Staying Accountable to Your Goals

For all of us who need a little help with getting our goals and things we want to accomplish done this website I just discovered is terrific! www.43things.com puts you in contact with others striving towards the same goals you have. I just signed-up and my list is now going to be posted there and here on my Blog to be a constant reminder to me of what I should be doing and to encourage others to stay on-track with their own goals.

I've only posted three, but they are my biggest ones right now:

1) Help others succeed at their goals!
2) Stop procrastinating.
3) Get out of debt.

Now that I'm making myself accountable to the world, I'll occasionally post about my progress (hopefully progress, but probably sometimes lack of progress! LOL ).

So who's going to join me in this?

Marketing Lessons from Obama - Excellent Analysis

I found a blog post from Web Ink Now that is an absolute read for anyone involved in business. A brilliant analysis of President-elect Obama's campaign and in-fact a blueprint for exceptional marketing.

I took away several important points that will help me in my businesses. Clarity of purpose and my favorite one, "People don't care about products and services, instead they care about themselves and about solving their problems."

Now that is something every business should make anyone involved in marketing read every morning before starting work!

http://www.webinknow.com/2008/11/ten-marketing-lessons-from-the-barack-obama-presidential-campaign.html

Great Deals For You to Check Out Today!

Well I am happy to say one of my new websites is up and running and getting lots of attention! Check it out for some of the best deals and tips you can find on the internet! www.thisnthatgreatwebsites.com

This is the kind of stuff I love to do...find interesting information and blog about it and find great tips and deals and put them in one place for you to find easily!

My newest website is under construction and when I get it up and running I hope you'll visit. This one is going to be all about how to find out the "secrets" of your competition and use them to your advantage! For existing businesses or someone who is just doing research in order to launch a new business, this site will provide fantastic insights and information to exactly what you need to know.

I can't wait to launch it and get your feedback! Keep an eye out here on my Blog where you'll be the first to know the secrets I'm about to share!

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

A great election day "pass along" for you!

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’ Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I got’ ‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Are You Going to Vote Tomorrow?

I was truly amazed to hear from a young man today that he wasn't planning to vote tomorrow because his vote "doesn't matter" and "nothing's going to change regardless of who gets elected." I'm saddened that there are still people who feel their vote doesn't matter. I have friends who are married and one is a staunch Democrat and one a staunch Republican and they stopped voting a few years ago saying their votes canceled each other out. Doesn't everyone know by now the difference between the popular vote and the electoral college? And what about all of the other issues on the ballot?

Please, VOTE and try to convince anyone who doesn't plan on voting to go with you...every voice counts in every election. Whether you are voting for McCain or Obama the issue is bigger than that. We normally only get just over half the registered voters to cast their ballots in an election. What might change if we got almost 100% of the voters to the polls? I sure would like to find out in my lifetime.

More on Banks in the Bailout Paying Big Bonuses

I wrote a few days ago about this being on CNN and wondered why it wasn't getting more play (see October 25, 2008 post)...well finally someone in the UK is writing about it.

Here is a snippet...read the full article at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/01/royal-bank-scotland-vincent-cable

"Several US politicians have seized on an investigation by the Guardian last month which showed six Wall Street banks - Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers - had set aside $70bn ... in pay and bonuses for the first nine months of the year. (emphasis is mine)

Five are in line to benefit from a $700bn US taxpayer bail-out. The sixth, Lehman Brothers, has collapsed - though not without securing considerable bonus payouts for staff in the US.

Henry Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee, wrote to chief executives of America's nine largest banks this week asking them to hand over information about their pay and bonus plans.

In his letter Waxman cites the Guardian report and says: "Some experts have suggested that a significant percentage of [bankers' pay] could come in year-end bonuses and that the size of the bonuses will be significantly enhanced as a result of the infusion of taxpayer funds."

Staff costs at RBS's investment banking division include salaries already paid in the first six months of the year, national insurance and profit-sharing contributions as well as funds earmarked for end-of-year bonuses. The sum set aside is 20% lower than the equivalent figure for the first six months of 2007.

Banking sources privately acknowledge that the sight of these bonus accruals may provoke anger. They concede the industry's pay and bonus regime is under unprecedented strain as it fails to reflect profitability, asset writedowns or share price declines." (Emphasis is mine!)

UH, YEAH! $70 BILLION in pay and bonuses to the people that caused this financial melt-down?