Like many Americans, the scary economy has caused me to pause a bit before I spend. As someone who is mostly retired, I think long term (relatively speaking of course). My income is fixed and given my property taxes just went up by 50%; I cannot help but wonder what lies ahead for other increases in my expenses. I take no comfort in the fact that the greatest risk for retirees is longevity, not money woes or is that the same thing. Frankly, I find it curious to consider longevity a bad thing. I say bring it on.
As many Americans and I try to trim spending and boost savings, I ask myself are we making any progress. Does it really do any good if we save while the folks in Washington spend what amounts to our money like sand through a kid’s beach sifter? Isn’t it all coming from the same pot in the final analysis? You bet your bippy it is. Someday all the saving we are doing will go out the window in higher taxes and higher inflation. Someday our ability to spend even if we want to will be curtailed because what we get to keep from what we earn will leave little beyond the necessities. Welcome to a new American standard of living.
Look, I’m no economist, just an average guy who has been around for 66 years, is basically cheap and worries about the future. Sure, we are going through some rough times, some are having it rougher than others, but is the way out of this to keep propping things up or is it better to take our medicine, get it over with and move on with a few coins left in our pockets instead of the pockets of half of Asia? Hey, I’m just asking.
We’re sick, need to barf over the bowel, climb into bed for a day and sweat it off. On second thought, a more apt analogy may be that we have a whopping hangover from a ten-year binge and someone is trying to convince us that more of the same is good for us only now we are not the ones on the binge.
We fix our roads just to spend money, reform health care, but really do nothing, my savings account earned $0.22 last month and it cost me $1.50 to take $20.00 from an ATM, we pay people to buy a car from companies that are owned by the government, now we are going to pay people to caulk their homes which they bought because the government gave them $8,000 toward the down payment. The President of the United States is telling banks to loan money, but worst of all, the one person who came closest to me ever having a sports idol turns out to be a sleazebag, which on the plus side may qualify him to go into politics, who knows a governor or even president.
Please don’t put one of those damn 80 foot windmills in my backyard, I already have a headache.
Tom Jefferson and the boys who started all this must be spinning in their graves, have we ever screwed things up.
blogsurfer.us
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
When The Bush Administration came into power and decided to run a deficit financed speculative bubble economy it was meant to starve the federal government of funds over the long term. The federal government has the ability to print money and run deficts. Local governments don’t have that luxery. They were left with numerous unfunded federal mandates. And the easiest way for local governments to raise the much needed revenue is to raise property taxes and consumption taxes on alcohol and smokes. Property taxes are going to double every five years from here on out. So get used to it.
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Well if that is the case it would appear we have just seen the start of people losing their homes because I suspect there are millions of Americans who will be unable to keep up with the politicians spending sprees.
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When Capitalism collapsed at the end of Bush Administration because of Casino Gambling Wall Streeters, Big Banks and crooked Mortgage Companies. The Federal Government and the Federal Reserve came up with 5 Trillion Dollars to keep the ship known as Crony Capitalism from sinking. Bush came into power and emptied Trillions of Dollars out of the American Treasury into the pockets of his friends and supporters. The Bank Bailout was just the last theft of the American Treasury committed on his watch. Since the Wall Streeters and Big Banks own 100% of the Republicans and 50% of the Democrats, they will be the main ones to benefit
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I’d be real interested in hearing more about your claimed 50% property tax increase. Where has the property tax rate gone up 50%?
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It’s quite simple, my town reassessed all the home values. My value went up to a new level ( no, no additions, etc). However, the tax rate per thousand did not drop sufficiently to offset the supposed increase in value. The result is the total taxes go from $8,900 to over $12,000. This is a house built in 1929, no family room, no walk in closets, and a 50 x 120 foot lot.
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Where do you live? A tax increase of this magnitude in this economy would create a tax revolt anywhere I’ve ever lived. I’d be real interested in reading local press from an area where RE taxes increased 50% last year.
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