Savvify

Is the city where your parents or grandparents live stealing your inheritance? The biggest investment we make as middle class citizens is the purchase of a home. For most of us this home is filled with loving and caring memories.

The most we can leave our children or grandchildren when we die is the home where we spent a life time. The home where our children grew up and the home where grandchildren came to visit grandma and grandpa.

Increasingly, cities across the nation are placing labor liens against the family homestead and waiting for the owners to die to collect. By the time grandma and grandpa leave this earth the home has city labor liens well in excess of its value.

Here is how it works. All cities have a building code. This code is meant to protect its citizens from shoddy builders, remodelers and slum lords as well as keeping the city well groomed and presentable.

As our citizens age they become less and less able to maintain the home they purchased 20 or 30 years ago. In addition, their income drops dramatically to the point where they are unable to pay for someone else to do the maintenance.

A senior citizen, especially one with a medical condition, can no longer mow the lawn or do most any kind of yard work. And if that same citizen’s only income is social security in the amount of $300.00 to $1,000.00 then the choice becomes one of getting the lawn mowed, buying medications, eating or paying the utilities.

Most cities will mow the lawn once the grass grows to between 6 and 12 inches. Regardless of the size of the lawn the charge will be anywhere from $300.00 to $600.00 and this does not include the back yard. The yard is not cut with care nor is it cut with a lawnmower. A large tractor with a brush hog attachment is used.

A bill is sent to the homeowner. If the homeowner is unable to pay the bill then the city will file a labor lien and carry the amount until the property sells, at which time they collect at closing, or if the owners pass away, they will put the house up for auction.

Grass mowing labor liens are not the only things the cities use to take your inheritance and generate funds for themselves. Most homes have a roof overhang called an eve, attached to the eve is the fascia board. Assuming the home is a brick home, the only thing that requires painting is this 3 ½ inch board that runs all the way around the house. It is close to impossible for a 80 year old man or woman to climb a ladder and paint this board. Yet if it is not painted the city will condemn the home as “unfit for human habitation”. Cities have numerous laws by which to steal your inheritance.

Is there a solution? Yes there are several options. 1) We could just let the cities continue to unjustly enrich themselves. 2) We could abolish the building codes or portions thereof. Or 3) We could pass new laws making it a crime for senior citizens and handicapped citizens to own real property. 4) We could make it a requirement that all property owners pass a physical and general knowledge test of home ownership.

If indeed the building codes are for the protection of all citizens then option 3 makes a lot of sense. We cannot continue to let these non-compliant citizens endanger the rest of society.

If the real object of the building code is to generate revenue for the city then of course option 1 is the proper course of action.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.

Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.

http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11

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It just keeps on happening. Residents of St Louis have been advised by a City Alderman to arm themselves. The Alderman said that the police are ineffective, outnumbered and really don’t care about the increase in crime in his ward.

The Alderman made note that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better and that criminals are going to get bolder. Not because we have more criminals but because when there are less resources some people will take what they think they need by force if necessary.

The Alderman further stated that the community has to be prepared to defend and protect what the local police can not or will not defend and protect.

Unfortunately, this is not the first city police department to be intimidated by the criminal elements. Fort Worth Texas also has a few good men in blue that are either unable or unwilling to defend and protect the citizens of this great city.

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity of meeting a lady that was besieged by break ins at her home. She would call the police and file a report and soon someone would break into her home again.

One day she was on a street not far from her home and noticed a home with a garage door open. She recognized some of her belongings that had been stolen from her home several weeks ago.

She called the police and asked for help in recovering her property. When the police arrived she was told they could not help her because they needed proof positive that the things in that garage belonged to her. No receipts, no serial number etc. meant that this lady could not recover the property that had been stolen from her.

When this person complained that her home was constantly being broken into the police told her “…we are not your personal security guard. We can’t be here watching your house 24/7”.

So this person put up burglar/security bars on her windows and doors. A week after that the bars were stolen. She called the police and they told her very plainly “Lady you need to sell your home and move from here. We can’t help you”.

Yes I agree that the boys in blue have a difficult job. Sometimes it is an impossible job. But let us be real, without law and order where would our economy be??

How much is a house worth if anyone can enter and take whatever they want? How much are you willing to pay for a nice car knowing that in less than two weeks it will be stolen or vandalized piece by piece?

How much is an investor willing to invest in rental property if the neighborhood is run by criminals? How much are we as a society willing to invest through our property taxes in our city if there are no city services?

The economic downturn has many implications. As our law enforcement is directed more and more toward revenue generating activities, safety and security have to be sacrificed.

What to do?? One Alderman in St Louis has an excellent idea, arm yourself and prepare to defend your economic rights.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.

Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.

http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11

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In Newark Ohio a fifteen year old girl has been charged with manufacturing and distributing child pornographic materials and possession of criminal tools.   The District Attorney has said enough of these underage criminals.  So the District Attorney has charged her with breaking every law related to child sex crimes. Additionally, those receiving the pornographic material will also be charged.

What did this girl do that is so bad that the District Attorney wants to destroy her life and the life of some of her close friends?  The girl took some photos of herself  in the nude and sent them to some of her friends.  That is all.  She did not sell the photos. She did not take pictures of anyone else. She only took pictures of her own body.

What about the criminal tools charge.  Well that is the cell phone. It seems that because the cell phone was used and can be used to send pornographic pictures it can now be considered a criminal tool.

Do we live in a police state or what??  This used to be something that the parents handled at home.  Charges like these were reserved for the most despicable perverts society has to offer.  Do these police and District Attorney have nothing better to do?  The community would be well served if they just took the girl along with the pictures and handed both over to the parents.

Think about your adolescent days and while trying not to blush count the times you could have been charged with some sex crime had you been caught.  Remember the terms, “necking”, “parking”, “making out”, etc.

Think about how getting charged with a sex crime could have impacted your life.  Like having to register as sex offender with your local police every time you move.  Like not being able to pass out candy at Halloween because you are a registered sex offender. Not being able to become a teacher or be around kids at all.  Like not being able to work where you want because you are branded a sex offender. Like not being able to hang out at the park or anywhere children congregate .

I am not saying that what the girl did is correct.  But I do believe that the teenage year are for exploring. The teenage years are for learning not only about the world we live in but also about ourselves.  That learning should also include learning about our sexuality.

We need laws to protect our children against perverts.  But pray tell me how charging this girl with child pornography protects my child?  Is your child safer because this girl was charged with photographing her own nude body?

The truth be told, I think your child is more in danger of the police than this fifteen year old girl.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.
Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.
http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11
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The American Stock Market, two steps forward one step back. Or at least that’s the way it was before the financial meltdown.  Now it seems to be just the opposite, one step forward and two steps back.  Just what does it really mean for the businesses traded on the stock exchange?

To the business it means nothing, absolutely nothing.  But how can this be?  I own 100 shares of XYZ Company, what do you mean it means nothing to the company?  Well yes it is true that it means nothing to the Company.

The only time a Company should care about the price of it’s shares is when it is poised to offer the shares to the public.  Once the shares have been issued they are of no consequence to the Company.  The company issues shares to raise capital.  Once the company sells the shares it has raised the capital it wanted and the shares become nothing more than evidence of ownership in that company.

Now here is where the stock market and wall street come in. If I no longer wish to own a part of XYZ Company I look for someone to buy my shares (part ownership) in that company.

Therefore, one might say that Wall Street is simply a flea market of people selling their tiny part ownerships in  companies.  If a company is doing well that means the owners will do well, if the company is not doing well then the owners (stockholders) stand to lose their investment in the business (the purchase price of the stock).

I say that because the health of the company has some bearing as to the price one is willing to pay for part ownership (stock) in a company.

So now the company has raised the capital it needed and is out of the game.  The players now become those participating in this flea market we call Wall Street.  At this flea market (Wall Street) most people investing want to buy a part ownership (stock) at a reduced (cheap) price and resell it at a much higher price (profit). Others want to sell stock they don’t yet have and replace it when the price drops (short sale).

Now here is the interesting thing.  A lot of people are saying that they are losing their shirt, that the value of the stocks they own are down.  That is not true!  If those investors would just hold on to the stock they own nothing would happen in their bank account.

Let’s look at how it works.  Suppose you own a hundred thousand dollar home.  And that home prices just dropped 20 percent.  Your home is now worth only eighty thousand dollars.  Does that mean you lost twenty thousand dollars?  NO NO.  Take a good look at your bank account.  Every thing you had is still there.  You have lost nothing UNTILL you decide to sell and someone offers and you accept the lower price.

The same is true for the stocks on Wall Street.  The value of the offers may have dipped but the ownership and the amount of shares is still the same.  If the sellers would just refuse to sell then the price of the investment would go back up.

So as is plain from the above, the fact that the stock market is down has nothing to do with the company losing money. If a company is losing money it is because of poor leadership not because Joe Six-pack sold his 100 shares to Windy the Waitress at a loss.  The loss Joe Six-pack suffered is entirely outside of the company.
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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.
Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.
http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11
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All the big executives have now lined up at the treasury department with their silver cups hoping to receive their “fair” share of the government bailout.  They came in all their splendor and glory.  Most arrived in $40,000,000.00 dollar (forty million dollars) luxury jets.

None of these applicants for government welfare have a home in foreclosure.  All of them will have a nice Thanksgiving dinner on November 27.  None of these men purchase used cars or used washers and dryers. I have yet to see one of them shop at a resale store (formally known as a “second hand store”). None have missed a paycheck to date.

All the dog and pony shows aside, they are correct in that they simply do not have sufficient cash on hand to live the life they are accustomed to living.  This is not the fault of the government. It is not the fault of the taxpayer.  For years the government has tried to give direction and advise to the “Big 3”.

We the taxpayers for years have longed for cars that get better gas mileage. But the “Big 3” insisted on producing gas guzzling cars.  Instead of designing better mileage cars they hired very expensive lobbyists to counter the measures congress asked of them.

For years they have resisted the public’s call for alternative fuels.  Their Research and Development departments ignored much of the data related to alternative fuels.  The public knows that if we can put a man on the moon, we can certainly develop fuels other than carbon based (oil).

So now after years of ignoring the public. After years of collecting big bucks. After years of mismanagement. The executives at the “Big 3” want public welfare.

Not only do they want public welfare but they have a hostage!!  The executives from the “Big 3” did not come as my Dad would say “..with hat in hand” asking for help. No. They came insisting, demanding and yes even threatening.

The threat?  “Give us money or we will put over a million (1,000,000) people out of work”. The issue is not up for discussion. This is not a request. The only issue to be discussed is how we are going to get our money.

The one thing every one seems to forget is that nature does not like vacuums.  Further more, no one is indispensable.  If the auto makers were to fail, it would create a vacuum, a void, an unfilled need.  And where there is a need, there will always be someone to fill that need.

It is true that many jobs will be lost.  It is also true that many jobs will be created.  If we have to import cars, those cars will have to be serviced. They will have to be repaired. Spare parts for the imports will have to be stocked.  A whole new way of marketing for the auto will take place.  All those new activities will generate new jobs.

Let us not be afraid of moving forward.  It is not that long ago that we had people making wooden wheels and wooden wagons and buggy whips.  That industry died out and many lost their jobs. In the process a new industry was born.

Progress insists that something be given up.  If we are to know life we must also know death.  Progress is a cycle of old and new, life and death.  Let us put the past where it belongs, in the past, in memory.  Now let us look forward to progress, to the future, to dreams fulfilled and be not afraid.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.
Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.
http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11
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Never in the history of the United States has a Presidential Candidate or a President-Elect or much less a sitting President asked everyday citizens for input in making policy.  This idea is so new and innovative that even your congressperson has yet to embrace it.  While most congresspersons reject input from the public and will go to great effort to avoid it, our President-Elect has decided to embrace it.

Fellow citizens, President-Elect Obama is asking for your input on where this great nation should be going.  Yes it is true that not all your suggestion can or will be implemented.  However, it is possible some of your ideas can be combined with others and a win-win policy can be forged.  Now is the time to make your ideas known to the President-Elect.

Please remember that the transition staff is very busy and cannot answer every e-mail received.  But we have been assured that each e-mail received will be given appropriate attention by staff.

You may share your thoughts in general, or your hopes and dreams for the future or even your election night experience.

I just wrote in to share my vision for where President-Elect Obama should lead the country, and I thought you might want to do the same:

http://www.change.gov/yourvision

Just go to the above website and share your thoughts with our President-Elect.  I did.

The elections are behind us now and it’s time to commence problem solving.  Unfortunately the failed policies of President George Bush and the Republicans are still with us and will be with us for a while yet.

The Republican economic policy of trickle down economics is based upon the thesis that by making the rich more rich they will create an economic environment that is more stable and conducive to the creation jobs and wealth.

The last eight years of trickle down economics has shown us that is not the case.  Human nature demands that we look out for number one first and that of course requires us to hoard resources.

For eight years we have let the economic gap between the haves and the haves-not widen to never before seen proportions.  Government policies have allowed the CEO’s of medium to large companies amass huge salaries and benefits while requiring more and more of the common worker‘s resources be invested back into the system.

The recent bailout is not a cure. It is not even close to treating a symptom of the crisis that is destroying our great society.  It is in fact, adding to the problem.  The bailout is a trickle down solution proposed by the Republicans.  It is designed to protect the elite status of wealthy investors.

In order to solve the financial crises we must first define the root of the problem.  The real problem is not that wealthy investors are losing money.  The problem is not the real estate market. It goes much deeper than all that.  The real problem is that the middle class can no longer support the wealthy elite with the meager resources allocated to them.

When a company starts to lose money their first action is to cut a few jobs from the bottom of the company. As the company loses more money, more jobs are cut from the common labor force.  If a company continues to lose money, whole divisions or factories are shut down.  The purpose of making the cuts from the bottom up is to preserve the incredible salaries of the executives which can sometimes reach over 100 million dollars ($100,000,000.00) a year.

Note that the bailout does not require executives to take a cut in salary.  Much to the contrary, the bailout enables the executives to continue getting an obscene salary and living the lifestyle they have become accustomed to at the expense of the taxpayers.

Further more, the bailout does not require companies to hire more employees or even to offer to lend more money.  Thus the companies take the money and create nothing of benefit for society.  Their only purpose is to maintain the status quo of the executives.

BOTTON LINE we, the common man (taxpayer), are paying over $1,000,000,000,000.00 (one trillion dollars) just to keep a few company executives happy.

THE REAL SOLUTION is to define the problem truthfully.  Re-capitalizing
banks and other financial institutions is like giving a painkiller to a man with appendicitis, eventually the appendix will burst and kill the man. Treating the symptom without treating the underlying cause is a formula for disaster.

Banks and other financial institutions are under-capitalized.  That is to say they are really short of cash.  Other large business are also feeling squeezed.  But the problem is not that they are under-capitalized.  The problem is not that consumers are lacking in confidence. The real problem is that the wealthy elite have amassed their small fortunes while creating nothing of value.  In order for trickle down economics to work the wealthy have to invest heavily in society.  That has not been the case during the eight year reign of the Republicans.

Banks and other financial institutions receive money from three sources, stockholders (investors), borrowed money, and operations (sales).  Stockholders and lenders will not offer up their money without some sort of compensation (interest and profits). That does not appear to be the problem at this point.  Operations is the activity that the institution conducts in the normal course of business.  For banks and other financial institutions it is the loaning of money to the common citizen.  When a large portion of the common citizens cannot afford to repay the loans, the institution will suffer a drop in cash flow. Further more, all other business will also suffer because the common citizen will be financially unable to purchase other goods and services.

What causes the common citizen to not make the required payments on a loan?  The vast majority of citizens pride themselves in paying their debts.  However, as the wealthy elite require more and more of the company’s cash resource there is less and less to “trickle down” to the point where many citizens end up with no job.  The average citizen will allocate his resource with the following priority: food, shelter, transportation, medical, disposable income (the extras in life).  For many of our citizens without a job, food is as far as they get in their list of priorities.

This is not an isolated never before seen problem.  The United States and indeed even the world has been through this type of problem before.  The Great Depression in the 1930’s and to a lesser extent once more during the 1970’s.

Every time the cure was to lessen the gap between the haves and the have-nots.  Through government intervention during the financial crises the middle class is partially restored and the economy tends to right itself.  It has always been the middle class that carries the social burden.  The upper elite cannot contribute because it is beneath them to do so.  The street and homeless people physically and mentally cannot carry the burden. Therefore it is the middle class that must support and sustain our fragile economic system.

In the 1930’s FDR proposed the New Deal.  With thousands out of work he proposed the formation of the WPA (works progress administration).  Anyone wanting a job could have one even if the government had to create one for him.  However the government jobs were far from welfare.  The WPA built hundreds of government building, some of which are still in use today.  The WPA created thousands of miles of highways, hundreds of bridges were built. Even artists were commissioned to create works of beauty for the federal government. The government not only gave jobs to the middle class but more importantly it grew the infrastructure of the nation. It created something of value. And in the process gave back to its citizens the self respect they so richly deserved.

The early seventies (1973-1974) also witnessed the collapse of the stock market not only here but world wide.  Our own markets lost over 45% of their value.  And at the same time the oil crises reared its ugly head.  Unemployment shot up, interest rates were beyond belief, and long lines formed at the gas stations.

Again the government intervened, not by flooding the elite with money, but by bailing out the middle class who in turn bailed out the elite and the economy as a whole.  The WPA was revised under the name of “The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA).  This program provided training and retraining for the hard core unemployed and also summer jobs for the nations youth.

History reminds us that we are a strong nation.  That we are a capable nation. And that most of the time we the people act in concert for the good of the nation.

The Republican answer to the financial crises at hand is the $1,000,000,000,000.00 (one trillion dollars) bailout of inept and possibly corrupt executives of major corporations.  The only real requirement for this handout is that you be one of the elite and that your ridiculously obscene salary be in jeopardy.

The bailout creates nothing of value.  The businesses receiving the funds are not required to hire staff. They are not required to put the money into operations.  The businesses receiving the money are not required to create anything of value.  In fact, the companies can just accept the money and use it any way they see fit, such as continuing to pay ridiculously obscene salaries to inept or corrupt executives.

VERY INPORTANT points here.  Any company asking for help from the government should be required to agree to the following rules:
1) No executive shall receive compensation in excess of 10 times the wages of the lowest paid employee.  2) All tax dollars invested in companies shall be used, 100%, in the company’s operations.

Just these two rules alone will insure that the bailout benefits those it was intended for - our nation as a whole.

The new President and the new Congress should be made aware that it is we the people that need bailing out, not the rich elite.  It is the middle class that bears the burden/responsibility of taking our nation into the future.

If and when every person that wants a job has one, there will be no home foreclosures.  If and when every person that wants a job has one, factories will run double shifts.  If and when every person that wants a job has one, car makers will put a new car in every driveway.  If and when every person that wants a job has one, banks will lend consumers money at reasonable interest rates.  If and when every person that wants a job has one, the profits of the big corporations will again support the ridiculously obscene salaries paid to inept or corrupt executives.  If and when every person that wants a job has one, we will once again enjoy the self respect we so richly deserved.

Authors note:  You have my permission to send this essay to President Elect Obama and more importantly to your Congressperson.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.
Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.
http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11
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Several years ago I tried to explained to my daughter how race relations influenced my life.  I spoke to her about my younger days while I was in school and then my days as an organizer in the civil rights movement.

I explained to her that at one time we had separate schools. And that the goal of the school for minorities was to educate children just enough to read. And worse yet that when Brown vs. Board of Education  went into effect it became the goal of school counselors to encourage minority students to quit school at around the sixth through ninth grade.

I explained to her that in my school days talking Spanish on school grounds was punishable by expulsion and/or corporal punishment.  I told her about the time when I was in seventh grade and required to take a foreign language elective.  I elected to take Spanish. Well one day as we were filing into the classroom a friend shouted to me “Hola”, which is the Spanish word for Hello.  Naturally I responded with a resounding “Hola”.  My white friend  was not punished. I was given three whacks with a paddle in front of the classroom for talking Spanish in the hallway.

My daughter responded with “Oh Dad, that’s history”.  Down deep inside I cried a  tear.

At some point I tried to explain to my daughter about my work with organizations fighting for civil rights. I explained to her about organizations like LULAC, The American GI Form, NAACP, Image and MALDF, about the Mexican/American caucus in Austin.

My daughter looked at me and said “Dad, that doesn’t happen any more.” Down deep inside I cried a tear.

November 4, 2008 ABC’s Charles Gibson said “the polls in California have closed and ABC News  will now project that Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States”.  A black man had just been elected President of the United States, I cried a tear.

I cried a tear for all we had just lost. The bigotry, the lies, the hate. All gone. My daughter was right, it is just history now. Every thing we did, the boycotts, the marches, the demonstrations, the sit ins all were history.  My youthful actions of civil disobedience at last vindicated and I cried a tear.

I am still crying as I make note of this memory.  But they are tears of joy and relief.  My daughter and your sons and daughters will never know the feeling of being a second class citizen.  Yes I cried a tear.

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Pancho Villa - a bleeding heart liberal Revolutionary.
Work with nature - plant a tree for more oxygen and less pollution.
http://www.saintdiva.com/page.php?11
Save $$ on gas here