Why is it our gas prices are going up such an incredible rate that even during a news reporter’s segment — the price of gas went up during the broadcast? 

Why is it our gas prices are setting new record high’s during one of our country’s worst economic recession’s in years and all our government can say is that we need to find new energy alternatives? That’s like getting poked in the eye with a stick and someone walking up and pushing it in further and asking you if it hurts anymore. 

Why is it that we have so many people in America that are just accepting what OUR government officials are doing with OUR money? Are we finding it acceptable for politicians to ignore the people of this country and that it’s ok for them to lie about fixing our economy?

When Herbert Hoover was president, which was during the Great Depression, at that time there was over $1.5 billion set aside to help the economy — they spent something in the neighborhood of $30 million. Where did the rest of the money go? Do you know how long the Great Depression lasted? Well you know the stock market crash of 1929, but the depression continued on through 1934 before there was some indication of recovery. That’s 5 years!  Why didn’t they use some of the billions to help the economy?  During that period unemployment ranged from 15.9 percent to a high of 23.6 percent according to records.

So now, where are the billions that were suppose to stimulate this current economy? We know a lot went to the banks and wall street (just like the $30 million during Herbert Hoover’s term).  But all of it didn’t go to the banks, wall street or the auto industry — where is the rest of the money?  (Nothing was going to change back during the depression until a new president was elected — in comes FDR with the “New Deal.”)

We are reaching the 4 year mark – do you want more?  Is this another method of control used by the wealthy and elitist to maintain a buffer between the wealthy and the middle class. To lower the standard of living of the middle class to a lower level just so that they can raise their standard of living. You have got to realize that the government is being controlled by the wealthy and in this case by raising gas prices they are saying that the government cannot do anything about it.  

This is intentional suffering put on the people of this country. What’s happening now with our economy is not an accident nor is it a mistake — this is all intentional.

Like many of you that live in “America’s Finest City”, I was recently driving in Mission Valley. The roads in Mission Valley are terrible!  No, I take that back, they are AWFUL!

There is not 10 feet of good road that you can drive on without driving over a pothole, bump  or some metal plate in the road – and that patch work and paving around the big metal plate is so bad that an 8 year old could have done a better job with a “Tonka” truck than how the agency that performed the actual repair.  Hey, it wouldn’t be that way if people cared.  I don’t mean by saying it to the person riding in the car with you or when you get home you talk about it to your friends.  I mean caring by telling city officials that they should do a much much better job of repairing the streets. 

Now, don’t go and say something like the city is broke and that’s why the roads are so bad.  That shows your lack of intelligence. The city has the materials, the manpower and the equipment to make those repairs — THEY JUST PREFER NOT TO DO IT! Why you ask. Because they can use street repairs as an easy deversion to ask for more tax dollars from the public – so when they increase taxes and get more money they can then use that “extra” money for their own special projects – officials can then tell the street department to start repairing the roads, which then will look like your tax dollars are at work.

Look, it takes hot tar, asphalt, and a few other inexpensive materials along with the machines to repair roads — oh and sometimes concrete. Now, with the exception of concrete, has anyone simply considered what tar and asphalt cost – well, not much. Please, they have the machines already.  They already have a street department, so they have the workers — so what’s the problem? NOTHING! Nothing but the city administrators pulling a fast one on the public. But that’s not the problem — the problem is — Not a enough of the people will call them on it — people simply complain to themselves and expect it to miraculously take care of itself. Hey, the administrators feel that if you don’t complain about it, then it’s ok, they don’t have to worry about it. Next time you see a house on fire and burning, don’t call 911 and see if the fire department responds. Only if the firemen are out and see it will they respond – otherwise someone would have to call to get a response. This is almost the same thing with our roads,except that it’s not an emergency or life threatening,– you don’t call it in, no one is going to respond to make the repairs.    

People — taxpayers need to start calling, emailing or writing in to the city and complaining about this.  The mission valley area is a gold mine of tax dollars! Take a look at what they have — a resident population of over 400,000 not including when there is an event at the stadium or during the holidays, numerous businesses, transient traffic, and an abundance of hotels. All of which the city collects tons of money in taxes. Where is it all going? Certainly not in road repair.  

Here is the council representative for Mission Valley, just send an email to her office and start making it known that you care. Loriezapf@sandiego.gov

It doesn’t matter who’s the mayor — this city is not about to do something if no one complains about it.

It’s all FREE!  Yes, that’s right, you can get FREE MONEY and FREE MEDICAL!  All you have to do is just ask for it.

Has anyone seen the commerical with the guy showing a girl this fantastic top-of-the line bike and then he tells her she can have it for free?  And she says something like “get out of here!” and then he says “No, I was just kidding, I’d be crazy and out of business if I gave away my best bike for free.” 

Well has anyone in this great country connected the dots and realized that’s the trick our government is trying to pull on you by telling you they’re going to give you free financial aid and free medical care? (Obamacare). 

Honestly, do you think any business or for that fact any government can continue to give away something for free and stay in business or existence?  Where do you think the government will get this “unlimited” amount of money to pay for all this free stuff? (Oh yeah, borrow it from China.)

Well, in the case of government it will come from the taxpayers. If it were a business, well you read the line above, they would be out of business. With this current administration, they are trying to make people believe they can give you something for free and they have enough money to pay for it. That is so WRONG! We will never ever have enough taxpayers to pay for it all.

Look, if you know people like I know people – there are those that if they hear that they can get something for free they are definitely going for it. Right? And if they don’t have to work to get it, they’re not going to work. Right? Just think about how many people would stop working or even look for a job if they knew the government is going to give them Free Money and Free Medical care – Oh, lets just say it would be in the – MILLIONS! The numbers would continue to grow, just like our current deficit.

Now, how does anyone that has at least a 5th grade education believe that this will work?  There will be so many people quitting work and going on the free money band wagon that this country would be broke before the end of the year (hey! is that what was meant by the end is coming in 2012!?)

Look, you don’t need a college degree, you just need common sense, to know that this is a complete disaster and that anyone that came up with this plan is not capable of running a business let alone a entire country.

This was and still is a great country, we have just made a wrong turn on the road and that’s because the rest of the people in car have been sleeping. But hey, they’re waking up and can see that this road is going nowhere fast. It’s like an inexperienced driver that got their first chance to drive but they don’t know how to read roadsigns or a map, so they just need to turn around and let someone else drive. 

Wake up and start looking where you’re going, stop texting, stop watching videos and start looking where you’re going. Nothing is ever free.

In today’s headlines, it is said that the Unions are destroying our economy. It is because of the outrageous pensions and wages earned by those in Unions that are hurting businesses and bankrupting our country. 

Do we get rid of the Unions?  Are the Unions really what is hurting businesses and our economy?  If you think Unions are the problem, you might want to read this.

Our government was created to serve the people. The government  consist of elected officials that are chosen representatives of the people — it is those representatives that fight for the rights and concerns of the people. These representatives take the concerns and issues expressed by the people and make laws that will protect and help the people. Do you think one person can go to Washington and present an issue and get some consideration? Not likely. Do you think one person can simply walk up to the president and ask him to change a law? Not likely.

Now consider the Unions. Unions were created to serve the worker/laborers. The Unions consist of elected officials that are chosen to fight for the rights of the workers. The officials of the Unions do what is known as ”collective bargaining” which is where the Unions may negotiate with employers over wages and working conditions on behalf of the employees. This is what is considered as fighting for decent wages and working conditions for the employee (worker/laborer). What would happen if a lone employee went up to his/her employer and requested a raise or better working hours? The first time nothing, if the employee approached the employer again, they might be looking for another job.

If you noticed there’s not much difference between the structure of our government and a Union, you would be correct. We have representatives in Congress and we have representatives in Unions. If you’re in the mind of thinking that Unions are wrong and not needed, then perhaps you should think the same about our government in that is also wrong and not needed.

I on the other hand think we need our government and we need Unions. There is more power behind a Congressman speaking on issues on behalf of the people of the country than one citizen speaking for themself. There is more power in a Union representative speaking on behalf of hundreds or thousands of workers than one employee speaking out against low pay or poor working conditions. A citizen cannot get a law changed without support — a worker cannot get better wages or working conditions without support. A citizen might get ignored, a worker might get fired.

Unions have achieved better pay, better working conditions, shorter working hours and better benefits for the worker. During two major economic growth periods in U.S. history — first agriculture,which was tobacco and cotton those that made great wealth used slaves; the second was during the industrial revolution, which was steel, railroad, and oil – those that made great wealth paid their employees pennies a day — and in both periods the workers worked 14 -16 hour days – there were no Unions in either case.

To get rid of Unions is taking away power from the worker/laborer and giving more power back to the employer and the wealthy. So, think again when you hear someone saying Unions are bad for the economy — based on who’s checkbook?

Of course we all want it — Power and Money.  Yes, I do mean everybody. If you’re a parent you have children — basically you have power over them in the way of how you want to raise them, educate them, and so on.  If you’re single you would rather be able to decide what you want to do and when you want to do it.  That’s about power.  Now when it comes to money, it’s a no-brainer — we all want money. Some may not want a lot while others do. Some want just enough while others want all they can get.

When it come to politics, those that go into it want “power” and with that power comes money.  But here’s the deal, more often than not, those that get into politics get some power and start abusing it, lose focus and they start becoming greedy — either for the power or for the money and in many case they want both.  Our current group of politicians are totally out for power and money and they are out of control going for it. They are lying, bending the truth and simply being deceitful. Why?  Because, the people are letting them! We the people are not stepping up and saying “YOU’RE LYING!”  Case in point, San Diego Councilperson Carl DeMaio — he is absolutely a liar. I say that because he is!  If you were asked by someone if you walk your dog on a leash and you said “yes’ and the next day you heard that you were abusing animals for your own pleasure – would that be the truth? Of course not. If you took your family out for a special occasion at a very nice resturant and some neighbor saw you and decided to tell everyone that you were rich and spending lots of money all the time — would that be a true statement?  Again, of course not, but you can see how it can be mis-interpreted by someone with bad intentions.

This man has nothing but bad intentions and he is not the solution to fixing this city’s problems — as a matter of fact he is one of the biggest  problems — he’s another liar.

Here’s something I read that you need to keep in mind: One percent of the nation owns a third of the wealth in this country. The rest of the wealth is distributed in such a way as to turn those in the 99 percent against one another: small property owners against the propertyless, black against white, native-born against foreign-born, intellectuals and professional against the uneducated and unskilled. These groups have resented one another and warred against one another with such vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of leftovers in a very wealthy country. 

This is what is being done by this man and other politicians now — they are simply stirring it up with the 99 percent to keep them fighting while they gain more money and power.  They will not be exposed to the aftermath of what happens after they implement these “so-called” solutions that will not fix this city’s problems. But, they will create NEW  problems which when these new problems arise, they will have made their money and have NEW solutions to fix those problems. All this is going on while “we the people” get stuck with more and more problems and they gain more and more power and money. You see when you start believing what they’re telling you then they gain power over you.  

Stop and think — city officials who are saying they have solutions to save money – they are not going to save “we the people” any money — they are saving the money for themselves. This matter of the city needing to save money is not as hard as it appears – If they need to save money simply go to the departments within the city and tell supervisors, directors and mangers to do a better job or they’re fired!  As for what they ”say” the money is being spent on – hey if it is more than they can afford then it’s simple –prioritize your responsibilities, stop taking on new projects and pay your obligations first until you start making more money. Taking money from people that have earned it is not a solution — it’s called stealing and robbery.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT TO THE PEOPLE/CITIZENS WHEN OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS SAY THEY NEED TO SAVE MONEY – NO BENEFIT!

Hey, let me first say this might be a bit harsh, but I’m trying to keep it simple. 

It’s still amazing how far a million dollars can go. And if a million dollars is amazing – just what do you think a Billion dollars can do? 

Let me walk you thru a bit of math.  It takes a 1,000 million dollars to equal a Billion dollars ( 1,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000).  Now that is a lot of money, right?  Here’s another way of looking at it — a million seconds is 12 days and a billion seconds is 31 YEARS!  Oh, let me get back to dollars.

Now, let’s say a homeowner is upside down on their mortgage by $500,000 (that is a half million dollars). What that means is your home WAS worth $1 million before the housing crash and now  it’s worth half ($500K).  So, let’s say our President and elected government officials decided to help TWO THOUSAND (2,000) homeowners that are upside down with their mortgage by the same half million each. They would spend $1Billion to help those homeowners in keeping their homes. So, $2 billion would save 4,000 homeowners from foreclosure. Now that was four thousand homes saved from foreclosure with $2 billion. But we know that there were lots of homes that were upside down by a lot less than that, some were in the range of $200 – $300K or even less. For the sake of those that have lost their homes, let’s use the average of $250k as the depreciated amount. Using the same math as above - 4 homes at $250k of loss value each would equal $1million.   

So, lets see the math, again it’s 1000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000. Watch closely – 1,000,000,000 divided by 1,000,000 = 1,000. Take that 1,000 x 4 = 4,000 homes that could be saved from foreclosure. That means that the government could have spent $1billion and saved 4,000 homeowners from losing their homes. $2 billion is 8,000 and so on.

As you have just seen, with $4 billion the government could have saved more than 12,000 homes from foreclosure. Do you think that with another $4 billion the government could have saved over 24,000  homes from foreclosure? That would have been only $8 billion. Does anyone know how many homes are sitting in foreclosure because they are upside down on their mortgage?  One report was over 65,000 – that would still cost less than $30 billion. 

Now, here, my question, What happen to the “Stimulus” money of $700 Billion that was “suppose” to bail out our economy?

If I have you thinking about it great, but if you don’t agree with me that’s ok too. Hey, it’s ok we’re all going to have to pay it back, so we’re all losers in this.

Here’s my problem with this – we have all these people in this country complaining about how bad things are – and yet here we have government officials that treat us like we can’t feed ourselves or worst to stupid to know anything, so they (government officials) have gotten so arrogant that they believe that they can simply tell the public (“we the people”) anything and we just go along with it like we don’t know any better. Do you like being thought of as stupid?

Wake up and say something! We are being ripped off!