Welcome to the SOC 63 Guestbook
[Sign Guestbook]
8,217 Entries
Comments: I took the Civil Service(PO) exam in the 60's. By that time, they had 'expanded it' to say that one could take it 3 times..and finally pass it.. I wondered about it..then. I passed it on the 1st time but never took a job with the PO. I also passed the Texas Instruments exam and never pursued a job with them. I know that the Bar Exam could be taken 3 times, also. It took John-John(JFK) 3 times to pass it. I thought, well maybe the Bar Exam is more difficult, but then I thought of a few lawyers, I've known and 'I wonder'...? The downfall of the PO, may have started when they raised the number of times you could take the test..until you passed it. What do you think..? 
Comments: From reading Phyllis's explanation, Congress has not done right by the Post Office. What a surprise. I wonder if any elected officials involved in this fiasco have investments in Fed Ex or UPS. The post office at 75231 has banner signs out front in Spanish only. They do a lot of money order business to Mexico. Other money order businesses have popped up nearby, and the line at the P.O. is not as long as it once was. I buy the few stamps I use from Office Depot, and if I needed a money order, I'd go to the bank. It seems some businesses have overlapped.
Comments: OK Phil, The founding of the Post Office was Benjamin Franklin's idea. unless someone is mistakenly giving him credit along with all his other achievements. I receive personal letters every day. Older Americans and rural citizens especially use the Post Office.
Comments: Not to be picky but Ben Franklin was appt to watch over the mails when they were colonies. The first postmaster general of the United States was Samuel Osgood appt. by George Washington. I spent 42 years in the PO. It would be a shame to lose PO but no one mails anymore and Congress doesn't allow them to compete and they get no tax subsidy and they prepay retirement benefits and healthcare and any year thwey made a profit Congress took the money and put into general revenue funds like Social Security so they could spend it on govt programs.
Comments: Phyllis, Thank you for explaining what is going on. Since the Post Office was founded by Benjamin Franklin and has a magnificent history, it would be sad to loose it. If the Post Office didn't have such a strong union, it would probably not be targeted for elimination. We seem to have a similar problem with the public school system, although the teacher union isn't strong at all in this state. Charter schools are not the answer. What I object to most about them is that too many people want to indoctrinate students with their particular philosophy. Public schools for the most part do teach students how to think and how to deal with cultural differences. I do resent all the testing that goes on in public schools to the detriment of learning and at taxpayer's expense. We need to support our teachers now: they are having a terrible time.
Comments: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Postal employee. The Postal Service's financial woes are largely due to the fact that Congress regards USPS as its cash cow, and not only siphons off all the profits, but has financially drained the Postal Service to the very brink of bankruptcy. A lame duck Congress in 2006 passed a draconian mandate requiring USPS to prefund 75 years' worth of future retiree health benefits within 10 years, a requirement to which no other entity -- public or private -- has ever been subject. Prior to that time, the Postal Service was debt-free and profitable, or -- at worst -- breaking even financially. The annual payments -- which USPS has been borrowing from the Treasury, AT INTEREST, only to turn right around and pay back -- average out to about $5.5 billion, almost 10% of the Postal Service's gross revenues. The resulting $42+ billiion slush fund is being used by Congress to render revenue-neutral some of its other (over)spending. Were I cynical, I would suggest that the whole thing is a thinly-veiled scheme to convert off-budget Postal revenues into on-budget funds accessible to Congress, legally-sanctioned money laundering. Without this single requirement, USPS would have been profitable -- and debt-free -- all but one of the intervening years. Congress created the problem, and Congress needs to fix it. FedEx and UPS aren't the solution. They -- combined -- deliver 7 billion items/year to 30 million addresses. The Postal Service delivers 170 billion pieces/year to 150 million addresses, including 20% of FedEx and UPS items "the first and last mile." If USPS goes under, alot of people will be without access to mail service, at any price.
Comments: Kathleen, from your lips to God's ears on the millionaire thing. 
Comments: Lynell, you and David would have been at the top of my classmates millionaire's list that is if I were making a list. Thanks for the info about home ownership.
Comments: Kathleen, home ownership is not supposed to count as part of one's acquired wealth, as I understand it, because a person has to live somewhere.
Comments: With CDs paying 1%, and the stock market always having a big question mark over it, it seems that those who draw a pension of some sort are the fortunate ones, and not those of us who worked our fingers to the bone as self-employed people, paying 16% into SS, and a ton of money for health insurance if we could find it are the real dummies. Had I been able to tolerate Sears for longer than 3 months, I might draw a pension today -- paid for by Sears customers. Unfortunately, that group has thinned out, so I wonder who will foot that bill. My Sears co-workers used to tell me all I had to do was put in 20 years. I know people who worked at GM for 20 years and retired at 38. I wonder if the government bail-out of GM is paying for pension checks.
Comments: Barry, I don't remember putting you in the millionaire club, but if you are in that club "Congratulations." I have a feeling a lot of people in our class are millionaires. Being a millionaire is not that hard these days especially, if you count retirement savings and homeownership and whatever else our classmates may own.
Comments: John and Bill and Kathleen: I wish you would stop putting me in the $1M dollar club. It is both uncomfortable and not based on fact. Joan and I did not inherit large sums of money nor have we had high paying jobs. If I had continued working at Centex in 1975 instead of getting an SBA loan to open my business, we would have a lot more than we do now. Or maybe not, my valium bill was pretty high in the large corporate environment and most of the people I worked with that did not leave Centex are either dead or wish they were. We have worked all our lives and feel very blessed to have what we have, but we are not wealthy by any means. Our country has a tax problem but that is not our main problem. We are a welfare state, we are over run by illegals and they are bankrupting our medical facilities. Everyone thinks somebody else should take care of them. A couple of years ago, I went on a church mission trip to Gulfport, MS. The house we worked on was home to the great grandmother (who was in her 40's) and all her offspring. Figure it out. These girls had a history of having babies in their early teens or before. Every baby meant another welfare check. One of the women actually told me that she was going to get rich by having babies. And we are paying for this. Our whole system is broken and is not going to get fixed until we change our way of thinking. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor is not the answer. Countless societies have tried this in the past. It didn't work then and it won't work now.
Comments: The USPO has been grossly mismanaged for years. In the mid 90s they expanded many of the branches here and added Post Office stores to sell stamps and supplies like boxes, tape, etc. But they never expanded the staff and had nobody to take your money so you had to get in the regular line anyway. It didn't take long before they stopped stocking the "store" and that space is just sitting empty. I wonder what that cost? They will almost certainly stop Saturday soon. That won't save them enough!
Comments: I have a solution to the USPO's financial crisis. Everything has to be sent via First Class or Priority Mail. This would save a lot of room in the landfill from all that those ads that show up in the mailbox. Most correspondence these days seems to be electronic, and though it's nice to get cards at holidays, a phone call is good, too.
Comments: Bill, I agree with you we do have a huge spending problem in this country. For example, the Post Office which is supposedly loosing money were forced to buy machines and vehicles that they don't need and aren't using. It is called graft. I just hope the American public realizes that once they disband the Post Office (they won't ever bring it back) we will be paying private companies (like Fed Ex) an ungodly amount of money just to pick up a letter from our home mailboxes which is now free.
Comments: It should be simple to grasp. If you want to place higher taxes on the folks who make more than 1 million, then create a bracket for them. Create a bracket for the folks who make $500K and another for those that make $250K, etc, etc, etc. Everybody should pay a fair share based on their income (not their assets). What this admin wants is for the % to be fair and not the $$ paid in. Someone who makes most of their income on money they have invested in businesses, municipal bonds, etc has already paid tax dollars before they bought that stock. Should they not get somekind of a break on the capital gains. If not then lots of folks will stop investing in American companies. Barry can pay in 15% and will send more support to the g'ment that I will by paying 20% on my meager income. There are just too many folks who want everything to be free. You have $100 and I only have $20, so you should give me some of yours. Old saying - You can rob Peter to pay Paul, until Peter runs out of money! In addition, a lot of small business owners pay the tax for their companies thru their personal taxes depending on how they have their business set up (S Corp, LLC, Partnership, etc). Should they be penalized if this throws them into a $250K income level? We don't have a tax problem in this country. We have a huge spending problem! Why is that so hard to grasp? We cannot keep printing money and throwing $$ we don't have at stimulus projects that don't work effectively.
Comments: Bill, I'm having a little trouble grasping the point you're attempting to make. Are you saying that your President should leave the $250,000 earners alone and just go after the ... what? ... the million dollar+ earners?
Comments: Bill, Even though Bill and I fall comfortably in the 99% of Americans we pay an incredible amount of taxes every year. I used to work for the IRS when Bill was in graduate school. I can safely say the wealthy do not pay taxes in proportion to their incomes like the rest of us. The burden of paying taxes falls on the backs of the working man. The wealthy have attorneys who know every loophole as to how to avoid taxes. I have a hard time understanding why some of you worry about the 1% having to pay their fair share.
Comments: JS, I don't believe that we pay our taxes based on"assumptions". What we do pay on is our earnings, and that does not include assets (until we sell them maybe). I'm pretty sure that I have heard your President say that we should raise taxes on folks earning/making $250,000/year. That is NOT a million dollars.
Comments: Memo To Bill A.: In answer to your question, we should first come to agreement on the definition of "millionaire". In the US of A a millionaire is generally regarded as a household whose "net assets" (that is all assets - all liabilities) is equal to or greater than one million US dollars. It is probably safe to assume that most couples who have an annual adjusted gross income of $250,000 have somewhere along the way accumulated total net assets in excess of $1 million. Or in other words, a millionaire is not defined as one who earns a million a year. Fact: Within the surviving members of the SOC Class of 1963, only 14 have achieved Millionaire status. Twice a year they gather at Barry's automotive emporium and admire their German manufactured means of transportation.
Comments: The 3.8% is just one of many hidden taxes buried in the xxxx page Obamacare bill. Remember, no one has actually read the entire bill yet! And, how do you like the increasing gas prices. When running for office, Obama said that he wanted gas prices to rise "gradually" to $5 a gallon. As it gets closer to election time, he is stating that oil production was up in 2011, much more than in recent years and that more new drilling permits were issued in 2011 than in years. Obama had nothing to do with these increases. The permits he is talking about were approved under the Bush administration. The increased drilling occurred on private land (not govt land) and were leases approved by, yes, the Bush administration. Obama has done everything he can do to choke our economy and destroy the livelihoods of millions of Americans. Just remember this the next time you fill up the limo.
Comments: Somebody explain to me why, if President Obama is so intent on getting millionaires and billionaires to pay more, is he starting with couples who make $250,000. I still think that is a lot of money but it's damn sure not a million!
Comments: John: Sorry, I forgot that everyone is not in the $250,000+ bracket. You can rest easy, for now. Since you are the tax adviser, do you think I should help pay down the Federal deficit this year or wait until 2013. I should probably just call Warren and see what he plans to do.
Comments: I just arrived at our little ranchette and it is soooooo green! I am thrilled. Our ranch hand just told me that our resident mother owl tried to get our female barn cat this week. I am so worried. I did NOT want to have barn cats for this very reason. But someone gifted Terry with them and he wanted to keep them.sigh! I always make sure the barn helpers put the cats in the barn office every night until they feed in the morning when they can let them back out. Well, the female doesn't like to come in until late...the last barn check is at 9 P M and she wanders in about then....ahem...Today I have laid down the law...they HAVE to get the female in before dark or else!!
Comments: Barry's comment that "if you sell ANY real estate after 2013 you will pay a 3.8% tax" needs a little more clarification. There are a number of taxes that go into effect after this year. The tax Barry refers to is one that applies to "net investment income" (which can include real estate sales among other things). It will NOT apply to ALL real estate transactions for ALL sellers. Ninety eight percent of all tax payers do not have high enough "adjusted gross income" ($250,000 for a married couple) for the tax to apply to them. It is estimated by a number of tax foundations that only TWO PERCENT of all taxpayers will be subject to the 3.8% Medicare Tax. These are the high-earners. So unless Kathleen and Bill got a big raise, they should still be able to sell their home in 2013 without regard to the new tax. Now for Big Bucks Barry & Joan ... well they'd better unload their real estate holdings THIS year.
Comments: Our only hope of less government would be with true conservative Republicans in power. The liberals are always in favor of more government and more intrusion into our lives, and both Republicans and Democrats can be liberals. We need Conservatives, not career politicians.
Comments: Barry, I think you missed my point. I was being sarcastic because it is the Republicans who are always pushing less government. As for Obamacare, I strongly support it and any kinds of aid for the sick, especially if you have a terminal illness, which can quickly bankrupt families. The Republicans no longer represent middle class Americans.
Comments: Kathleen: Our President does not believe in less government. I thought you knew that. And we haven't seen anything yet. Did you know that if you sell any real estate after 2013 that you will pay a 3.8% tax to help pay for Obamacare? I thought not.
Comments: Although it will never effect me, I can't believe the Texas state legislature passed a law forcing wo men to have a probe with a sonogram before you can have an abortion. I recently had a sonogram and I was in a lot of pain due to the pushing on my kidneys by the probe. If it isn't medically necessary I don't think anyone should be forced to have an unnecessary medical procedure. Whatever happened to less government?
Comments: Sharon, I would buy a copy of that book. |
| < Previous 30 | Next 30 > |
Back to soc63.com