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Donated My Truck to Kars-4-Kids

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Earlier this month I donated my 1999 Chevrolet Blazer to the Kars 4 Kids charity. You know this organization if you listen to NJ101.5 – they have the commercial where the guy and the kid both sing “1-8-7-7 Kars 4 Kids…” It sticks in your head (and apparently it works since they were the first group that I thought of when I wanted to donate my truck).

It was a very pleasant experience and the Kars 4 Kids people were very nice to speak with on the phone. If anyone has a car or a truck that they are looking to get rid of, then they should consider donating it to a charity like Kars 4 Kids. Not only do you get a tax deduction, but I also got a three-day, two-night stay at a hotel of my choice. Pretty sweet, huh? I’ll be putting that to good use this summer when I go down to Nashville.

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Kars 4 Kids seems to be a Jewish-based organization that provides “for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of distressed and at-risk Jewish youth.” There’s a whole page of stuff that this organization does to help young people. I admit that I had no idea that Kars 4 Kids was a front for this organization when I made the donation, but it doesn’t matter. As long as someone who is less privileged is getting some type of benefit from my old truck, then all is well!

Is Anyone Really Surprised at this News?

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On Sunday, the CBS News website reported that some $1.6 Billion of the October bailout money was spent on bonuses, stock options, and country club memberships. Some information on this disgusting abuse of taxpayer dollars straight from the article:

The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages.

Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found.

The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines.

Seriously, is anyone surprised by this information? A few months ago I suggested that the bailout would be doomed. Anyone could have seen this coming. Who in their right mind would trust the government with such a gigantic dollar amount? It’s insane. Did everyone forget that this is the government?!

The better way to have used that bailout money would have been to give each American a stipend a la the Bush stimulus check from last spring. Why would this have been a better use of the money? Because regular citizens know where they need financial assistance and how best to spend their tax dollars. When you leave the doling out of $350 billion (only half of the $700 billion bailout has been deployed) to the government, you’re essentially asking for the whole thing to go to shit.

And it has. Great!

Was the Bailout the Right Move?

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No! Talk about making the wrong move. Not only is the American government taking an historic step in bailing out some of the greediest people in the history of the planet, they’re doing so with YOUR tax dollars! Better yet, one news agency is reporting that Americans, by a 90-to-1 margin, wanted nothing to do with the bailout bill. From the CBS News website, courtesy of Bob Schieffer:

Yet when Congress first confronted the issue early in the week and decided to do nothing, the vote told us that beyond Washington many Americans just didn’t see it that way.

The president, Democratic leaders, the two presidential candidates all called for immediate action. Yet some members of Congress told me their phone calls and e-mails were running 90-to-1 against the rescue plan.

Get it? Americans did NOT WANT this bailout plan! Everyday Americans did NOT NEED this bailout plan! People working for greedy organizations on Wall Street wanted the bailout and because money talks while (apparently) everyday Americans walk, they got what they wanted. It’s bull.

Americans need to take action on this disgusting bailout immediately.

This means that you, as a taxpaying citizen, need to demand the best from your legislators. They just took $700 billion of YOUR dollars to give to gigantic, multibillion dollar banks. Hold them accountable. If you’re so disgusted with the bailout bill then vote against anyone in your district who voted for it. Send a message. If you don’t want to go that route, then stay in touch with your elected leaders and make sure that they are exerting the proper amount of oversight and that they overseeing the funds in a way that YOU want them overseen.

Americans need to become re-engaged with their government. This is definitely the election year to do so. This bailout bill was unnecessary – greedy people had what they had coming to them and the government bailed them out. Where’s the bailout for student loans? Where’s the bailout for the Americans who CAN make their mortgage payments, but just barely? Why would ANYONE continue to make mortgage payments now that they know the government is there to pick up their slack?

Disgusting.

Anyway, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

The Bailout is Doomed

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Far be it from me to be the harbinger of bad omens, but this bailout stuff is going to fall flat on its face. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but sooner or later we’re going to look back on the bailout and be disgusted with the entire fiasco. Some observations…

Capitalism. What a country we live in, huh? You have the opportunity to do anything that you want in America. Some folks are fortunate that they are born into wealthier families and thus they have less financial pressures. Other people are born into highly religious families and they are usually happier and more content. Yet some still are born into poor families with strong family bonds and they learn the power of relationships. We have it all in America including an economy where you can either make it on your own (Bill Gates) or climb up the corporate ladder to find success. That’s what a capitalist system is based on!

But in a capitalist system, you can also fail. There are many reasons for failure, not the least of which is greed, deception, and bad decision-making. Many of the failing financial institutions were marred by these characteristics and – in a capitalist system – this will lead to failure. Whether it’s a loan officer who is closing a loan that he knows is not good for the borrower so he can make some extra income (greed), an internal manager who fudges the numbers so his bosses won’t get mad at him and his division for under-performing (deception), or a company hiring the wrong people to the wrong positions (bad decision-making) – this is what happens in our system!

And in a capitalist system when you fail – YOU FAIL. Imagine if the casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas gave you your money back after you blew it throughout the night. Unacceptable.

The Smell Test. I don’t know about you guys, but when I hear that the people who already proved that they are not good at running their organizations will be getting government dollars (i.e. taxpayer dollars) to bail their companies out, that pisses me off. This country was not founded on bailing out greedy scumbags with taxpayer dollars. In fact, you can make a case that taking money from taxpayers and using it for ignoble purposes is what spurred the American Revolution. What the hell am I paying taxes for? To pay the $20 million payout package of the CEO who failed at WaMu?

This bailout idea does not pass the smell test. How can you give money back to the people who squandered it? NO ONE in their right minds would do that! Would you give a murderer a gun while he’s in the courtroom? Good grief!

Consumer Debt. This one pisses me off the most. A portion of this $700 billion is supposed to go towards a housing trust fund to help bailout those mortgagees who are in over their heads. What a crock of shit this one is!

What about those people who have already lost their homes? How are they supposed to be helped from this bailout? They already lost in this game! What about those punks who knowingly went out there and bought up too much house for their income? They are to be rewarded for not living within their means?!? Well what the F is that all about!? Maybe I should go out and buy a million dollar mansion really quick since I know the taxpayers are about ready to pay it off for me.

And why are we only looking at mortgages? I heard a rumor that some of this bailout will be aimed at those with high consumer debt. So if you’ve overextended yourself with credit cards or other loans, you might not have to worry about making the payments! Do student loans fall into that category? I doubt it. What a bunch of bullshit that is??! I go out of my way to spend money on a venture that increases my knowledge and is a proven method of making society “better” (it’s a cost-benefit analysis thing) and yet I’m now being asked to spend MORE money for those who make bad decisions? Are you out of your f’ing mind?!

What if all of us who have ridiculous student loans start bitching and moaning? Will we get a bailout, too?

Artificial Timelines. Why does a bailout bill need to be reached by midnight tonight? Why does something need to be done before the markets open on Monday? This is crazy. The market will do what the market does. Do we really have to take $700 billion in taxpayer dollars and spend it on bailing out the system? NO!

This entire bailout thing is such a complete joke. There is no way to make everyone happy. The real shame, though, is that there are real people in this country who were duped into making the wrong decision and their situations are different. They are being lumped into this bailout mess and it’s not right. Those people who were out there scamming homeowners and new homeowners should be found and prosecuted to the greatest extent possible. It’s a disgrace.

Cost of Education Going Up – For Grade School!

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The New York Times ran an article on Friday talking about the increasing educational costs that parents must bear with “Back to School” shopping. When I was a kid, my Mom used to take me shopping during the last week or two of August and we’d spend a minimal amount on school materials. The New York Times article talks about how parents are now required to spend a ton of money on school materials. From the article:

As school districts both poor and prosperous struggle to finance such basics as teacher salaries, utilities, building maintenance and textbooks, many are asking parents to purchase more — and more particular — school supplies. Gone are the days when back-to-school shopping meant making sure each child had new shoes and a three-ring binder. Now, according to the New York State School Boards Association, supplies run an average of $100 for high school students and $60 for middle schoolers.

The article talks about how parents are asked to buy clay for their students. CLAY?! Our school districts can’t afford CLAY any more?!? Come on! At least in New Jersey, aren’t our property taxes supposed to pay for this stuff?

I don’t like this trend of spending more on the basics of administration and less on the fundamental “needs” to teach today’s students. Very bad trend and it needs to be changed right away.