[1706] MINING FOR GOLD? [the Obama way- Warning- this one might be a little crude for some of my readers- had a tough week]

Okay- this week has been a roller coaster to say the least. The market went down- up- and down again. I think it closed at around 10,700 last night. I’m not in the market- I got out years ago- yet I still follow the stuff.

We also had the recall election in Wisconsin- out of the 6 Repub senators who were up for a recall- only 2 lost. The Dems spent around 30 million- hoping to maybe knock out all 6- they didn’t do as well as they wanted. I find it funny that all the liberal news coverage- they never mentioned that 2 Dems are up for recall next week- they just tell you what they think you need to hear.

A few weeks back- during the heat of the debt ceiling vote- one of the major sticking points was a vote for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Now- there are pros and cons to the thing- but wouldn’t you think that they might do a poll on the thing?

I mean you had news guys asking ‘are the Tea Partiers terrorists’ and other stuff like that. How bout one poll on ‘do you favor a balanced budget amendment’. Then I heard some talking heads say ‘and why do we [We?] not want a balanced budget amendment’? And the other talking head said ‘well- if you do that- then if the country faces another crisis- we wouldn’t be able to do another stimulus’.

Gee- that just might be good- don’t you think? The way they were talking- I knew something was up- they had that condescending attitude that said ‘you know- the American people are to stupid to know these things’.

Sure enough- CNN did do a poll- and it was around 70 % of the people who wanted a balanced budget amendment. They did not report the poll on the air- you know- that would take away too much time from the real story- that the Tea Partiers are Hobbits- so they stuck the poll on their on line page.

Years ago- at the Fire Dept. we used to have ‘snake oil salesman’ come by every now and again. They were either selling insurance or some other type of investment scheme to get the guys in. I was mad that these guys would buddy up to the chief- and then all the guys were ‘told’ to listen to the sales pitch. And of course- the pro’s- well they have a way of selling stuff- things that people don’t need.

One year we had some guy selling life insurance- boy was he good. I think he was a Jersey brother [like me!]. Boy- he talked just like the preacher in the movie Elmer Gantry. Anyway- he went on about the need for the insurance- and at the end- he made it sound like he was signing up the guys for some city insurance thing- like when you sign your actual health care every year. He would walk up to the ones who didn’t sign and say ‘you need to sign the paperwork- you didn’t sign yet’.

Man- was I pissed. He walks over to me- gives me the line- I raked him over the coals. I told him first of all- he was selling a bad product. He was selling what’s called Whole Life- your really better off buying Term- and if you want to invest- then take the cost difference and just stick it in your 401 k [or the bank!].

I blew his cover- it was too bad he already signed most of the guys.

So this is what I see going on right now- lots of miss information- news people lying- on the left and right- and both sides thinking ‘geez- those other guys are all bastards’. The truth is- they are all doing it- not just the side you don’t like.

One day I caught a show on CSPAN- there was no editorializing- just the facts. They had on some Democrat governor [I think from Washington State]. A reporter asked her why her story- about her state solving their fiscal problems- with cuts and other ‘austerity’ measures- why she wasn’t getting the coverage like Wisconsin.

She innocently [?] replied that the media weren’t covering her because her state wasn’t in turmoil- it wasn’t the same political theatre like ‘those Repub governors fighting the working folk’.

Actually- the real reason you have not seen coverage on all the Dem states that have balanced their budgets- is because all of those states- bar none- have done the same things that the evil Repub governors did- they made cuts- balanced their books [tried] and they did the same things that the media are trying to portray as evil Repub measures.

So- how can the media run with the narrative that says ‘evil Repub governors- are killing the unions’ when the Dems are doing the same basic thing?

What’s the problem then? Well when the media decides to be in the tank like this- then even if they win the argument- and recall every Repub governor in the country- then the Dems will still have to try and balance their books- and the only way to did it is through these austerity measures- or just don’t get elected and keep using it as a tool to re elect Obama.

Yeah- just like the insurance salesman- they think the average person is simply a fish waiting to jump on the hook- and sad to say- we do!

Okay- I really wanted to try and get back to some bible teaching- and actually overview some of the New Testament- but that will have to wait for now.

What should you do now? If you stayed in the market- and took another huge hit [like a few years ago] then there’s not a whole lot that you can do. Will the market go down another 1000 points- who knows? 12,500 was way too high- and I said that all year long. I even heard a financial guys fess up on national TV- he said ‘look- us insiders- we all knew that the dow was over priced at around 20 %- this was no surprise’ well heck- that’s a surprise to all your customers! The ones you’ve been telling to stay in the market this past year- even though it was just too high.

At this point [today- 8-11] it’s probably not good to sell- maybe if we get another surge up [to like 11,500?] maybe that might be a spot to take some losses- if you can’t sleep at night- and get out. But right now- you would be locking in around a 20 % loss- thats a lot.

I had a another talk with my ultra liberal friend the other night- we have a mutual friend who is very rich [okay] but this friend is always on the bandwagon about ‘I am on the side of the working stiff [geez- that would be me] and those darn Repubs are on the side of the rich [which this person is- but whose keeping count?]

This person- the rich mutual friend- is in her 70’s [married couple] and they have fought very hard against any changes to Medicare. They are in the AARP lobbying group [one of the strongest lobbying groups around] and any time any one mentions a change in Medicare- they go ballistic.

Now as rich folk- who got into the system at the start- they probably paid a few thousand dollars into the system- and have used a few hundred thousand [that’s the average for folk their age]. That is the system overpromised- and the older rich folk- who keep lobbying against change- if the truth be told- they are screwing their kids and grandkids- but why tell the truth?

So I explained to my friend- that I have paid a few hundred thousand into our entitlement programs [yeah- I have the paperwork on it] and I can’t even get disability for real injuries- documented- [bad back discs, permanent nerve damage to my right leg, and a host of other non related things that popped up right after I lost health coverage]. I told my friend ‘I’m a retired firefighter- who was told to leave that field because of real medical problems- my only real employment field- and I have paid a ton of money into these systems- and yet our rich friend- who says they are for the poor- they lobby like mad men to not even make a 50 cent change in their Medicare payment- so they can keep getting the deal of a lifetime- while the younger generation is paying out the nose to fund them’.

And to top it all off- I’m now looking at a $700- 1000 fine- yes a fine- because I don’t have health care- and because of the pre existing conditions- I will never get any [I know the public thinks Obama fixed it- he didn’t- my only option is ‘pay the fine’ they lied to you- and me]. My friend simply said ‘Oh- I never knew this’. I figured that out years ago.

We all have a tendency to see the point of view of ‘our side’ while really thinking the other side are truly demons. Yet both sides have demons- not just the ‘other’ side.

My friend then told me a funny story- which I wasn’t sure how to tell- but I’ll give it a shot. Our mutual rich friend said she had some pain in her mouth one day and she told her husband ‘can you look in my mouth- I think my gold filling fell out’. Sure enough it did- and she swallowed it!

She went to the dentist/doctor and he said ‘well- if you want- you can go through your stool over the next few days- you might find the gold filling’.

I ended our conversation with ‘hey- when you talk to so and so- say ‘yeah- John said he knows about this procedure- it’s in the Obama stimulus plan- Its one of the ways their encouraging people to go out and see if they can strike gold- because you won’t be able to increase your wealth any other way in this economy’. I hope I’m wrong- but I fear I’m not.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com