they hate the other more. The republican’s whole campaign has been run on two things… 9/11 and beating Hillary.

We all found out how good running on a 9/11 was, it just didn’t site well with the American people. Eventually, John McCain will find himself at a loss if he continues to push the “safety” factor. Hillary Clinton could sure as hell beat him in that, thanks to her husband. Really, John McCain only has one card, and that is that America hates Hillary.

If Hillary wins the democratic nomination, I really feel going one on one with John McCain, she would win over Americas love.

John McCain better get geared up to get hurt… the Ron Paul revolution will attack! John McCain will be fighting a movement that few can explain, a movement that John McCain is against. I truly believe that Rudy Giuliani’s campaign was crippled by Ron Paulites.

At this point, few can actually say that Ron Paul could beat John McCain for the republican nomination. This will truly anger the half of million plus, Americans that support Ron Paul’s ideas. John McCain, even if Ron Paul doesn’t run in a third party, will be fighting Ron Paul’s movement all the way up until November.

John McCain can argue all he wants with the idea that he is better for America than Hillary Clinton; but he is going to have a difficult time if he is fighting for a conservative name, while still appealing to the masses. This election, mark my words, will be divided bitterly… The Libertarian party, and possibly the Constitution Party will rise out of the ashes and will be a huge spoiler. These two parties will cripple John McCain’s only playing card.

Alexander Nobles
Writer and Editor:
http://www.politicallore.com
http://www.politicallore.com/uncategorized/ron-paul-announces-grand-march-on-washington-dc/153

[tags]John McCain Ron Paul, John McCain hurt by Ron Paul, Revolution John MCain[/tags]