Where Your Tax Dollars Are Going
It’s been a while since I made a post and the reason is that not only have I been trying to figure out the bailout nonsense, but I had a computer crash that really set me back on research. Needless to say, I recommend you backing up your system and doing it often. The only thing that saved me was that I use Fox Marks to back up my bookmarks and have a 2nd hard drive in my laptop that I put most of my info on. I still had to restore the system and reinstall all the programs that I lost and I did lose some things that can’t be replaced, but it could have been much worse.
Ok, now for the bailout, I saw on the news that the government failed to put a simple rule in that prevented the banks from hording the money and some are planning on using it to buy other banks. Haven’t we learned that if a bank gets too big to fail, it is a bad thing??? Now they’re talking about giving people who are deep in credit card debt, relief. I’m a little torn on that, yes, Americans need relief but is it fair to reward people for not taking care of their own life? I’m looking forward to finding more details on that and finding out if it’s fair or if it’s rewarding bad behavior. If it turns out as I understood it, then I’ll regret not buying a plasma TV and a few other toys.
As you know, I believe in having multiple streams of income and one of my favorites is Traffic Wave. It’s a marketing system that has really helped my overall system. I did hear a good quote on Traffic Wave. “I heard there was a recession, I’m just choosing not to participate.” Of course I paraphrased the quote. But the idea is correct. For most of us, life goes on and maybe our investments are looking pretty scary but the value of stocks will go back up and things will return to normal before too long. I’m glad that I don’t depend 100% on a job and have other income coming in. It makes life less stressful.
Oh and I voted today. I live in Nevada and we get to early vote here. The votes don’t get counted till Election Day, but it’s done and it took about 15 minutes. Remember, if you don’t vote and your guy loses, you can’t complain. So vote.
Fear Index
I’ve been watching the news about the economy and still trying to figure out what is going to happen. I heard a newscaster mention the Fear Index so I checked it out and it turns out that there is an index that measures the fear in the market. That’s really what’s driving the markets down after all. People are freaking out and selling everything they can and when there are that many sellers and no buyers, the price plummets.
I started out against the bailout and then realized that something had to be done or we’d be in even more trouble. If there isn’t any credit then businesses can’t keep doing business and the economy gets another hit. I don’t think the package they passed is exactly what we needed, but at least it’s something and maybe it will help.
I did notice the story about AIG blowing about 440 grand for a retreat less than a week after being bailed out. They said it was for their top performers but I just don’t see how they could justify it after being bailed out. I’m thinking they should have postponed or cancelled the trip. I also find it sad that the people who were responsible for the crash and quit or got fired before the bailouts get to keep all of their bonuses and the poor idiots who came in and tried to do the right thing will be considered guilty when they weren’t there long enough to do anything.
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