This map basically means that the lighter color, the more equally the wealth in the country is distributed. You can tell where the most people suffer due to the darker shades of green seen throughout the  map.

The countries with the biggest gap between poverty and wealth are the South American nations and some central to southern African nations.

Canada, Australia, much of Europe, and even some African countries all have fairly good wealth distribution throughout.

The United States falls into the same category as Russia, India, Italy, England, Portugal, and Uzbekistan to name a few.

Source

Most of the states across the country have come to a conclusion: They have to raise taxes to help with the budget deficits.

The five states hit hardest by new taxes as written by SmartMoney are:

1) California – This state has a HUGE deficit. It has gotten so bad in California that they the state is starting to pay for things with IOUs. The state deficit estimate for 2010 is almost $25 billion with the state and local tax burden being 10.5%. Voters in the state voted against sales and income tax increases, and with unemployment there nearing 12% and the worst housing market in the country, anyone could understand their unwillingness to vote FOR higher taxes. One of the things on the table now for the state to start raising some extra tax money? Legalize marijuana…

2) New York – With a state deficit estimate for 2010 at $17.6 billion and the state and local tax burden of 11.7%, this state ranks number two in SmartMoney’s poll. The governor of New York, David Paterson has unsuccessfully tried to pass an 18% tax on soft drinks, however he was able to raise taxes on cigarettes and wine. New Yorkers have the second highest tax burden due to the income tax rate of 7.85% for those earning more than $200K a year.

3) Florida – Florida’s deficit estimate for 2010 is $6 billion and the state and local tax burden is 7.4%. In May, Florida passed next year’s budget and included a $1 per pack increase on cigarettes as well as new and higher fees to renew a driver’s license or register a vehicle. While Florida does have the third lowest tax burden in the nation, the state has been hit hard by decreasing home values and huge budget deficit as a result. The deficit could mean more taxes in the future.

4) Massachusetts – Massachusetts has a state deficit estimate for 2010 of $3 billion and a state and local tax burden of 9.5%. While right now, it is middle of the road when it comes to it’s tax burden ranking (23rd in the nation), it is getting ready for some hefty tax increases. When the budget was passed last week, it included new taxes including a 1.25% increase in the sales tax from 5% to 6.25%. Satellite television subscribers will also be tinged with a 5% tax on satellite services.

5) Nevada – With a deficit of $1.2 billion and a state and local tax burden of 6.6%, it doesn’t seem like Nevada is doing that badly, but it had the same major problem that California did: rapidly decreasing property values. It also had a history of low taxes, there was no personal income tax and it imposed some of the lowest taxes on businesses in the country. It once got the majority of its revenue from tourism, so it wouldn’t have to tax residents as heavily. In Nevada, the sales tax is going up along with hotel taxes. It also has the highest deficit to budget ratio of 32%.

It looks like the Obama administration is taking some steps in the right direction to ensure financial fiascoes like the one we’re finally emerging from never happens again. It looks as though financial regulations proposed by the president could mean simpler and smaller banks and financial institutions. In the new system, small banks wouldn’t carry the weight of the financial system and if it failed, the only way it could be saved is if it could find help from another bank or investor.

I’m glad to hear that the government is taking steps to keep something like this from happening again, because we all know how popular bailouts were when the government started handing out tens of billions of dollars to failing banks (sarcasm doesn’t always come out the best over written word, but I think many of you know that’s what I was going for).

To avoid having to do that again, President Obama’s regulatory plan is calling for large financial companies to “pay a heavy price for the system-wide risk they pose.” Under the plan, large companies like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, etc would face much stricter scrutiny and would be required to have more liquid assets as a buffer against a recession or another financial disaster like we have seen in the last year. Also, the banks would be required to anticipate and prepare for their own failure and would be required to draft very detailed descriptions of how to pick the company apart quickly without causing any harm to the overall financial system.

“Without banning them we’re providing some pretty heavy penalties for entering” the top group of institutions that could pose a risk to the entire financial system, said Diana Farrell, deputy director of the White House’s National Economic Council. “The regulator might say to a large institution, ‘Make sure there is very good reason to allow yourself to get that big, or that interconnected, or that complex because the penalties will wipe out any advantages, such as lower cost of capital, you might have.’”

There will be companies that have to just accept the new regulations and deal with them because to compete in the global capital market, some firms have to be large. I would guess that most would limit their size, however.

If it is possible for advertisers to get yellow journalist (you could call him an entertainer as there is no journalistic ethic in his broadcast) Glenn Beck off the air, it will happen soon. It all started when he uttered the following sentence on his show:

“This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist.”

And that was that. The website ColorofChange.org decided to launch an assault against the television personality directed directly at the show’s wallet. The organization began going after the show’s advertisers and so far it has successfully gotten 20 advertisers to stop advertising on the show after the comment was made. The most recent in the list of advertisers to quit the show are Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CVS, Travelocity, Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank, Broadview Security, and Re-Bath.

A move like this could bring production of a show like this to a stand still. Cable news programs (as well as all programs) depend heavily on advertisers to keep the lights on, and without the big advertisers Fox News may end up canceling the show or replacing it with some other personality.

The companies that have pulled out of the program are some of the companies that have the biggest marketing budgets in the business and this program will really hurt unless it can, somehow, make it up to everyone. However, I don’t see anything Glenn Beck doing to either help the situation or any of the boycotters out there planning on letting up anytime soon.

While people like Glenn Beck are allowed a right to what they say, he needs to realize that every word that he says has a consequence and sometimes you have to apologize for saying things that are hurtful…If we all went around saying exactly what we thought all the time then half the population would be hiding under a rock crying.

After all the uproar that banks have started regarding overdraft fees for ATM and debit card transactions, the Federal Reserve has put a new rule in place that requires banks to get their customers’ consent before they are able to charge fees due to an overdraft. The rule is to go into effect on July 1st.

The rule came after consumer groups kept getting complaints from customers and members of Congress even said that the overdraft fees were unfair.

Many people believe that if their debit card is cleared for the charges, then there isn’t a problem with the amount of money in the bank.

I have always found it odd that overdraft fees always come from the smallest of charges and it is often something like a cup of coffee. I can only remember getting an overdraft fee once and it was for a soda from a convenience store. The only problem I had was the bank, which I had just visited and checked my balance, said I had more than $25 in my account.

It turns out some banks participate in a strange accounting practice that allows for small transactions to go through while deposits get put off.

I am really happy that the Fed got involved and decided to put this rule into effect. I wish it would have been put into place a bit earlier than July 1st of next year, but I suppose better late than never. Now if only some people were able to recover some of the overdraft fees that have been collected over the years for the “funny” accounting rules I was talking about earlier.

According to Moody’s Investors Service, AIG may actually be able to pay back its loans from the government. The company posted its second straight quarterly profit last week thanks to a recovery in the value of investments.

Moody’s said that as long as the operations of AIG and other markets continue to get better and stabilize, then they will likely be able to repay the government with heavy government support in its restructuring plan.

With the government now likely to recoup its investment, it has incentive to continue supporting AIG and its various creditors, Moody’s said. The agency affirmed AIG’s long-term rating of A3, the seventh-highest investment grade, with a negative outlook.

Credit spreads on AIG’s 8.25 percent notes due in 2018 tightened by 15 basis points on Tuesday to 751 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, according to MarketAxess.

Over the past year, AIG has taken more than $180 billion in financial aid from the government. Eighty percent is currently owned by taxpayers in the United States. While AIG is looking for someone to buy major assets, it is having a very difficult time finding anyone to buy from them.

I am actually surprised to see any company saying that AIG will be able to pay back the better part of $200 billion to anyone…especially from a company that went nearly bankrupt.

I don’t see why anyone would spend their time investing in a company like this. I sometimes wonder if the government knew what they were getting themselves into with AIG if they would have lent the money to them without and major consequences (remember executive retreats and those outrageous bonuses?).

Source

Last month, the United States’ unemployment rate was 9.8%, the newest figures show that the unemployment rate has increased to 10.2% and it is the highest it has been since April of 1983. Official figures show that the country lost 190,000 jobs with the majority of the losses coming from construction, retail, and manufacturing.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 15.7 million unemployed people in the country, which is up over half a million from the previous month. The number is up 8.2 million from the time the recession officially began in December 2007.

The number of people who are long-term unemployed (those who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks) has remained pretty steady. There were 5.6 million long term unemployed people in October; meaning that 35.6% of those who are unemployed have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks.

According to the New York Times, the “underemployment” rate (part-time workers and people who have given up the job hunt altogether) is at 17.5%.

Of course this is more bad news, but it is right on track with what analysts were thinking. After all, they did say that unemployment would hit 10% by the end of the year.

There are fields that aren’t doing so badly; the health care profession has added over half a million jobs since the beginning of the recession.

Perhaps with the holiday season, some of the merchants will be hiring at least temporary workers. While temporary work isn’t the most ideal for a lot of workers, it is something that will help pay the bills for those who are cash-strapped right now.

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.

According to Trim Tabs Investment Research firm, the United States shed another 284,000 jobs for the month of October.

The results came out today from the research firm. While it is less than the 358,000 jobs that were lost in September, it still makes the total number of jobs lost 5.9 million in the last 12 months. Not only are the jobs being lost, but people are also having a hard time making the amount of money they once were.

The research firm made another note in its research that salaries are still falling. The level of salaries from September 2008 to September 2009 dropped 5.3% and from October 2008 to October 2009 4.6%.

The firm obtains its information from analysis of daily income tax deposits to the Treasury from the amount of salaried United States employees.

The unemployment figures for the month of October should be coming out in the next week or so. The official report will tell us just how bad we did for the month. I don’t think that October will be as bad as September was, however, there is an issue regarding how many jobs were created versus jobs lost. Also, like I always say when I write a post about unemployment, the only people who are counted in unemployment figures are those who are actively seeking work.

There are a lot of people out there who have given up on the job hunt for right now. I would like to see a report on those people, honestly. I believe that a report like that would give people a real idea as to how many people do not have a job right now. It should be broken up into categories such as “stopped looking” or “not interested” just so everyone can tell the categories apart. If everyone was lopped into a “don’t have a job and not looking” category, that would include everyone from exasperated ex-business executives to new moms (or dads) who want to stay at home and take care of the baby.

In Great Britain, PriceWaterhouseCoopers has said that more and more people are declaring bankruptcy at an increasing rate, however the number of people who are declaring bankruptcy isn’t increasing at the rate that was expected.

In February 2009, 67,428 people declared bankruptcy and another almost 40,000 people decided to turn to Individual Voluntary Arrangements in 2008. The total for the entire United Kingdom of people who had filed for bankruptcy protection was just over 106,000 people.

There were plenty of financial analysts that were expecting there to be more than 130,000 people in the United Kingdom that would have filed for bankruptcy or for the Individual Voluntary Arrangements by the end of 2008.

The only reason that there weren’t more IVAs taken out was because (as analysts believe) people were taking out a second mortgage on their homes. When someone gets a secured loan such as this one, they are no longer eligible for an IVA. This would also account as to why there are more repossessions in the United Kingdom this year. When someone puts their house up as collateral, then it is going to be taken by the creditor when that person decides to default on the loan, or they can no longer pay on the loan.

In the final quarter of 2008, more than 13,000 houses were taken back by the bank. This number is quite likely to go up in 2009 as more mortgages are expected to be underwater by the end of the year

In April 2009, the Debt Relief Order was introduced by the United Kingdom government. It was meant to help those who are having serious debt issues with small incomes. The people that it helps are those who have very few assets (less than 300 British pounds in value) and a disposable income of under 50 pounds a month. It will also only help those who owe less than 15,000 pounds.

Of course, there are plenty of options out there for those who want to and have the intentions of fixing their debt issues. One does not have to merely fall into that small gap to qualify for debt relief. This is where the IVAs come in. With an IVA, someone can keep their home and go through a process to help alleviate some of their debt issues. Again, there are certain stipulations to this kind of debt relief as well, but it isn’t as stringent as the DRO from the government.

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Friday market the largest amount of United States government take overs in one single day since the beginning of the financial crisis and the almost complete collapse of the financial sector of the United States.

The nine banks (which brings the total to 115 for the number of failed banks in 2009) that were taken over showed that there is a trend in the banking industry that banks are begging to be injured by bad loans that are going south quickly.

Even with these bank failures, these are smaller banks. The largest was still Washington Mutual when it was seized just over a year ago in September 2008.

The banks, which were being held by FBOP Corp, were acquired by U.S. Bancorp to the tune of $18.4 billion in assets as well as $15.4 billion of deposits. U.S. Bancorp has been going around this year purchasing distressed assets.

It is unsettling to know that banks are still failing and will likely continue to fail as more loans begin to mature and become due. There is also an issue that is coming up concerning Option-A mortgages’ rates resetting in the next year. These were a lot like the subprime mortgages that caused so much of the financial crisis. When they reset in the next couple of years, we could actually see a bigger problem than what we saw in the past two years with subprime mortgages and foreclosures.

With foreclosures on the rise and unemployment really not letting up either, the problem with banks is also going to likely get worse before it gets better. I am not sure if there will be more bank takeovers in the next year, but the FDIC was already hurting from all the banks it had to pick up after they failed

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the Federal Reserve should lose its ability to bail out “big, failing financial firms like AIG and Bear Stearns.”

He said, “Any firm that puts itself in a position where it cannot survive without special assistance from the government must face the consequences of failure. The proposed resolution authority would not authorize the government to provide open bank assistance to any failing firm.” He went on, “We cannot put taxpayers in the position of paying for the losses of large private financial institutions. We must build a system in which individual firms, no matter how large or important, can fail without risking catastrophic damage to the economy.”

Many taxpayers would agree with Geithner, while many of the banks would likely not. I have to say that I do agree with him to a point definitely. With as much money as we, as American citizens, have invested in these companies, we should be able to control them a bit better than they are now (for example, we should definitely have been able to do something about the grossly overpaid executives at AIG). However, once we start controlling the companies, people start screaming about how it is not right in a free market system.

Geithner suggests that large firms that are failing should be received by the FDIC and then it can decide whether to “unwind, dismantle, sell or liquidate.” If these companies should so choose to liquidate, then they can be purchased by other companies or they can be broken into many other branches.

The main reason why I feel like this is such a good idea is that I think that companies should be held responsible for their actions. Like the picture posted above (which I know I posted as a funny post a week or so ago), these banks are allowed to steal and “plunder” and still be able to escape with all their loot. It is not the way a company is supposed to be run. These companies should have been forced to figure out a way to liquidate or sell from the beginning. Allowing them to continue to operate with the taxpayer’s money is absolutely insane. Particularly when you consider companies that took BILLIONS (like, AIG). Those companies will never be able to pay back that money.

At least when the government bailed out the car companies, there were hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers that were benefiting because they wouldn’t be losing their jobs. At the same time, the executives of those companies weren’t taking outrageous salaries either. It is as though the financial companies that took the bailout money do not run on the same system. It is just absolutely ridiculous how out of control the whole thing got.

Source

The attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming have all asked the Federal Trade Commission to increase the regulation of companies that have been offering debt relief to individuals and families in the United States.

One of the things that the FTC is currently considering imposing on the debt relief companies is to include them in the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

One wrong step from the Credit Solutions of America company led to the actions being filed. The company has been falsely claiming that it could reduce credit card debt by 50%. This angered Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan enough to sue the company and its CEO. In the lawsuit, Madigan states that Credit Solutions of America never go through with their end of the bargain and never actually negotiate with the creditors of their clients even though the clients stop paying their creditors directly and are actually making payments to Credit Solutions of America. Of course, because the creditors aren’t getting their money, they are suing the consumer to get their money; and winning.

Madigan has also said that her office has received over 12,000 complaints regarding this issue.

Some of the rules that the FTC is considering imposing on the debt relief companies include:

- Prohibiting the companies from charging the consumer anything until services have been performed. This would also require more disclosure to consumers; including how long it will take to settle the debts and how much it will cost.

- Prohibiting the company from being able to misrepresent things such as fees, success rates, and any other information that alludes to the impact of the debt relief services on the consumer’s credit report and credit history.

Some debt relief agencies actually do what they say they are going to do, but other companies like this one listed in the lawsuit above are awful and need to be regulated. The companies that do what they state they do shouldn’t have an issue with the new regulations that are imposed on them. Because the companies already follow the rules, any new rules will just mean that it’s leveling the playing field for the good companies.

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Image Source

The Consumer Board released October’s Consumer Confidence Index number today and it was below what anyone was expecting. It fell to 47.7 for the month which is the Board’s second lowest reading since May.

to put the number into perspective; a number higher than 90 means that the economy is doing well and anything above 100 says that there is strong growth in the economy. The lowest that the Consumer Board has ever measured was the record low of 25.3 in February 2009. It only took a few months to climb back up to 53.4 last month.

The reason that consumer confidence is so important is because it is the number that tells how much consumers are spending on items. Because spending on these items accounts for 70% of the United States economy (according to the government), it is an important economic indicator.

So, what does a drop in the consumer confidence index number mean? It shows that consumers have a grim outlook of the future.

According to Lynn Franco, the director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center, “Consumers also remain quite pessimistic about their future earnings, a sentiment that will likely constrain spending during the holidays.”

This news is not welcomed by the retailers in the country. Last year, spending around the holidays fell to levels not seen since the 1960′s. With so many retailers across the United States still hurting and struggling and also going out of business, many of them are counting on this holiday season to prop them up and maybe put them in the black for the year.

The Consumer Board gets the Consumer Confidence Index by sending surveys to 5,000 homes across the country. For October’s numbers, the cutoff date was October 21st.

I honestly think all the figures and indexes like this put people into worry-mode. When people are truly worried about their jobs and their finances they don’t spend. For the past couple of months, people have been worried about their income even with plenty of job security. Jobs aren’t being lost at the rate that they were and there are plenty of places where people are working and not having to worry whether or not their job will be there the next day.

The Consumer Confidence Index was something that we didn’t have before the 60′s and it seems as though the country’s consumer spending was not that bad through the 50′s (after WWII anyway).

What do you think about the Consumer Confidence Index and any of the other financial indexes that come out telling you how the economy is doing? Are there any of these indicators that you follow to tell you how things are going?

I believe I would follow the unemployment numbers a bit more closely than this one.

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Ever wonder what the difference between bankers and pirates are? This little image I dugg is pretty funny in regards to the topic.

Banks have been letting their own companies fail for the past year and the only thing that saves them every time is the government. Unfortunately, the goverment is nowhere to be seen in the image.

It’s good to have a laugh at the expense of banks and the people who run them because, after all, they are the ones who took our taxpayer money and some (like AIG) won’t ever be able to pay it back. I think that the government should take AIG and split it into a lot of different branches then dissolve the non profitable branches. It would be like firing your under-producing employees, it happens.

Image source: Politico

According to a Reuters survey, new construction of homes in the United States and permits for future buildings are on the rise. The actual numbers are supposed to come out today.

Chief economist Chris Low from the FTN Financial group in New York said, “New home sales have improved in recent months and new home inventories are likely to fall to a 27 year low in September, but there are still about twice as many existing homes on the market as there were the last time sales were this weak, suggesting it is still a very difficult environment for homebuilders.”

Luckily, the housing market may actually be showing signs of getting better. The housing market is the worst that it has been since the 1930′s and the slump actually began in 2006 but didn’t become widespread for a few years.

“We forecast residential investment will add to growth in the third quarter, the first positive contribution since the fourth quarter of 2005, and contribute an average of 0.8 percentage points to quarterly growth next year,” said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York.

“As for home prices, we believe the freefall has decidedly ended but that it is too early to call the bottom. Moreover, foreclosures are likely to flow into the market at an accelerating pace, weighing on prices.”

Like the cash for clunkers program, there is a government incentive for new home buyers right now. There is an $8,000 government tax credit for those buying their first home that is set to expire next month. There are also expected to be more foreclosures on the market throughout the end of the year. When there are more foreclosures on the market, new homes won’t sell because many buyers find foreclosures can be too good of a deal to pass up.

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Wells Fargo wants to be different. It wants to stand out. It wants to raise your credit card rates and it’s doing so right now.

Getting the news that credit card rates won’t be able to just go up and down like an expensive roller coaster anymore starting in either December or February, Wells Fargo has made the decision to raise the interest rates on most of the company’s credit cards 3% before the law goes into effect.

You know, it’s not really fair for me to say that Wells Fargo wants to be different because, in reality it’s being the same. JPMorgan Chase has also decided that it is going to likely raise the rates for consumers. The only bank that has made it public that it is NOT going to raise rates is Bank of America actually. So, I suppose actually it is BofA that wants to be different and stand apart from the crowd.

Wells Fargo is saying that the new rates will take effect November 30th, just one day before new legislation will likely go into effect saying that credit card companies can no longer just raise rates because they feel like it.

“We are raising interest rates up to 3 percentage points for a majority of our Wells Fargo customers due to the current business environment, including rising business costs and current consumer credit challenges,” a company spokeswoman says. “We decided many months ago that it would be necessary to increase interest rates. We delayed our decision in hopes that the business environment would materially improve

Wells Fargo is, at least, giving customers 45 days to decline the new terms, close their accounts, and pay the balance off at the old interest rate if they so choose. However, for someone who has thousands on their credit card, this may not only be a bad choice, but also one that is just not feasible. If someone is that much in credit card debt, then they will probably just have to “grin and bear it” when it comes to the new rates.

This is the kind of practice that led to the new legislation. This is exactly why this kind of legislation had to be put in place. Wells Fargo (as well as most of the other large lending banks) have no one to blame but themselves and their greedy ways for Congress cracking down on them. I’m glad that something is finally being done.

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Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Connecticut, recently released a survey that says 64% of voters disapprove of Republicans in Congress and the job that they are doing and only 25% actually approve. The same poll said that 53% have an “unfavorable opinion” of the Republican party in general.

The poll was conducted to see how potential votes feel about the very crucial health care debate. It found that 61% of those polled are in favor of a government-run option that would directly compete with private insurance. Right now, this is the exact thing that those very vocal Republicans and their followers are up in arms about.

One thing that continues to irk me about watching the national news and watching (very obvious) Republican voters go to these town hall meetings to protest and yell is that they don’t listen. They will only listen to the side of the story they want to hear and will NOT have it any other way. A lot of times, the most extreme conservative followers only listen to those who are on the fringes of the party anyway…and they’re the ones who seem to be the loudest and, in most cases, they are wrong (this is where the whole “death panel” thing came from).

I continue not to be able to understand exactly why people do not support a government run option for health care. Is it because it will cause health costs to increase? That’s unlikely because, if anything, it will cause premiums on private insurance to decrease. It could mean that hospitals won’t be able to charge thousands of dollars for band-aids anymore. Hospitals RIGHT NOW have to charge that much because of all the people who go in without health insurance. They have to make up the money they are going to lose on people who will not pay their bill. That is what causes your health care costs to rise.

There are some that disagree with the way the way that illegal immigrants are being handled in the bill. Well, in order to sign up for the health care plan that is run by the government, it would be easy for them to make a person produce documents to prove they they were not only born in the United States (or a citizen) but also actually check social security numbers. Many illegal immigrants get away with faking documents because no one ever actually runs the social security numbers.

I think that if people would calm down and listen, there is a lot of good stuff in there for everyone. Then again, there are some people (and I know people like this personally) who, no matter what, will always oppose ANYTHING the democrats support. With these people, if the democrats supported “go pet a puppy day” they would protest and complain and be as vocal as possible. These are the kinds of people that I un-friend on Facebook (haha).

Source (for the poll numbers)

Of all the bad that Bank of America has done in the past, at least it is trying to make up for it in the future, or at least they say they are. With the new regulations, Bank of America has decided that it would not hike credit card rates or increase fees before the new law is to go into effect.

New regulations are set to take effect in February. The new laws are meant to reform practices in the credit card industry including limiting banks’ and other lenders’ abilities to raise their fees and rates. It also requires that they give borrowers a greater understanding of the lending process and the costs associated with borrowing through greater disclosure.

The regulations may actually be moved up two months. Lawmakers in Congress have introduced some legislation that would cause the new laws to go into effect on December 1st instead of in February. The reason for the move is that credit card companies are raising rates and charging higher fees ahead of the new laws. Unfortunately for the borrower, the bureaucratic process takes longer than a credit card company’s decision to increase the interest rate on their card.

Some credit card companies have taken it upon themselves to change the terms of their agreements with their borrowers. Discover cards decided that it was going to “transition” some of its fixed interest rate card holders to a less-than-ideal variable rate. It is business practices like this that caused the government to take action against the companies and to set new laws and regulations for the industry.

Bank of America has done a lot in the past to make their customers leave in droves. The company has really taken a more consumer oriented approach in an attempt to gain back some of the customers that it lost when it started the shady business practices that are now being regulated against.

Bank of America was once one of the worst offenders. It was raising rates for customers who never missed a payment and would even pay more than their minimum payment.

The United States Federal Trade Commission said, on Monday, that it was going to make online reviews to be a bit more accurate for consumers. This means that the FTC was full disclosure when a blogger is being paid to write a review. The group said that it will also be monitoring testimonials to make sure that they reflect “typical results.”

The group is requiring that all online writers CLEARLY disclose any freebies or payments that they may receive from companies for reviewing products.

Rule violations will not begin taking effect until December 1st. When that time comes, even though the rule is not against the law, the FTC could fine the advertiser or blogger for that matter $11,000 for each violation. The FTC could even choose to sue if it felt so compelled.

A lot of bloggers, including me, do write posts for payments. I don’t get a lot of paid post offers, but I do get some. I’m sure some of you can tell which ones are which, haha. It’s a way to make money because somehow we have to keep the server running!

Traditional journalists are expected not to take freebies from companies; even products that they borrow for reviews usually have to be returned. There is a dollar limit of either $50 or $20 for an item for journalists, but I can’t remember which it is right now. It’s been a while since I took ethics.

I suppose the good news is that the advertisers are the ones who are really taking the fall for this one. Unless the blog writer is constantly violating the rule and has already been warned once, the FTC will likely let them slide.

The rules are a little fuzzy to me. Like if a blogger gets a freebie from a third party, then they don’t have to disclose that.

More Information

Okay, so this story is a bit different than my usual posts, but I saw this earlier and had to say something about it.

In the video above, the news reporter goes undercover to show how valet companies in Los Angeles, CA are taking up public parking spaces to make money. One owner says that he only does it because he needs more room. I’m sorry, but that is no excuse to take parking spaces from the public to profit from them.

Chris and I both discussed this and thought that perhaps someone’s pockets are being padded so that the valet companies can get away with this. If these signs are illegal to put up, then how are they not being arrested or at least fined for doing it?

Then, there are valets that are parking without putting money in a meter and getting tickets on other people’s cars. That’s outrageous enough, but to make matters worse they aren’t telling people that their car had a parking ticket put on it.

These business practices are deplorable and should not be tolerated. It is awful that it’s happening somewhere as densely populated as LA, but there’s not much that most people can do except hope that law enforcement can do something about it.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/video.

A federal judge ordered Google to deactivate an email account of someone who was sent a confidential email by accident by a bank. The order was issued by the U.S. District Court Judge James Ware. He is a district court judge in the northern district of California.

Along with the order to deactivate the account, the judge also ordered that the gmail account user be identified and that the court be given his or her contact information, even though the Gmail account user has not been accused of any wrong doing in the case.

The ruling stems from a monumental error by the Wilson, Wyo.-based Rocky Mountain Bank. On Aug. 12, the bank mistakenly sent names, addresses, social security numbers and loan information of more than 1,300 customers to a Gmail address. When the bank realized the problem, it sent a message to that same address asking the recipient to contact the bank and destroy the file without opening it. No one responded, so the bank contacted Google to ask for information about the account holder.

In keeping with its privacy policy, Google told the bank it would have to get a court order to obtain such data. The bank then filed papers asking a court to order Google to disclose the information and deactivate the account.

When the bank tried to file its papers under a seal, the U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte did not allow that to happen. It was earlier in the week that the case went from Whyte to Ware.

What do you do when an email account is given information that it was obviously never supposed to get? i think that the user in this situation should at least be notified as to what is going on with his or her account (and the bank, along with the U.S. District Court should hope that the user is not a consumer rights activist or read the Consumerist on a regular basis.). I suppose the bank should have tried to shut down the email that was sent, but should the email account really have been turned off completely?

What do you all think?

I’m not so sure myself. I don’t think that the account should have been turned off.

Over the past few days, I have noticed a headline at the Yahoo homepage talking about how there is a natoional bullet shortage and that bullet makers are working around the clock to produce bullets. Articles are saying that bullet makers are working 24/7 and still aren’t able to keep up with bullet production.

How many bullet producers are they surveying? Because I know for a fact there is at least one bullet manufacturer that is not producing bullets all day every day. As a matter of fact, they are often closed for entire weekends at a time. It has kept the same hours since the beginning of the recession.

You can also put the blame on a bullet shortage on those who are spreading rumors that because Obama has taken office, he will limit the amount of bullets available or guns will be outlawed or bullets will be outlawed, or any combination of the three. Then, there are those who know there is a shortage so anytime they find bullets, they are purchasing every box that they can get their hands on.

This could actually pose a REAL problem for those who actually use their bullets instead of hoarding. Deer hunting season is coming up quickly and those hunters will need ammo to hunt with. I’m not sure what caliber that the hunters use, but I know that without them hunting the deer, I will be afraid to drive at night due to the overpopulation of deer in my area. I wish it were deer season all year because they are really stupid. I know a lot of people whose cars have been damaged, not to actually hitting a deer, but by the deer running into their cars.

Anyway, I just think that, perhaps, if people would calm down and think about the fact that the administration has done nothing in the way of gun control since the beginning of their term, then maybe ammunition sales would calm down and people would be able to find bullets in the stores.

I am not an advocate for gun rights, as a matter of fact I think that some people should DEFINITELY not be allowed to purchase guns or ammunition. However, I do like when hunters are able to thin out the deer population in the winter.

AIG “borrowed” $182 billion from the United States government from the bailout program. On Monday September 21st, a watchdog group sent out a warning to the American public that AIG would likely never be able to pay back the loan.

The Government Accountability Office said that AIG will likely not be able to restructure the company in a way to repay the government and subsequently the taxpayers that funded the bailout. Part of the problem cited by the watchdog group is that the government relies too heavily on the government’s aid as its source for liquidity as well as capital.

The report said, “The sustainability of any positive trends of AIG’s operations and repayment efforts is not yet clear. The government’s ability to recoup the federal assistance money depends on the long-term health of AIG, its sales of certain businesses, and the maturation or sale of assets in the Maiden Lanes among other factors.”

At the beginning of September 2009, AIG still owed the government $120 billion.

A year ago this month, AIG took the first handout from the government TARP fund. The money did help stabilize the company according to the Government Accountability Office. It helped the company stabilize so much that it actually posted a $1.8 billion profit in the second quarter. The profit is the company’s first since 2007.

AIG has continued to prove itself to be a burden on the American taxpayer. Of course everyone had a problem when the company took out a huge loan from the government for $182 billion. If the government were to give that money to the citizens of the country (with 305 million people in the country) they could give every man, woman, and child $596.

I never realized how big AIG really was until the government started spending billions of dollars to bail the company out. This company should be split up so that part of the company can be actually held accountable for its actions per department or division. Parts of this company should be allowed to fail.

Source

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.

On September 15th Ben Bernanke said that the recession is basically over in a statement that rang so loudly, the stock market shot up like a weed after a rainstorm. Well, it was just over half a percentage point for the Dow today, but up is up, right (I really just wanted to use an illustrative language today and that was what came to mind also)?

So, on top of Bernanke’s statement about the recession being over, there was also new data to come out that said consumer sales were up. Sales rose in the past month the most they had risen over a single month in three years.

All of this news put together made for a pretty good day on Wall Street, but the statement about the recession being over was what made headlines that day. So, do I feel like the recession is over or that it may as well be over?

I think we may have seen the bottom. All indicators are pointing to the fact that we have bottomed out. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is well above the lowest point of the year and the overall stock market is doing well. Job losses have slowed down (although unemployment continues to increase). Consumer spending is starting to climb back up, homes are beginning to pick up in sales (and in return the amount of existing homes on the market is finally beginning to decline), and new construction has started once again on projects all across the country. Even auto sales have been kind of stirred after the Cash for Clunkers program.

But before we can all pack up our briefcases and drive to TGI Friday’s for Happy Hour, we have to remember something, it’s not over until it’s over and there are plenty of people out there who don’t have jobs and can’t pay their mortgages. I hate to be a buzzkill for those who felt like celebrating when Bernanke said the recession was basically over, but there are so many things still going on not only in the U.S. but all around the world that show the global recession is not over and that it will be a long road to go down before we actually see the end (and by the end, I mean economic growth like we were seeing prior to the beginning of the recession).

The public library system is on the chopping block in Philadelphia because the state is lacking the funding to keep the program running. An announcement released today said that, “All Free Library of Philadelphia Branch, Regional and Central Libraries” will be closed effective at the close of business on October 2nd, 2009.

Due to the closing no one can check anything out of the library after September 30th and all materials are due back to the libraries on October 1st.

The following will also go into effect:

- All the library programs will be canceled. This includes after school programs, computer classes and also programs for adults. This will go into effect at all the branches of the library.

- All the GED, ABE, as well as ESL programs that are held at the Free Library branches will cease at the close of business on October 2nd. The library is encouraging students to get in touch with their teachers to make other arrangements.

The library is, however, trying to keep its options open. It is hoping that the State Legislature will pass funding for the libraries and that the branches are able to remain open.

It is sad to see funding be cut to something that actually helps and encourages inner city children as well as adults to use their free time in a productive manner rather than crime. The city of Philadelphia, like most urban areas, is crime ridden…while it isn’t at the top of any lists, it does have its fair share of youth that need something to do with their time. After school programs at the libraries have been popular and with the libraries shutting down, I’m sure that there will be an increase in crime in the city.

Library Website

On Labor Day, Verizon Wireless sponsored a rally that was organized by those who are opposed to the climate bill. The event, which was held in West Virginia, was called the “Friends of America Rally.” The goal of the event was to get people there who opposed the energy bill because it, according to the radicals putting on the event, [the climate bill] did away with American jobs.

Those in attendance included loud mouthed Fox News anchor Sean Hannity as well as Ted Nugent. The event was put together by Massey Energy, which is one of the nation’s top coal producers. That makes sense for that  company to put on such an event seeing as how coal creates so much CO2 in our atmosphere; it’s in their best interest for people to believe whatever the coal company says.

“Despite the rally’s name, it is not friendly to America to cling to an industry that keeps Appalachia in a stranglehold of economic and environmental impoverishment by permanently polluting water supplies, blocking green-energy development and economic diversification, and contributing to global climate change. Coal corporations are making millions of dollars off destroying the mountains, and only pollution and poverty are trickling down to residents,” said Tierra Curry, a native of eastern Kentucky and biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Of course, if you get the most extreme right-wing conservatives all at a rally together, more will come up than just the environment. Of course, the second amendment and the right to bear arms came up and with Ted Nugent as a speaker, how could it not?

I have to say, people will gather with people who believe the same things they do. If you would have put a liberal in the middle of that rally, they may have simply imploded from all the nonsense going on around them. I know I would have. I also know that the more people who are gathered, the more obnoxious a group can become. This is not limited to right wing conservatives.

Source

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
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Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

‘Put in the hard work’
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

Continued…

The Cash for Clunkers program seemed to be a hit for those automakers while others got left behind. However, the problem will come up over the next few months when no one is purchasing autos through the fall. Even with clearance specials that come out at the end of the year, automakers and dealerships will likely not see the volume that they saw over the past month.

Thanks to the program, sales of cars and fuel efficient trucks in August increased almost 30% from just a month earlier. The program also led to the first increase in year over year gains since October 2007. That means that August 2009 car sales were greater than August 2008 sales.

Like I said in the past, the program will undoubtedly leave the dealerships wishing for business for some time after the program ended. Now there are thousands of new cars on the roads and people are still going to try to make their cars go further. This will only lead to an even greater slowdown in auto sales in my opinion.

Cash for Clunkers did one thing right, it led to less emissions coming out of fuel inefficient cars. And when I think of clunkers I imagine a black smoke cloud coming out of the back of the car as it putters down the road. This program helped clear some of those cars off the road. The amount of carbon emissions that won’t be in the air anymore is also a pretty big deal when you start thinking about the entire program as well, which is what I thought was the main point of the program.