Laying People Off -- Tearfully

This has some areas of insensitivity that fail to recognize that an otherwise sound business, doing right by its employees, can be brought down by outside economic forces. These are beyond the control of small businesses.



Only a government can "watch out" for us in an umbrella fashion. When I say "watch out" I don't mean pay us to succeed. I mean keep an eye on what is going on over-all, adjust for problems and regulate to prevent certain kinds of abuse that can have an adverse impact on the over all economy. Don't let corporate greed damage honest enterprise.



I own a small ( very ) business and I don't want or expect government to protect me. But when the surrounding economy proceeds in the dark, an unexpected turn out of my sight and out of my control could take my business under.



All business survive because the economy can support our goods and services. If the people have no money to spend, many businesses, through no fault of their own, have to sacrifice or close.



Only government can monitor the BIG PICTURE. That's all I want of them. Keep us all safe by keeping the over all economy safe, not by letting it fall apart then trying to buy us all out of the hole.

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About Fashion
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Geithner's Plan Will Tax Main Street to Make Wall Street Richer

I still support Obama. People don't seem to understand how our system works. ( I blame that on today's education system which does a poor job teaching civics, if they teach it at all )



Bush simplified things. He did what ever he darn well pleased and said F&%$ you to Congress and the courts. He got stuff done but not the right stuff and not constitutionally.



Obama is trying to take America back to the system that made us great in the past and can make us great again. But part of this journey may mean us replacing a lot of the good old boys in Congress. Working with the system means a president has to work with congress and so far, we still have a petty, greedy self-centered, partisan congress. It is a system of compromise but when you are trying to form a compromise with a house of fools, you can't always do what you want.



We the People need to keep pressure on, not just Obama but on every member of congress.



No one can get everything they want...we need to try to aim for what we can get from everyone.



Help work toward compromise at http://www.joethevoter.org
About Economy
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Geithner's Plan Will Tax Main Street to Make Wall Street Richer

My cousin is an FBI agent and has a secure job. She has bank approval for money to buy a home. She found one with a for sale sign that is bank owned as a result of a foreclosure.



Here is the rub. The bank that owns the property won't even respond to her offers. It appears that banks that foreclose may not even be interested in selling these to qualified buyers.



Could this be part of the issue if banks are intentionally refusing to sell these houses in order to keep them on their books at inflated values just so they can beg for more bail out money?



Congress needs to attach more stings to the cash. If a bank has an asset they can sell then they MUST sell it. No sitting on foreclosed homes either as a means of real estate speculation or as a means to bloat their bad assets. An asset you have a willing buyer for is not a bad asset.



Is anyone paying any attention ??
About Economy
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Announcing the Launch of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund

SUGGESTED ITEM TO INVESTIGATE:



While speaking with a political candidate, the subject turned to WalMart. I was told of cases where WalMart would not pay state property taxes on the value of their properties. In many cases WalMart had already received a tax break from locals to build. Then when they were called on to pay their property taxes, they have been known to refuse, let the state file suit and hold up the cases in courts for a long time, all while paying NO taxes at all.
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Announcing the Launch of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund

Will HuffPost be providing a "tips hotline" on line for people to post suggestions for investigation?



If so please offer two options for "tipsters" (1) post with name and number and (2) place system that strips IP address and any identifiers from those tips to be posted as "anonymous".



Paul
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Announcing the Launch of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund

It will also become very important to block suggested legislation that would strip all but full time journalists from the protections agains being forced to reveal confidential resources.



Journalism should not be defined by how much the writer makes or if they are paid at all. Journalism should be defined by the art, not by any SIC code. With the decline of printed media and the explosion of digital news, all of the First Amendment protections journalists have enjoyed while working for "corporate media" need to be codified and protected in the federal statues> These must make it clear that anyone who writes and in so doing, uses a confidential source to expose wrong-doing, is afforded the same protections as would any journalist regardless of their pay or employment status.



Freedom of Speech and the public's right to know is protected by this right and our freedoms apply equally to all.
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Everyone Gets a Bonus from Obama's Net Neutrality Plan

AMEN ! I wish I could increase and bold the font here !



As a small internet company, Net Neutrality protects my business from the giants who would trample me and leave me with no income so they could line their already bursting pockets.



If either I or my web customers found themselves and their web sites shoved off to the side to make way for the big companies who can afford to pay the "tolls" some ISP's have contemplated, it would spell the end of entrepreneurs on the internet.



Content that could not be seen would vanish. The content on the internet would decrease and the choices we have now would decline. What we would see would be more biased and controlled just as many media outlets are under individual rule.



Public decent and political opinions would find it hard to be heard if they were relegated to the slow, hidden backwoods of the internet, leaving only corporate sanctioned comments easily available.



It would contribute to the dumbing down of America..and we are already doing that well enough, thank you.



Only a free interenet is a valuable internet...to us.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Everyone Gets a Bonus from Obama's Net Neutrality Plan

AMEN ! I wish I could increase and bold the font here !



As a small internet company, Net Neutrality protects my business from the giants who would trample me and leave me with no income so they could line their already bursting pockets.



If either I or my web customers found themselves and their web sites shoved off to the side to make way for the big companies who can afford to pay the "tolls" some ISP's have contemplated, it would spell the end of entrepreneurs on the internet.



Content that could not be seen would vanish. The content on the internet would decrease and the choices we have now would decline. What we would see would be more biased and controlled just as many media outlets are under individual rule.



Public decent and political opinions would find it hard to be heard if they were relegated to the slow, hidden backwoods of the internet, leaving only corporate sanctioned comments easily available.



It would contribute to the dumbing down of America..and we are already doing that well enough, thank you.



Only a free interenet is a valuable internet...to us.
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GOP Budget Proposal: Massive Tax Cut For Wealthy

I'm from Ohio. I am ashamed anyone in that blue collar worker state would elect any republican to office.



If this is not more proof of their failed and biased thinking against the American workers who make up the vast majority of us and of his own constituents, I don't know what is.



I was a Republican in Ohio. My business partner was a legislator there. Back in the "old day" they did not try to do everything in their power to beat down the worker while pushing more and more wealth to the privileged few who happen to sponsor their campaigns.



When we go to the polls we vote, expecting the people we hire to represent us will do so. Too many in Congress kick us aside in favor of their wealthy patrons when they make their decisions.



I became a Democrat for this reason. Republicans betray the very people who elect them. More and more we see with our own eyes that making the rich richer does not convert to more jobs or better pay for the rest of us. They close our factories here and move our jobs over seas so they can keep even more of the profits for themselves.



Why should we give them more tax breaks to help them buy more factories in China or India? Why should we hand them billions in bail out money as a reward for screwing the American workers out of their futures, their savings and their homes?
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Pot Saved My Life, Mr. President

I very much disagree with Obama on this issue. Keeping pot illegal is outright stupid. The so called "War on Drugs" is causing far more damage then the drugs would. Many judges and law enforcement people are starting to see the light and some have openly advocated for legalizing not just pot but cocain and heroin as well.



I recently wrote some articles on this very subject and am in the process of writing to representatives to support legalization. Like you I have never smoked...not even tobacco. But I believe that as adults with access to factual information, we should have a right to make our own decisions. Pot is not toxic and does not kill, unlike tobacco and alcohol, which are legal and more addictive. We kill ourselves at a far higher rate with fat filled foods than with all the drugs combined.



Legalization would not only be a good economic decision, it would reduce crime, empty a lot of expensive prison cells and divert enforcement money to education and public works.



You can read my articles here: http://www.joethevoter.org/economy/15-stupidcongress.html

Drop in and DIGG me !
About Barack Obama
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A Disturbing D.C. Whodunit [Updated]

Watch campaign coffers and bank accounts for a sudden increase. AIG will surely reward whoever pulled the plug on bonus caps provision.



Obama is a step in the right direction but too many "good old boys" still remain in congress. Until we clean house there as well, not much will change to the better for the average American citizen. Congress is still filled with bought and paid for politicians.



This is not partisan. Many democrats are just as guilty of stepping on citizens in favor of big business interests.
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Clay Shirky is Right: Newspapers' Death is Journalism's Loss

It is always sad to see time overtake any institution or business. You don't see many blacksmith shops these days. I remember when ice was still delivered to my grandmother in Stamford.



Faxes all but eliminated many courier services and email is putting a hurt on the Post Office.



Online shopping is infringing on the local stores for many things. Shopping online does not burn your gas or miles and can be done anytime. Can you even have your milk delivered each morning with your paper?



Where can I buy film for my Polaroid any more? Everyone is going digital and printing at home.



Let's remember that progress for all will always spell doom for some who cannot adjust to the new methods. Journalism is not dead, they are just moving to embrace new technology. The expense of printing something that will be in tomorrow's trash will spell the death of newspapers as we know them soon. eBook readers are here. Print magazine can't be too far behind as broadband and computers become more wide spread. We can't keep killing trees. Who knows what will cause the demise of the internet but someday, something better will come along and so it goes...until the sun burns out or we all kill ourselves with the latest means of destruction technology brings us.



We call it progress.
About Newspapers
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Jon, You're Wrong. It <i>is</i> a Game, and You're a Player!

I see you don't understand yet. Perhaps I can help. Cramer, entertainer that he is, is still billed as an expert on finance and CNBC want's you to believe he knows what he is talking about. Given his past he should and people believe this. Cramer's antics can be funny and showman like but they are still his brand of marketing to "sell" Wall Street.



Stewart, on the other hand is not "selling" anything ( forget the show's sponsors ) except his brand of humor. He is the first to point out that he is not a journalist but a comedic entertainer. All comedians pick on the political and social topics of the day....what else is there? You can't talk as long as Jon has without hitting a few nails on the head. That does not convert him into a journalist. He is just an insightful comedian enjoying a lucky streak. He is also enjoying all this notariaty because people are fed up with hearing about the "condition" of Wall Street from those who purport to be actual journalists but who failed to tell the truth while selling the same snake oil.



CNBC is there to educate, Comedy Central is there to make us laugh. Don't get confused again please.
About Jon Stewart
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Victoria Jackson On Fox News: Obama Is A Communist, Rush Limbaugh Should Run The Country (VIDEO)

My gosh! Victoria Jackson IS as dumb as she sounds !!



She is not a character actor...she is just being herself. At least she can be funny without making any sense.



Points out a typical attitude about Republicans and those who have wealth. "I got mine, you can't have any" They can afford excessively high health care...the rest of us are supposed to die so our remaining wealth filters UP by way of high bills and foreclosed homes that will be bought up by wealthy investors when the prices bottom out.



For the wealthy and Republicans wealth should flow only one way...Up to them. For them, majority is only those with net worths in the millions. Rest of us are just in the way or to be used as tools to run their factories...the ones not yet sent oversees that is.
About Fox News
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Tim Geithner, CNBC, and the Second Coming of Known Unknowns

I suppose much of this not knowing comes from the original bail outs engineered while Bush was in office. You remember...$700,000,000,000 with NO OVERSIGHT !



We have a new administration and some new people in congress who should be re-writing that bail out to include transparency as to what was done with EVERY DOLLAR given to the banks and to AIG etc.



How can anyone complain when they granted such broad discretion when dolling out billions of OUR money to swindlers and bad business men?



If the greedy banks don't like it, make them pay back the money NOW !
About Economy
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