Please Make the Pain Go Away!!!

Yesterday I stopped at the gas station to fill up my truck.  Yes, unfortunately I own a full-size truck that does NOT get the greatest gas mileage.  However, anything smaller would not do.  Anyway, I dropped about $87.00 into my tank and just shook my head.  I am starting to wonder when I will reach the point of not being able to drive anywhere anymore.

I would like to pose a question.  Should the government step in and regulate the price of gas?  I have a difficult time with oil companies having annual profits of about $30 BILLION as I am paying about $3.80/gal now.  That is about 60 cents more than I paid in February and over a dollar more than I paid before Christmas.   Notice I said "profits"?  That is after payroll, exploration, maintenance, etc.  That is PROFIT!!  I personally think that the oil companies are price fixing.  There is plenty of supply right now and the demand has not increased.  What is going to happen in the summertime?

I would like the government to step in and tell those companies the price will not be over $3.00...period.  I can understand a company being profitable, but tens of billions is ridiculous.  I can't even believe I would be happy with $3!!!  But see, that is what the oil companies want.  Once they have us over a certain threshold, the price will not drop below that.  I will bet that we will never see gas below $3.50 ever again.

If You Eat, You Qualify!!

I am proud to announce that St. Josephs Catholic Church in Hampton, VA has just been granted permission to become a host site for Angel Food Ministries.  We are hoping to get this ministry up and running within the next two months.

I have been using this ministry to supplement my groceries each month for about the past year.  I can honestly say that it has put a huge dent in my bill.  One of the menus was compared with shopping for the same items at Walmart.  The $41 Angel Food Box cost over $91!!  That is a huge savings.

If you have never tried this ministry, or even heard of it, I highly encourage you to follow the link below and just check it out.  Try it...just once!  You will be happy you did.

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Can't We Just All Pay the Same?

I know this idea has been kicked around before and usually not with a lot of acceptance.  The idea is that of a flat tax.

To this day, I do not understand why we need to have different tax brackets.  Why doesn't everyone pay the same amount for the services we get from the government?  I drive on the same road the doctor drives on, most likely in a less expensive car, but the same road nonetheless.  Yet, he is expected to pay higher taxes than me?  I will draw from the same social security plan he will, but I pay less for that ability?

I liken it to me and Bill Gates going to a McDonalds and buying a Big Mac.  I go to the window and pay my $5 for the Big Mac and when Bill walks up they say, "Well, Mr. Gates, since you make so much more money than him, you need to pay $10 for your Big Mac".  Does that make any sense to you?  It sure doesn't to me.  So why do we expect the rich to pay higher taxes "because they can"?  We might as well make them pay more for everything because they can.  Let them pay $4/gallon for gas and charge me $2.

Make everyone pay the same percentage without giving tax breaks but for one exception:  charity.  However, to qualify you must donate money or items.  No deductions for church offerings, driving to your Boy Scout meeting, or for volunteer work.  We don't want to discourage charitable giving, but let's keep it realistic.

Get rid of all the tax breaks and tax shelters out there and the taxes we are supposed to be getting to pay for things will be available.  This year my taxes worked out to about 12%.  I am sure most of the rich paid less than 5% with all the tax breaks and shelters. 

I know the arguments, but let's go ahead and put the IRS and all the tax lawyers out of business.  I'm sure they can find something else to do with their knowledge of money...like help the government spend all that tax revenue that will now be coming in, instead of going out.  It will work out in the end that the rich will pay more by simple mathematics.  Let their amount go up fairly, though.  Let them pay the same amount/dollar that I do.  In the end, I end up paying more otherwise because they hide behind the credits and breaks.

Bring around a flat tax and fairness and you can fix the budget problem.

They Should All Be Fired!!!

Today I called all three of my Congressmen to ask them what they are going to do to help me pay my bills when the government shuts down on Friday but I must continue to go to work because I am in the Military.  I asked them what relief I would get from my mortgage not getting paid because Citimortgage is very unforgiving...no answer.  I asked them who was going to pay for my truck...no answer.  I asked who would fill it with gas since I can't let it sit and not go to work...again, no answer.  The last question I asked was whether or not all the Welfare checks would still go out, even though mine will not.  Again, I was given no answer.  I will bet you those welfare checks do go out, those are the people who put Obama into the White House based on empty promises.

The best response I got was from my freshman Representative who told me that a bill was being introduced to fund the Department of Defense through the fiscal year and the rest of the government through another week.  So I asked...and what if that doesn't pass?  NO ANSWER!!!!

I promised them all that if I don't get paid on the 15th and one single welfare check goes out...they won't have to wonder if they will have my vote next time around...they already should know the answer.  And the last thing I told them is that every last one of them, all 535 of them, deserved to be fired for not doing their jobs.