Obama Wins!! What Next?

[moonlightandmargaritas]

moon, does the six dollar an hour worker have the time & money to upgrade their skills?

I never said it was easy, but plenty have achieved it. If we look for excuses, we'll find 'em!

There is no place on earth that provides the amount of opportunity as in the the good ole' U S & A (as Borat would say).

I pick up Chinese food from a little take-out joint not too far from my house run by a Korean family. Kids are in the back after school doin' their homework, etc. These people must work 468 hours a week each in a kitchen that is worse than a sauna during the Florida summer.

Never complaining, always happy and smiling. Happy that they can afford their children, as well as themselves, the opportunity and freedom that America offers.

Some will work for what they want. Others will bitch and moan.

 

[Merlin]

moonlight has a great point....there are plenty of people who want to work hard and make money, there are plenty of people who need to work hard just to survive....and it's a shame that there are far too many people in this country who are quite capable of working as well, but choose to milk gov't programs that are designed for people who really do need assistance. This is the area we need to address, the screening process as to who should receive assistance, and who shouldn't. There is no question this country has many people who have neither the mental or physical capacity to do anywork. Hopefully the new administration will take a hard look at this...this alone could save us billions!! and yes, congrats to the gators but let's not kid ourselves.....they lose by at least 14 if they play USC

 

[BiggitySwat]

Rob, I do think Obama has our best interests in mind. The U.S. government has many faults, but it is still the best country in the world.

motoxxx, I don't think it is right for a CEO to make 10 mil a year & pay their workers 6 dollars a hour with no benefits.

Armydad, that 6 dollar/hour worker doesn't HAVE to work that job. They can just as easily quit, join the military, Peace Corps, start their own business, be a door to door salesman, etc....there are so many options out there but some people are too lazy or ignorant to look beyond their next "guaranteed" paycheck.

Also, let me ask you: it may not be right that a CEO pockets 10 mill a year and Joe Sixpack makes 6 an hour, but is it also right for women to make babies with different men to harvest welfare checks? Is it right for the lazy "entitlement" welfare crowd to collect their welfare checks once a month while on the couch watching football and drinking beer?

Is it right for those who want to be something in this world - those who get educated, work hard/smart, give back to the community, etc. be paying most of the taxes in this country to cover the lack of tax revenue from welfare abusers?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You will never, ever, hear a peep of criticism against the money paid to sports and rock stars. I personally don't feel that someone should be paid $6 million to hit a ball, for God's sake. But that is just me and I don't have a problem with what someone else thinks hitting a ball is worth.

Basic human psychology: people will pay to be entertained. They don't want to pay you to find them a good deal on life insurance or pay you to give advice on stocks when they can turn on the *** box and see Suze Orman wailing about evil financial advisors for an hour every night.

Funny you mentioned about how no one ever says rock stars or pro athletes make "too much money." A community doctor who saves lives can make $50K a year, while you can have singer Amy Winehouse making 6-7 million a year and spending $50K a day on sniffing coke.

Before joining the insurance/securities world, I was a professional actor and dabbled in pro music. For working about 6 hours (and spending most of it drinking coffee, eating steak and goofing off with co-stars) on a very popular U.S. TV series, I was paid $900. If I were to open my mouth and have one line, I am immediately paid $5000.

Yet, you can work 6 hours a day and be a loved and worshipped movie star and make $5000-40,000 per episode. But at the end of the day, your sole existence is to make the studio money and by entertaining people so they will watch more TV and hear more corporate ads.

As financial professionals, we don't get paid 40K a day (most of the time), nor are we universally loved and worshipped as gods by the masses. In fact, some people may try to use us, get lippy with us, and suspect us.

But at the end of the day, we can use our insurance/securities licenses to make real changes in people's lives. We help ensure that they never run out of retirement money, so they can live out their dreams in peace. We help parents save for college so their children can have a bright future and have more doors opened for them. We put our clients in touch with our life insurers so that when tragedy hits, they will have both a company and an agent to be there for them and catch them as they fall.

I don't know about you, but even though Chris Hansen on Dateline and Mary Shapiro of SINRA don't give me the respect I deserve that Entertainment Tonight would give Tom Cruise, I feel alot better inside knowing I'm the stockbroker that adds true value to people's lives through my skills versus a spoiled celebrity who adds little or no value to the future of the human race.

 

[motoxxx]

Rob, I do think Obama has our best interests in mind. The U.S. government has many faults, but it is still the best country in the world.

motoxxx, I don't think it is right for a CEO to make 10 mil a year & pay their workers 6 dollars a hour with no benefits.

If those people don't like the job, they should go find another one. THis is not CHina or North Vietnam where you are forced to work at a job. For now, you still have the freedom to pick where you work. We have all done it.

If a CEO makes $10 million a year, then great. He has a ton of responsibility on his shoulders and should be well paid. In the case of Wal-Mart, which most people like to demonize, two things to consider:
1. Wal-Mart hires a ton of people that no body else will hire. Have you seen some of their greeters? Have you seen the new parolees that do stocking duties at night? If these people didn't have jobs, they would be 100% on the public tit.

2. Wal-Mart offers employees benefits that may be limited but at least they do offer them. Again, if they didn't, the tax payers would be paying 100% of the bill.

If these people work hard they actually can advance in that company. I have seen it from a couple of good friends!

Also note that the minimum wage is meant to be an ENTRY LEVEL wage for new workers. It is not meant to support a family. Jobs that pay more than minimum wage will offer better benefits.

Remember, nobody working for ANY company is chained to the floor at that company. They can leave and go look for other work if they don't like where they are at.

 

[xrac]

Countdown until Obama leaves office

 

[Krono]

He was marketed to the hilt, like a celebrity.

I said to my parents if you saw 50 commercials for a Ford and one for a Chevy, which car would you more likely buy? They said Ford.

Obama was the Ford!

And he is still being marketed even today. ABC is running ads for the inauguration, "Starring Barack Obama".

Obamapalooza continues...

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I've scared for my son since the way it's looking now we're creating a country that sloughs off personal responsibility and turns to the government.

When both large corporations and the people see that all they have to do it whine enough the government becomes the parents of a fat kid begging for more and more candy.

Should the fat kid have more candy? No - but parents of the fat kid don't like saying no since the fat kid cries that unless he has the candy he'll starve.

So we can go ahead - give the corporations and people as much candy as they want. They will never learn to eat responsibly.

We have all been at the grocery store when the kid asks for the box of cookies - the parent says no and the kid goes mental.....then we see the box of cookies drop in the cart.

This is what we are turning into and be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

[Guest]

I've scared for my son since the way it's looking now we're creating a country that sloughs off personal responsibility and turns to the government.

When both large corporations and the people see that all they have to do it whine enough the government becomes the parents of a fat kid begging for more and more candy.

Should the fat kid have more candy? No - but parents of the fat kid don't like saying no since the fat kid cries that unless he has the candy he'll starve.

So we can go ahead - give the corporations and people as much candy as they want. They will never learn to eat responsibly.

We have all been at the grocery store when the kid asks for the box of cookies - the parent says no and the kid goes mental.....then we see the box of cookies drop in the cart.

This is what we are turning into and be afraid. Be very afraid.

Very much agreed.

I'd be interested in everyone's opinion of how we got to this point, tracking back to the influences, occurrences, people, or whatever that caused such a shift in values. Where will we go from here?

 

[motoxxx]

As to how we got here?

The media message of, "You can have it all now", "You deserve a break today", "You deserve a vacation now!", "Its not your fault", "let someone else do it for you", "there is a program to fix that"..Personal accountability is gone and replaced with an entitlement mentality.

The public school systems teaching our kids to not be competitive (no more keeping score, not giving an actual grade for work done etc) "if you can't do it then that's OK." , "If you are happy with that answer, then it is good enough for me" from the teachers. All in the name of not hurting someones feelings. The schools have become expensive public baby sitting facilities instead of actually educating our kids. This doesn't prepare them for the real world where bad things can happen, you can be held accountable for your actions, and in business and in life, there are real winners and losers based on performance. Now kids are coming out of schools unable to compete, and getting cold hard reality slapping them in the face.

They are also not teaching our countries real history any more. They are teaching that America is bad and eliminating some very important things about how our country got to where we are. All in the name of not hurting someones feelings (Indians, blacks, asians etc) My nephews tell me about it all of the time. Revisionist history is not REAL history.

MTV - Party, Party, Party
Oprah - Many women won't do something unless Oprah tells them it is OK.
Ritalin - If your child acts out, just give them a pill after all it isn't their fault and it isn't the parents fault for not making them behave.

Tax structure that makes most families have to have both parents working full time.Remember back in the 1950s when mom could stay home and take care of the house and kids? Not as common any more.

 

[sunmed]

Motoxxx,

I couldn't agree with you more!