I just recently went to the doctor for numbness in my hand. Thought I had carpal tunnel syndrome - NO - I have cubital tunnel syndrome, from the tunnel in the elbow instead. Yes it was a "specialist" I went to, not the average doctor.
Just got a bill today for what I owe the doctor - not too bad at $53. I paid a $40 copay at the door. THEN - I looked at the REST of the statement. I spent just over an hour with this doctor, and the bill was about $3800 dollars!!! Yep it's nice that I only had to cover $93 dollars of that - but WTF?
I figured out the numbers - if a doctor can see 5 patients a day at $3800 per hour or so given lunch hour - note time - in and out time - etc...that's $19,000 per day income. Given an average 20 day work month allowing for off time, holidays, etc...that's $380,000 per month income to an office.
Yep there's rent, there's paying the salaries of say 5 people (2 nurses for a large office, 2 office staff, and 1 dedicated to filing insurance claims). How much do you figure a doctor's office employee makes - obviously the nurses more, but office staff...how much?
I'm a business owner and I employ 22 people - OURSELVES included as owners. Our insurance premiums are HUGE because of a small group. I feel BADLY that I went to a specialist to fix my elbow problem - and I know for every dollar spent at a doctor's office, our premiums go up or down reflecting who uses the policy. Just IMAGINE when someone has to have a surgery or a catastrophic event befalls them...what that does to our premiums - and we all split the costs evenly. We as employers pay half and HALF of all dependents - it's STILL INSANE! A guy with a wife and a couple of kids is looking toward $800-$1000 per month!
I manage to draw a nice salary, I employ 22 people - NOBODY in our companies makes less than $14 per hour, and the producers make over $20 - some up toward $30 per hour. WE NEVER HAVE $380,000 PER MONTH IN GROSS INCOME!!! Between 3 companies employing 22 people and 14 of those 22 are PRODUCERS, not like ONE doctor in an office that produces alone - we're lucky to maybe have between us all even close to that kind of gross income. Health care is INSANELY EXPENSIVE! Do the math!
Large companies can employ hundreds of people. Back in my gaming days I worked for a company with 2800 employees - MY ENTIRE FAMILY was covered with lower co-pays and a premium of about $200 per month. WTF?
Our current health care system is SCREWED UP! The government is certainly no answer - they can't even read a bill before they vote on one! I'd love to hear your thoughts...give me YOUR opinions on how we can stop the madness before the Government attempts to do it for us!
It's no secret that we're sadly DOWN in our budgets for the upcoming year. HOWEVER, we CAN cut where needed and still fund many other needed functions of our county or State government. Folks NEED to remind themselves of the VAST distinction of what's WANTED versus WHAT'S NEEDED!
Our legislature in Carson City is now a majority of Liberal and spend freak individuals. Marilyn Kirkpatrick is one that allegedly mentioned that on March 5th, Washoe County MUST be represented at the table as (paraphrased) "we're coming after it". When asked just "what" they're coming after regarding higher taxes and spending...in open session in Carson City...she said..."all of it".
Our State, like our nation is NOT being represented in the best interest of WE THE PEOPLE! Allegedly, Peggy Pierce ALSO a Lib from Vegas (I can't find the alleged Sam Shad Show interview video to prove it) and also testifying before the taxation committee said that hundreds of her constituents have moved here from California and just haven't gotten the level of services they expected from the State of Nevada and NOW "THEY" are ready for tax increases!
Just me, little 'ole Conservative talking here...but how many of those "said constituents" do you think are actually the ONES PAYING into the tax bracket that are providing "said services". I moved here from Texas in 1986 off a cotton farm and with little more than minimum wage to get me here with no help! I moved away in '92 and back again in 1996 ;) I can't say ENOUGH GOOD about Nevada and how the State has performed for me!
I AM a constituent! I AM NOT ready for tax INCREASES for ANY service the State of Nevada provided me! I appreciated the discounted vaccination fees I found on 9th street for my children that ANYONE can get, and I'm appreciative of how as a single mother struggling in 1986 my Nevada "services" told me as a casino dealer "I didn't make LITTLE ENOUGH money at minimum wage + tips to GET any help"...and quite frankly when I was down on my luck I'm VERY HAPPY (truthfully) that all this "supposed" "service" from my state DIDN'T exist when I desperately needed it.
I'm now a proud Nevada business owner and employ 22 people of which 2 include myself and my husband. I'M PROUD THAT WHEN I HAD NO PLACE TO TURN... AND NO HELP WAS GIVEN...MY NEVADA STATE SERVICES TAUGHT ME HOW TO MAKE IT ON MY OWN! They wanted me to FAIL in order to DESERVE any help. Well...they gave me none and guess what? I beat their mentality and I SUCCEEDED! Screw ANYBODY that tells you they haven't "found in Nevada" the "services" they were expecting from some other state!
I've never received ANY service from ANY state, and I've lived on little or less more than one time in my life since I've been an adult. BUT the times in my life that I literally COULD NOT get to the next day...my community and my "stranger" friends DID HELP me. Communities will ALWAYS help those that cannot. Taxes will not change that.
We in Nevada need to ELIMINATE excessive governmental intervention into matters that would better be served by our VOLUNTEERISM, our faith based or intellectual based folks & citizens that would take up many of our services in a second! IF we leave the government and our general funds OUT of the equation...we'll find MORE help and BETTER control than we would or should expecting the legislature to MANDATE it!
Possible library closures or cut hours are an example. VOLUNTEERS will keep the library's open. Planned Parenthood is another good Nevada example. Since suggesting that governmental general funds shouldn't be a focus there...guess what? Over 3 million of that expense has been taken on by folks that just had Planned Parenthood as "their particular cause". Folks will FUND services...everybody's got their thing...be it the homeless, the down trodden, or WHATEVER, we donate and fund what whatever some folks care about! The government doesn't need to! FOLKS - CITIZENS - COMMUNITIES - IDEALISTS - we all have a dollar or two...WE THE PEOPLE can manage our own STATES! Government just needs to GET OUT OF THE WAY!
WRITE ALL OFFICIALS in Nevada NOW about the meeting tomorrow! Many will vote for no increases...but send the SAME MESSAGE TO ALL! Here's HOW :)
I'm truly offended as a small business owner and regular taxpayer of Nevada. I feel like someone said to me, "Malinda...you're a good girl. Now GO STAND IN THE CORNER WITH YOUR NOSE IN A CIRCLE UNTIL JUNE! You're grounded until June 30th young lady! Thank you for being a good girl."
For those businesses that pay their Sales Tax bill early or on time...we've always been given a little smidgen back as a discount or tax cut. On average, it would give back about a $30.00 rebate on a $6000.00 bill. On the other hand...if you're EVEN ONE DAY late...the penalty is about $120.00. Now...I agree that penalties should be stiff for late payers, I've been OK with that standard we have...just thankful for ANY tax cut :)
The following was in my Sales & Use Tax bill for last month.
"IMPORTANT NOTICE:The State of Nevada has enacted temporary legislation intended to address the current budget issues for the remainder of FY 2009. These measures include a reduction in the Collection Allowance authorized for taxpayers who collect and remit certain taxes in a timely manner. Taxes affected are Sales Tax, Liquor Excise Tax for Sales to Consumers, Liquor Excise Tax, Other Tobacco Products Tax and Cigarette Tax. The collection allowance for these tax types will be reduced from .5% to .25% for the period beginning on January 1, 2009 , and for the period ending on June 30, 2009."
Another prime example of punishing the good and rewarding the bad. WHY did they cut my praise for paying on time in half...but didn't increase the penalties for those who don't pay in time or at all? I just don't understand the logic of the government!
I'm going to heavily defend Rush Limbaugh here. I didn't write this post a few days ago when I should have...and for the same reasons the "others" attack him. We don't want our "perceptions" to be tarnished in the eyes that hold a majority. I'm learning at a Mach III speed that if we keep that mentality, we're gonna perish and in short fashion. Rush may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I listen...and for the great majority of the time...the man speaks some heavy truth.
Sure...some don't care for his seemingly arrogant and bullyish style...but folks...LISTEN, listen BETWEEN the lines. Rush gets off on a "me" tangent once in a while...but he NEVER pretends that YOU must actually change your lives to condone it, or accept him in those humorous moments. He quite frankly just tries to state facts, and in his humorous self indulgent moments encourages anyone that doesn't like it to change the channel!
Rush Limbaugh DID NOT wish Barack Obama to fail. He merely stated a very well known fact among we the peons, that given all these policies Obama wishes to pass - and soon - that with the passage of the new change and the new expansion of our new Obama government, we will all fail due to simple math. Therefore, Mr. Limbaugh said...if wishing Obama to succeed would mean that he condoned all the catastrophe coming from the upcoming policy, and that our nation would be burdened with impossible outs that will come from Obama's likely actions very soon...then yes...one could suppose that Obama's success would mean a devastating failure for the USA...and on that premise...he would wish he [Obama] would fail. It's a very legitimate point to make.
After I see the headline...I read the story. THEN I see the quote from my new President that promised me hope and change..."I won," he said, according to aides who were briefed on the meeting. "I will trump you on that."
The response was to the objection by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to the president's proposal to increase benefits for low-income workers who don't owe federal income taxes. MY PRESIDENT is going to pull the "I trumped you card" when our country is dying on the vine? Are you shitting me? Yeah dude...you trumped me, the next guy, the illegal alien, the single mother, and all you fought so hard for to get their vote! "Trumping US" means you SCREW THEM...do ya get that yet?
I see Republicans (strike that...the few Conservatives) trying to stop all the unbelievable crap the liberals are trying to shove down our throats, up our asses, and around our necks! It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to see our Congress is in the worst state of corruption and blatant unconstitutional action than most of us can remember in our lifetimes. And yet...Mr. Obama comes out and makes a nice speech that his drama teacher would certainly give him an A+ for...but it's all crap, lies, bullshit, and YOU are going to pay dearly for it and YOU can't get enough of it. The majority of Americans can't get past Survivor, Desperate Housewives and other sundry "reality" scenarios. You'd rather donate your hard earned money to make sure your "real" TV is in tact than you would invest in a 401K.
When Mr. Obama takes all responsible people (people that actually have a positive balance in their checking accounts) out of the picture by taxing them to the point they are forced to quit - (small business owners, long term average employees making it, college students wanting to make it, etc...), and then the rich people (the VERY rich) continue to see the stock market ISN'T rising...investors can add 2+2. Even if greedy Wall St. executives cannot...those MILLIONS of people living on somebody else's dole or credit are going to realize WTF!
The VERY WEALTHY (which most of your government officials including Obama are) have enough money that losing a million or billion here or there is but one day they have sand in their eye. THOSE people, your Republican nor Democratic government go after...they have enough money to LOBBY (hate lobbyists), DONATE, be philanthropic, and weigh their way into "protection". On the other side of that coin...THEY PAY a whole hell of a lot more of your taxes than anyone else...so yeah...they have a right to a little attitude. Why should this nation penalize someone smart enough and successful enough to make a billion dollars? That's what we all wish we could do. I'd be damn happy to pay the same percentage of tax on my Billion (if I could ever reach even $500,000) that you pay on your Thousand ANY DAY! Charge us all 10%-20%...If I make a Billion...my check might be written for $2 million, and if you make $100...you pay $20. I'd vote for that all day long and be HAPPY to write a large check.
I'M NOT HAPPY WRITING CHECKS FOR FOLKS THAT WRITE NO CHECK!!!!
Guess what flower, peace, and green folks...when those - ANYBODY - that has two more dollars than you do no longer has those two dollars...the degenerate, the dependant, the folks that lazed around not being aggressive about their futures are going to realize in short fashion what WTF really means. We will no longer have it to give to you - therefore - you'll be shit out of luck. The $20 you could have paid against my $2 million will suddenly make more sense to you! I'm pretty sure that's why Jesus burned in stone...Thou shalt not covet. Don't covet what you don't have when what someone else has is paying your bills.
I've spent my entire life so far working so hard to be able to have enough to give back. I've got to tell you something....most of the people I gave back to grabbed it up, took it, and never looked back. There are those though that reluctantly accept some help and cannot wait to give you back some and then some. Those people are the principals of Conservatism. Those people are capitalists and realize that socialism doesn't work. Those people are NOT the people that take advantage of those who love them most but bust their ass to pay a couple of dollars to a person or establishment that will never appreciate it, know it, nor think twice about it. Desperate people always turn to those closest to them for relief...yet never think it important to make those people first in line when the payback comes. How long does a liberal society think this kind of behaviour will be tolerated? At some point - - - Oh yeah... - - - it happend once, it was called the Civil War...the oxymoron of the century, but those that fought had a real beef!
The government, and big business, and small bad business along with the entitlement generation take hold of the Americans. But, they make great speeches and tell you how much more wonderful your life will be if you just drink their "ISM" juice. Whatever ism ails you...they have a medicine for it! Soon, you're addicted to the formula and never saw your death coming. For all that think bailouts and loans with no collateral are a good thing to make sure Americans (legal, illegal, or foreign) have just those "God given rights"...be VERY AFRAID!!! Those of us paying for it, and paying for all of you are running out of money too. And when we...we the conservative thinkers, and savers of money run out of ours...YOU HAVE NOTHING!
A great majority of people have never even had an IRA or a 401K besides a $10 per week donation or so. For those that do...another majority didn't until they were 30-35 years old, and even then it was $10 per week or so...minimum contributions. For those that took the plunge and put in the maximum...we've lost over 50% of our holdings in this economy. That's 50% less that we (the supposed rich - the ones in the "upper" tax brackets) have to pay in our taxes.
Guess what? "We've" all lost so much money this year...we're paying the same 50% less in taxes that we have in our investment accounts. Most of the smart heavily invested folk saw the shit hitting the fan and pulled their money after they lost about 30%... I waited too long to make a move...waited too long years ago to save, and most of the ones now totally uneducated in finance at all that were too busy attending Barack Obama great speech rallies...just left their money where it was...didn't even look at it. With the "upper class" (that's such a joke to me as I know where I stand and Obama considers me to be one of them)...being about 50% down...the tax dollars collected to give all the takers their special benefits are also down!
Obama, the RINOS, and the libs want to plunk out another $850 Billion to $1.5 Trillion to make it all better. Again, from my tax dollars and I'm already down 50%. How does that make sense to ANY OF YOU? You all KNOW YOU don't have any money to throw down to pay TARP back, or the next and the next stimulus bill. Nope...those of us that keep on trying to pay our taxes and bills on time will have to give you some more. HEAR ME PEOPLE - WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE TO GIVE EITHER!!!!
Wake up and smell the coffee! There can hardly be a person on the earth that hasn't heard the old saying "you cannot draw blood from a turnip". Well...most of us DIDN'T fall OFF a turnip truck and we have no more blood to draw. We're coming after your blood...the green kind...if you don't have it...get out and earn it like the rest of us had to in order to support your sad butts as long as we've had to already!
Remember this too...STOP taking everything totally out of context. If you are reading this thinking what a bitch I am to have the gall to speak to you that way...then YOU AREN'T the one I'm talking to. If YOU didn't do it, then YOU aren't guilty! Pay up USA...it's getting OLD! Your government cannot take care of you with an A+ in speech class! Actions speak louder than words...be very afraid...fight back! BUT...if you've been drinking the ISM juice...watch this! It was made ONLY 60 FREAKING YEARS AGO...not much has changed sadly!
I'm not one to fall for SPAM e-mail, but I got an e-mail tonight that Lord hope would be SPAM, but who knows anymore! But for ANYONE to EVEN pretend they worked for GM and send out this crap deserves my rant, and folks...the country's changing! Keep your eye on the ball!
My rant follows below (my answer)...but BELOW that is the original e-mail I supposedly received from GM, GMC, Chevrolet, whatever you wish to call them...but some media somewhere is SENDING this kind of garbage to US...WE THE PEOPLE! DON'T FALL FOR IT! If we don't STAND for SOMETHING...we'll FALL for ANYTHING!
Dear Ms. Betts: GM TALKING POINTS! ARE YOU SERIOUS? IS THIS WHERE ONE OF THE BIG THREE HAS GONE?Don't you dare send me an e-mail as a business owner suggesting that I don't know "widgets" or what the ????? If you need to say what the ????? at least have the brass ovaries (I'm assuming you are female since your "name" is Yvonne)...to come on out and say what the fuck? Same 5 keystrokes, but the REAL message!
I'm a VERY small business owner yes, but as an owner of two full service garages (both successful so far), one for big rigs and trailers and the other one for pickups...we are talking about "widgets"...the kind that haul BIG LOADS, run on either diesel or gasoline, but nonetheless provide a service to their owners to allow them to make their living, or have their fun...The doom and gloom that the media portrays to us all is NO WHERE NEAR quite true just yet.
In the great depression the folks were standing in bread lines just HOPING for a bite to eat. We just went through Black Friday, and even today on Cyber Monday...the lines are LONG, but it's LONG lines for responsible folk to SPEND their money on the INCREDIBLE SAVINGS OUT THERE from desperate companies like GMC.Preach all the GREEN you like, but your GREEN is government mandated, you (GM) for years have provided substantial campaign donations to whichever candidate is likely to win, and NOW...YOUR GOVERNMENT has taken money from others too and pushed you into the GREEN market. Your hybrids are shit, your technology is WAY BEHIND mom & pop aftermarket products, and ALL BECAUSE you guys are "so cool" and "in a union" while the rest of us out here in REAL AMERICA are just pushing along and REALLY making a living and making a difference!
Oh GEE...your GREEN vehicles can go a "whole 40 FORTY miles on a single charge?" What widget class did your designers FAIL at the community college? Most folks actually travel close to 40 miles per day going to and from work! GIVE US A BREAK! You are preaching to the WRONG choir!Models "smaller than we're used to", fuel improvements of 25% (are you freaking kidding me!)...25% is like saving $2.50 on $10.00. EVERYBODY still has $2.50. Try a hydrogen assist cell aftermarket part that will save over 50% on fuel mileage AND you get to keep your OWN CAR/TRUCK! PLUS, a 1989 Chevy (One of YOUR GM products...the HEAVY ONE...NOT GREEN ONE...now gets 27 miles per gallon after a year!) Get OVER the GREEN...
Green has become the hated color of any upstanding American! You're GREEN at GM because all the "other" subsidies you've ALREADY been given by our government MANDATED you to be. You guys don't spend money responsibly and you DON'T have great ideas! Yep, you sell good vehicles. The Chevy Duramax is one of the BEST...but hey...it's not GREEN...and you sold yourselves to the Devil, and now you are paying and NOW NOW NOW...YOU WANT ME TO PAY YOU WITH MY TAX DOLLAR BAILOUT!
I'm not picking on you, Ford & Dodge are all in the same boat...they just didn't send me the FIRST STUPID AND RUDE E-MAIL on the subject! You guys ALL could have done on your own better than your government regulated you to do...you just CHOSE NOT TO! Don't cry to me now that you HAVE TO...better stuff is out there, but you owe your soul to the government! You should have kept your soul and voted for a Conservative government that would have ENCOURAGED you rather than MANDATED you! Too bad, so sad, SUCKS to be YOU!
Did I get an "A" in that marketing class at the local community college? HELL NO! I got not only an "A" but a PHD to boot in the college or school of hard knocks! And...at THAT SCHOOL...they didn't have a pretty little class on "widgets"...they had a class on P&L's (That would be a Profit & Loss Statement for the educated that send these kinds of e-mails). That school teaches you and GRADES you on a simple rule...no A, B, C, D, or F (FAIL)...but simple math. I do thank God (which YOU by the way didn't even bother to capitalize) that I'm not a math teacher! For teachers today DON'T teach the KIND of math that mediates survival!
2+2=4 and it will always be true; 4-4=0 which will also always be true. When + = profit, life is good and business goes on...when - = ZERO, goodbye...no more money, no more company! There's NOBODY to bail US OUT! We continue to try to derive new technology that will make us independent of foreign oil, and Ms. Yvonne, it's happening all over the country. Sorry GM missed those memos. YOU GUYS have some sort of "convoluted math" that teaches "formulas" that you preach to people in hypothetic situations that make the unknowing or Ivy League educated believe that hypothetically if we do "this", then "this other" GREAT thing will happen and we'll all make millions. Sorry YOU didn't go to community college, because at least at that level they teach you that "it ain't so baby!"
"Don't believe everything you read in the local papers" YOU SAY! Don't worry Ms. Betts, Lady Yvonne...I DON'T! If I believed everything that was in the papers or on TV, I'd have stuck my head in the sand years ago or put a bullet in my own head...the same goes for the way I feel about this STUPID e-mail you sent to me!"Anyone who spends that much time giving their opinion, when the point could have been made in 2-3 sentences, has way too much free time on their hands." ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? YOU OBVIOUSLY BELIEVE IN THE SOCIALIST TENDING WAY OUR NATION IS GOING!!!
Am I to believe that one of the BIG FREAKING THREE has employees that are expected to send out these kinds of e-mails? Was this notification in ANY WAY PROFESSIONAL? NO WONDER YOU need a bail-out! You're all high! At which point I only have the opportunity to debate in 2-3 sentences, I'm screwed as one of WE THE PEOPLE! GM AND YOU WANT me to bow at 2 sentences, for then I'm a sheep just following exactly what's in the newspaper or on TV! Then, I'm no threat, and your ideas and formulas sound rational!
"Get a life and a clue"...Oh honey! If the REST of your e-mail wasn't abhorrent enough...straw broke the camel's back here! You sit at a desk and send out offensive e-mails for a living. I actually have people that work on cars/trucks/SUV's, etc. and run two companies. DON'T sit up there at GM and tell ME to get a clue. I think YOU and your BOSSES FOR SURE...SEND THIS TO THE CE-FREAKING-O (CEO) and tell his rich ass to get a clue! Get your own life and leave responsible Americans ALONE! By the way Ms. "All Up In GM Technology!" If you are hired to do this job...at least use spell check or paragraph check before you send out garble like this to dumb ass small business owners that don't have a life or a clue! Thank God that not ONLY am I NOT a math teacher...I DON'T WORK FOR GM! (NOTE: Their original e-mail was FULL of crazy errors...but when I copied & pasted it...it still has errors, it's just all ONE big paragraph...I have neither the time nor the desire to reconstruct bad work)...it's bad enough literally!
If I were you and if you have a backbone left after drawing that paycheck from GM you so love...I'd quit! I COULD NOT WORK FOR A COMPANY that required me to send out mass e-mails so offensive as this!
Signed:Truck Shop Owner
On Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 7:23 PM, wrote:
MY widget, your widget, what the????? No Malinda, you're not a math teacher(thank god)! Did you get an "A" in that marketing class at the local community college? The one where they told you all about widgets. Don't believe everything you read in the local papers.
Anyone who spends that much time giving their opinion, when the point could have been made in 2-3 sentences, has way too much free time on their hands. Get a life and a clue.
----- Forwarded by Yvonne M Betts/US/GM/GMC on 12/01/2008 10:13 PM ----- 12/01/2008 10:12 PM To Yvonne M Betts/US/GM/GMC@GM cc Subject Fw: GM Talking Points ----- ---- 11/23/2008 03:28 PM To cc Subject Fw: GM Talking Points
Product The domestic industry is oftentimes criticized for building vehicles out of step with today’s need for fuel efficiency. The facts are these: - At GM, we offer the most fuel efficient cars and trucks in 7 of the 20 Wards Automotive segments in which we compete (35%) -- more segments than any other manufacturer in 2009. - We offer 20 vehicles achieving 30 miles per gallon, or more, on the highway, more than any other manufacturer. Popular high volume models include the Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G6, and Saturn Aura. - We are the world leader in bio-fuel vehicles, with over 5 million vehicles on the road today, including over 3 million vehicles in the United States. We are committed to having over 50% of the vehicles we sell in 2012 being bio- fuel capable - We offer 6 hybrid vehicle models today, with 2 more to be introduced by year end, more models than any other manufacturer, and this number will grow to 19 over the next few years. - In 2008, GM has won 6 World Green Car titles, includi ng Green Vehicle of the Year for the Tahoe Hybrid. . . .a vehicle that gets the same city fuel economy as the base 4 cylinder Toyota Camry, but can tow 6000 lbs, and comfortably carry 8 passengers with cargo. - Over the next two years, GM will introduce 15 new models in the United States, 14 of which are fuel efficient cars and crossovers. Throughout our product line up, our new and more fuel efficient 4- and 6-cylinder engines will rapidly displace 6- and 8-cylinder engines previously preferred by our customers. Between 2007 and 2012, our 4- c ylinder-equipped vehicle volume will more than double, and fuel-saving 6-speed automatic transmissions will grow by 800%. We are clearly among the leaders in fuel efficiency, but we have more in the pipeline: - Since moving to a ‘global’ product development process in March 2005, GM has under development all-new mini, small, compact and intermediate size passenger cars, which provide fuel economy improvements of up to 25% compared to the models they replace. We also have a new class of pickups under development, somewhat smaller than what this country has grown up with, but with payload and towing capability that will cover most customers’ needs and provide up to 38% better fuel economy (with L4 gas engines). - Included in this tally is the revolutionary Chevrolet Volt, an electric vehicle providing up to 40 miles range on a single charge. . .enough to meet the daily driving needs of 70% of Americans. For those needing to go farther, a small range-extending gasoline engine kicks in to maintain the battery charge, and extends the range of the vehicle to 300 miles. Setting fuel economy aside, there are those who contend we don’t make vehicles that people want. Here are the facts: - We still sell more cars, trucks and crossovers in this, our home market, than any other manufacturer. . .despite carrying cost burdens not shared with our Japanese, Korean and German counterparts. And where the playing field is arguably more level, like the emerging markets around the globe, we are the market leader, outselling Toyota by half. - Since 2005, GM has won more than 270 awards in China, Europe, and North America - over two thirds of them right here in the United States. . . including the Saturn Aura, the Chevrolet Silverado, and the Chevrolet Malibu that were selected as Car and Truck of the Year recipients. And, just this week, the first vehicle from our new, global mid-size architectur e, the Opel Insignia, we won the European Car of the Year. - Many ask about the more fuel efficient fleet of vehicles that GM makes and sells in Europe. These vehicles are typically one class smaller than those preferred by U.S. customers, in part due to European taxes on gasoline making fuel about three times more expensive than in this country. - Apart from fuel price and vehicle size differences, Europeans also equip their vehicles with manual transmissions and diesel engines to a greater degree (85% and 60%, respectively), with customer preference for diesels oftentimes encouraged by European government incentives, and by diesel emissions standards that are less stringent in Europe than in the U.S. Productivity The domestic industry, including our union-represented partners, are sometimes viewed as uncompetitive when it comes to productivity and, in turn, our manufacturing costs. - Fact is, GM leads in manufacturing productivity in 11 of 20 vehicle North America Assembly Plant segments in which we com pete, according to the 2008 Harbour Report. - GM is the only manufacturer to have improved year-over-year overall for the entire history of the annual report (15yrs.) - Also, GM has five of the top 10 engine plants in North America (all located in the U.S.) and the #1 transmission plant (Toledo, Ohio). Safety GM has become the World Leader in Occupational Safety. Toyota's 'recordable injury' rate is more than 3 times higher and their 'lost work day' rate is more than 4 times higher than that of GM. GM's 'recordable' and 'lost work da y' r ates are less than one-third that of any other plants operated by foreign manufacturers in the US. Environment 2.60% of GM's US energy consumption comes from renewable resources (photo-voltaic, landfill gas) <0.001%> GM is aggressively eliminating landfill waste, and currently has 12 US sites that are 100% landfill free. 7 of these sites achieved this goal in 2008, and plan is to make 50% of all manufacturing operations landfill free by year-end 2010, this is along our overall goal to zero landfill. In the area of renewable energy, GM --in the US-- has 5 sites that are using landfill gas; Toyota has none. GM has the first and only LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certified automotive manufacturing plant (LDT); Toyota has none.
Since we're ALL SO TIRED of politics these days even though we're still trying to talk sense into the heads of those voting on Nov. 4th; I thought I'd relieve myself for a day and just talk about something LOCAL. I've not vocally called anyone STUPID to their faces yet, although I try to talk sense adding 2+2 WITHOUT HAVING to call someone stupid because they cannot = 4!
FIREWOOD VOUCHERS $40 was a local story. However, the concept was so STUPID I realized you just cannot get beyond trying to teach others COMMON SENSE! Here are my points...
THIS IS A PHOTO OF 1/3 CORD UNFINISHED WOOD! (one-third cord of large irregular shaped mixed wood/rounds (not split) NOTE: 1/3 is SMALLER than 1/2 ;)
THIS IS A PHOTO OF 1/2 CORD FINISHED WOOD! (NOTE: 1/2 FINISHED ISN'T much bigger than 1/3 UNFINISHED!)
THIS IS A PHOTO OF TWO CORDS SPLIT WOOD
Firewood vouchers (one-half cord of large irregular shaped mixed wood/rounds (not split)
Cost is $40 per voucher, redeemable for one-half cord
Firewood will be available for pick up between 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday (ONE DAY)
FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS!
Proceeds from the sale of the firewood, collected from tree trimming and tree removal projects over the course of the year...will benefit Parks & Recreation.
In a city of 500,000 people (county wide)...they ONLY MANAGED to clean up or remove enough wood to give 40 people 1/2 cord of trash wood? BULLSHIT!
I come from Texas. Most people wanting wood cleared will GIVE YOU any wood you want if you do the WORK! Our city could have SAVED THOUSANDS in labor dollars if they would have offered VOUCHERS for FREE WOOD to any that wanted to work for it where they needed it cleared.
NO, they paid people to do it for a YEAR, and NOW we only have enough crap wood to give 40 people at $40 each! And we're worried about who's going to be President! Perhaps we should start with who is President of Parks & Recreation! The story WAS going to end there...but when I searched for a "generic" photo of "firewood unsplit", I got these...
I Googled the long phrase: "cord of large irregular shaped mixed wood/rounds (not split)" Guess WHAT showed up? ONLY 5 photos, most of necklaces (whatever) but what really stood out, was...YEP, you guessed it...the logo of the City of Sparks..."who'd 've thunk it"
Well, I KNOW it's the exact phrase that did it...but
FOR ONCE...MY POINT EXACTLY...ASK PEOPLE WHO KNOW FIREWOOD BEFORE YOU GO TRYING TO "SELL" VOUCHERS!
Vouchers didn't work in the schools, they WON'T work in FIREWOOD! People work, SAVE our tax payer dollars and GIVE VOUCHERS to folks willing to GATHER AND CLEAN your wood piles! DUH!
To my right is a photo depicting ASTRONOMICAL! Until one of you can explain astronomical to mean anything else... I propose this: According to ANY survey you wish...there are between 6.0 billion people on earth to 6.8 billion people on earth!
Check HERE...or HERE! One nation on earth, one nation under God passed a 700 BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT BILL! If ONLY, that one little nation on earth, that one little nation under God would have just given EACH MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD a little tiny $700,000 EACH... the world's problems truly would have been solved! Anybody want to dispute that reality???? Would most EVERYBODY's debt either be solved or greatly reduced by a gift of $700,000.00? I'd be debt free and then have enough for a cheeseburger & fries! AND SO WOULD YOU!!! Ask NOT what your country can do for you...ask what your country SHOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!!! $700,000 is what they SHOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!
Knowledge is power, knowledge is freedom, knowledge makes small men grow large and self sufficient. I feel it to be my duty to share this 11 minute video with you so that you may have the proper knowledge to make an informed decision on November 4, 2008. Whether or not you watch this video to gain knowledge...it's up to you. You Decide...VOTE FOR CHANGE!
I’m certainly NOT a math teacher, but I’d like to compare TWO CENTS to 700 BILLION and RED FLAGS, may I?
Here’s my take on the “Bail-Out Bill” and its fortunate demise today.Mine will be only the 4 Billionth opinion written in the blogosphere, so if we were all paid $1 (a great raise over our $.02 cents worth), we could have solved the world’s problem for 175th the actual cost of the $700 BILLION “plan”…so folks, it’s my pleasure…skip the donate button tonight, I don’t need your dollar or your two cents :)But…just for an actual reference…keep in mind that if we ALL DID get our two cents due us… (and there were 4 Billion bloggers), that would be 80 MILLION DOLLARS…you just imagine what 80 MILLION dollars could do, and if only all bloggers got two cents…that we donated to a WORTHY CAUSE…we’d be able to spend 80 MILLION on something GOOD.Points of reference…need ‘em today…they’re IMPORTANT!
RED FLAGS…didn’t your Mamma ever teach you the concept of a RED FLAG?Or perhaps “Something Fishy in Denmark”…ever heard that one?“If it’s TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, it probably IS”…at least the dumbest of us all knows that one?This bill STANK from high heaven from the get go.You gotta’ understand Capitalism.It means if you make something cool…it costs you $1.50 to make it…you hope that you can sell it for $2.00 at least, maybe $10, and certainly NOT FOR TWO CENTS!The basics start there.
If you make a lot of crappy stuff at the cost of $1.50 and CANNOT SELL IT…and I laugh at you and TELL YOU that your widget is crappy and NOBODY will buy it…and MILLIONS (not even to billion yet) of other people TELL YOU…why would you continue to produce said crappy widget at the cost of $1.50 that is only sellable at $.02?YOU WOULDN’T!YOU COULDN’T!At the simple rate of sale of $.02 over the cost of $1.50…you would ONLY BE ABLE TO PRODUCE 75 (SEVENTY FIVE) crappy widgets before YOU WERE OUT OF MONEY!If I’m your best friend…and you come to me and say, “Hey friend…could you front me a bail-out?I’ve only got 75 widgets and I need to sell 50,000 of my crappy widgets for $.02 cents to make my $1000 house payment!Can I borrow money from you?Will you just GIVE me some?I’m only at 75 widgets and I need 50,000 EVERY MONTH!”You’d tell your own best friend to blow you!
Also…If you were in a club that had 100 members and 51 members HAD to VOTE your way to get that give-out or bail-out loan from your friends…and YOU KNEW THAT 55 OF YOUR CLUB MEMBERS thought exactly like you…WHY WOULD YOU GO TO THE 45 of your enemies to have the money you NEEDED SO DESPERATELY TO SURVIVE?YOU WOULDN’T!YOU WOULDN’T EVEN NEED TO!
If your crappy widgets cost $1.50 to make and you could only sell it for your two cents worth of eloquence or public speaking ability, it would cost your friend $75,000 to loan you enough money to make your $1000 house payment!Are you getting me here?
What if your friend went to the enemies of the club house and told them that “Trust me…when my widgets become really popular (like crappy widgets ever take an up-surge), MY WIDGETS WILL BE WORTH $3.00…NOT $.02 CENTS?WON’T THAT BE GRAND FOR YOU!For your mere $75,000 investment that will profit you ONLY $1000 TODAY…THAT BY THE WAY YOU LET ME HAVE FOR MY HOUSE PAYMENT EVERY MONTH UNTIL THE WIDGETS BECOME POPULAR…TOMORROW…(more like NEVER), you could “potentially” stand to see a profit of $75,000!YOU DOUBLED YOUR MONEY :)“Aren’t I A GOOD FRIEND to give you that opportunity?
RED FLAG FOLKS…BIG RED FLAG!We have the Democrats who COULD PUSH THIS VOTE THROUGH THE CLUB HOUSE without even having to speak to an “enemy”, and they WON’T DO IT!THEY DIDN’T DO IT, AND THEY CAN’T DO IT…BUT WE KNOW THEY WILL DO IT!
Because, while your friend in the clubhouse is screwing you up your rear…while having access to your wallet in your back pocket while he has your hands bound behind your back (and “he” tied your hands by merely mentioning the threat of doom and gloom…the Armageddon of Finance…the worst thing since the Great Depression)…the NEED for bi-partisan agreement…he ROBBED YOU.He robbed your kids, your grandkids, your Mamma and your Daddy…who already plan trips to the grocery store based on when they’ll have to fill up the car with gas at $4.00 per gallon…just a mere $1.00 more than your brilliant widget will be worth whenever the heck it becomes valuable.“He” already ROBBED YOU ONCE BEFORE…but you never noticed when you bought those widgets in the first place…and yes we ALL BOUGHT THEM!We didn’t stop them when they were creating bad finance, but now all of a sudden we must BAIL THEM OUT of bad finance?It’s a double edged sword.You’ve already paid for it once (it was secret and hidden in interest rates, fees, whossits, and whatevers…but you paid for it already), and NOW…you get to pay for it AGAIN!
OH!WAIT…I saved some “cheer for you” to attempt to swallow.Government brings a “whole new meaning to swallow” for those that get that…Your friend/enemy…remember him from the clubhouse?He is SO HAPPY that EVENTUALLY YOU’LL MAKE $75,000 on his crappy widgets that he convinces YOU…the SMART INVESTOR…RIGHT?He convinces YOU that you should take some of your profit and give it to OTHER GUYS with CRAPPY WIDGETS because Their Widgets Too are only selling for $.02 cents when they should AT LEAST be getting $1 One Dollar for them…like ACORN…they do so much for us all!They were HAPPY to see their tenants LEAVE when we let the “little people” buy houses in crack districts.They weren’t paying rent anyway…good riddance.So…for the privilege of letting low income, no rent paying, no mortgage paying derelicts becoming home owners in the burbs…OUR BRILLIANT GOVERNMENT decided to take part of your NOT REAL $75,000 you made off your friend/enemy in the clubhouse and give it BACK TO THEM so they could “improve” the torn down trashed out dumps they want to rent again to MORE FUTURE MEMBERS of the club house that think two cents isn’t much!The cycle continues…AND YOU CONTINUE TO VOTE FOR THEM!
BY THE WAY ON A REALLY GOOD NOTE…Thank You and Thank You again Congressman Dean Heller of Nevada for voting AGAINST this horrible bill that will fix NOTHING!You are a main-stay and friend of every minimum waged citizen of Nevada and you remain a mainstay for those of us fortunate enough to make a little more :)It’s my PLEASURE AND HONOR to give you my vote in November!
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP…what do you think that means?Shouldn’t GOVERNMENT run like a small business?Tonight, I want to rant about some of the things that it means from my heart…my aching heart…but my heart won’t be like the heart of the nation’s majority possibly, sadly; but from the heart of a Conservative business owner.Keep in mind here that we are talking about SMALL business owners, NOT corporate mega-giants, or even the SBA’s (Small Business Administration) definition of small business!I’m talking about the owners of your average privately owned business where you might go to spend your money.
I would think for most people the dream of owning their own business is real.I know I dreamed of it before I did it.I know that as an employee, I always had a thought that if given the chance, I “just might” be able to do as good a job, or even a better job than those that owned the places I had worked for, big or small…corporate giants, or average folks...and yet, we DID…we DO have successful businesses, at least businesses in the black :)Sometimes, be careful what you ask for :)
Business ownership is grand.It brings prestige and a sense of pride that you never thought you’d have.It brings some minute tax breaks, and it allows one to make more money than they ever did as an employee to an extent.STOP HERE.More income does not make one RICH by most people’s standards.Comfortable and free to make your own decisions about ALL the money going out is the length that the freedom of ownership gives.What one might do with that grand freedom and extra cash; and HOW one makes those decisions is the kicker…and the cause of heartache sometimes.
A true small business owner one day has an idea.They “get froggy” and “jump”.They open a new business on a skeleton budget and with a few people they convince to “jump” with them.Those “jumpers” are correctly titled as employees.At first, it’s just a couple of folks believing in your idea and your ability to make it happen.Then guess what?IT HAPPENS!You find out that you DO have the ability to successfully own a business, and you did pick a decent couple of folks to jump (in our case it was three), and the domino theory proves itself.Five short years later, you own two businesses and have 20 or so employees.
With the need for each new employee comes the realization that you are growing.More customers, more vendors, more paperwork, more responsibility.It’s like the earthquake theory…a magnitude 1 earthquake compared to a magnitude 2 earthquake is ten times.Within that parameter, lies the 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. earthquakes that finally reach a 2.0.In earthquake language, there is literally 30 TIMES THE ENERGY RELEASED just between a couple of tenths.It’s like multiple 30 times energy forces lie within a ten times equation.Crazy sounding huh? but true nonetheless.So goes it with a growing business, and so grows the unbelievable responsibilities of a business owner to make sure all survive and get PAID.
REMEMBER THIS:No matter what you are selling, working for, what you have that you think is OF GREAT WORTH, or dreaming of owning…IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE ACTUAL MONEY IN THE BANK YOU HAVEN’T made a sale, gotten paid for your hard work, owned something that you think is of worth, or finally purchased your dream item.$$$$ is all imaginary until you actually have it or GIVE IT TO THOSE YOU OWE…and in business, it’s a TWO WAY STREET!You owe it, you pay it.They owe you; they have to pay it to you in order to complete the circle.
AND, with each new employee or vendor comes families that are making money/selling a product to support.Spouses, children, grandchildren sometimes; and sometimes even elder parents.So, with each new employee or vendor, as an owner, you become responsible in fact for the livelihood of MANY other people.At 3 it’s pretty benign, but after 20, the exponentiality of it all can become overwhelming, LIKE SUPERFRAGILISTICEXPELADICIOUS!Your employees just think they number 20, when in fact the customer list and the vendor list is at around 200 EACH!Try to swallow THAT EXPONENTIALITY!That’s just the FACTUAL side of an owner’s fiduciary equation...then there is the EMOTIONAL SIDE.Believe it or not, owners do have feelings too…feelings you never see from 8-5.
As things multiply exponentially, and when the shit rolls UPHILL to the owners, (myself & my husband), the demand to perform correctly without fail is sometimes overbearing.An owner is always looking ahead.An owner is always busy like a queen or king bee making sure that all have enough tools, money, work coming in, accounts satisfied, and receivables collected enough to keep the little gears turning and the big picture always complete…complete enough to go on another day, and another, and again year after year.Those employees that get that and keep that going are INVALUABLE, and as allowed, an owner takes care of those bright minded personnel.
Worker bees don’t always see it that way.They THINK they do.Worker bees a lot of times get caught up in their own little worlds of responsibility or simple personal drama and don’t see the big picture of the whole hive.In order for an entire hive to thrive, every bee from the king/queen to the bottom baby bee has to view the hive as a team.A lot of really great and funny bees just get complacent.They don’t realize that each bee HAS TO HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY and a sense of tomorrow.They also don’t understand that a small business doesn’t run like the government or sometimes even like their own households.Worker bees above all don’t understand the wish and hope of a king/queen bee that WE could just relax and have drama.
Everybody has drama, but business owners are forced by live/die standards.Owners HAVE to keep their drama contained to a boring minimum in order for the entire hive to have a chance.Therefore, business owners just have little bursts of drama that explode from time to time usually in the kitchen at home, or in the privacy of an occasional private cell phone call, fax, or e-mail.Otherwise, they appear straight faced and a positive spirit is the call of duty...or we drink on a fair regular occasion…
WORK isn’t a party.However, if you have a good beehive with common minded bees, then work becomes a labor of love, and sweeter honey is produced, even with much laughter and good times.
Worker bees sometimes also forget that while their owners seem to be having a good time, they are always present with a finger on the pulse of the ENTIRE HIVE even if they seem to be away, or not looking…and silently have a finger on the trigger.
It’s not easy when a bee has to go away.In five years of business, we’ve been forced to shoo away a few really likable bees, and some hated flat out loser bees; but no matter the case, it was always a bee that just couldn’t see the big picture or fly their way into a smoothly operating beehive.Shooing bees is never pleasant.It’s NEVER personal, but after watching exponential results…it’s necessary.
I don’t know how our government, my lacking vendors, employees, or customers don’t see the same.One plus one will always equal two.Effort, understanding, and mental grasp are all vital to a small business, or even a mega-corporation.Adding two ones to get two is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!Lord knows if we can do it with not a college degree between the two of us, ANYONE CAN!
True losers are never surprised when they get fired.However, bees just lacking the quiet understanding of the big picture can NEVER UNDERSTAND why an owner let them go.And IT SUCKS to be the owner when that happens.It SUCKS to shoo away a bee that on a personal level you really like, but on a business level is just not “that bee”.
Today’s political correctness disease that is mandatory sometimes keeps an owner from just hauling off on someone to really point out all the bee shortcomings in a person, but DAMN…after you “suggest”, or TELL someone enough times things in normal conversation, they should just get it.If they don’t, then little bee…fly away.If you are as great a bee as you think you are, then you’ll have no problem taking over a new hive in short fashion.
I cannot grasp the abhorrent fact that our current government is like a bunch of badly guided worker bees in control of the nation’s checkbook.I look LONG and HARD before I shoo a bee.I even carry cool bees sometimes far too long before I kick them out of the beehive.HOW IS IT that our country and many of YOU operate your lives at NEGATIVE?If me, the small business owner ever gets my bank account down to ZERO, and I have no vision in place to correct ZERO TO POSITIVE within 30 FREAKING DAYS, then I’m done…and so are the 20+ families I’m responsible for, not to mention the 400 combined customers and vendors that rely on my services/payments.Therefore I DON’T!I would shut my doors before I would default any of the above!
I sure wish my government could think of ME and MINE the same way they think of the government and their policies.I wish my government got stomach cramps and actually shed TEARS every time the bank account got low enough NOT to have a month or so’s money in advance.I wish THEY could realize that if they don’t pay their bills, then it’s OVER!IALSO WISHED THAT THEY CHASED AFTER THOSE THAT OWE THEM the same way I have to chase after customers or employees that OWE ME!I also wish my worker bees understood the same.It’s only my worry for THEM THE PEOPLE that causes me to make decisions I make.I wish all my bees understood that they should think about their business owner the same way their business owner worries about them.
Although with much angst, I can FIRE, or SHOO AWAY my lacking bees…why can’t we SHOO AWAY WASHINGTON’S BAD BEES???Most of them were rich by normal standards before they went into office, who are we to think that they would have our best interest at heart in the first place?
To all my past and present bees…fly straight and with intent for business; personal, private, at work, or at home…or we will shoo you away!The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, it will always remain so in my businesses…so should it remain true with our government, or for you in your personal lives.
Hi, I'm Jane Smith and I write Transition Mom Blog to help women make the transition from full-time mom to successful entrepreneur (the reader's problem or goal). I started Transition Mom Blog in 2004 to help other women deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect. I write Transition Mom Blog to help women.
