...Governor Rick Snyder

As the President makes his speech asking for hundreds of billions of dollars in aide and extending unemployment benefits a Governor in has decided to cut some for his state. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed into law a stricter, four-year lifetime limit on cash welfare benefits. The state will offer exemptions to the limit for those with a disability who can't work, those who care for a disabled spouse or child and those who are 65 or older and don't qualify for Social Security benefits or receive very low benefits. Snyder said, "We are returning cash assistance to its original intent as a transitional program to help families while they work toward self-sufficiency." Former Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a bill that created a four-year limit starting in 2007. That law exempted many welfare recipients, including those whose caseworkers said they were making progress toward finding employment. Many people are already taking aim at this saying it is another "attack" on the poor and underprivileged. I say to them, no way. Everyone knows the old saying, "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime", this is true for assistance as well. Lots of people are receiving some sort of government aide and it is creating a lot of complacency across the country. Think of it as a teen who gets enough from their parents and live in their home rent free and has no worries because they know everything is taken care of. If you remove them form that environment they will either has to fight or flight. If you take away the money people will get a job, any job. More companies will be forced to hire because the demand will grow, and if more people have more money they are willing to buy more goods. It is not as if they are living the high life with the money they receive, but it is just enough to get them by and getting by seems to be enough int his economy because the American Dream seems to be dead. I think that this plan will work int he long run, it worked for Canada, though Canada is not America, and I hope that this catches on throughout other states. California could have used this years ago, and as other states inch closer and closer to a possible "bankruptcy" this idea will not seem so crazy. I am giving Governor Rick Snyder a Digit Up.

...Jobs

Where are the jobs? The jobs report for August showed that there were NO new jobs created. Also, the job creation totals for July were cut to 85,000 from 117,000, and for June to just 20,000 from last month’s estimate of 46,000. We will all be watching the President's speech this Thursday about his plan for creating jobs, but it will be a lot of talk and just talk, nothing he can do. His administrations said they expect the unemployment rate of 9.1% to stay that way until the end of 2012... Black or white, educated or not, man or women unemployment seems to be affecting everyone. I keep hearing about companies looking for people who are "qualified" for the positions the need filled. They claim that they just cannot find them. That may be true, but why not train them? In 2011 most people are trained to do tech jobs over labor and skill jobs, but if trained anyone could get the job done. Of course everyone want sot blame Washington now and they may be able to, but for how much of it? Taxing companies may or may not work. For sure that will give the government more money but it will not change the unemployment situations. Basically this is becoming the new norm. If you have a job keep it and if you do not... I am giving this news a Digit Down. I am also preparing for another recession.

...AT&T

The U.S. government decided to block the $39 billion merger(purchase) between of T-Mobile by AT&T. They argued that the proposed merger would lead to higher wireless prices, less innovation and fewer choices for consumers. I would have to agree with the government. The Justice Department highlighted T-Mobile’s high speed network and its innovations in technology, noting that it was the first to use Google’s Android operating system and BlackBerry wireless e-mail, among other things AT&T is willing to fight for this deal though. AT&T said it will ask for an expedited court hearing so that the enormous benefits of this merger can be fully reviewed. AT&T said if the deal goes through they will bring thousands of jobs back to America and invest billions in technology and infrastructure. Many tech companies want this deal to go through, but I do not. I have always had T-Mobile as my cell carrier and I would like to keep it that way, though T-Mobile said they are not going to compete in America anymore even if the deal falls through because they have been trying to leave the American market for years. AT&T has one powerful incentive to try to salvage the deal. Under the terms of the agreement that AT&T signed with Deutsche Telekom, AT&T would pay a breakup fee of $3 billion in cash, as well as a roaming agreement and spectrum rights — an estimated total value of $6 billion — if the acquisition did not go through for regulatory reasons. I do not see how this deal will be good for the consumer in the long run. AT&T has expensive plans and they do not offer unlimited plans like T-Mobile. Verizon is even more expensive and Sprint is a sitting duck. Speaking of Sprint... There were talks that Sprint could come in a snatch up T-Mobile, a move that many investors believe would be approved by the government, and I think that would create a powerful, still not as powerful as the other 2 carriers, 3rd carrier. I also heard that Sprint, T-mobile and a lesser carrier such as metro PCS could combine to create a "super carrier". I like anything over AT&T buying them. I am giving the Justice Department a Digit Up for granting me a few more months...years with my favorite cell carrier.

...Leroy Fick

Leroy Fick is a reason why this country is in financial trouble. He abuses the system and he is proud and bold about it. Leroy Fick won $2 million last year on a Michigan lottery game show and yet he still claims government food stamps. He says the state took half of his money so he should be able to use the services. What makes it worse is his caviler attitude about it. He says, "If you're going to try to make me feel bad, you're not going to do it." Actually there is something that may be even worse, he may be legally able to do all of this. The lottery winnings were a liquid asset and the food stamp program is based on annual income. Since Mr. Fick's income qualifies him for food stamps he is going to take them. There are thousand, maybe even millions, of people in America who are abusing the system with falsely claimed food stamps, social security checks, welfare, etc. I have no sympathy for a lot of people in a lot of situations and it is people like this that make a lot of politicians want to do away with social programs altogether. Anyway, I am going to give Leroy Fick a Digit Down for sure. Can you really blame me?

...Citizens Against Government Waste

The Citizens Against Government Waste are against well government waste, and who can really blame them? I am totally in love with their commercials that has been deemed too "controversial" for some networks to air. I happened to see it on a channel, I cannot recall what network aired it, but thank you to those who are willing to show it. This commercial is pretty much what a lot of insiders are thinking, but are too afraid to say. I instantly thought of one of my favorite commercials, the 1984 Apple Macintosh Super Bowl commercial. However the commercial is more on the lines of another controversial commercial from the 1980's directed by Ridley Scott. This commercial was banned because it also dealt with the topic of the rising government debt. Though this commercial may not be seen by all those who do see it will be curious about its message, especially those who are not actively involved in politics. I am giving this Citizens Against Government Waste 2 Digits Up for, lack of a better word, having the balls to make this commerical to begin with.

...General Motors

General Motors is about to make a lot of its 48,000 hourly workers very very happy. These workers will be receiving bonus checks of $4,000 dollars. Engineers and managers will be receiving a bonus of 4 to 16 percent of their salary and the top bosses will get up to 50% of their salaries as a bonus. In all GM will be handing out bonuses totalling more than $400 million. Last year the company made $4.2 billion in profit through the 1st 9 months, and they are expected to post a profit for the last quarter of the year as well. I would love to give this a Digit Up, but I cannot. GM was given $49.5 billion in those auto bailouts and they have only paid back $23 billion. Before they go handing out money so willy-nilly they should pay off their loans. Yes the workers could help jump start the economy in Detroit, which could use it, this is just not a smart move. The Associated Press calculated that the white-collar bonuses could total more than $200 million, so they will be giving out over $600 million for 1 good year of business, 1 good year and they are still in major debt. They are not alone though. Chrysler plans on giving out bonuses, even though they also took a $12.5 billion bailout and they lost $652 million last year. Ford is also handing out bonuses, which I approve. They did not take any government money and posted a profit of $6.6 billion last year. Adding to this the United Auto Workers union (UAW) runs out this year and they will certainly have an issue with the white-collar bonuses. GM has a large pension plan for ts workers and these current bonus grabbing workers will be future pension grabbers in no time. GM needs to prepare for the future and save as much money as they can. Obviously history escapes them because it was this same lack of financial responsibility that landed them on Capital Hill begging for bucks 2 years ago. At this point I see them bankrupt again but this time being bought by the Chinese government, they really like Buicks over there. I am giving General Motors a Digit Down.

...Bell, California

Bell, California has been in the news for months since it was reported this Summer that 8 of its city officials gave themselves outstanding salaries. Bell is a suburb South of Los Angeles and has about 40,000 residents. It is not a wealthy city, most the families average about $30,00 a year. When the residents found out that some of its officials gave themselves huge salaries they, along with America, became angry and upset. Robert Rizzo, a former city manager, was the most disliked when it was discovered he had a salary twice that of the President's at $800,000 a year! Former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia gave herself a salary of $376,288 while four others gave themselves nearly $100,000. Those arrested were: Former City Manager Robert Rizzo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, former Councilman George Cole, former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, council members George Mirabal and Luis Artiga and former council member Victor Bello. Someone who was not arrested was former Police Chief Randy Adams, who made $457,000 and was looked upon in the same way as the others in the resident's eyes. This is an example of a corrupt government or as Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley called it, "corruption steroids." They are making an example out of these people, and I could not be happier. I hope that this is just the start of things like this. No matter how big or small the city or town may be no one should steal from its people or the government, eventually you will get caught and once you mess with the government you cannot by your way out of it. I hope the money is repaid, as much of it as they can, because the city of Bell is not a wealthy city, 1 out of 6 residents live in poverty. It is very working class and the people living there right now are struggling with a lot of issues, even before this all came about. I am giving the city a Digit Up for making the proper move and I do hope that this is a warning shot seen and heard across this nation.