Formula For Millionaires Blog

Yesterday congress came to an agreement that they would approve the 1.1 trillion dollar stimulus package put in front of them by Obama.  According to a speech Senator McCain provided on the senate floor, there are 78 Republican senators and all 78 do not approve the bill, and 11 democratic senators do not approve the bill.  Yet the majority of congress has enough democratic support to pass the bill.

Another congressman suggested that history should act as a guide to help us make such gigantic decisions in short time frames. He cited the conclusive evidence that Roosevelt’s New Deal stimulus package did not do anything to fix the depression of the 1930’s and it was actually the war that ended the economic downturn.

He also cited the recession in Japan of the 1990’ in which the government attempted to fix it by the infusion of dollars but they had no success.  By the end of the 1990’s Japan had been unable to affect the recession but had become significantly in debt trying to stimulate their economy.  The point in the congressman’s speech was that infusion of money does not alter the course of the economy and only causes us to become more in debt.

As of yesterday, polls indicate that 45% of the general public is opposed to the stimulus bill.  Much of this skepticism is based on the lack of transparency between the Feds and the general public.  “The Feds”, referring to the Federal Reserve, do not even tell congress or Obama what they do with the money.  The Feds are ruling the economy right now, and it makes Congress angry and it makes the general public angry.

Surprisingly, Because They Decided to Become One

Everyone starts out in life not knowing what is possible, until you are shown some options.Growing up we learn what is possible, we accept it and soon it becomes normal as part of our life. As a teenager soon having to face the decisions about what to do after high school, my Dad shared with me all he knew about the options the world had to offer me.

When I was 17 years old my Dad told me I had two choices.After high school I could get a job doing manual labor and if I was lucky I could work for a union for good wages. The second option I had was to get a desk job working in an office, but, if I wanted a desk job then I should go to college to get a degree.

My Dad had no preferences for me and left the decision completely up to me. He had started college in the late 1950’s but dropped out soon because he was not the student type. By chance when my Dad was 20 years old his uncle got him a job with the power company for his small rural town, where my Dad worked for the next 42 years until he retired. He worked primarily inside at a desk job but he saw that some of the union workers who worked outside on the power lines got higher wages than he. He shared with me these options pointing that both jobs had good benefits and both could offer similar wages. But, one would require more schooling.

That was the extent of the conversation my Dad had with me when I was 17 years old; except he added that if I chose to go to college I would have to figure out how to pay my way because he and my Mom did not have the money to help out with college.