The Comfort Principle

A good idea - spend your money where you spend your time.

I'm a Deadbeat!

From the NY Times article:

"In particular, people who pay the full balance on their cards each month – lenders call such customers “convenience users” or, more colorfully, “deadbeats,” because they do not pay interest and therefore are less profitable — may not regard that balance as “true” debt, and therefore choose not to report it. The industry, however, simply reports the total volume of outstanding loans. "

And I'm proud of it. Thirty days to use someone else's money. No fees. And even a little cash back.

Via:

ramit Look how Americans don't even realize how much they owe. http://t.co/RvKeueZB From a psychological standpoint, how would you address this?Tue, Oct 25 05:51:03 from Timely by Demandforce

The US Government Family Budget

Attributed to Dave Ramsey:

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand."

Why is this so hard to understand? No wonder the S&P downgraded the US long term debt.

Via SaysUncle

Got Yourself a Fancy Degree

Well, lah de dah. I bet you have a degree in Economics, too. Yes, ma'am, I do.

Leaky Bucket

Larry Correia (Monster Hunter) speaks the truth on the economy and left:

To say that this is because we failed to raise taxes is stupid. Think of it this way. The government is like a bucket with a leaky hole in it. Throwing extra water in the bucket doesn’t fix the problem. You need to plug the hole.

Medicare/Medicaid

Is Medicare/Medicaid welfare? That was the debate on the 940 Breakfast Club this morning. Actually, it wasn't much of a debate as a single person was arguing that it wasn't welfare. I don't have the data, but one guy was saying that the lifetime contributions of a typical person would not even cover one procedure.

Since the dollars don't seem to balance, I'm glad people don't take advantage of the system.

Link: Guess what kind of medical coverage he had?

"He wanted an ambulance to take him seven blocks to the hospital. And that's with an able-bodied girlfriend and a functional minivan parked 10 feet from his front door. He actually had to walk around his ride to get to his ride."

Oops. Nevermind.

USA INC and TN INC

If the government was a company... USA INC.

In a hole - trillions in debt.
Continuing to dig - negative cash flow.

And entitlements are the back hoe in this process to get us even deeper in dept.

"Conclusion – Publicly traded companies with similar financial trends would be pressed by
shareholders to pursue a turnaround. The good news: USA Inc.’s underlying asset base and
entrepreneurial culture are strong. The financial trends can shift toward a positive direction,
but both ‘management’ and ‘shareholders’ will need collective focus, willpower, commitment,
and sacrifice."

If this was a business, I think we'd see a change in leadership. The Tea Party has already facilitated some changes in middle management, but let's replace the CEO when his contract is up.

And closer to home... As a former business man, I would hope that Governor Haslam will take a pragmatic approach to the budget.

"“The time is right to go on a rigorous diet that consumes less and exerts more energy.”

“State government does a lot of good things. We have worked hard to try and continue funding many of those things. The reality is that there are a lot of things I would like to do, that each member of the Legislature would like to do, but that we simply cannot afford.”

Link to original USA INC PDF at Business Week.