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Small Business…Not the Backbone!

January 12th, 2010

Our government continually makes the statement that Small Business is the backbone of the economy. That sounds great, but in reality…small business is not! The last ones to receive any help is small business.

When the last administration allowed the country to ‘crash and burn’ knowing the economic condition was grossly coming apart, the past President never acknowledged there was a problem. In fact, he said the economy was strong in a speech in May ‘07 .

We as small business had no warning a cliff was dead ahead. So the world economic status came to a screeching halt. As most of us tried to keep our heads above water things didn’t get better. Our government bailed out Wall Street and continued to say small business was the backbone of the countries strength and did nothing to help the little guy.

Readers don’t have to agree with me, but take a trip to Detroit like I recently did and you look at the amount of real estate sitting empty. Old family businesses are closed, dealership after dealerships are vacant properties and major fast food chains have shut down in once thriving strip malls.

Someone asked me how would I define the economic devastation, I said it resembled a financial atomic bomb that ripped through the region. I had a reality check. The government ignored small business and helped Wall Street, Wall Street helped Wall Street and small business was ‘thrown under the train’ and yet Washington continues to say that small business is the backbone of America.

The point is…small business (most likely) is not on Wall Street, so we aren’t the backbone. If we had major investors, we might get some attention. But face the fact’s, we aren’t much to this country any longer. Banks won’t help, government says there is money but you have to do something according to government needs and most of us don’t service the government sector. Most small business must depend on big business, but if big business is focusing on their stockholders payouts, the little guy looses again.

Small business is in real trouble! Please be smart and don’t buy into the politician’s promises. Our “leaders” continue to tell us what we like to hear, not what they can do for us as they’ve demonstrated in the past several months. Congress has been acting like a bad marriage with unclear custody of the kids. I guess for some, it would be easier to go and work for some other company, but they’re not hiring to keep their spreadsheet looking good.

As we strive to maintain our little businesses flowing with some activity, remember who is supporting your efforts…YOU, not Washington, not your congressman, certainly not your banker…YOU!

Being a small business owner takes a special character, a mindset far beyond corporate America’s understanding. We struggle to keep food on our table, we struggle to keep our doors open, we struggle to pay our bills…small business is strength, something Wall Street and our Congressmen have forgotten.

Times will change for the better, I can only hope it is in our favor. Once it does turn around, I can promise small business will remember these days and who was there to help and who forgot about the core sector that once made this country great. This is just another part of Life’s Little Things.

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'Tis the Season of Stress

December 9th, 2009

Once again, we celebrate the holiday season and a new year. As we’re going about our business figuring out how we’ll pay for everything, one phenomenon stands out…holiday cheer! I not talking about the kind we put in a glass, but the kindness, politeness and forgiving attitude people seem to project.

Holidays are times we take a moment, stopping to reflect on family, friends and those that are no longer with us. These are times some reach deeper into their pockets and give a buck to the bell ringers. The holidays seem to lift our spirits or takes pressure off us even though nothing has really changed.

However, that spirit is very fragile. In a blink of an eye the phone could ring and a bill collector is on the other side demanding money you don’t have or the bank is calling to take your house away or the company you work for is about to chop people off their books to make the bottom line look better to their investors. Depression could set in very quickly.

The good thing…all the above is temporary, although very annoying while you’re going though it. The sun will come up tomorrow and a new day could bring positive change. Slumps are events all of us get to experience, no matter how wealthy you are, what you have or what you do for a living. I look at it as a balance from unseen forces, the stuff to keep us grounded and forcing us to look at all sides of life.

Holidays put an added stress on us, because we have a deadline to meet, a certain day that comes too fast. For those in a bind, the mind plays tricks and you feel placed in a box unable to escape. But…we eventually do! Much of the trick is to keep it these times in our thoughts and never forget the hardship experienced once you emerge from these negative situations.

My mother always told me, when it gets to you and the times are tough, go help someone else, help a mission, call a local group or your church and volunteer. Remember, you always have your talents; you’re good at whatever you do! She would say, “you’ll probably see someone with bigger problems then your’s”. Good advise from a wise woman, I wish she were still around.

The bottom line, don’t beat yourself up if this year you’re going through a rough time. Don’t stress no matter how nasty those bill collectors are. Take a deep breath and know that this is a holiday for reflecting on the good things around you. Keep up the good cheer and raise a glass (even if its just water) knowing “this too will pass”.

Have a Happy Holiday from your friends that understand about “Life’s Little Things”.

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DID THIS COUNTRY FORGET WHO’S “GOVERNMENT”?

September 29th, 2009

We the people of the United States…. Yes, the Government is an organization formed to represent “WE THE PEOPLE”. Why are they getting in the way of the people with excuses like TERRORISM, BUREAUCRACY, GREED and other cover-ups for inefficiency?

I arrived at my local airport in Burbank, California. The Bob Hope airport is small, but I think easier than going to LAX. I stood in line waiting to clear security and noticed new x-ray machines or scanners. I don’t know how much these two machines cost us the taxpayer, but you can bet it was a chunk.

As I approached I was reminded to take off my sport coat and shoes…the TAS asked me to take off my belt! Wow, what’s next…our clothes? I’m all for security…. but wouldn’t you think technology would be updated with these new machines that see everything? Apparently not, if I go with just my shorts on I’d be arrested for indecent exposure. Now, I see a little more of our freedom being taken away in the name of safety.

If the two agencies during the Bush/Cheney days would have talked to each other rather than playing the ego card, maybe someone would have taken the treat to our safety more seriously. Our slick government spies could have averted one of the most devastating events on American soil in modern history. But no! Lets purchase more machines and have the American public subjected to x-ray vision of their private areas…hey; it’s in the name of safety. But the long antiquated security at airports puts people to work even though some still can’t speak English.

As a resident of California, please let me warn the country that if any politician coming from California wants to sit on a finance committee or work in an agency processing important documents related to the public DON’T LET THEM! Beware! The Golden State increase the cost of car tag fees and can’t even get processing done in 10 days if you mail it in. Yes, it takes these geniuses 4 to 6 weeks to process a car tag. Of course there is no option other than taking public transportation because your vehicle is not registered until they can get off their lazy bureaucratic butts to do a little more work or how about a computer? Oh, don’t forget the state is broke, so they don’t have the staff they once had and they can’t hammer my check in timely manner to get more money into the coffers. God forbid they handle any national issues. Governor Arnold needs to go back the movie set and citizen need to tell the government who really runs the operation…Yes. WE THE PEOPLE.

Law enforcement is getting worst. A higher percentage of mob style cops are in charge of patrolling our streets…or should I say looking for minor offenses to generate tickets, thus paying for their existence. I had my car broken into on my property in my driveway. When I discovered the bad deed I saw my car was unlocked. In my mind, I thought…what was someone doing on my property anyway. I called the Burbank police department on the regular line and told the officer who answered. His comment was “don’t leave your doors unlocked”. I was expecting a kinder comment like “let me take the information and pass it on to that department”. Instead, he lectures me on my failure to lock the doors! Forget about the part that my glove compartment was ripped apart and some invaded my property without permission.

What has become of our protection and wellbeing? We live in a society that preaches protection and responsible government and all we get are x-ray machines that cost billions and do less, a government bureaucracy that can’t even process car tags in a fare amount of time and protection that has become a profit center. Our representative in Washington DC are having a “food fight” while the states are reporting record unemployment and severe economic stress.

Shame on these states, Shame on the bureaucracy that pitches a better way while we all suffer, Shame on the police for not protecting the citizens they rape via tax money and profiteering with the plea that they need more police to save our citizens, Shame on credit card companies that bombarded us with 15 offers a day to borrow money, Shame on the indigent Congressman who belittled the President of the United States and Shame on the jerk that broke into my car.

Wake up good citizens of America, we are being over taken by our own local and state government rookies and we buy into it. Since the economy took a dump, it has opened my eyes to what is really around us…and the sight is more depressing than bankers who received taxpayer money for their bad deeds and endorsed new lending rules. Where has our morality and respect gone? Maybe, Shame on us for allowing these bullies to take control or Shame on us for not standing up to the carefully drafted words of our forefathers…WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES!

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Health Care Scams…Little Things Do Count

July 22nd, 2009

For years we’ve felt escalating health costs. 57% of American’s pay monthly payments to insurance companies with hope, should something serious happen insurance would protect them.

The horror remains, confusing contracts and legal meanings put in a paragraph buried deep in paperwork often shattered the security we’d hope for when purchasing a health plan. Its only human to get sick and profit minded investments prey on that concept. A statistic released claimed heart surgeons make on average, $665,000.00 annually with a newer general family doctor bringing in $165,000.00 per year. Both aren’t bad livings considering they’ve paid or borrowed a good amount for their education.

Like most of us, we want to make as much money as we need. All are threatened by these costs without much control. Let’s create an example: Something happens to you, 911 is called, that cost at least $350.00 for EMS team, if fire equipment arrives (which I never understood) it costs you more…before getting to the hospital we’ve racked up $ 1,200.00. Now we’re admitted into a hospital emergency unit, cost is really being racked up…add another $5,000.00 to the bill. As doctors begin to figure out your problem, they send you for an MRI, CT, x-rays and the bill keeps mounting. You seem OK, but they want to “observe” you for 24 hours at a room rate of $800.00 per night! You get out of the hospital 30 hours later and your bill is easily $25,000.00 or more. I know what you’re thinking…you can’t put a price on life! True, you know that and the medical industry clearly preys on that concept…and out come the fangs. Hospitals are so worried you may sue them, they put you through everything on your dime. Maybe, Universities should put out better doctors.

I first thought maybe I’m being unfair, so I went beyond the obvious. I took a closer look at the little things and was shocked to find out the inflation rate of medical supplies are outrageous. My research began while sitting in a waiting room with a fracture knee. The doctor saw me and set up an MRI to verify it indeed was a fractured. He prescribed a heavy dose of Ibuprofen and a knee brace. My bill was around $3,000.00, which was paid by my insurance minus my co-pay.

About two weeks later, I received a $129.00 invoice for the knee brace. I looked over the bill and realized my insurance was billed $750.00 and my co-pay equaled the amount reflected on the invoice. Now, aside of malpractice lawsuits, other costs of doing business a doctor pays out, things like a knee brace should be part of the deal. But in my case, the knee brace was an excessive cost. The apparatus was worth no more than my co-pay, yet, the cost was inflated 2000% which led me to understand another ridiculous charge going unnoticed in the battle against health care inflation. For a roll of tape which only 12 inches was used, I was charged $25.00. Now this is absurd and abusive.

When these little costs are adjusted to a fair market price, the bite of high profit charges could substantially reduce health care costs. Everyone says we don’t want government to get involved in business, but when the “fox watches the hen house” this is what we get. The same thing happened in the banking business, which continues to cripple the country. Of course, these thieves don’t want anyone looking over their shoulders, but get with the program you’re ‘crooks’. This sounds like Nixon all over again…”I’m Not A Crook” but when history revealed itself, he did some very shady things!

When will the American public wake up? They claim to care but allow these improprieties to continue year-after-year! Wake up, smell the roses and when they’re sour cut them off so a new one will grow. I’m not against profit, but when it’s absurd and impacts our country as a whole damaging the public, I want the government to stop the thievery. On a local scale, police will stop you if you look cross at them, but big business gets away with unthinkable actions as we sit and take it. I’m amazed that the majority of Americans are so uniformed about what is going on in our own communities, allowing these acts of bad business practices to continue. I guess, that’s just another trait of Life’s Little Things.

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Small Business…Not the Backbone!

'Tis the Season of Stress

DID THIS COUNTRY FORGET WHO’S “GOVERNMENT”?

Health Care Scams…Little Things Do Count

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