LarryA2J's Blog

That is the big question of the day. Do we give them millions or billions of dollars to fix the greedy mess they got themselves into? Why?

The best solution is to give every licensed driver a voucher for $15,000 or $20,000 dollars to be used for the purchase of an automobile or truck made by one of the Big 3 automakers.

These vouchers could ONLY be used to buy a vehicle. The dealer would then submit the voucher to the Big 3 automaker who would get the money from the Federal Government.

This way everybody wins. The consumer gets a nice car, the Big 3 automaker sells lots of new cars, the assembly lines spring back to life and make cars, the states get the sales tax and license revenues and the old cars can be given to charity or sold overseas.

With this plan the BIg 3 automaker would still get their "bailout" money but they would have to earn it. The better the vehicle is the more they sell and the more money they get.

We have to stop the free handouts to these greedy corporations and financial institutions. They dug the hole that they fell into and they want Uncle Sam to pull them out. I say NO!!

I work hard, pay my bills on time, buy a reasonable house and car, keep myself free from excess debt and what reward do I get for it? Higher taxes and less value for my dollar because of rising prices.

Enough is enough. Now is the time to stop the free handouts and let these folks get their money the old-fashioned way. Let them EARN it.

Thank you and may God bless...............

Do you shop for Christmas or the Holidays. Is it Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

How can you possibly take Christmas out of the season? Without Christ there is no Christmas. Why not celebrate December 10 instead? Without Christ, December 25 would be just as meaningless.

How can you say no the Christmas and yes to Happy Holiday? After all holiday actually comes frome the words Holy Day. So on one hand you ban Christmas yet you still celebrate the Holy Day.

This year I will give my money, which is inscribed with "In God We Trust", to merchants who celebrate the true meaning of the season, CHRISTmas!!

Merry CHRISTmas to all and may God bless.........

How do you make health care affordable for everyone?

I just heard part of the debate between Presidential Candidates and heard a lot of "double talk". One candidate wants to give you a $5000 tax credit and one wants a mandate saying you must have coverage or be fined. One says his plan is affordable the other says the plan is a hidden tax. Enough already!!

The easiest way to make healthcare affordable it to put a cap or limit on malpractice claims with corresponding reductions in premiums. It's time to put a STOP to people getting rich off others with frivilous claims.

Healthcare costs have skyrocketed to millions and millions of dollars mostly because of malpractice lawsuits. Enough!! If malpractice is suspected let the issue be settled by physicians and patients on inquiry boards. Keeping the lawyers out reduces the costs by a third already.  The board will then decide on a reasonable penalty or payment to the victim coming from the physician charged.

 

Why is it that prople are always looking to blame someone else for their problems or looking for the Government to bail them out?

This whole housing / credit mess is the fault of the GREEDY lenders. They are so eager to lend you money or get you their credit card. They know a person making low wages can not afford a $1000+ house payment but they lend it to them anyway. They offer "0% Down",  "Borrow 100%", "Adjustable Rates", "Interest Only Payments" and similar offers to entice folks to "Sign on the dotted line".

The next thing you know the company is going bankrupt or the "top dog" is "retiring" with a nice Golden Parachute of several million dollars and then they want the Government to use the tax money of hard-working, honest folks to bail them out.

This is completely wrong.

What I propose is to recall all the Golden Parachutes and other "bonuses" these CEO's, et al, received and give them a regular Social Security Retirement  package. This way they get the money from the Government and the taxpayer doesn't have to lose. 

The next thing I would do is have the City of St Louis use "Eminent Domain" to take posession of ALL the vacant and broken down properties in the city and give them to folks to rehab or tear down and rebuild. Then give them a tax break on the property, like the BIG BOYS get. IE: Rams and Cardinal stadiums. This would not only get rid of the vacant buildings but improve the looks of the city. It would really clean up the view from Highway 70 driving to downtown for a start.

Finally, I would put a "Salary Cap" of One Million dollars, including stock options,  a year on any company who receives tax dollars. If the CEO, CFO, COO or any other top dog wants to make the big bucks get the money from the stockholders not the Government.  This would include all Professional Sports Teams who received tax dollars to build their staduims.

People complain about "Separation of Church and State" lets start a movement about "Separation of Profits and Tax Breaks". Having companies solve their own screw-ups and not getting "bail-outs" would have a greater benefit to the American taxpayers, who really support this country.

Thank you and May God Bless

Same old story, different player. Chrysler to layoff hundreds of workers and move production to Canada. This is yet another sign of corporate greed that gets in trouble of its own making.

For years the auto unions have pushed for higher and higher wages and benefits which in turn made the vehicles more expensive. Americans wanted vehicles bigger and bigger. Oil companies wanted more and more profits. Guess who loses? America!! Another AMERICAN company sells out to a foreign country and America loses another bit of her power and might.

For years America was the best country in the world, second to none in almost every facet of life. Look at us now. We are the door mat of the world. We fight wars for other countries and spend our tax dollars for their benefit. We've spent almost one TRILLION dollars of American tax money in Iraq fighting a "no win" battle, it is not a war. Hostile activities were declared over years ago. Will they pay us for our service? NO!!!!! Yet they are selling the oil rights to highest bidder. What I would do is pay for the war by taking one TRILLION dollars in their oil and giving it to the American taxpayer who is footing the bill.

We spend millions on lottery tickets and in casinos. Money that could be going into the gas tank and gas saved by not going to the "boat in a moat" and we complain about high gas prices.

We make mulit-millionaires out of young men in their teens and twenties calling them Professional Athletes and we pay outrageous prices for tickets and concessions and we complain about high gas prices.

We pay around five bucks a gallon for WATER and complain about high gas prices.

We pay about four bucks for a cup of coffee and complain about high gas prices.

So should we be upset when Chrysler laysoff thousands or Ford threatens to shut down plants, Hazelwood MO is already closed, because of low auto sales figures? No.

Folks this is the new America of the 2000's. We waste money on overpriced stuff, lose hundreds of dollars on the chance of "hitting the big one", move into bigger and fancier homes farther and farther away from our workplace. Want to see the cause of our problems, look in the mirror.

Now is the time America to take a stand.

Conserve fuel by combining trips or walking.

Drink water from the tap, use your own refillable bottle.

Stop wasting money on the "chance of hitting the big one". You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning in the bathtub. Casinos only make money, who do you think pays for all the millions spent on hotels, parking garages, fancy lights and machines? When was the last time you saw a "Going out of business" sign on a casino. Read the paper, they are making millions each month, of your money.

Looking to move? Try a smaller house that costs less to heat and cool.

Want a cup of coffee? Brew one at home for about 20 cents. Why pay two bucks?

America, our greed and waste got us into this mess and only we can get ourselves out. Start to day to make a difference.

Thank you and may God bless.

 

 

 

 

 

Why are people so upset about InBevs' takeover of Anheuser-Busch?

For years the US has been sending jobs overseas because of the cheap labor. Stockholders and CEO's want huge profit margins so they take the skilled labor in the US and trade it to foreign speaking workers. (Tech-support workers from India are the worst.) InBev is just trying to do what Anheuser-Busch will be trying to do soon. Send work overseas because the labor is cheaper.

America is no longer the mighty power it was back in the 60's and before. Our labor unions have bargained themselves out of the market place. The CEO's, who want to make more money than the next CEO's, are destroying the companies they work for, IE: McDonnell-Douglas, TWA Airlines. The Americans who buy foreign import products because the price is cheaper and quality better. We are all responsible for America's downfall. 

Our military is STILL the best on earth and we will defend any country against a foreign agressor. True. But who is the real idiot? You do not see Russia or China or any other country spending billions upon billions of their money to win a police action. And look what it's doing to the USA. Higher taxes, higher fuel prices, higher food prices. We, each and every American, are the ones paying for this.

It's time for us to STOP. Stop the war, stop the greed, stop the frivilous lawsuits, stop the welfare fraud, stop the global warming, stop being the doormat to the world.

The solution to America's problems is simple, not easy.

First, bring all the soldiers back home from around the world. We have enough high-tech spy stuff to monitor trouble spots without putting lives at risk.

Second, seal the borders, use the military from around the world.

Third, verify the citizenship of every single man. woman and child. If you can't produce documentation you are immediately deported to the country of your choice.

Fourth, put a cap of $100,000 on any lawsuit and lawyers get a flat fee not a third of the damages.

Fifth, limit the salary of any CEO, CFO of other company bigwig to 100 time what the lowest paid worker gets.

Sixth, put a cap on all professional sport and entertainment salary at $1,000,000 a year, use the extra funds to give raises to teacher, public servants (fire and police) and the military.

This system would bring about a balance in the economy, lower taxes, and bring America back th the GREAT country she once was. Think of what we all could do with all that extra money floating around.

Thank you and may God bless.

 

 

 

 

 

Military feels the gouge of fuel costs - Conflict in Iraq

This is crazy. Now is the time to bring our soldiers home from all over the world. Let them protect our borders. We have enough hi-tech equipment and spies to keep an eye on the world at a small fraction of the cost. If some country wants to hire us to protect them, they PAY us. A billion dollar deposit then we will act. Our country is being DESTROYED from within. We don't need terrorists to defeat us our own economy is doing that quite well. The other enemy to our country is corporate GREED. Everybody wants to make more and more profit. Big Oil told Congress that $143 Billion in profits was fair because that is what the other companies made. That is a lame excuse. The other companies are just as much to blame then. Two wrongs don't make a right. It's time that we take America back and stop giving in to the profiteers.

 

I just heard on the news where the Government is investigating the mortgage companies because they  loaned more money to minorities for houses than they could afford to pay back thus causing the problem in the housing industry. Yet a few years ago when these same companies refused to lend money because they could not afford to pay it back they were investigated and charged with discrimination.

Folks you can't have it both ways. It's about time for the Government to get out of the way and let these companies do business. If these folks can not afford the house they want then they should either get a better paying or second job, cut back on frills or get a cheaper house.

Because of the lenders loaning more than could be paid back and use of the Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) we are in this mess. The lenders should suck it up and take the loss and stop having the Government bail them out.  It would be a good lesson for them. Of course me personally, I would love to get some free money to pay off my mortgage but no, I was smart and bought a house with a fixed interest rate and payments that I could afford. All the while my house value is dropping because others greedy mistakes.  

America, what a country!!

Stop Global Warming……Plant a Tree. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, some bacteria, and some protistans use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into ATP, the "fuel" used by all living things. The conversion of unusable sunlight energy into usable chemical energy, is associated with the actions of the green pigment chlorophyll. Most of the time, the photosynthetic process uses water and releases the oxygen that we absolutely must have to stay alive. Six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of sugar plus six molecules of oxygen. This is the basic principal to stop Global Warming and everywhere I look trees are being cut down and buildings put up. It takes most trees ten to twenty years or more to reach maturity and they are cut down in minutes. We are destroying the very green leaves that we need to absorb the carbon dioxide in the air and produce oxygen. For the sake of progress we are erecting buildings we don’t need, look at all the vacant buildings just in the St Louis Metro area, and destroying our future and the future of generations to come. Even if we planted thousands of trees this year it would not have an effect for years to come. It’s obvious that we can not get rid of automobiles and auto emissions in the near future but we don’t have to add to the problem. We have folks building houses that are further and further away from work, this not only destroys “green space” but the travel distance adds to the carbon emissions and oil consumption which adds to the price of oil and gasoline. I would like to see gasoline sell for $5.00 a gallon and put a dollar or so into a fund for real tax incentives given back to folks based on how little gas they use during the year. Every driver would get a gas card for two thousand gallons of gas, paid for by the government out of this dollar. Any gas left at the end of the year and the cardholder would get that amount back as cash, like a tax refund. This is just a general idea but with time and research it could become a reality. Folks would have a real incentive to conserve gas and oil. This along with every house planting two or more new trees in their yard would have a big impact on global warming. Plus the shade from the trees would keep houses cooler in the summer and cut back on air conditioning usage, an added bonus. Plant a fruit tree and you would help even more, fresh apples are delicious.

The Kirkwood killings were a tragedy. Prayers are being lifted up all over the nation for the victims and the families. I sympathize with them.

 In a few days or weeks the real tragedy will begin, I’m referring to the lawsuits, “wrongful death” specifically. Is there really such a thing? No! As I said prayers are being lifted up all over the nation for the victims and their families. People are praying to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. God was not surprised by what has happened. Could He have stopped it? Yes. Did the gunman have a free will to shoot or not? Yes.

The Bible teaches that the life of every person was set before time began from the moment of birth, the instant your heart starts, to the moment of death, the instant your heart stops and you step into eternity. Man cannot change that span of life. Man cannot change how you die. Whether “natural causes” or as a “victim” death is the same.

God is in complete control of this and every situation where life ends. How can you pray to a God one minute and blame Him the next. Every living thing on earth will die. No one can escape death. Our simple purpose of earth, and the reason we were created, is to love and obey God and His commands.

What we perceive as tragedy God calls His perfect will for us. For the true Believer to spend an eternity in the presence of the living God is thousands of times better than the greatest pleasure on earth. 

 Just because we think someone died unexpectedly from “unnatural causes” has no bearing to God. Instead of blaming some person for this tragedy we should pray to God for peace and understanding of His will and why it happened.