Well it seems that Chrysler and the government are wasting no time and getting things straighten out at this struggling automaker as they were in court today. Chrysler asked the court if they could use loans from the government to keep open under bankruptcy protection. This will be a very quick bankruptcy for a couple of reasons the first being the government has their hand in it and putting pressure on creditors to accept this process. Secondly, there are many jobs at stake and if Chrysler would go under the ripple effect could be very massive.
It should take Chrysler around 30 to 60 days to go through this process, but maybe the real question is how will the consumer feel about Chrysler now and will they buy cars from them. Traditionally consumers seem to stay away from such companies so this should be a very interesting test indeed.
Taylor Swift is so young, but one problem she does not have is earning money which she accumulated at a very good pace this year. Swift has made it up to number four on the top earners of country music according to Forges magazine. She has grossed 18 million dollars so far which is not bad considering that she has not headlined a concert tour yet. The dollar value will go way up once she does that.
Right now she trails Kenny Chesney 65 million, Rascal Flatts 60 million, and Toby Keith 50 million which is not bad company to be in if you ask me. With just being only 19 years old the sky probably is the limit for her unless she gets into drugs or let other things derail her career. It will be interesting to see how well she handles it all because many times it can become overwhelming for someone so young.
Around three years ago my dad passed away and last march 29th my mom left me, but they are in a much better place then we are right now. We have unemployment at all-time high levels and state budgets are being strapped even more. The unemployment figures are not really accurate as they do not portray all the people who have given up on trying to find work. Where I live which is in Ohio finding a good paying job is almost non-existent. What has happen to the United States? Why have we gone down so hard so fast? There are many different theories on why this has happen and no point of rehashing old news anyway.
We need to fix the problems we have right now and that burden is on President Obama and he may have broad shoulders, but not widen enough to fix this problem that we have. Jobs are vanishing and being replaced with lower paying jobs. Businesses that we always shopped at are closing up right and left. Car dealerships that you use to visit now are closing their doors as well. Yes it is bad, but sometimes I do not think people really realize how bad it is.
Homes are being foreclosed at a record rate and it does not look like that will end anytime soon. Plans are in the works to help stem them, but unless you bring good paying jobs foreclosures will keep happening and the American Dream of owning a home is fast slipping away from people. Now all is not gloom and doom as their is one thing that we all know we are a society that never gives up and we will weather this storm as well. The real question is when will this storm end and how many people will lose everything before it does end. Only time will tell, but this recession has taken tools on families, businesses and yes even kids. Let’s pray this nightmare ends soon so we can enjoy life instead of waiting for the next axe to fall.
Lately I have not been posting a lot as I wanted to take care of a few things so I could get on a more normal schedule and change the format of this blog. I have decided to make this blog full of information and some person opinions as well. So here I go so please bear with me. First of all I have seen that many former bloggers have left Today.com which I can understand how they feel and the reasoning behind it. Many times people think they maybe worth more than they are offered and I can understand that and I wish them well. I was one of the people who lost my pay per post money as well, but have decided to stay here and stick it out and get my blogs up on the leaderboard. Was I happy losing that money? No. but the bottom line is they can only help me for so long until I have to learn this blogging and start blazing my own path through the Internet. I am thankful that Today.com gives me this forum to say what I want and earn some money. The money side of it is in my hands and it all depends on what I want to do with it. I have another blog that is on another site that I have been trying things on and have seen some great success which I am moving over here to see how well it works. I think it will do even better here.
Blogging on Today.com can be very profitable if someone wants to put forth the time and effort. As my mom always told me you only get what you put into something and if you want to see any kind of action you need to step up to the plate and create that action. Enough about my rant now back to my blog here and what I will be doing with it. I will be putting videos and other things up to help explain my points and give people inspirations and keep them moving forward in life. This is really all I have to say right now, but do not worry I will be back for some more probably later. I will leave you with an Elvis Presley video called If I Can Dream. It is a beautiful song that I hope will inspire you to great things.
The Lincoln Penny which in recent years have come under fire and many people have wanted to see it removed will be getting four new designs on the backside of the penny. The front of the penny will stay the same which I wished they would have redesigned that as well. Below is the four designs that they will be introducing. This should help prop up the penny and give it some new life and maybe people will look at it a little different than they have in recent years.
I like all the designs they are good except we still have the same front. that was also my beef with the state quarters as well. I guess it is better than leaving it the same. The U.S. Mint in my opinion wait to long to change designs and more frequent designs would keep interest in the coins longer, but the cost is the main factor change is not done along with coins usually last a long time compared to paper money.
Just another casualty of the recession were in Circuit City was hoping to be able to stay afloat in bankruptcy, but it could not be done. They also looked for new buyers, but that was just not possible either. The No. 2 retailer of electronic products has been struggling the last few years and it seems with the recession their problems became too much and closing the doors was all they could do. The sad part is all the jobs that will be lost by this closing. I feel bad for the people and the communities the stores are located as they also lose.
To be honest I never shopped at circuit City much and for really one simple reason Best Buy had a better selection and usually a much better price. Best Buy and Wal-Mart really hurt Circuit City and it seems they just could never compete with these two giants. In the end I guess one had to fall and we all know it was not going to be Wal-Mart or Best Buy.
This is a story for the ages, but I am sure many of us have had our fair share of dealing with the IRS some good many more bad. A Detroit Lawyer got a letter from the IRS awhile back stating that he owed then five cents. Are you kidding me? Five Cents? Yep, that is what they wanted. A little later on he received another letter from the IRS telling him that they owed him four cents. Now the lawyer was perplexed at what to do. So he decided to call the 1-800 system that the IRS have a big mistake. If you have ever tried to use these systems you know exactly what I am talking about.
It seems to take forever with that system as they send you from department to department. In the end the lawyer from Detroit really has no clue what to do. My suggestion send them the nickel or the interest will kill you over time. believe me they will keep adding the interest as it never goes away.
One of the many things I watch is the housing market as it is a good indication how and which direction we maybe headed. Many people I have talked to do not see much movement in the first half of the year. In fact they say that you could see a downward trend. Where I live in Ohio we are seeing that more people are losing their jobs and plants closing so that means more foreclosures will be on the increase. Many people tell me that no real end in sight until fall 2009. I hope that is not the case, but right now it is not looking good. In retail many friends have lost their jobs or their hours have been cut from 40-50 down to 8-12. How can anyone survive on that.
Unless some drastic happens in the housing market I cannot see it getting any better until late summer or fall. I hope I am wrong, but I guess we will see. Maybe Obama has a plan to get things moving in the right direction. I know many of us would love to see that happen. I guess only time will tell though if that will actually happen.
Well I wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Christmas and say a little bit in my column. First of all for many of us 2008 was a rough year. I lost my mom earlier this year when she passed away, but in reality the way things are going in this world she is in a better place anyway. Many things were seen in 2008. We elected the first African-American President in Barack Obama who is looking to make change. With the sad state of our nation right now we can sure use that.
Many people this past year have lost their homes, cars, and jobs so here is hoping that 2009 is much better than 2008 and I also am hoping everyone gets want they want out of 2009. Make it the best year you ever have had. I know I am going to.
It seems that Warner Bros has asked YouTube to take down most of their videos as both sides could not come to terms on an agreement. It seems that Warner bros wanted a bigger share and YouTube just did not want to give them that. YouTube does have agreements with many other companies and has been working to make this website more profitable and keep all parties happy, but sometimes it is very hard.
The companies, artists what more of a share and I guess YouTube felt it was out of line and was not going to pay it. The real loser though is the consumer who does not to get to watch some of their favorite artists and that is a shame, but that is how it works when you talk about money. For me I think people are just being to greedy anymore and that is a real shame, but do not look for that to change anytime soon either.
