Government Salaries
I just read an article that said the president of the US makes $400,000 a year. I am wondering why he makes so much money. He has a free place to live for 4 years (ok, so he probably keeps a house back home, too…), all expenses paid travel (what with Air Force One and all that), probably doesn’t have to do a lot of grocery shopping, etc. I mean, I understand that it’s a difficult job and all that, but when the average American earns probably 1/10th that amount, it seems excessive! Especially when we are also paying for his housing and food and all that as well. But… that’s not exactly the point of this post.
The point of the post was that I decided to look up congressional salaries and they make $155,100 per year. The speaker of the house and majority/minority leaders make more, but I left that out for this exercise. So, there are 100 US Senators and currently 435 US Representatives. That means that we are shelling out $82,978,500 annually for Congress’s salary. Add the president and you get $83,378,500… EVERY year — in taxpayer dollars. Man that’s a lot of money. Maybe they should take a year off from getting paid to help with this bailout?
AIG’s ex-CEO refuses severance
AIG’s ex-CEO refuses $22 million severance payout
THANK GOODNESS! Does this guy actually have a conscience?! What a shocker in the business world. How a company can pay someone $22 million for FAILING to do a job is beyond me. Do you know what happens if I don’t do MY job? I get FIRED. And I might be able to collect unemployment, which is something like 66% of my salary up to some pre-determined limit, which I will guarantee is nowhere near $22 million!!
Whose fault is today’s credit crisis?
McCain calls Wall Street reckless, Obama hits McCain
Too many people on Wall Street have been recklessly wagering instead of making the sound investments we expected of them,” McCain told a crowd today
In Golden, Colorado, Obama said McCain’s “newfound support for regulation” belied a record of backing deregulation and support for the economic philosophy of President George W. Bush’s administration.
Are the presidential nominees blaming the financial crisis on Wall Street investors and George W. Bush? Ummm… wrong on both counts. Wake up America — this is your own damn fault. We are taking out too much credit and we aren’t thinking when we do it. Banks made it too easy to get reckless loans and Americans didn’t read the fine print. It’s not the government’s job to make decisions for us. They are not there to read the fine print and make critical decisions about our personal futures. It’s YOUR job to decide if you really need a $400,000 house when you make less than $100,00 a year. It’s YOUR job to decide if you really need ANOTHER new car or a new flat screen TV. I know we all think we are chasing the “American Dream”, but the original American Dream had us actually buying things with our money, not borrowing too much money at ridiculous interest rates to buy things we don’t technically need. Hey, let’s not finance Christmas! Why not exchange hand made gifts if you can’t afford an iPod, iPhone, iWhatever. Or make your kids get jobs to pay for these LUXURY items with money they have earned, thereby teaching them the value of both hard work and money in one fell swoop! When did our spending get so out of hand? Is it that the cost of our basic expenses (housing, food, transportation) risen so far that we really can’t afford it anymore or is it that we are also choosing houses that are bigger than we need, cars that are more than we need, to eat out more often than we need, and all the toys, too? I’m going to do some research later (if time permits) and come back and edit this post.
What about non-Christian Americans?
For Obama, McCain, View from the Pews Shows Black, White Divide
I know that it’s not the point of the article, but what about Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and atheists or agnostics? Why don’t the candidates say anything that has to do with their beliefs? Why only Christianity. I know, I know we are fundamentally a Christian society. However, it is important to note the separation of church and state, created for very good reason. When we start combining our religious ideals with government, people start getting persecuted for their beliefs. I’m tired of hearing what someone’s pastor said, or who believes what and how God factors into it. Shouldn’t we vote on what makes sense for society, what makes sense for ourselves? With our society in the turmoil it is right now, people losing their homes left and right due to dubious lending practices, the stock market in turmoil, two wars in the middle east, ever increasing unemployment rates, consumer credit woes, increasing national debt, dependency on foreign oil, the energy crisis, the possibility of global warming, the list goes on and on, how can people boil that entire debate down to God?
Greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage?
Florida Republicans say no to Oprah
I’m so sad. So very sad. Now, granted I am not a (registered) Republican, I AM a Floridian. And this is what makes me sad:
“Women in Florida helped build Oprah into the icon she is today,” said Linda Ivell, group president. “With our Republican sisters across the nation, we have collectively enjoyed her entertaining, informative and female-driven programming as we raised our families and became more empowered as women. We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey’s decision to sit out the greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage.”
Let me repeat part of that:
We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey’s decision to sit out the greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage.
Am I the only one who remembers 1984 (I was all of eight years old and I do still remember it) when Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate? Or does that not count as a great political moment in the history of women because they weren’t republicans? As Jen sees it, this is the greatest political moment in the history of women since… 1984, the last time this exact same thing happened.
So what do Dems believe?
When McCain referenced such issues, he did so very briefly and by using purposefully bland code. “We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench,” he said. “We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.”
I guess Democrats believe in a weak defense, sitting around doing nothing, believing in nothing, serving no one, no culture, blaming everyone else for our woes, and a lack of family, neighborhood and community.
I’m pretty sure that liberals believe in all that stuff, too…
Elitist? GOP is the pot, Obama is the kettle, and I believe the color is black!
Palin wows GOP, puts Dems on notice
Sarah Palin wowed the Republican convention using wit, sarcasm, charm and ridicule in a full-scale assault on a now familiar cast of GOP targets: an elitist adversary, biased media and high taxes.
Elitist adversary, huh? How many houses does Obama own again? I’m pretty sure that it’s not so many that the exact number has slipped his mind.
In 1951, his family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria.[8]
Yes, private preparatory boarding school — THIS is a man of the people.
To be fair, Barack Obama also went to a private high school.
Yes, this is who I want as my VP
Palin: Iraq war a ‘task that is from God’
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a “task that is from God.” … In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it “God’s will.”
What, are these the Crusades? Is this a HOLY war? Last time I checked it was about, oh wait, I’m not sure officially, but let’s say OIL for fun.
How is it that people can consistently blame war, evil, killing people, malice, unspeakable things on GOD?! Any God that I believe in does not sanction ANY war. This is ridiculous that educated people can get away with saying ridiculous things like this, and even more ridiculous that someone somewhere reveres her for saying it.
LIAR!
J. Lo Reveals Details of Her Pregnancy
she and her husband of four years didn’t worry when she didn’t get pregnant right away…
As for the moment she realized she was pregnant, she reveals, “I was sitting down doing hair and makeup and I felt a flutter. The weirdest little … flourish. My makeup artist said ‘What’s the matter?’ I didn’t say anything, but in my head, I was like, I have life inside me!”
That’s CRAP!!! She found out the same way every woman does… her boobs hurt, she was tossing her cookies, and everything smelled extra nasty so she peed on a stick and it said she was pregnant. You don’t feel the baby move until at least 5 months and if you’re trying to get pregnant, you don’t go for 5 months without a period without taking a pregnancy test. This woman is full of crap. Of course I should have known that as soon as I read:
But this is the first time in my life where I’m just going to be a little bit selfish,’” she told Anthony
Yeh, first time, I’m sure.
