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President
Message text follows:
Mark WXXXXXX
9999 SXXXXX Ave.
Saint Louis, MO
May 22, 2009
[recipient address was inserted here]
[recipient name was inserted here],
Don't even think about it! The Speaker cannot even take care of her home
state. For 12 years I tried to tell these idiots to stop spending and they
refused. Now I live in MO. Don't even think about using my $2,800.00 paid
in Federal taxes for these loosers in CA!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The day of reckoning that California has been warned
about for years has arrived. The longest recession in generations and the
defeat this week of a package of budget-balancing ballot measures are
expected to lead to state spending cuts so deep and so painful that they
could rewrite the social contract between California and its citizens.
They could also force a fundamental rethinking of the proper role of
government in the Golden State.
"The voters are getting what they asked for, but I'm not sure at the end
of the day they're going to like what they asked for," said Jim Earp,
executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which represents
the hard-hit construction industry. "I think we've crossed a threshold in
many ways."
California is looking at a budget deficit projected at more than $24
billion when the new fiscal year starts in July. That is more than
one-quarter of the state's general fund.
This week, voters said they no longer want the Legislature to balance
budgets with higher taxes, complicated transfer schemes or borrowing that
pushes California's financial problems off into the distant future. In
light of that, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made it clear he
intends to close the gap almost entirely through drastic spending cuts.
The governor's cutbacks could include ending the state's main welfare
program for the poor, eliminating health coverage for about 1.5 million
poor children, halting cash grants for about 77,000 college students,
shortening the school year by seven days, laying off thousands of state
workers and teachers, slashing money for state parks and releasing
thousands of prisoners before their sentences are finished.
"I understand that these cuts are very painful and they affect real
lives," Schwarzenegger said. "This is the harsh reality and the reality
that we face. Sacramento is not Washington — we cannot print our own
money. We can only spend what we have."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sincerely,
Mark Wxxxxxx
314-XXX-XXXX
Showing posts with label bankrupt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bankrupt. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Your Children HAVE to Pay It Back!
MALLORY FACTOR: Why Are Liberals So Worked Up Over South Carolina’s Mark Sanford?
By Mallory Factor
Merchant Banker/Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Monday Meeting
Last Tuesday Thomas Frank published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Frank used his space in The Journal, in an article called “18th- Century Man: South Carolina’s governor is touchingly naive,” to toss insults at Sanford that were both condescending and pompous–all because he wanted to use a portion of his state’s share of the new federal “stimulus” money to pay down South Carolina’s debt. Yes, I know, it might seem silly to devote time to refuting someone who can’t understand the importance of paying debts.
But it’s worth responding to Frank’s article–not only because The Journal’s opinion page is read by a lot of people, but also because the article stands as a remarkable illustration of the left’s inability to cope with anyone who suggests that the Democratic White House and Congress have not cornered the market on wisdom.
The federal government’s colossal deficit spending isn’t just some distraction. These are real debts. And real debts have to be paid back with real money.
Proving that he is always eager to substitute invective for argument, Frank dismisses Sanford’s position as a “moral pose.” (It’s strange how an alleged “poseur” could be twice elected governor of the state, and elected to Congress three times before that.)
Having known Mark Sanford for quite a number of years, I can assure Frank that the governor wouldn’t know how to strike a “pose” even if he wanted to. When he proposed to take roughly 10 percent of South Carolina’s stimulus money –- about $700 million -– and put it towards the state’s debt, he was, it seems to me, doing what any business or family would do with an unexpected windfall: use at least a portion of it to pay off the mortgage or some other outstanding obligation.
Yet Frank’s response to such a simple and commonsensical proposal is to level charges of “hypocrisy.”
But this isn’t about Sanford. The fact that Frank seems so undone by the actions of a small state’s governor says more about the brittleness of his left-liberal ideology than it does about Sanford. What is Frank so afraid of? That Sanford’s idea–that reducing debt is better than increasing debt –will somehow catch hold among the commonsensical middle of America? Hmm. Maybe that’s exactly why Frank is so hysterical in his attack on Sanford: he’s afraid that most folks will agree with the conservative Sanford, and not the liberal President Obama and his like-minded colleagues in the Congress.
The governor, after all, is only trying to address what anybody, on the left or right, ought to acknowledge as a serious long-term problem. Sanford’s South Carolina –- like many other states and, to a much greater degree, like the federal government itself –- is facing a tremendous debt obligation. The state is now fourth in the nation with respect to the percentage of tax revenue spent on debt service–that is, the millions of taxpayer dollars that don’t go to schools or bridges or anything else that Frank presumably thinks are important governmental responsibilities. Further, the state’s pension plan has fallen to the bottom 15 percent of plans nationwide in unfunded liabilities. If these and related problems continue to go unaddressed, later generations of South Carolinians will face the consequences in the form of tax hikes, benefit cuts, and recession.
Sanford takes those dangers seriously; obviously Frank doesn’t. Indeed he waves aside the problem of massive deficit spending as “the issue of the day,” sounding rather like a teenager dismissing his parents’ concerns about his expanding credit card bill. But the federal government’s colossal deficit spending isn’t just some distraction. These are real debts. And real debts have to be paid back with real money. This year, the federal deficit will likely hit 12 percent of GDP, a number we haven’t come close to touching since World War II. Worse, our national debt is at almost 100 percent of GDP –- and that’s not including the unfunded promises of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The reason why Sanford insists on making these numbers ‘the issue of the day” is precisely because he doesn’t want them to be the critical crisis of tomorrow.
We’re in a melancholy situation when left-wing commentators can’t even bring themselves to acknowledge that massive government overspending and debt are a problem. Frank would do well to remember a principle much older than the 18th Century–paying for what you owe before you spend more. More people rediscovering that simple truism would serve our country well right now.
And oh, by the way, please allow me to add a word or two about the “18th century men,” whom Frank is so eager to dismiss as “naive.” That’s the century that gave us George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and James Madison, to name just a few immortals from that illustrious era. In fact, poor Mr. Frank could learn a lot from those times, if he weren’t so busy hurling snide insults.
Mallory Factor is a merchant banker and the co-chairman and co-founder of the Monday Meeting, an influential gathering of economic conservatives, journalists, and corporate leaders in New York City.
By Mallory Factor
Merchant Banker/Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Monday Meeting
Last Tuesday Thomas Frank published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Frank used his space in The Journal, in an article called “18th- Century Man: South Carolina’s governor is touchingly naive,” to toss insults at Sanford that were both condescending and pompous–all because he wanted to use a portion of his state’s share of the new federal “stimulus” money to pay down South Carolina’s debt. Yes, I know, it might seem silly to devote time to refuting someone who can’t understand the importance of paying debts.
But it’s worth responding to Frank’s article–not only because The Journal’s opinion page is read by a lot of people, but also because the article stands as a remarkable illustration of the left’s inability to cope with anyone who suggests that the Democratic White House and Congress have not cornered the market on wisdom.
The federal government’s colossal deficit spending isn’t just some distraction. These are real debts. And real debts have to be paid back with real money.
Proving that he is always eager to substitute invective for argument, Frank dismisses Sanford’s position as a “moral pose.” (It’s strange how an alleged “poseur” could be twice elected governor of the state, and elected to Congress three times before that.)
Having known Mark Sanford for quite a number of years, I can assure Frank that the governor wouldn’t know how to strike a “pose” even if he wanted to. When he proposed to take roughly 10 percent of South Carolina’s stimulus money –- about $700 million -– and put it towards the state’s debt, he was, it seems to me, doing what any business or family would do with an unexpected windfall: use at least a portion of it to pay off the mortgage or some other outstanding obligation.
Yet Frank’s response to such a simple and commonsensical proposal is to level charges of “hypocrisy.”
But this isn’t about Sanford. The fact that Frank seems so undone by the actions of a small state’s governor says more about the brittleness of his left-liberal ideology than it does about Sanford. What is Frank so afraid of? That Sanford’s idea–that reducing debt is better than increasing debt –will somehow catch hold among the commonsensical middle of America? Hmm. Maybe that’s exactly why Frank is so hysterical in his attack on Sanford: he’s afraid that most folks will agree with the conservative Sanford, and not the liberal President Obama and his like-minded colleagues in the Congress.
The governor, after all, is only trying to address what anybody, on the left or right, ought to acknowledge as a serious long-term problem. Sanford’s South Carolina –- like many other states and, to a much greater degree, like the federal government itself –- is facing a tremendous debt obligation. The state is now fourth in the nation with respect to the percentage of tax revenue spent on debt service–that is, the millions of taxpayer dollars that don’t go to schools or bridges or anything else that Frank presumably thinks are important governmental responsibilities. Further, the state’s pension plan has fallen to the bottom 15 percent of plans nationwide in unfunded liabilities. If these and related problems continue to go unaddressed, later generations of South Carolinians will face the consequences in the form of tax hikes, benefit cuts, and recession.
Sanford takes those dangers seriously; obviously Frank doesn’t. Indeed he waves aside the problem of massive deficit spending as “the issue of the day,” sounding rather like a teenager dismissing his parents’ concerns about his expanding credit card bill. But the federal government’s colossal deficit spending isn’t just some distraction. These are real debts. And real debts have to be paid back with real money. This year, the federal deficit will likely hit 12 percent of GDP, a number we haven’t come close to touching since World War II. Worse, our national debt is at almost 100 percent of GDP –- and that’s not including the unfunded promises of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The reason why Sanford insists on making these numbers ‘the issue of the day” is precisely because he doesn’t want them to be the critical crisis of tomorrow.
We’re in a melancholy situation when left-wing commentators can’t even bring themselves to acknowledge that massive government overspending and debt are a problem. Frank would do well to remember a principle much older than the 18th Century–paying for what you owe before you spend more. More people rediscovering that simple truism would serve our country well right now.
And oh, by the way, please allow me to add a word or two about the “18th century men,” whom Frank is so eager to dismiss as “naive.” That’s the century that gave us George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and James Madison, to name just a few immortals from that illustrious era. In fact, poor Mr. Frank could learn a lot from those times, if he weren’t so busy hurling snide insults.
Mallory Factor is a merchant banker and the co-chairman and co-founder of the Monday Meeting, an influential gathering of economic conservatives, journalists, and corporate leaders in New York City.
Friday, March 27, 2009
If You Like California......
If You Like California’s Sorry State of Affairs, You’re Gonna Love Obama’s Vision for America
By Jon Kraushar
Communications Consultant
Some of President Obama’s critics say he wants to turn America toward European-style socialism but maybe he’ll settle for imitating California.
California, once known for its robust capitalism, growth and sunny optimism (after all, it’s the state that brought us Ronald Reagan), has become a pitiful giant, pinned down by the same kind of big government that Obama envisions for the country.
Obama has struck a deal with Crown Publishing Group to write a book after his term ends. If he succeeds in making America resemble California, perhaps Obama will title it “Dreams From California.”
California is virtually bankrupt after years of out-of-control state government spending (it leads the country in spending on government employees) and is begging for a federal bailout. Its extreme “green” environmentalism and health care costs (it keeps flirting with universal health care) are among the reasons that its economy is crippled. It has the nation’s fourth highest unemployment rate, ranks 48 out of 50 states in K-12 education (even though it spends twice the national average on education), and is swamped by illegal immigrant families overwhelming its social services and welfare system.
Fortune magazine points out that in California…
“In the past year more people have lost jobs . . . than in any other state. More homes have gone into foreclosure. More banks have failed . . . businesses are moving out at an alarming rate, most often citing excessive regulation and intolerable taxes. For top earners, California’s taxes are the highest in the U.S. And to what end? California’s credit rating is the lowest in the nation.”
“California here we come” has become “California here we go.” Last year, 144,000 more people decamped from California than entered it. — That’s the worst out-migration in the nation! A few reasons:
- According to The Milken Institute, California is the costliest place in America to do business
- It has the second highest tax rates in the country
- It is a trial lawyer’s paradise where there may be more nuisance suits than bathing suits.
For public employee unions, California is truly the Golden State. Its teachers and prison guards are the highest paid in the nation. According to Investor’s Business Daily, California long ago “granted recognition to unions on a card-check basis, without a requirement for secret-ballot elections. Not surprisingly, California’s public-sector work force is now much more unionized than the nation’s as a whole.”
For even more background on the California crack-up click here.
Democrats hold sway in California government. The state’s Republican governor—Arnold Schwarzenegger—keeps flexing his political muscles further and further to the left while his government balloons into a grotesque, intrusive bully on steroids, kicking sand in the faces of taxpayers.
In short, California is over-taxing, over-spending, over-regulating and over-suing its good citizens—and its unsustainable debt, soaring deficit, Democratic Party domination and dependency on big government—make it a model for the sequel to Barack Obama’s best-selling book “Dreams From My Father.”
Obama has struck a deal with Crown Publishing Group to write a book after his term ends. If he succeeds in making America resemble California, perhaps Obama will title it “Dreams From California.”
Communications consultant Jon Kraushar is at www.jonkraushar.net.
By Jon Kraushar
Communications Consultant
Some of President Obama’s critics say he wants to turn America toward European-style socialism but maybe he’ll settle for imitating California.
California, once known for its robust capitalism, growth and sunny optimism (after all, it’s the state that brought us Ronald Reagan), has become a pitiful giant, pinned down by the same kind of big government that Obama envisions for the country.
Obama has struck a deal with Crown Publishing Group to write a book after his term ends. If he succeeds in making America resemble California, perhaps Obama will title it “Dreams From California.”
California is virtually bankrupt after years of out-of-control state government spending (it leads the country in spending on government employees) and is begging for a federal bailout. Its extreme “green” environmentalism and health care costs (it keeps flirting with universal health care) are among the reasons that its economy is crippled. It has the nation’s fourth highest unemployment rate, ranks 48 out of 50 states in K-12 education (even though it spends twice the national average on education), and is swamped by illegal immigrant families overwhelming its social services and welfare system.
Fortune magazine points out that in California…
“In the past year more people have lost jobs . . . than in any other state. More homes have gone into foreclosure. More banks have failed . . . businesses are moving out at an alarming rate, most often citing excessive regulation and intolerable taxes. For top earners, California’s taxes are the highest in the U.S. And to what end? California’s credit rating is the lowest in the nation.”
“California here we come” has become “California here we go.” Last year, 144,000 more people decamped from California than entered it. — That’s the worst out-migration in the nation! A few reasons:
- According to The Milken Institute, California is the costliest place in America to do business
- It has the second highest tax rates in the country
- It is a trial lawyer’s paradise where there may be more nuisance suits than bathing suits.
For public employee unions, California is truly the Golden State. Its teachers and prison guards are the highest paid in the nation. According to Investor’s Business Daily, California long ago “granted recognition to unions on a card-check basis, without a requirement for secret-ballot elections. Not surprisingly, California’s public-sector work force is now much more unionized than the nation’s as a whole.”
For even more background on the California crack-up click here.
Democrats hold sway in California government. The state’s Republican governor—Arnold Schwarzenegger—keeps flexing his political muscles further and further to the left while his government balloons into a grotesque, intrusive bully on steroids, kicking sand in the faces of taxpayers.
In short, California is over-taxing, over-spending, over-regulating and over-suing its good citizens—and its unsustainable debt, soaring deficit, Democratic Party domination and dependency on big government—make it a model for the sequel to Barack Obama’s best-selling book “Dreams From My Father.”
Obama has struck a deal with Crown Publishing Group to write a book after his term ends. If he succeeds in making America resemble California, perhaps Obama will title it “Dreams From California.”
Communications consultant Jon Kraushar is at www.jonkraushar.net.
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