Economic Education

So what has the gas been doing in your state?

Last month the national average was $3.29 and now it's $3.75 ... Up like 13%

Ours has jumped about 90cents in the last MONTH but FNC had the following states listed this morning on their news:

For REGULAR unleaded (the cheap crap)

HI: $4.28
CA:$4.16
IL:$3.92
MI:$3.91
IN:$3.86
WV:$3.84
NY:$3.98
DE:$3.94
CT:$3.96
AK:$1.86

WHAT?? $1.86 for gas???!!!

Yup

Now just think what it would be like in states where they might also allow drilling ...



Just a thought

Economic Education

UPDATE
9000 government jobs were lost JAN 2013

November job numbers changed from
161,000 to 247,000

December numbers changed from
155,000 to 196,000

12.3 million unemployed
Does not include:
2.4 million who have "dropped out" of the work force
(ie. "marginally attached" workers)
8 million work only PT while wishing for FT work

Effects 22.7 million people
[I'd say we are talking a lot more than that since we ALL are paying for their unemployment/medical until they find a job ... but that's just me]

---------

It's been a while but I heard some interesting numbers this morning:

National Unemployment
Jan 2013
7.9%
UP

157,000 private sector jobs created
JAN 2013

Unemployment per Group
Teenagers
23.4%

African-Americans
13.8%

Hispanics
9.7%

Economic Education

Okay so what will the effect be of the new tax deal?

Households earning $450,000 or more ($400,000 for singles)
UP
was: 35%
NOW: 39.6%

That's a rise of 4.6% for the top 2% of the population ... $18,000 MORE/yr in taxes

Their capital gains taxes will go up as well
Was:15%
NOW:20%.

This will cause a DROP in revenues by $290Billion because people will be less likely to take chances with their funds

The payroll tax cut, passed in 2010, was allowed to expire which means everyone's taxes are going to go up!

Social security deduction will increase from 4.2% to 6.2%

For a worker making $50,000/yr it will go up a whole $1000! I know, that's about $50 a week, but that's a lot of money for people who are losing 1/2 of it to taxes already

The was the first across the board tax increase in 20 years

They figure the deal will INCREASE the deficit by $4TRILLION over the next 10 years

Economic Education

Or maybe I should have labelled this "Election 2012" as this goes directly to the reasons why Obama was voted back into office ...

A Detroit council member has voiced not only on public record but ON VIDEO - which has gone viral -

" ... After the election of Jimmy Carter - the Honarable Colemen Andrew Young, he went to Washington DC, he came back home with some bacon. That's what you do - that's what you do - our people in an overwhelming way supported the reelection of this president, and there should also be a quid-pro-quo, and you also exercise leadership on that - of course not just that - but why NOT?"
Joann Watson
Detroit Councilwoman

So what "BACON" is she speaking about?

A BAILOUT FOR THE CITY

The City of Detroit:
➡ voted 75% for Obama
🏧$47 Million = Dtroit deficit for FY2013
😳 18.1% = Detroit unemployment rate
😳 9% = MI unemployment rte
🏧 $18 Milliom = tax revenue LOST by Detroit In OCTOBER ALONE
👵 $300 Million = retiree benefits Detroit will pay in 2012-2013
🚙 1/4 of population lost over past decade

So who is next?

CA overwhelmingly voted for Obama, cities going bankrupt
IL: $233pension liability which it can't pay

In 2011, 13 cities/counties/other government entities filed for bankruptcy = highest in 20 years

1/4 of all government bankruptcies of the last 30 years came AFTER 2008

Stockton, CA largest US city to seek bankruptcy protection in June 2012

Predictions are that pressure will be brought on the white house by public UNIONS for bailouts since if these cities declare bankruptcy, union members can not collect retirement benefits ... But while this likely includes EMS workers (police/fire) it also counts city clerical workers, street crews, garbage collectors, etc. as well as - big surprise - city council members! (at least in cities where members get paid)

While we all might feel sorry for these cities - there is no reason why a small town like mine should have to pay to bailout Detroit just because they felt the need to overspend ... While their population dropped, there spending continued to raise!

Actually the issues can be traced well into the 1940s when worker unions held the cities "hostage" during WW2 and the era just afterwards - the lack of population who would have taken the place of striking workers just wasn't there.

I think when common people think of "union" they think of the days of Norma Rae where workers worked without any healthcare ... In unsafe work conditions ... Being fired just because someone younger/cheaper came along ... But that's not the way it is anymore ... Now unions have made it so that most businesses can't even fire someone for the most blatant reasons ...

I could give a personal example but that would take us off on a tangent

Economic Education

Well for all he promises we've gotten concerning the rise in jobs, economic growth, and consumer confidence - that isn't going to be the case for long since the following companies are about to have a real big issue with having more than 50 employees and HAVING to provide the government mandated health care levels for them:

§ Papa Johns Pizza (employees will be cut to less than 30 hrs/wk or layoff more)
§ Denny's (will charge 5% surcharge on bills & reduce employee hours/layoff)
§ Walmart (employees to pay +30% in premiums)
§ Methodist Medical Center
§ Aetna
§ Blue Cross Blue Shield (irony, they are one of the companies that MEET the law)
§ Kaiser Permanente
§ Community Medical Centers
§ HealthMarkets
§ Tidewell Hospice
§ Beaumont Hospitals
§ Abbott Labratories
§ Lutheran Medical Center
§ Piedmont Health Center
§ St Francis Medical Center
§ Northwest Community Healthcare
§ Mountain States Health Alliance
§ Metronic
§ Nebraska Medical Center
§ Mercy Health System
§ UCSF Medical Center (University of CA - San Fransisco?)
§ Applebee"s
§ Welch Alllyn
§ Dana Holding Corp
§ Stryker
§ Boston Science
§ Smith & Nephew

The owner of one Denny chain says that if he had to pay the $5000 fine for each employees then it would cost him $175,000 for just ONE SINGLE restaurant, and none of his restaurants make that much in a year. He would take a loss ... he will have no choice but to CUT HOURS & RAISE PRICES

Actually the irony is -- the majority of the businesses about are in the HEALTH CARE BUSINESS in some form or another.

So what will be the outcome?

well more UNDER-EMPLOYED

Less money in the economic stream

more people needing to get their OWN health care or be fined by the IRS

Economic Education

Interesting bit of trivia:

Campaign Fund-raising

$114 million = Obama in August
$111.3 million = Romney in August
(just ONE month/first time in 3 months Obama has been on top)

$16 trillion = National Debt

Numerology Class

True unemployment rate estimated to be 14.7% (don't know since government isn't really interested in it at this time)

NEW claims sits at 8.1% (doctored, see past posts)

43 consecutive months above 8%

Longest streak above 8% EVER recorded

21 states and DC ABOVE national Unemployment rate

Nevada has highest unemployment at 12%

Not highest unemployment in US history though: 9.7% in 1982 (yes, that was a Reagan year)

If the unemployment rate stays above 8% into November, Obama will be first sitting president to enter election with unemployment above 8% since WORLD WAR 2

The lowest rates for unemployment was in 1953 at 2.9% for the year, and 2.3% in both May/June that year.

**gingers note: so I guess when they compare Romneys campaign to being from 1953, they are actually saying he will bring the low unemployment back!**

Electoral college for 1953:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/ElectoralCollege1952.svg

Electoral College for 2008:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/ElectoralCollege2008.svg

Economic Education

Two weeks AFTER the election the following has been set up to happen:

(first this wasn't a Red or Blue thing - both sides are responsible for this mess; Obama however should have headed this off)

• America will "run out" of borrowing power - kind of like maxing out ALL your credit cards and using up all their cash advances too

• Debt ceiling will HAVE to be raised

• 1 JAN 2013: Tax cuts expire and EVERYONE will get massive tax increases (known as the "payroll tax holiday")

• 1 JAM 2013: Tax on dividends and interest goes UP (if you have a life insurance policy that sends you a dividend check you get to keep less - if you have a bank account that pays interest the tax you pay on that interest will go up too, including that on any accounts you have in your MINOR children's names)

• 1 JAN 2013: Tax rates go up across the board - everyone gets thrown into a new tax bracket

• 1 JAN 2013: $1.2 TRILLION will be sequestered - spending taken out of healthcare & military

So making a new deal between congress and the White House will help right?

Well since the last "deal" was reached spending DEBT went up $1.09 TRILLION

That's an average of $3.7 BILLION a day

Under Obama's reign term in office the Nation Debt has grown more then $5 TRILLION

So the new budget {must suppress giggle here since we haven't had a national budget in the 3 years he's been president} will control it right?

The GROSS National Debt in FY2013 is expected to go over $25 TRILLION

That's better, right?

Right now he total US debt is greater than Her output - the first time since World War 2! (and we are supposed to be in Peacetime now)

if all the spending cuts take effect that need to happen it will take out nearly 1/5 of the money from the economy

This will ruin the economy - depression like you wouldn't believe

So how does this compare to Bush?

• Bush added $4.89 Trillion in 8 years

• Obama added $5.05 Trillion in 3 Years + 3 months

Economic Education

This is a bit of knowledge to save you a bit of jingle in your pocket ... oh who are we kidding - you cant buy anything with jingle anymore ...

EXPIRATION DATES EXPLAINED

Our local news decided to find out te truth about those mysterious dates on all the food products - do they mean just buy before this date? or that the food is actually garbage after that date?

well - it turns out that much of it is determined by your state (so you will have to do some checking for where you live - the information I have is for my state)

In our state expiration date are only required on product which might go bad within 90 days and products like milk & eggs have to have a date 30 days from the time they were put into the carton ...

the dates are just ESTIMATES ...

the state ag dept says that milk can last 7-10 days after the date, if refrigerated properly ... eggs can go weeks beyond their dates (I've gone up to two months)

packaged foods will last up to 1 yr past the date - as long as humidity & bugs don't get to it

if you keep it sealed in the cupboard it could go years beyond the self life

So why does water have a date?
How can water go bad?

a law in NJ requires all food and drink products have expiration dates on them - so it is easier for national brands to just date all the bottles instead of trying to route just some water to states that require it ... and even though this law has been repealed ...

retailers require it from the manufacturers - not only for "quality control" but also for "crop rotation" purposes

suggestions from the USDA for home canned food should be followed for store canned food as well:
1)Look - any mold? any bulges?
2)Smell - any off odors? does it smell "dirty"?
3)Cook - bring canned foods to a boil for 20 minutes before eating, this will generally kill the majority of bacteria although i might not the most serious
4)taste - if after cooking it still seems to have an off taste .... DONT EAT IT - why risk it?

(a hint from a prepper on youtube - if yu store salt for brining in your pantry, make sure you have it in plastic airtight containers (maybe even in ziplock bags within a big bucket - he lost all the cans in his pantry when humidity got to the salt and the salty air ATE - i mean it chowed down - the metal in the cans there too! and yes it will even eat the metal lids of home canned jars too)

Economic Education

for 50 some odd years america has declared a "war on Poverty" ... so how are we doing?

well the Cato Institute has released new stats on the matter - or maybe they are conclusions ...

polls show that people of lower ESC (Economic Social Conditions) tend to support obama more than those of higher ESC ...

under Obama, spending on welfare programs has gone up 41% than it did under Bush ... but then, you have to remember that the unemployment rate has jumped as well

that means $1 trillion is spent every year to "help" these people (remember that Gov Christie said we were becoming a nation of people who what to sit on our butts but still recieve a pay check? this would be it)

the largest program is Medicaid (not be be confused with Medicare for the elderly)

there are currently 126 different programs to fight poverty in the US which are paid for by government money

when Johnson declared the war - poverty was at 19%
under Obama it is above 15% but we are spending a whole lot more and not just because things are more expensive ... more like politicians feel they have to pay for EVERYTHING someone would want, instead of paying for the BASICS and giving them incentive to move up

although the stigma is still there

the overwhelming factors is poor education, drop outs are 4 times more likely to end up in poverty

those who grew up in single parent homes are 4 times more likely to also be in poverty ...

one of the problems with the way things are set up now - EBS cards can be cashed out at liquor stores and casinos in many states, and when used in a grocery store many states feel that they can not put limits as to what the money can be used for so it gets used to purchase quick-fix meals, beer, wine, etc instead of the healthier foods the government wants them to eat ...

of course with the way food prices are now, about the only food that is cost effective is rice & beans and that is supposed to be unhealthy for you too.

The feds spending about $20,610 per person to fight poverty ... that may not sound like very much - but its enough to put these people into the middle class ...

much of this money goes into subsidies for food/shelter etc and not directly to the people - but that isn't what was said ... it is simply saying how much is being spent

the US spends the second highest amount on education (behind Switzerland)

File This Under ...

This Is A Story?

Octomom, Nadia whatsherface, is now getting $2000 a month in welfare out in CA

She was on some show where they went in and fixed up her place so she could try to sell it after her kids were allowed to trash the place ...

CA felt that she should get the help after she failed to have an annual income of less than $8,000 per person in the household ... That is, she earn less than $119,000/yr

REALLY?

It's not a story that she is getting welfare - it's what they clim are the standards ...

So if she earned $118,000/ yr .... That's $9833/month ... $2269/week ... $323/day ... She would STILL qualify

I know she has 14 kids ... But still -- that's an awful lot of money to be earning in order to still get welfare ...

Is the "cost of living"/economy in CA that even at $100,000 you can get welfare???

WTF

And don't think that is just city/county/state money .... The Federal government -- therefore WE are paying for this woman's bad decision

While I feel sorry for her - I think she needs to go spend some time with the Druggers or any one of several large families who haven't had to seek financial help ...

Maybe this should be a lesson for all those girls out there that think they can raise their kids without the help of a man ... Especially if you are planning on being a student at the same time

Eminent Domain Strikes Again

This had slipped past me - at least until I subscribed to the MNDMV YouTube site ...

Watch the animation carefully on the left-hand side - see the neighborhood (barely visible beneath the trees) disappear as the image sweeps upward ... Oh and look, the trees are going to disappear as well.

The only reason the houses are going is because the new project is moving the freeway closer to the homes Conde ing them for safety reason -- otherwise there is no reason for these homes to be condemned ... It's the project ITSELF that causes the issue



Pay attention -- this too can happen to you!

Economic education

Yup - its gas price time ... This info is just a couple days old
•••••
gas prices have risen for 27 straight days

$3.48 = 7FEB2012
$3.77 = 6MAR2012

Gas prices have increased 36 out of the last 39 days

18 states and DC have an average gas price ABOVE the national average

Average price of Regular-Unleaded gas up 104% since in inauguration day 2009

$3.77 = Regular Unleaded
$3.92 = Unleaded Plus
$4.05 = Premium Unleaded

States already paying over $4/gallon:
•CA
•NY
•CT
•IL
•OR

2011: average family spent $4,155 on gas, nearly 7% of the median family income (that's sounds awfully low to me - I'm guessing their "average" family uses mass transit)

Interesting thing - the majority of our gas does not come from the middle east - in fact 25% of it comes from Canada! Other countries include those in South America

April 21, 2011:

" ... The attorney general is putting together a team, who's job it is to root out any cases of fraus or manipulation in the oil markets that might effect gas prices - and that includes the roles of traders and speculators - we're gonna make sure nobodies taking advantage of American consumers ... "

The task force HAS met 4 or 5 times since then (and drawing pay for those meetings) ... So what the heck?

Yeah I'm sure part of it is politics getting in the way -- but that can't be all of it ...

Same old song

On the same program (This Week) a quote from Obama was played ... It was a speech he gave in 2009 shortly after taking office:

" ... Today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office ... "

Now remembering that the Dems held all three branches of government his first two years and the republicans really didn't have enough votes to stop them other than he "filibuster" ... Which used to mean that someone wasn't willing to yield the floor, but now adapts all they have to show is that they have enough votes to back it (I want to say 60) and they can simply stand up and claim "filibuster" and everyone gets a short break ... I don't know of there is a time limit on it or not

So for these first two years all we heard was "we didn't realize how big the problem was" never mind the continued spending spending spending that was going on ...

Anyhow - the new Chief of Staff had this to say on the new budget coming out tomorrow (13 February)

" ... As you know when we took office the economy was falling so fast that the first thing we had to do was put a bottom in, that cost money in the recovery act, it cost money in terms of lost revenue in terms of slower economy growth. We're on track now, we've seen several months of sustained economic growth and job creation, but we're not out of the woods yet - that's one of the reasons we still need even this month for congress to take action and and pass the extension of the payroll tax cut. The presidents budget is a plan for 10 years and over the 10years what it would do is bring the deficit down to below 3% of the economy, which means we won't be adding to the deficit based on current spending ..."

Is any one else getting really sick of the "inherited" bit when it comes to the economy?

I could see it for the first year ... Maybe even the second as the banking stuff was straightened out ... But c'mon!

At some point your boss would look to you to get into your job and what comes out of it is YOUR doing - good or bad ... Shouldn't we expect the same of the Leader of our country?

But even then -- 10 years!? But his term is only 4 ... 8 years at most ... How is that going to work?

Economic education

New Jobless Claims
DOWN
352,000
New claims last week
(lowest point in 3 years)
•••••
DOWN
50,000
From previous week
(largest week-to-week since APR 2008)
@@@@@
Fluctuations being accredited to seasonal jobs
••••
Will US Firms Be mOre Or Less Able To Compete Globally?
45% LESS
20% more
Harvard business school
9,750 alumni
Oct 4 - nov 4, 2011
•••••

Economic education

They came out with a new list of Economic Freedom
1)Hong Kong
2)Singapore
3)Australia
4)new Zealand
5)Switzerland
6)Canada
7)chile
8)Mauritius
9)Ireland
10)United States of America

They say this means that the government recognizes the right for people to own private property is SUPERIOR to it's right to take that property (they can't just say 'imminent domain") - and he economy is generated by the free choices of the consumer and investors. Level of taxation, level of regulation.

Really? You think China allows people to choose what they buy? Heck they won't even let people choose what Internet browser/search engine to use ...
They also say that the tax rates are a flat rate for most of these countries, that no matter how much you earn it will always be equal to the same percentage ... Exception being Canada I guess according to the commentators ...

I don't know about this list ... I can understand if it took into consideration the person debt issue - most of those countries work on a nearly cash-only basis ... Of course this also means a larger disparity between the classes ... The poor find it hard to get ahead, the rich have way more than they need.

I was surprised that India didn't show up on the list - although I suppose it is just too hard to paint a picture of equality amongst people when there is still so much coverage over the poor.

No Venezuela? Well Chavez is not going to stand quiet for that one - I suspect that when this list comes out he will somehow paint it that the US fixed it ...

Economic Education

While it isn't pretty -- I will admit that the numbers aren't as bad as they were just a few years ago ... but don't think we are out of the woods just yet ... the American economy is just lashed to a thinner tree is all - but its still taking a whipping.
$$$$$$
Government Spending
2011 Fiscal Year
(18Oct2010-17Oct2011)
$3.6 Trillion
$$$$$$
Government Income
2011 Fiscal Year
$2.3 Trillion
$$$$$$
American Debt
$4.2 Billion/Day
(average increase)
$$$$$$
Us Government Spending broken down:
$6.6 Million/minute
$111,111/second
(wouldn't you love that shopping spree? I'd feel like one of those gals on one of those Housewives reality shows)
#####
Pure commentary here:

Fox News was making a big deal out of spending more than last year - yeah well we all spent more this year than last year, its called cost of living guys ... even government can't escape cost of living increases, the rising costs of paper/ink/electricity/fuel/gas/etc ... of course it would be nice for them to throw some weight behind all the purchases they do to try to keep companies from charging so much ... but then I suppose those companies would just pass that cost onto the regular consumer - since they still have to pay the raises that their employees and the unions insist upon each year (don't get me wrong, hubby and I expect him to get something of a raise each year too - but some of it is ridiculous)

#####
Government over-spending
70 out of 81 fiscal years
more outgo than income
$$$$$$
Deficit % of GDP
2007: 1.2%
2008: 3.2%
2009: 10.0%
2010: 8.9%
2011: 8.6%
$$$$$$
China Economy
+
Japan Economy
=======
US Economy
$$$$$$
Amt of accumulated debt
1,000 days (present, latest)
=
79,135 days (past, nations first days)

######
I don't know ... it looks to me like things are getting better a bit ... the 10% of GDP was when the banks started slipping - the mortgage fiasco that we are still suffering from.

and the numbers they are comparing them to (pre-election) are "false" numbers since it sounds like books may have been getting 'cooked' and we weren't getting the full picture here.

Also those rotten numbers for 2009 would have ran from 17Oct2008-18Oct2009 ... which was the last few months of Bush's term and just as the mortgage bubble burst ... so for this particular fiscal year it would be much more handy to break it down by the MONTH rather by the year ...

I may not be Obama's biggest fan ... not even close ... but I can't see blaming the guy for something he probably didn't do while he was in office.  He did it on the campaign trail.

C'mon, admit it - before the campaign of 2008 everyone thought the economy was fine ... the banks were quietly shutting their doors thru merging and no one labelled it an issue until the candidates got out there with all their scare tactics.

yes more people were losing their jobs - unemployment is always going to be there, sad but true, but it was still only around 5% - but once the McCain & Obama (mostly Obama) started screaming that we were headed towards a new Depression that number doubled!

But the single event which should have given the heads-up to the voters who are belly-aching over the President they put into office should have been the economic meeting that Obama refused to go to ...

Bush realized that something - anything - had to be done to help ... he set up a 'summit' of sorts with both Dems and Repubs to try to figure out what to do ... McCain jumped off the campaign trail to go to the meeting - as a possible future President - Obama decided to continue to campaign ...

and yet he still won ... and even now, three years later, claims he "didn't realize how bad the economy was" ... well maybe, Mr. President, had you gone to this dang meeting you would have LEARNED how bad it was ...

it reminds me of one of my kids who dared to use the excuse with me of "I didn't know there was going to be a test that day" when they got the really bad grade and I wanted to know why they were playing the day before instead of studying ...
my response was "you mean to tell me that there was no way for you to know? It just fell from the sky?"

THIS WAS YOUR NOTICE, MR PRESIDENT and you chose to IGNORE it -- so no excuses dude!  You weren't paying attention in class ...

told you people not to go naming schools/streets after this man until after he got out of office because you didn't know what kind of president he was going to be yet ... but you didn't listen to me .... you just wanted to jump on that history-bandwagon ....

listen to Ginger ... she knows.

Spoiled Rotten

In what was really a blatant plug for not only the store but also the products ... Fox & Friends allowed themselves to be used as a giant INFOMERCIAL for KMart ...

(roll eyes here)

They,  the store, hired Manny from 'Modern Family' to get out and speak about some of what KMart is deeming to be the "hottest" toys for the season ... well the ones they showed ... and you will get the idea.

Not only pay attention to the toy but the PRICE as well ... oh I will list that first.

$69.99 Lets Rock Elmo .... he has a set of bongos and you can hardly understand a word he says.  I can't see any interaction appeal to this one at all.

$29.99 I Am T-Pain Microphone ... this thing is supposed to "auto-tune" your singing voice ... so you too can be a "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star.  basically it reverbs to a point where your ears cant tell the difference ... it seemed way too loud and then add to it the 'beat box' buttons that come with it and you've got a fist full of migraine right there.  They should just call it I Am Pain.

$31.99 Barbie Hairtastic Doll.  You design hair extensions on the computer and print them out, these extensions can be put on the doll or your own kids hair.  You must have an ink-jet printer for this, laser printers will not work.  COME ON - ITS A BARBIE DOLL!!  NO BARBIE DOLL IS WORTH $32!!  Your kid is gonna play with this for about a week and its going in the toy box with all the other dolls she doesn't play with.

$54.99 Cookie My Playful Pup.  She makes chewing noises when a bone goes in her mouth, barks when you pet her,   They couldn't get it to work, but it reminds me of the Cubs-Alive toys.  I wouldn't pay this much for the toy, but the ones from WowWee are well made and have lasted years for my kids ... I do not know who the manufacturer of THIS toy is though.
*****
You know .... I have my own list of things to look for:

Legos - they are timeless and are just as much fun in later years as your child grows.  And in most cases the old set is compatable with the new sets so a little goes a long way.  I suggest staying away from those huge kits that cost over $10 ... your kid will build their own big buck set over time.

Pipe Cleaners and Pom Poms ... I know its very low tech - but you would be surprised at the hours of fun your kid will have creating their own toys.  My kids range from 11-22 and they still enjoy putzing with twist ties and pipecleaners just to see what they can make.

Learn to Knit/Crochet kits ... this is a lifetime skill which will come in handy later in life as a stress reliever and money saver.  In the short term they will make scarves etc, but in the long run they will be able to make gifts for other people.

American Girl Dolls - I know they are like $100 each BUT they are quality made.  They will last your daughter up into her adulthood and are expandable - there are some very nice inexpensive accessories which you can get at Walmart & Target as well (My Generation). 

18" Dolls - there are several CHEAP versions of the American Girl dolls out there which are good for girls under age 8 or those who are not quite mature enough to care for the $100 doll.  They do have the cheaper hair which mats up rather easily and does not lend itself well to combing/brushing out ... but for a first big doll they are a good choice ($5-$20)

Im Alive Cubs from WowWee ... These are more expensive but I have to tell you - I have had good experiences with these.  We have two of them ... a large panda and a wolf cub for my son ... even at 15 yrs of age he still snuggles with them.  I have found them worth the money as a cuddle toy - but be advised - they are stiff and have a hard body.

Handheld Game Systems - I know these are expensive to start ... but once the machine is purchased you can get the games second hand for sometimes just a few bucks ... and Walmart runs specials for games that are $5/each!!! You can't beat that!

Warren Buffet Bill

Ok - a few things about this bill that people may not know ...

A)It taxes people twice on the same income ... thats as stupid as paying income tax on the refund you got. (oh don't get me started on that one)

B)The reason Warren Buffet doesn't pay as much as his secetary is because
(a)he uses an accountant to find every tax loophole there is for him
(b)he is not paid a salary - he gets a share of profits.(if he drew a straight salary he would pay more taxes out of the chute)

C)He still has not paid taxes to the IRS that he has owed since 2002!!!

So when people sit back and point the finger and using him as an example - lets take a REAL look at it all.

You know .... nothing prevents him from NOT cashing that refund check that he gets.  The money would then circulate into the "general fund" to be redoled out.

He can NOT simply write out a check like everyone says ... that would smack as a bribe.

He could simply pay himself a salary, fill out a 1040EZ by himself, not take any itemized deductions, and then actually PAY the IRS what they are owed IF his concious was really bothering him.

I'm wondering how long before we find him running for either office or getting a cabinet seat.

this whole thing smells of yesterday's diapers.

baby herman, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

Numerology class

With the GOP debate tonight they are coming out with some new poll numbers this morning

LA Times (democratic stronghold of the most major kind)

From Drop Box

This may be tough to read ...

60% of those polled ... And it was a small number, only 1500 voters ... Or about 900 voters ... DISAPPROVE of how the President is handling the economy. This is broken into 40% STRONLY disapprove and 20% somewhat disapprove.

That's a pretty large percentage in an area which has always been looked at as a haven for liberals ... The home of Haight-Ashbury ... It is also a place where nearly half the population (47.8% but this does not include those who live there illegally) is Hispanic which is a strong democratic group ... Where 62% of the population is between the ages of 19 - 62 yrs ... Where 15.3% of the population is living beneath the poverty line ... Where approx 20% of the population doesn't have a high school diploma (about 2 million out of 10million) ...

Al those are factors which tend to "feed" the democratic party ... And come on let's face it - they elected Pelosi!

These are the people who are saying that President Obama has dropped e ball or at least taken his eye off of it ... To be clear - the ball is the economy as a whole (as opposed to jobs or stock market as specifics)