This is new for me...

This is my first blog and I make no guarantees or promises about the amount or frequencies of new posts. This is more of place for me to vent and if anyone reads it, then fine, if not...that too is ok.

Most of my topics will be on the subject of our government, politics, politicians, and how all of those need to chill out and reduce their footprint in our lives. The way I see it, the majority of our problems in this country are a result of well intended politicians trying to ease a symptom while never working towards a cure. And the Law of Unintended Consequences eventually catches up to us. If Doctors worked the same way as politicians then they'd prescribe aspirin to relieve the pain of a brain tumor and hope the tumor just goes away since there's no pain.

I believe the governments that preside over our lives - Federal, State, and Local - have been consolidating power over the past 100 years and have grown beyond their ability to manage it. And they shouldn't even be doing that....they've created generations of people that expect the government to bail them out of every bump in the road regardless of who created that bump.

The perfect example is this effort to fiddle with mortgages and bailout folks that made bad decisions in the past few years and now must pay the price. I'm one of those people. I refinanced with a variable rate a few years ago and now am paying the price for having a few years of lower payments. Do I want the government to save me?? No. I'm working on a solution whether it's selling or refinancing to a fixed rate. Is it tough on my finances until that happens....yup. Should our government set a precedent that you can risk everything because there's really no risk...we'll save you? Hell No.

Will it be tough on some families - yes. absolutely. And they have my sympathies. But they also signed a contract to generally buy a house they couldn't afford. And the chickens have come home to roost. Figure out your options. Work with your lender. And do what you need to do. You took a risk and it didn't work out. Don't take money out of my pocket to bail yourself out. You might as well come steal my property to make your next payment.

Once again though, the President and candidates are all calling for government to fiddle with symptoms and not the cause. Lets bail out everyone - throw a bunch of money around that doesn't belong to them - and maybe gain votes for us/our party.

At the same time, the government (which really isn't the government - it's a private institution called the Federal Reserve - more on this in future posts) is printing and releasing cash like there's no tomorrow - further reducing the dollar's buying power and driving up the cost of pretty much everything. For those that may not have considered this - the reason a barrel of oil is continuing to reach new highs is because the dollar is worth less. It has nothing to do with production or availability or refining capacity or demand or anything else. Our dollar is weaker therefore it takes more of them to buy stuff. It's as simple as that.

Once again - the politicians are treating a symptom and not the disease.

I guess I'll stop here for now .....but there's plenty more to come.....