Back Room Deals

I will start off with, I am no fan of Bush. I hate the fact that we have people in IRAQ and Afghanistan. I hate the fact that the soldiers that have no choice are there dying and the private contractors are making money.

That being said this latest atrocity by the ruling Aristocracy is not good. In order to pass the ObamaCare packages they are going to tax these so called "Cadillac" plans. I am not sure what they are thinking with this. I do not have the best coverage in the world. It has in fact, just gotten worse but my plan may fall into this "Cadillac" plan coverage. I am going to get taxed 40% on an employee benefit. How the hell is that fair. I thought this plan was going to be a reform? Reform means improvement. That is not an improvement for me.

On top of this atrocity. They cut a deal with the unions saying they will not have their plans taxed. If some union clown has the same health care as I do they will not pay the 3000 dollars in taxes that I will. How is that fair! HOW!! It is a clear cut bribe to get them on the side of the health care package. As if the Unions don't get enough breaks. They are destroying the companies they work for, it is their choice.

This kind of cronyism is the worst. So far Obama has gone back on almost everything he said in his campaign. The current congress and president are destroying the country.

Still bitter.....

MD State Government

It really blows my mind. We are in the worst economic crisis in years and the governments can't curtail spending. The state legislature is in session and I heard there are at least 6 bills being proposed to raise taxes. I wish I knew who proposed those bills.


The O'Malley led government gave us the largest tax increase ever for state 2 years ago. How can they think increasing taxes now again is OK. We really need to figure out a solution to the 2 party system. I have no idea what it is. The 2 parties we have in power do not represent the people anymore. They have become a ruling class or aristocracy. They no better then the people and I just can't agree with that.


Still bitter..

Avatar

Has anyone out there seen Avatar? I saw it last week at the local theater. We did not have a choice of not 3D. Only 3D or 3D IMAX.

Starting out the tickets were 13 bucks a piece, 3 dollars extra for 3D which I didn't want. We may have started off on the wrong foot. I think movie theaters are in a dangerous place with making tickets so expensive. At 26 dollars for 2 tickets I can pass on the theater experience and just buy the Blu Ray when it comes out. I am leaning more towards that feeling every day.

After 50 bucks in tickets and concessions we were in. A big positive was we were there on a Monday and there was only about 25-35 people in the theater. This greatly reduces the chance that some jackass is going to talk on his cell phone during the movie. One did go off but the guy apologized and did not answer it.

The movie itself was ok, by far nothing ground breaking. I agree it is a retelling of the basic Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves stories. It took around an hour for my eyes to adjust to the 3D. I wear glasses so I think 2 layers of glasses was a problem. I felt like I was watching a dream sequence for the whole length of the movie.

I know there have been many reviews saying this movie is incredible. I like substance over flash. The story and the acting were largely unremarkable.

I guess I hold up hopes for Sherlock Holmes.

Courage?

I don't get it. I just don't get it. Michael Vick for the Ed Block Courage Award? What has he done? He killed many innocent animals and payed his price. Now he gets a courage award? There has to be Philly players more deserving of this award. I understand he is saying all the right things that's what he pays his publicist for. His persona today is completely manufactured. I really lose respect for the Philly players voting for him. What he did was disgraceful. Giving him a "Courage" award is disgraceful, he went to jail for a reason, a very bad one.

I now read PETA is protesting giving the award to Vick. This is the one time I agree with those wacko's.

Still bitter....

Big Screen TV

Man I am not happy. I have a 62 Toshiba projection screen tv that has been great for the last 3 years. It went up the other day. I rushed a replacement lamp for it and it is still not working. I am not sure what to do next. I am guessing the after market lamps I bought are not any good. I guess I send them back next and get a Toshiba manufactured bulb. It is hard to believe both of the bulbs I bought do not work.

In the end it was the tv blowing up the bulbs. So after 300 in bulbs and another 500 to get it fixed I have a tv again. It is still acting strange but it is working.

Bitter

Jobs Private Sector

I just saw a post on my favorite financial blog The Big Picture that for the last 10 years we have had a net loss of 203K private sector jobs. When is the government going to understand that supporting the unions and taxing businesses to death is not the way to grow commercially. If the private sector is making money that means more taxes not less. Lower taxes now and in the long run it will be better for all of us.

There was 2.1 million new government jobs created in that time-span. How are we going to pay for them if there are not private sector jobs. This is one of those things that seems so clear but Congress seems to ignore this fact. It is all so scary, at some point the government is going to have to pay it's debts.

Gran Tourino and the Oscars

I finally got around to seeing this film last night. I thought it was excellent. The sacrifice the main character makes for those kids was heartfelt. I can't understand why it did not get any Oscar nominations. You are telling me The Wrestler was a better movie or Benjamin Button? I thought Button was little more then a lesser Forrest Gump.

The Oscars have become so Politically Correct it is hard to pay attention anymore. If the movie deals with social issues it is winning. The thing that bugs me the most is they keep snubbing people because they don't want them to win all the time. Clint Eastwood should have been nominated again. Why penalize him because he does good work and does it his own way. For example, Tom Hanks should have won for Saving Private Ryan, and Cast Away but it would have been his 3rd Oscar. I think Carey Grant is the only person to have 3 best actor awards. They want to keep it that way.

I love movies and this crap makes me angry. There is no way to change it though. Like the Senate there are no term limits for Oscar voters.