UR Votes Count Blog

Money Talk: About the Economy

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:45:00 -0800

Sooooo….everyone’s talking about the economy these days. Seems like we’ve hit a true recession, but some people are actually worried we’d have another Great Depression.

Well, they should all calm down. (What, a voice of hope!? Or at minimum, a voice of reason????) Yes it’s hard out there. Yes a lot of things have gone wrong: banks screwed up left and right and now because THEY’RE hurting, loans are hard to come by for average people, as a result. Which means average people spend less money. And so stores go out of business, and people get laid off. It’s a huge drag. Another thing that’s gone wrong is Detroit. The American car manufacturers were so busy cranking out huge SUVs and mediocre American cars they apparently failed to notice that European and Japanese car manufacturers were passing them by in sales - by like, A LOT. OOOPS!??! The Prius has a waiting list while no one wants these gas guzzlers? And gas was over $4 per gallon this summer? *Head scratch* - you’d think for making um, lets see, over twenty million that the CEOs of GM and Chrysler could have seen the writing on the wall. Sigh. UNBELIEVABLE stupidity. But we’re ranting and that could go on all day.

Back to topic.

Yes. Banks messed up with bad mortgages and bad loans, and that’s costing jobs. Yes people are having a hard time making bad loan payments on overblown houses that arent worth what they paid for them. Yes the American car companies were too busy breathing gas fumes to notice the world was passing them by, while foreign automakers were making smaller more stylish and more efficient cars. BUT—— BUT—- Wait for it! Wait for it!

This will not spiral us into a Great Depression again for a few reasons. At least it’s very unlikely to.

The Bottom Line magazine recently had a great article. Here is a cool quote:

“Some speculate we have entered a great depression. We have not. Todays politicians may make mistakes, but they are unlikely to make anywhere near as costly as those of the thirties.” It should take “a little more than five years” for the market to recover, but it’s “a far cry from the Great Depression.”

We’ve been through more than one rough patch before as a country. The government has learned how to handle it better each time. In the meantime, how can we all ride it out?

Stay positive. Being optimistic and not panicking is key. Panic was a huge part of what started the Great Depression. Stay out of credit card debt. Use cash to buy what you need and only buy what you can afford. But keep spending when you can - if everyone gets scared and holds on to their wallets, that can cause a lot of our worst fears to come true.

It’s all going to be ok. Just work hard, be glad for the job you have if you have one, save a percent of your money, use cash when you shop, and ride out the hard times. The good news is, everything changes, always. We’ll be back to good times before you know it.

Q&A: Lame Ducks and Why the Big Delay

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:07:00 -0800

Question: What’s a Lame Duck, anyway?

Lol, Lame Duck is one of the funnier political terms, we think. A “Lame Duck” is the name for the President who’s living out the very end of his term as President, while the President Elect waits in the wings.

You might be thinking, “Well - the election is over. Why can’t Obama just take over right now?”

See, there’s this thing called a ‘transitional period’ - the election is held in November for a reason, when the Presidents term does not actually expire until January. What’s the reason? Why the big hold up?

Well, there are a few reasons.

1. These things take time. As listed earlier, Obama had advisors to appoint, positions to fill for his Presidential Cabinet. He has to get his people in place.

2. Decorating the White House. Haha ok not necessarily, but seriously. There was another family living there. The Bushes have to move out, and the Obamas have to move in. There are rooms to choose, drapes to buy, drawers to sort out, closet spaces to assign. These are very real and practical things but it’s a reality for the Obamas just like it would be for you. He doesn’t just have a new job. His family has a new address!

3. When the Constitution was written, we didn’t have the means of modern transportation and technology that we do now. Things happen faster today than they used to. The period of time for the transition factored in travelling by horse. ;)

Photo

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:08:27 -0800

DRAMA!!!!!!

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:06:00 -0800

Wow. Ok so for sure you’ve all heard about the craziness that is going down in Illinios. Apparently for some reason, Illinois Governor Blagojevich thought Obama’s recently vacated Senator’s seat was his golden ticket - the Governor is supposed to APPOINT the next Senator, not SELL THE POSITION. But that’s exactly what Blagojevich tried to do!! Wiretaps revealed the Governor saying “I’ve got this thing,” Mr. Blagojevich said on one recording, according to the affidavit, “and it’s [expletive] golden. And I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I’m not going to do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there.”

ARE YOU KIDDING??? Selling Government positions for your own, blatant financial gain seems pretty outrageous. But we suppose stranger things have happened.

He’s been accused, and arrested, and is awaiting trial - and officials are publically calling for his resignation. Yet Blagojevich is apparently unapologetic, and still has not resigned. Some people have all the nerve.

Obama Builds His Cabinet

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:29:00 -0800

So the latest news with our President Elect Barack Obama has been ALL about who’s going in his Cabinet. LOL…what’s a Cabinet you ask? And who is he trying to stuff in there? Before we talk about WHO Obama’s putting in his Cabinet, lets talk about WHAT a Cabinet actually is.

The Cabinet is pretty much the President’s posse, lol - a group of the most senior appointed people in the Executive (Presidential) branch of the government. They are appointed by the President and are his most trusted advisors.

The Cabinet dates all the way back to el Presidente numero uno - George Washington. He named Thomas Jefferson as his Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton as his Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox as Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph as the Attorney General.

So, these positions are, in short, a very. big. deal.

Who’s Obama picked for his Cabinet? So far, he’s picked a lot of people that used to be his toughest competition! The most exciting appointment was Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. No one knew if she’d accept the role or continue to basically be her own boss as New York Senator. But, she did, making this an unusual but formidable alliance.

She was the most exciting nomination, but here’s the full list:

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED:

TREASURY SECRETARY: Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

SECRETARY OF STATE: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Robert Gates, a holdover from Bush administration.

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Retired Marine Gen. James Jones.

STAY TUNED! Thanks for checking in - and feel free to write us with questions or comments!! info@urvotescount.com

The Blog is Back!!!

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:57:58 -0800

Check in later today and next week for new blog posts. What can we say, we missed talking to all of you. Side note: HOW ABOUT THAT OBAMA, huh? Congrats on making ur votes count!

Click HERE For Results!

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:07:44 -0700

Click HERE For Results!:

UR VOTES HAVE BEEN COUNTED! Hit URVotesCount.com to see how you and other teens feel about…

*The war in Iraq….

*Drilling for oil…

*The Economic Crisis…

….and of course (drumroll please!)

WHO U THINK SHOULD BE PRESIDENT!

hit URVotesCount.com to find out!!!

Great sportsmanship. What an upstanding moment for John McCain...

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:29:25 -0700

Great sportsmanship. What an upstanding moment for John McCain when he defended Obama at one of his rallies. Respect. Period.

150 malls. 42 states. 6 weeks. The UR VOTES COUNT campaign was a...

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:24:49 -0700

150 malls. 42 states. 6 weeks. The UR VOTES COUNT campaign was a huge success.

We took the US by storm - and U SHOWED UP!!!! We LOVED all the participation and enthusiasm. Votes are being counted right now, check back for results next week.

Thanks again, stay informed, be involved, and always REMEMBER…UR VOTE COUNTS!

Youth Vote will Make the Difference in 08!

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:38:00 -0700

“A new generation is coming up, and they are more engaged than their predecessors,” said University of Maryland Research Scholar Peter Levine. “They are already voting more and also volunteering at a higher rate.”

It’s the truth, this election will be MADE by the young voters of America. Typically the ones labled “Least Likely to Show Up” to vote, historically, this election stands to break with tradition in a major major way. Maybe young voters learned last time what happens when you don’t vote (George W. Bush, cough cough)…but all current polls seem to show that *this* time they are determined to turn out, turn in their vote, and turn the tide of this country.

If you’re old enough to vote in THIS election, awesome. DO IT. We don’t care who you vote for! JUST VOTE. No matter what, we’re going to see a change. And that’s what we ALL need.

And if you’re too young THIS election to vote, we hope you voted at UR Votes Count. We WILL release the info to the press and be sure your voice is heard!

We’ve had the best time out in all the GGP malls, meeting...

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:02:00 -0700

We’ve had the best time out in all the GGP malls, meeting all of u and making sure u know UR VOTE DOES COUNT!!!!

Join the Chat!

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:01:30 -0700

Join the chat, and add the UR Votes Count chat to your MySpace or Facebook page or blog,
and get the conversation going. When it comes to change, connecting is key.

Obama, on the economy. Below is McCain on the economy. Watch...

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:17:00 -0700

Obama, on the economy. Below is McCain on the economy. Watch them both, and tell us what you think! Write us at info@urvotescount.com.

McCain, on the economy. Above is Obama on the economy. Watch...

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:16:00 -0700

McCain, on the economy. Above is Obama on the economy. Watch them both, and tell us what you think! Write us at info@urvotescount.com.

Soo....about those debates.

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:50:00 -0700

We find that one of the most CONFUSING things about politics is that half the time, politicians aren’t telling you the actual truth, they are telling you what they think you want to hear or whatever will get them the best results in the voting booth. SO ANNOYING. HOW is a voter supposed to INFORM themselves, when politicians stretch the truth at every turn?

Well, we actually have an answer for you. NON PARTISAN WEBSITES. We promise, they do exist.

Here’s an excerpt from a particular favorite of ours, FactCheck.org….regarding last nights debates! Check it out - here comes the TRUTH. (What a concept!)

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McCain and Obama debated for the second time, in Nashville. We noted some misleading statements and mangled facts:

McCain proposed to write down the amount owed by over-mortgaged homeowners and claimed the idea as his own: “It’s my proposal, it’s not Sen. Obama’s proposal, it’s not President Bush’s proposal.” But the idea isn’t new. Obama had endorsed something similar two weeks earlier, and authority for the treasury secretary to grant such relief was included in the recently passed $700 billion financial rescue package.

Both candidates oversimplified the causes of the financial crisis. McCain blamed it on Democrats who resisted tighter regulation of federal mortgage agencies. Obama blamed it on financial deregulation backed by Republicans. We find both are right, with plenty of blame left over for others, from home buyers to the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Obama said his health care plan would lower insurance premiums by up to $2,500 a year. Experts we’ve consulted see little evidence such savings would materialize.

McCain misstated his own health care plan, saying he’d give a $5,000 tax credit to “every American” His plan actually would provide only $2,500 per individual, or $5,000 for couples and families. He also misstated Obama’s health care plan, claiming it would levy fines on “small businesses” that fail to provide health insurance. Actually, Obama’s plan exempts “small businesses.”

McCain lamented that the U.S. was forced to “withdraw in humiliation” from Somalia in 1994, but he failed to note that he once proposed to cut off funding for troops to force a faster withdrawal.

Obama said, “I favor nuclear power.” That’s a stronger statement than we’ve heard him make before. As recently as last December, he said, “I am not a nuclear energy proponent.”

McCain claimed “1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay.” Actually, only 724,000 persons in the U.S. have income from eBay, and only some of them rely on it as their primary source.

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From FactCheck.Org, a pretty much non-partisan (in other words, not Democratic slanted or Republican slanted) website that tells you the REAL DEAL in politics! We love it!

Live...Watching the Debate!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:44:41 -0700

We’re watching the current debate between John McCain (R) and Barack Obama (D)…we’re watching it on CNN, and loving the hospital style monitor at the bottom of the screen showing how the undecided Ohio voters (the state that seems to swing most elections in a major way) are feeling!

Check the photos below to see how voters were feeling at the moment we took the snapshots.

John McCain, 10.07.08 Debate vs Barack Obama

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:44:17 -0700

John McCain, 10.07.08 Debate vs Barack Obama

Barack Obama, 10.07.08 Debate vs John McCain

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:43:30 -0700

Barack Obama, 10.07.08 Debate vs John McCain

Q and A (click here)

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:15:00 -0700

Q and A (click here):

A lot of people have questions about the economic bailout (which at the moment, btw, does NOT seem to be working fast enough). Questions like, “Why not just arrest the CEOs who messed up?” “Why not just give the SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS to the people and let the banks who made mistakes, fail?” ALL those questions make a ton of sense, and we’ve asked them ourselves. Click on Q and A for a pretty solid article on MSNBC that tries to give us some answers.

Of course Saturday Night Live skewered the VP Debates from last...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:44:00 -0700

Of course Saturday Night Live skewered the VP Debates from last Thursday. Of course, to be honest - we have to say they WERE harder on Palin but they got a few in there at Biden too. And Queen Latifah as the Mod Gwen Ifill was definitely awesome!