Thinkin’bout Stuff

Gov. Mike Huckabee on Cavuto talking about government bailouts of banks, manufacturers, states, etc:

We are truly indebting our children and grandchildren in a way that is irresponsible, recklessly irresponsible… when we talk about the greatest generation, what made them the greatest generation, they sacrificed their own immediate interest for the better interest of their children and they sacrificed for future generations.  We are sacrificing future generations for our selfish needs right now.

In my state, car inspections are done by local garages and you pay for the inspection.

My car failed so badly I sold it to the local scrap yard for $150 rather than pay $3,000 to get it fixed.

One of the many things it failed for were the tires.  The local garage said the tires were dry rot and would need to be replaced or the car could not pass inspection and be driven.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  When I put the car in for inspection, I also asked them to rotate the tires, obviously not realizing the tires could no longer be driven on safely.

So, here’s what the folks at the garage did:  they failed the car for inspection, then rotated the tires and charged me $20 for the rotation.

Well, that just didn’t seem very logical to me, so I questioned the bill.  The explanation that they were just doing what I asked them to do when they rotated the tires did not satisfy me.  So the “customer service manager”, in an attempt to display how they were looking out for my interests, went on to explain that they at least did not charge me for the emmissions inspection sice, knowing that the car failed for so many things anyway, they decided to not do the emmissions inspection.

Well now, that was quite nice of them to not charge me for work they didn’t do, but I expect a bit more from folks I have been bringing cars to for several years.

I know it might seem unreasonable to some, clearly these folks are in that category, but I don’t expect them to perform work that is clearly not needed and charge me for that work either.

I pointed out that not charging me for work not performed does not justify charging me for work not needed, so she offered to split the difference and knock $10 off the cost of the next visit.

I politely cancelled future appointments and explained that would not be necessary since I would be taking my business elsewhere in the future.   She seemed unfazed; apparently business is so good they no longer need me as a customer.  With dozens of garages in the area, not surprisingly I don’t need them either.

And that, my friends, is how you lose a customer forever and potentially future customers who will never be recommended to grace your establishment by this rather displeased ex-customer.

It isn’t about the $20, nor the $10… it is about trust.  I can no longer trust that these folks are not going to perform unnecessary work just to pad the bill.  That trust was already diminished because they billed me for this work, but I was willing to give them an opportunity to correct what may well have been a mistake.  Since the “customer service manager” confirmed that it was not a mistake and in fact a conscious decision to charge me for unnecessary labor, that trust is gone for good.

You would think that, with folks like me being very careful where we spend money these days, they would have been a bit more careful with the trust I loaned to them.

Too bad really…

Folks, if you own a business, please keep in mind that there are others like me voting with our wallets, and there are less and less “votes” to go around these days.

Why are we being sheltered from this man’s real plans, policies and beliefs.  From an interview earlier this year, we learn that Barack Obama, contrary to his public statements of supporting all energy alternatives including coal, which is a plentiful resource in the US, plans to impose strict regulations that he fully expects will bankrupt the industry:

Barack Obama: prepared to bankrupt the coal industry to do what is “right”; prepared to punish investors by raising capital gains taxes to be “fair”; prepared to increase taxes on folks making more than (fill in the blank dollar figure this week) to fund a new backdoor welfare program, writing checks to folks who do not pay any income tax; prepared to slash military spending to fund a domestic security force; prepared to nationalize health care to ensure everyone has equal, if substandard, access to medical care including elective procedures… the list goes on.

But we don’t hear about these things because, if we were to know and understand the truth, we might not vote for Obama and that would just ruin everything!

Two years ago, I started tracking two of the key areas that Pelosi and Reid promised would improve if we gave the Democrats a majority in the House and Senate.  As we prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday, while the Democrats ask if we are better off today than we were four years ago with Bush as president, perhaps we should be asking ourselves: Are we better off today than two years ago when the Democrats took control of Congress.

Think about it, who controls the budget?  Who decides what laws will pass, what laws will never see the light of day?  Who decides if nominated judges will be confirmed?

Congress!

For the Democrats to walk away from any responsibility after promising that electing them would lead to improvements in unemployment, gas prices, the economy, etc. is disingenuous at best.

So, what do you think?  Better off today than two years ago.  Here are two charts, historical  unemployment and gasoline prices, for your consideration (click charts to enlarge):

Note that unemployment and gas prices both went up AFTER the Democrats took control of Congress.  In fact, things were pretty good when Bush had a small majority of Republicans in the Huse and Senate.

Think about that before you turn over our country to Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid.

Remember this posted just 3 days ago: If you make less than how much? 

I have now heard at least three versions of the Obama “tax cut” threshold.  The Obama campaign has told us:

• those making less than $250k will get a tax cut
• those that make less than $250k will not get a tax increase but those under $200k will get a tax cut
• those who make less than $250k will not get a tax increase but those under $150k will get a tax cut…

Wait a week and it will probably go down to $100k. 

Well… where almost there. 

Bill Richardson has just informed us the new threshold is (((((drum roll please)))):

$120,000

In explaining this today, Democratic Strategist Malia Lazu says the different numbers are because different folks define middle class differently and the tax cut is for the middle class.  Huh!?  So it’s not based upon the numbers we have been told?  It will change depending on the final definition of who is in the middle class?

Lazu went on to explain that she personally believes middle class is around $45,000 per year. 

Ruh-Ro!  Sounds like the tax cut will only be for folks not paying any income tax at all!!!!!!

Heard this earlier today.  from FoxNews:

Barack Obama cultivated the image of a cool and collected leader during the height of the economic crisis last month, when lawmakers on Capitol Hill scrambled to draft a workable bailout package after a meltdown on Wall Street.

And when John McCain suspended his campaign to dive head first into the fray, Obama’s campaign accused the Republican of being “unsteady.”

But to hear Bill Clinton tell it, the Democratic nominee didn’t quite have a handle on the situation himself.

“I haven’t cleared this with him and he may even be mad at me for saying this so close to the election, but I know what else he said to his economic advisers (during the crisis),” Clinton told the crowd at a Wednesday night rally with Obama in Florida. “He said, ‘Tell me what the right thing to do is. What’s the right thing for America? Don’t tell me what’s popular. You tell me what’s right — I’ll figure out how to sell it.’”

 Obama had to be thinking: Gee thanks Bill.

Essentially President Clinton was saying Obama had no clue what to do and was looking for someone to load up the teleprompter so he could launch into a sales pitch. 

In other words: SOP - Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Obama.

I have now heard at least three versions of the Obama “tax cut” threshold.  The Obama campaign has told us:

• those making less than $250k will get a tax cut
• those that make less than $250k will not get a tax increase but those under $200k will get a tax cut
• those who make less than $250k will not get a tax increase but those under $150k will get a tax cut…

Wait a week and it will probably go down to $100k. 

If it goes much lower, only people who currently pay no income tax will get a “tax cut”… so if you pay income tax today, your money will be handed to someone not paying income tax … nope, nothing socialistic about that.

Oh, by the way…  I heard one campaign rep point out that the “tax cut” would not necessarily be in the first year or two, that it likely will not happen until later inan Obama first term. 

Hey, if you elect me I promise that by the end of my first term we will eliminate all income tax, that 10 yeqars from now when I am out of office we will be independent of foreign oil (oh wait, Obama already made that promise), and that we will eliminate all disease of any kind by the year 3,000….  vote for me!