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Category Archives: Government Spending
Tuesday’s Mail – Should Your Tax Dollars Subsidize Direct Mail?
I respect the right of these companies to market their products and services, I just don’t think we should subsidize it, or expend time, money and gas to deliver it. Candidly, I’d like to see less trees, energy, cost and waste that is associated with the creation and delivery of paper in general. Direct mail, now known as snail mail, is an anachronism, a phonograph type solution in an iPod age. The post office, which has been running losses of over $1.5 Billion per quarter, recently offered the following statements in their 10-Q quarterly report. Continue reading
Bank of America or Bankrupting of America?
Bob & Carol, arrived in Las Vegas a few days/weeks before being given a $160,000, zero payment down, 40 year mortgage, on a one bedroom condo, after the market had already peaked. Today their $160,000 condo would be lucky to fetch $70,000, a mere four years later. It could be a decade or two before they are above water. And because of all the speculation and fancy lending practices, some experts estimate that today, up to 80% of all Las Vegas homeowners are now underwater. Continue reading
Posted in business, Customer Service, Government Spending
Tagged ARRA, Bank of America, banks, BOA, mortgage lenders, statup business, TARP
4 Comments
Libraries Today – “Liseums” Tomorrow
As all of this printed material and video morphs to digital, why would we need these items to reside in a central location? Does the model make sense anymore? Will continued pressure on government to reduce expenses change the way we think about and use libraries? Are libraries, like the US Post Office, relics of a bygone era that need to be completely reassessed and modernized? Continue reading
Posted in business, Education, Government Spending, Virtual Business
Tagged Kindle, Skype, Virtual Business, Your Virtual Success
2 Comments
Vacant Government Buildings and Your Tax Dollars – Feds Need to Go Virtual
An ABC News Report today (presented on Yahoo) by Jon Karl highlighted the hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually to maintain empty government buildings. The report is entitled, Your Tax Dollars Pay for Vacant Buildings. Karl reported that the Veteran’s Administration alone spends $170 Million per year on vacant government buildings. A couple of examples offered by Karl included a VA hospital near Chicago which has been vacant for 15 years, but cannot be sold by the VA as they must get Congress to approve and sell. Another was Washington Federal Building #8, a prime real estate parcel that has been empty for almost decade. It’s worth $100 Million dollars and is so close to the US Capital Building it was readily seen from their reporting vantage point. Why has Building #8 been empty so long? Continue reading
