Blog for Boomers

Furloughs OK?

Some State workers note in the Sacramento Bee that they don’t have a problem with furloughs if it helps the State budget deficit.  Oh, Please!  Here is my post on the Bee regarding such attitudes:

Some State workers are OK and accept the furloughs as a needed to help with the State budget. That is political nonsense. There is no Long Term savings.

1.  I’m not OK with co-workers not being able to make their mortgage payments.
2.  I’m not OK with co-workers not being able to send their kids to day care.
3.  I’m not OK when co-workers are looking for second jobs instead of spending time with their kids and spouses.
4.  I’m not OK with small business suffering needlessly because of political nonsense.
5.  I’m not OK with the hateful State Worker VS Private Enterprise mentality that is fueled by those in power.

It is time to stop the mentality of them against us and it is time to put people back to work!!!

Politics and the Blame Game

I live in Sacramento, California.  The state of affairs is quite sad right now.  If you visit the Sacramento Bee and read some of the posts from readers on just about any topic related to the economic crisis you will become very disheartened. Why?

• Everyone is slinging mud at each other.  Right wing vs Left wing. State workers vs Private Enterprise. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• None of the people taking the time to post caused the economic crisis! They call each other names and make cruel accusations. The true culprits are still lobbying for a budget at the Capitol or playing on a beach somewhere with all the money they made from the booming housing market.
• Small business suffers as State workers spend less even though the State budget is not helped by reducing salaries of workers not paid through the general fund.
• The usual hateful people blame immigrants for the problem. This is a standard cop out when the economy struggles.  When the economy is going strong these same folks will not have a problem with immigrants doing the jobs they will not consider.

We would all be better off coming up with ideas to make sure a budget crisis like this does not hit California again. Blaming each other does not get the job done.

Waiting, waiting waiting…

For a signed budget in Sacramento. What’s going on Governor and Legislature?

NOPA Restaurant Review

Quality:  3 1/2 barks out of 4 barks

Service: 2 paws up

Price 3? bones out of 4 bones

NOPA restaurant located in the north panhandle district of  San Francisco was a terrific spot for my birthday dinner.  I put a question mark by price because I enjoyed a rare treat of someone buying my dinner!  That very special person who bought my dinner was my daughter.  This is a fun environment for adults and a fun energy permeates the entire restaurant.  I had their much acclaimed Pork chop and it was the best I have ever had.  You can access their web site by clicking HERE.

Enjoy some of my pictures from the trip.

Link to SF pictures click HERE.

Politicians Play the Public

Will President  Barack Obama end up being a great President? I hope so. I voted for him and I am rooting for him. Now is the time for real action. Bailing out Wall Street may have been necessary, but it was  the easy part.

Now for the more difficult tasks. This country is amassing huge amounts of debt that China and other nations are bankrolling. They are starting to ask themselves if it is in their best interests  to buy treasuries from a nation whose spending is so out of control. For decades other nations have depended on U.S. consumers to buy their products. As their economies pick up and their consumers have more purchasing power they do not need us like they did in the past. Which also means our treasury notes become less enticing.

President Obama and the American people need to take action. Some things we can do if we want to avoid future melt downs in our economy are:

• Consume less and save more
• Stop being the Worlds policeman and over spending on defense (defense spending is important, but my goodness not the crazy spending mode we are in)
• Americans need to pay for government services (this means everyone)
• The U.S. needs to stop being the only industrial country without a Health Budget
• Spend more on our infrastructure.  We could have done much more to create jobs by spending on projects that have been in the works, but lacked funding for years. Politics won out with a less than convincing argument that infrastructure projects would take longer to create jobs.
• Help the less fortunate! This is a true reflection of our values. We bailed out Wall Street and are not willing to make sure there is food at food banks?
• Blogs have become places of misdirected frustration. Come on! We bail out Wall Street and then spend hours on postings that declare firefighters and school teachers get paid too much?  Let the peasants take each other down the fat cats must be saying as they laugh their way to the bank.

On this 4th of July we need to examine our current values.  Do we want to be remembered decades from now as consumers who maxed out our World credit with other nations while letting our less fortunate fall through the cracks?  The World is not going to bankroll us forever.  It is time for President Obama to suggest serious changes in America.  Is he up to the challenge  or like every other politician more concerned about the next election?  I guess we are about to find out!!!

Happy 4th of July to everyone

For more information related to the U.S. economic crisis and other International Economics issues visit:

• Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics
• Bill Moyers Journal at PBS
  

Sacramento Business Hurting

I went to the dentist this morning. My dentist said she had numerous cancellations due to furloughs.

Governor and legislature how does this help small business?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Legislature

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California legislature have made this blog a popular destination.   This blogger will be spending more time covering the inaction at the Capital.  You have read much about the plight of the State worker.  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature claim to be pro business.  Small business in Sacramento is suffering even more than State workers.

Small case in point. I made my coffee at home this morning and plan to make this a more regular habit to save money after the latest addition of a furlough day. I usually make a stop at a local coffee shop on the way to work.  I kept the tip in my pocket that usually helps the kid behind the counter pay their rent and books when school is in session.

Question: How is this good for small business? Multiply this by thousands of workers taking similar actions in order to make up for pay cuts.  Are you sure Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature are pro business?