Dec. 13, 2010 - PPM - Buyer's Discourse

This week's PET PEEVE MONDAY (PPM) is about the state of our nation's finances.

You can't read a daily paper without hearing about budget shortfalls.

The City of Cincinnati has a projected $60 Million budget shortage in 2011.

Hamilton County is also projecting a record shortfall next year.

The state of Ohio has to find $8 Billion somewhere.

I won't even get into the federal disaster.

I have accounting and finance degrees, but it really isn't that hard to figure out.

You have X in revenues, then you can only spend X in expenses. If you can't afford it, don't buy it.

Every government, business, and individual should have a BALANCED BUDGET.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it.

If you a government, you must find a way to deliver only those services that you can pay for.

The pending deal between Obama and Congress is an egregious example of government gone wrong.

Taxes/ Revenues will remain flat, yet spending will increase. How is that possible?

It doesn't take a Nobel laureate economist to tell you that if you extend unemployment benefits for another 13 months, that people will not be searching for jobs in January. Unemployment will remain above 9.5% for the foreseeable future.

Credit cards give people the wrong sense of entitlement. They buy today what they want, but can not necessarily afford or need. Our governments have adopted the same mentality.

Credit cards should be eliminated and you should only be able to use debit cards that are backed with hard cash.

Of course, I would make an exception for home mortgages. However, there used be a thing called PMI that would penalize you if you didn't put down 20% for your house. During the mortgage crisis disaster that preceded and caused this recession, people were able to borrow 110% value of their house.

WHY and WTF?

These home buyers(?) were under water from day 1.

The foreclosure tsunami was predicated on bad loans, with poor decisions by lenders and buyers alike.

Home ownership may be a dream, but it is not a right.

Bottom line: If you can't afford it, don't buy it.



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