discussion comment
17 years ago
aww forget about it. Expecting an honest answer from a politician about how they are going to pay for expanding social programs has about as much chance as a snowball in hell.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Oh, wish to say Congrats to Obama and his fans. Another primary won. I may not agree with him on all the issues but he seems like an agreeable candidate as far as his personality is concerned. Now we'll see how good he does in the rest of the country.
and if I was sitting in a bar talking to Bill Clinton, I would ask him how he and Hillary plan to pay for universal health care coverage. and I would ask him if I was already covered at work with insurance, would I be required to pay more? Might not get an honest answer but was wondering what the response would be. I'm also wondering if the candidates would fix social security by raising taxes. I did hear Hillary say she wanted to fix a lot of things. This just means the government and/or new president thinks it's ok to take even more of our money away now so that they can give us a little something back when we're old and gray. If someone says they want to fix things, I want to know the details of how they plan on fixing things. That will tell me whether they deserve my vote or not.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I believe no matter who wins, we'll all be screwed.
As far as not wanting to pay more taxes, we wouldn't need to if the government would cut spending instead of increasing it for unnecessary things. I think many of us do that (or at least I do). If I want something and don't have the money for it, I don't increase my spending and get it anyway, I cut back somewhere else. I just remembered many people don't act that way in this country, they are just used to spending more and more and go into debt.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Pretty much what I thought. Was just trying to think of some different topics the other day. It generally seems like a bad idea to let an unknown possibly not honest person into your home. I remember a story where someone I knew of had some "friends" or so he thought. It turned out one of his "friends" slipped back into his house at night and took a number of things from him. The police actually caught the guy. It's best to know your friends a bit better than that and not to place too much trust in anyone you just met or only know from clubs.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Pretty much what I did was nothing except let her talk. I didn't ask her what she had been spending her money on to get in that situation or ask any other questions about it.
discussion comment
17 years ago
It's sad that we've gotten so far away from what the founding fathers believed in, that is low taxation and a small government. I thought there was once a Tea party or something about that in Boston a long time ago. Things have changed when the top candidates for President want to increase our taxes. You know they do when they want to expand social programs because just increasing the national debt isn't going to work to pay for those programs.
I don't mind getting money from the government, however if they just let me keep more of my money to start with, I would have more to spend.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I remember another dancer seemed slightly intoxicated to me. She asked about doing a dance. It was summertime and I was wearing shorts and agreed to a table dance. Before she started, she looked at me as if she had something in mind and seemed to be acting frisky. Instead of starting a normal dance, she put both her hands on my legs and started sliding her hands up towards my shorts, back and forth going up a little higher each time. Then her hands slipped a little but not too far. I think she even got down on her knees between my legs. However she didn't go any farther. It was a table dance and the bouncers were watching. If she could have given me a message with the look in her eyes, it was one that I would enjoy getting alone her.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I remember going to a party at a strip club. One dancer who I hadn't seen in a long time apparently had a lot to drink. She was determined to give me a dance even though the place was packed. She talked me into going to a back room where they never reduce the prices but she did for me. Then when we're walking back towards the room she says to me "I'm married, but my husband is ok with me working here." Then as soon as we have a little bit of privacy, she says "I normally don't let very many guys do this" Then she grabs my hands and puts them up on her tits and starts the lap dance. I'm thinking, I like drunk girls.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Just thinking what if you ask "wanna fuck?" and she says, "oh yes, where do you want to do it at?"
I know I'm not going to ask any fuglies that question.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I guess this tax rebate is going to reduce my refund I get in 2009 for the year 2008. Then I'll probably have to pay state taxes on it too as income. I expect to get a much smaller refund back in 2009 after reading more details. I think the stimulus plan sucks a little bit. I thought I initially heard no strings attached. No free lunch I guess. I could have gotten that money faster by just adjusting my withholding but now I don't think I will or I might owe money. Guess I'll need to save more money to account for the uncertainty the federal government has added to my life.
If the federal government really wanted Americans to increase savings, they could set up an alternate to the Roth IRA and let you save money that was tax deductible without income limits and let you withdraw the original funds without any extra penalties if you decided you needed them for whatever reason. Then, they could let your earnings in that account grow tax free with your only tax penalty being the tax owed on the original contributions. If you already paid tax on the money, you get a refund when you file, payable later when you withdraw the original contributions. I doubt this will ever happen, the federal government trying to increase the savings of Americans, haha.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I guess if I end up staying home more often, I just hope my favorites keep working so strip clubs won't suck big time whenever I do decide to go visit. I'll be less inclined to visit strip clubs if the girls don't look any better than the average girl working at Wal-mart or even look worse than the average girl you see on the street. Actually I've already seen that in a few instances. All I thought was eewww, gross, how did she get a job working as a stripper? Yuck. She's ugly and very very fat. She only worked there for a few weeks but that seemed like too long.
discussion comment
17 years ago
This sounds like a conspiracy associated with some powerful groups here in the US but I find it odd that I read a few years ago about plans for the future. The article I read said Hillary would be president because the powers that be decided that already. I guess a few people are concerned about electronically fixing results.
discussion comment
17 years ago
The only reason I said was that maybe Hillary can fix the above was because it appears Hillary is ahead in the polls in this country. If the majority of people in this country feel that way and go vote for her, I wouldn't be surprised if she was elected president. I just hope I don't pay for that result too much. Making us pay extra in payroll taxes (the companies you work for will just reduce your take home pay) to pay for higher social security taxes or just increasing the rate, will be a big tax bite for everyone. Maybe she'll be more inclined to help our economy grow to increase tax revenue and get us out of this mess we're in. Maybe she'll help businesses here be more competitive with companies overseas instead of encouraging them to move overseas. I guess I can only hope and go vote for whomever I think will do the best job. Good luck everyone with whomever wins.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Used to think at one time that I had strange luck. Just found out today that Edwards was at the same college. He brought along "Cooter" from the Dukes of Hazard tv show and a few other people. I also found out the local college has the highest percentage of registered voters for any college in the nation. Now that seems impressive especially for a college here in South Carolina. I guess the people here actually care.
What I don't like or am very concerned about the democrats and Hillary in particular is her desire to have the government take care of what seems to be all our needs and turn this country to a more soviet style communist country where we just pay everything to the motherland and the government gives us what we need. I believe in free markets not in regulating everything to death. The web site I used above was one that I found to help describe how American companies are unfairly taxed compared to companies in foreign countries. That's the way it is. Our jobs have been leaving this country and that is one of the reasons. I do believe Hillary is not stupid and maybe she can fix that. However I don't want to solve or pay for all of her fixes by being taxed to death. I think I already pay enough taxes. I don't want to pay more tax to pay for more health care. I don't want to pay for more tax to pay for extra programs she wants. I don't want to pay more tax to protect ourselves. I want that extra money I make to enjoy strip clubs or whatever other hobby I enjoy. If she says she wants to fix Social Security, I don't want to pay extra taxes to save a fund that doesn't really even exist. I don't believe in a communist style of government.
That said, I'm not really happy so far with any of the candidates. I'm starting to think I would have liked to hear what Ron Paul had to say about less government, but he is already out of the race I believe.
Lol, my initial impression about Edwards appearing here with "Cooter", some bluegrass singers, etc. and him wearing bluejeans, he must think we're a bunch of hillbillies and he's trying to get out the hillbilly vote. Just my initial impression. I wouldn't be surprised if almost half the population of South Carolina now consisted of transplanted people from around the rest of the country. There is a large growing community of international students and people living here now as well. In fact some British folks just recently opened up a one of a kind restaurant (for the US) down the road from me serving English food, cooked and made the English way. I read the British residents were coming out of the wood work to go eat there. Edwards isn't going to win but he might help Hillary to lose in South Carolina taking away some votes she might have received. (just my opinion).
discussion comment
17 years ago
By the way Obama should win the Democratic primary in South Carolina I believe. I think I saw where he was way ahead in the polls in South Carolina. In fact, word is getting around that Hillary decided to go campaign in other states. I see how much she really cares about the ordinary American. I have to hand it to the Clintons though, they are fantastic actors. They can look all emotional one moment and have a complete change of attitude when they think the camera is not on them. Hillary tried an emotional outburst by almost crying in another state and I heard it gained her votes. Some people are so easily fooled. I guess it's been working for her so far. To me, it makes it seem like she can't handle the job but I know she was putting on an act for those gullible enough to fall for it. I think she gave up on SC and went elsewhere. What is really sneaky though is attacking Obama in effect throwing mud, and then claiming he gave her dirty hands. If her husband can sneak interns into the White house behind her back and get BJ's in office, she must be just as clever and sneaky.
I figure the majority of Americans are going to make Bush pay for lying to them about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction and the economy not doing so great and a number of other things.
What will be nice is having a president that can give a decent non rehearsed conversation without sounding like he/she is not that bright. No offense intended but some past video clips of our current president don't look good.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I remember hearing someone joke, "I hope you like rice!" The Chinese are coming. I didn't really think it was that funny because I don't like rice. However for now, they seem to be helping our economy with low priced goods. If you bought almost anything at Wal-mart other than food, you're probably buying products made in China. I heard it's very difficult not to buy Chinese made products now for certain products. I read 10 percent of all the US imports from China go to Wal-mart here in the US.
Well I did read the other day, if one of China's best customers stops buying (the US), their economy and stock market should take a major hit. I think they just thought the Chinese stock market is in a bubble with super high PE ratios kind of like internet stocks long ago.
discussion comment
17 years ago
The 95 percent of the investing public who aren't that interested and don't read that much about investing are better off buying and holding in my opinion though. As long as they are buying and holding good investments with diversification. As they get closer to retirement, they should be moving a majority of their funds to more conservative funds if they're going to need them for retirement. So there you have it, I agree that 95 percent of the investing public is better off just buying and holding.
If you don't have time to read all that or just want something to follow, I believe motleyfools stock advisor or motleyfools hidden gems have had a good return long term along with theoxfordclub and a few others. I thought about subscribing to those but haven't yet.
discussion comment
17 years ago
What I would really like is if I could move my money currently in my 401K at work into a brokerage account and get a much higher rate of return rather than keep it locked into one of about 5 differnt accounts with severe time restrictions on how often you can move the money around. Since that one is so limited, I'm only moving that money around for longer term monthly trends. I moved almost all of it to money market in December accurately seeing the bear market we're in now. Then I plan on moving it all back to stock in May when I believe we'll hit a bottom in the Dow. That's my bet at least. If the market moves down 20 percent from Jan to May, I get in at the bottom and then it goes back up to break even, I will have a 20 percent gain versus someone who bought and held. I will then listen to those who say it's better to buy and hold but know I just made a 20 percent gain that they didn't. That's my plans at least.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Well Book Guy and any others, if you just want to buy and hold and beat the majority of other investors on a long term basis. I would try a temporary free subscription to The Hulbert Financial Digest and find a newsletter service appropriate for your investing style. If you don't cancel your free subscription, I believe the cost is only 59 per year for email newsletters or 69 for print. Then you can read and/or subscribe to the top performing newsletters. Motley Fool has some good performing newsletters as well but their style is to buy and hold. They are educational and I enjoy reading some of their articles. One of the editors on Marketwatch.com I believe mentions articles or newsletters or how they rank according to the Hulbert Financial Digest - a source for evaluating the hundreds of newsletter services out there. According to the digest, over 80 percent don't beat the 12 percent average return of the Wilshire 5000 index on a long term basis. I wish I had known this information many years ago but I'm learning now.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I believe those who want to punish American corporations who incorporated overseas but still maintain a majority of their factories and operations here in the US have it all wrong. US companies are at a big disadvantage if they choose to stay here in the US compared to overseas companies. Many companies have moved overseas already. Politicians should be fixing this problem keeping jobs here instead of looking for ways to punish the companies that are still here. I happen to work for one that is still here so I am more aware of the situation than a majority of Americans I believe. To keep jobs here and make US companies more competitive with foreign companies, tax reform is needed along these lines here.
Excerpt below taken from http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/BG1691.cfm
Making American-Based Companies More Competitive
Fundamental Reform. Policymakers should junk America's worldwide tax on corporate income and shift to territorial taxation. Such a step would be poetic justice. The EU filed the WTO cases against America in hopes of forcing lawmakers to increase the tax burden on U.S. companies. If lawmakers instead use the WTO rulings as an impetus to improve the tax code, American companies will become more effective competitors in the world economy, and the EU will regret its attack on U.S. fiscal sovereignty.
Basically a company operating out of say like Ireland or most other foreign countries have a lower tax rate. The company located in the foreign country may pay only a 12 percent tax rate for all of their global operations. Now a US company is forced due to our tax code to pay the US corporate tax rate for all income generated around the world. Therefore, if a US company is trying to sell for instance an expensive product costing 10,000 in Ireland, the Ireland company can undercut the US company since the US company will have to pay possibly a 35 percent tax rate compared to the company selling a similiar product in Ireland. I believe the same company may get a tax break on products sold here as well but I'm not an expert on the tax situation.
The US company is doing the right thing keeping operations here but selling overseas is something global companies do. Now if the US company really wanted to be more competitive and started from scratch, they wouldn't build factories at all here in the US. That's one reason why jobs have been leaving the US and here the Democrats sound like they want to punish the US companies that legally reincorporated to try to be on a fairer tax basis with foreign competitors. It's not fair to punish US companies. Punish the foreign companies. They don't necessarily employ 10's of thousands of US workers right here in the US.
I thought I heard 55 percent of American familes own mutual funds, 401k's or some stock. It just doesn't make sense to hurt ourselves when we need to keep jobs here and let our companies compete with foreign competitors.
discussion comment
17 years ago
If the last election is any indication, you're going to have at least half the population voting for change. I just hope it's not a change for the worse. Now that more troops seemed like the correct answer to stabalize regions in war, I just hope no one in office thinks we need a lot more and enact the draft. A draft increases the chances of war. It makes war cheaper. It confiscates the labor of all the young people involved and makes them do something they don't necessarily want to do. I guess I don't trust people in office or people running who say they want to fix everything or claim they want to help people. I'm thinking, yeah help themselves is what they'll do. Make government a lot bigger so we have no choices anymore. Pay all your money to the government. Who wants the government to provide everything, your home, your job, your food, your health care? Then all your money will also go to the government. Then the government will tell you that you don't need anything else and occasionally cut back services to save money, claiming budget problems. ahh sorry for the rant. Felt good to me though.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Good one shadowcat. I'll have to try to remember that one. I won't try it in unfamiliar clubs though. Some dancers might agree when I was just joking.
Misterguy sounds like he ran into the same girl I did sometime in the last few years. I had the same conversation. Except that she kept on working on me until I agreed to get some dances. She was a ROB. Made me pay for multiple dances in advance, put in on the sofa. Then she secretly grabbed the money off the sofa, after one or 2 songs, said the bouncer needed to see her for a minute. She was gone. I agree never pay for more than 2 songs in advance or just show her that you have the money.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I only looked at 2 or 3 so I didn't notice tonight.
discussion comment
17 years ago
I think most people are relying upon the expertise of market experts to know what to buy and hold. The market experts are timing the market or making predictions about future prices every time they issue buy, hold, or sell recommendations. Most of these experts or in the case of financial newsletters aren't even beating the 12 percent average return per year of the Wilshire 5000 index. I may have gotten in the wrong profession. This stuff interests me a lot more than my current job. I'll just study it in my spare time and see if I get good at it.
discussion comment
17 years ago
Maybe I just want to prove one web site and theory is right or wrong. So far it seems more right than wrong. I remember when no one believed the theory that dinosaurs were killed off by an asteroid impact. It would probably be easier to convince myself one way or the other by subscribing to the service but I don't want to fork over 125 a month unless I become more convinced it really does work.
The other day I surfed upon a service that had like 29 parameters it searched for in stocks that would often generate over 100 percent returns in a single year. The service cost was about 5000 a year. You have to be rich to be able to afford that price.