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I lived with two other people in an apartment where I could feel a breeze through outlets on outside walls to save money to start investing. I lived in a place where we had to turn all of the power off in the bedrooms to run the microwave, because the electrical work was so crappy. I rode a bicycle 9 miles to work and back every day (even in the winter) so I could invest, save money and start to make something of myself.
Stop making excuses and make the personal sacrifices necessary to start investing. There was a year long period where I didn't own a car, but did have an investment portfolio. The vast majority of people can make enough cuts to their lifestyles to save money. They simply choose not to.
You want to know why America is melting? Because Middle Class Joe took out a mortgage with 5% down on a 2,400 sqft house that he will struggle to pay every month, instead of buying a 1,500 sqft home and saving the extra money. Middle Class Joe bought a new car instead of a used car. Middle Class Joe owns an iPhone, two LCD TVs, takes two vacations every year but doesn't have $2,000 to his name.
Wall-Street is giving Middle-Class Joe exactly what he wants - luxuries and toys at the expense of stability and certainty. Middle Class Joe should be ashamed at himself for what he is doing to America.
Very good post. You have described the problem quite well.
In the "old days", people bought small houses and lived within their means. They also saved a little for a rainy day. And if you didn't have money n the bank, you didn't buy a new car or TV. Then when they lost their job, they could live awhile on savings.
Government has ruined that model by providing extended unemployment. Millions of Americans no longer have a sense of responsibility, thanks to Big Government.
Well, those numbers just don't add up .... but then again ... you seem believe that they paid MORE in taxes than they actually earned over a 5 year period? REALLY? Hows that work?
Go read their financial statements if you really want to know the truth. They didn't say they paid more in income taxes; just more in taxes.
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And ... this claim "you picked one year" thing ... how does that work? What happened that year that allowed Exxon/Mobile to pay ZERO taxes? Did the world stop using oil that year? Did Exxon Mobile stop selling oil that year? What made that year different than any other year?
All businesses are eligible for GOVERNMENT defined deductions that are designed to encourage certain behavior, just like your home loan deduction. Those deductions are designed to encourage companies to do things the government wants them to do, like buy equipment or drill more wells. So if a company takes advantage of those deductions, they can severely reduce their tax liability. Just like you can.
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Let's use some common sense here... OKAY? The big clue that your story is highly "questionable" is when a major corporation claims to have paid MORE in taxes than they actually earned for 5 years. That doesn't pass the smell test ...the common sense test ... the rational mind test ... the plausibility test ... fail fail fail fail.
What an inconceivable story to buy .... not 50% of gross to taxes ... not 80% .... noooooo ... they paid 144% of earnings in taxes? Apparently, there is no such thing as too unbelievable.
They didn't say FIT. Again, check out their financial statements. It's all available to the public.
Personally? I agree with you, however people get up in arms if gas prices increase in any way.
People also don't realize how cheap gas is! Look at the graph below. If you adjust gas prices for inflation, we don't pay any more for gas today than we did in 1918. Oil companies have enacted greater safety standards already without raising prices for you and me.
Actually ... measuring from the time I was born when gas was about .23 gal, we are paying WAY less per gallon today by comparison. Let's break it down ... back then you could get a gallon of gas for a quarter, and get 2 pennies back .... 4 gallons would cost you $1 and you'd get back almost a dime.
Now lets take that Silver Dollar that you had in your pocket in 1960 ... right now it's worth about $28 bucks (90% silver). Yesterday I got gas for $3.29 gallon. For that same Silver Dollar, I could get 8 1/2 gallons of gas today, instead of the 4 gallons back then. So gas is 1/2 price now, by that measure.
Unfortunately, this still doesn't support the point you are trying to make here ... that we are getting such a GREAT DEAL (which suggests that you think we should be paying way more). The problem with that point is that you must first ASSUME people weren't being gouged and ripped off when gas was .23 gal.
When you look at it from today's pricing structure ... and you see Exxon Mobile raking in record profits today at roughly 1/2 the price per gallon (adjusted) .... maybe gas should have been .07 per gallon or .14 per gallon back in those days instead of .23/gal? Maybe the oil companies have always been ripping off the consumer? Imagine that!
By the same token ... this seems to be the theme of backward logic I see constantly surfacing these days ... to include people who think we all need to pay more taxes .. that we just don't pay enough for anything, and should be paying more
The reality is, technology has advanced in all areas, including oil extraction, and gas prices are only a part of the overall profits oil companies rake in. Petroleum is used in countless products aside from gasoline ... and in many cases the cost of extraction for a barrel of crude oil might be $10 per barrel, while the oil companies sell it for $75 -$125 per barrel .. or 7 to 12 times the cost to produce.
In years past, gasoline prices might fluctuate a few pennies from a base point ... now we see price increases of .25 to .40 per gallon overnight. Moreover, in 2001, I purchased gas at .99 per gallon .... tell me what has tripled in price over the past 10 years (besides health care costs)? Is the average American making 3 times what they made 10 years ago? Has the inflation rate been 20 or 30 % each year for the past 10 years?
And, finally .... you and I and everyone else pays for the Trillions spent on wars for the past 10 years that provided these oil companies with their sweetheart deals in controlling other country's oil reserves. That's a cost of doing business that is underwritten by the tax payers, so that the oil companies make the profits. Socialized costs and privatized profit. That's the new name of the game.
Actually ... measuring from the time I was born when gas was about .23 gal, we are paying WAY less per gallon today by comparison. Let's break it down ... back then you could get a gallon of gas for a quarter, and get 2 pennies back .... 4 gallons would cost you $1 and you'd get back almost a dime.
Now lets take that Silver Dollar that you had in your pocket in 1960 ... right now it's worth about $28 bucks (90% silver). Yesterday I got gas for $3.29 gallon. For that same Silver Dollar, I could get 8 1/2 gallons of gas today, instead of the 4 gallons back then. So gas is 1/2 price now, by that measure.
Unfortunately, this still doesn't support the point you are trying to make here ... that we are getting such a GREAT DEAL (which suggests that you think we should be paying way more). The problem with that point is that you must first ASSUME people weren't being gouged and ripped off when gas was .23 gal.
When you look at it from today's pricing structure ... and you see Exxon Mobile raking in record profits today at roughly 1/2 the price per gallon (adjusted) .... maybe gas should have been .07 per gallon or .14 per gallon back in those days instead of .23/gal? Maybe the oil companies have always been ripping off the consumer? Imagine that!
By the same token ... this seems to be the theme of backward logic I see constantly surfacing these days ... to include people who think we all need to pay more taxes .. that we just don't pay enough for anything, and should be paying more
The reality is, technology has advanced in all areas, including oil extraction, and gas prices are only a part of the overall profits oil companies rake in. Petroleum is used in countless products aside from gasoline ... and in many cases the cost of extraction for a barrel of crude oil might be $10 per barrel, while the oil companies sell it for $75 -$125 per barrel .. or 7 to 12 times the cost to produce.
In years past, gasoline prices might fluctuate a few pennies from a base point ... now we see price increases of .25 to .40 per gallon overnight. Moreover, in 2001, I purchased gas at .99 per gallon .... tell me what has tripled in price over the past 10 years (besides health care costs)? Is the average American making 3 times what they made 10 years ago? Has the inflation rate been 20 or 30 % each year for the past 10 years?
And, finally .... you and I and everyone else pays for the Trillions spent on wars for the past 10 years that provided these oil companies with their sweetheart deals in controlling other country's oil reserves. That's a cost of doing business that is underwritten by the tax payers, so that the oil companies make the profits. Socialized costs and privatized profit. That's the new name of the game.
Yeah ... we're getting such a bang up deal
What the hell do you mean the price we 'should have'? We should pay whatever we are willing to pay for gas. What we 'should pay' is a meaningless question.
The $.99 per gallon was artificially low, compared to inflation, wage increases, and GDP growth. Gas has risen dramatically because prices have re-aligned with historical price increases. Don't be upset that gas has tripled in 10 years, be thankful that it was artificially low for so long.
Not true at all. Millions and millions of Americans are doing quite well. And some of us have actually REDUCED our fuel bill by driving less.
Earth to Roadking .... we are witnessing a global financial meltdown of epic proportions.
There is a tiny % of Americans that are doing "quite well". The MAJORITY are either doing "quite poorly" or barely managing to stay even. This would be more evident if there was not such a great "Food Stamp" program in place servicing 40+ million Americans now receiving them.
Take those 40 Million and line them up in soup kitchen lines as was the case during the great depression, and this picture you're trying to paint would fall apart at the seams.
To hell with this nonsense about stock dividends and pension plans ... by the time people become eligible for those retirement payments, that money will either be long gone or WORTHLESS due to inflation. And the powers that be understand this all too well.
It's a shame the public doesn't get it. If they did, we might have a chance to change things. But as long as we have a significant number claiming we aren't paying enough for gas and taxes, I'm afraid things can only get worse .. way worse.
And your fuel bill is not just at the gas pump. It shows up in the cost of electricity too, and EVERYONE'S electric bill has gone up. It shows in the cost of food, and that has gone up for everyone. It shows up in the costs for everything ... not just gas, because as energy costs increase for businesses .. those increases are ALWAYS passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices on EVERYTHING ... and every business uses energy.
Frankly .... you can sell your car and not drive at all .... you're still going to pay baby ... they gotch ya right by your stones. The only remedy is becoming informed and regaining rationality and common sense and recognizing when you have your pocket being picked clean.
What the hell do you mean the price we 'should have'? We should pay whatever we are willing to pay for gas. What we 'should pay' is a meaningless question.
Energy costs are not optional, discretionary spending for people, like going out to the movies That takes the "willing to pay" out of the equation. You MUST pay for that energy, unless you think it's optional to eat?
What the hell I mean is that there would be a "SHOULD COST" if not for price fixing by a monopoly that used to be ILLEGAL ... back when there was at least an illusion of legitimacy.
What will it take? $50 a gallon and starvation to get a clue?
Earth to Roadking .... we are witnessing a global financial meltdown of epic proportions.
There is a tiny % of Americans that are doing "quite well". The MAJORITY are either doing "quite poorly" or barely managing to stay even. This would be more evident if there was not such a great "Food Stamp" program in place servicing 40+ million Americans now receiving them.
Take those 40 Million and line them up in soup kitchen lines as was the case during the great depression, and this picture you're trying to paint would fall apart at the seams.
To hell with this nonsense about stock dividends and pension plans ... by the time people become eligible for those retirement payments, that money will either be long gone or WORTHLESS due to inflation. And the powers that be understand this all too well.
It's a shame the public doesn't get it. If they did, we might have a chance to change things. But as long as we have a significant number claiming we aren't paying enough for gas and taxes, I'm afraid things can only get worse .. way worse.
And your fuel bill is not just at the gas pump. It shows up in the cost of electricity too, and EVERYONE'S electric bill has gone up. It shows in the cost of food, and that has gone up for everyone. It shows up in the costs for everything ... not just gas, because as energy costs increase for businesses .. those increases are ALWAYS passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices on EVERYTHING ... and every business uses energy.
Frankly .... you can sell your car and not drive at all .... you're still going to pay baby ... they gotch ya right by your stones. The only remedy is becoming informed and regaining rationality and common sense and recognizing when you have your pocket being picked clean.
Cannot rep you again and this was a cohesive, logical and what should be for some..an eye opening post...I said should be.
Cannot rep you again and this was a cohesive, logical and what should be for some..an eye opening post...I said should be.
Thanks ... and I am not holding my breath
Apparently, George Orwell was an optimist. Even he couldn't envision a scenario that might convince a society to actually insist on paying more for things like taxes and fuel and food, else he would have included that little twist in the book.
Poor Exxon-Mobile ... only 45 Billion in profit. Let's take up a collection for them.
Sometimes I wonder if those Georgia Guide Stones aren't making a rational point after all.
Your post is indicative of the problem with you on the right. You cannot even man up and acknowledge the mess bush and his policies created. History will not be kind to bush.
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Originally Posted by momonkey
Bush did something to harm the economy?
Please feel free to list the actions of Bush which caused our economic decline...
As for your 80% who cannot pay their fuel bills, why should the well paid professional couple who spent their fun years in grad school so they could become well paid professionals and who put off having kids so they could build their wealth be punished for their industry and sacrifice?
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