{"id":26412,"date":"2014-08-09T10:52:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T17:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=26412"},"modified":"2023-03-13T11:13:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T18:13:46","slug":"black-coffee-more-promises-to-pay-tuesday-for-a-hamburger-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id26412-black-coffee-more-promises-to-pay-tuesday-for-a-hamburger-today.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: More Promises to Pay Tuesday for a Hamburger Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it this week …<\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> After falling 4.5% during the first three months of 2104, US productivity jumped 2.5%<\/a> last quarter. That’s great news because we need something to help us pay for the ever-growing federal government leviathan that lords over us. Speaking of which …<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> From the American Thinker<\/a>: “According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 87% of people who signed up for Obamacare for 2014 qualified for subsidies, and on average they paid 76% less than the true cost of their plan.”<\/em> Wait a minute … That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately, as American Thinker points out, Obamacare has, in other words, merely shifted healthcare insurance costs from premium payers to taxpayers. Well … unless you’re among the millions of people who don’t<\/em> qualify for subsidies — then you’re stuck with Obamacare’s higher premiums<\/a> too. I know.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Never mind that the great majority of Obamacare policy holders — including those receiving subsidies — are still<\/em> stuck with jaw-dropping deductibles<\/a> that are so ridiculously high, they’d most likely be better off with no insurance at all. Ain’t wealth redistribution grand?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Just remember, Big Government only “works” until it runs out of other people’s money. And with the current National Debt<\/a> at almost $18 trillion, and another $67 trillion in unfunded liabilities<\/a>, I think it’s fair to say that the US — and its taxpayers — are tapped out.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> You think I’m kidding? With $89 trillion in total liabilities and only $82 trillion in household net worth, Uncle Sugar is arguably officially bankrupt<\/a> right now. It’s all over, folks. We’re just waiting for the lenders to call in the loans.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, the financial problems aren’t limited to the US government: After more than five years of economic stagnation<\/a>, its citizens have them too. According to the Fed, 40% of all American households currently show signs of financial stress<\/a> — and more than half are worse off today than they were in 2008.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Even worse, 31% of Americans have no retirement savings<\/a> at all, including 19% of Americans between 55 and 64. I hope they aren’t counting on Social Security — because the odds are almost certain that it isn’t going to be around to save them.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Let’s face it: You know something is amiss when even the dollar stores are merging<\/a> to stay in business. Yep. This week Dollar Tree announced that they’re acquiring Family Dollar.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> For what it’s worth, those in the know say the hot trend in retail is a return to smaller more-local stores<\/a>. Could this mean we’ll eventually see a return of the mom-and-pop shops that dominated commerce in the 20th century? I don’t know if I’d go that far. Yet.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Finally … If you hate those pestering anonymous random robocalls as much as I do — especially the ones at dinnertime — check out nomorobo.com<\/a>. It’s absolutely free; best of all, there’s no catch<\/a>. We’ve been using it for a week or so and it has completely stopped them in their tracks so far. No, really!<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amaze your friends and neighbors with these facts about the scurrilous telemarketing industry:<\/p>\n

2004<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Year the Do Not Call Registry<\/a> was established in the US.<\/p>\n

40<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Billions of dollars Americans lose to telemarketing fraud every year.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Telemarketing fraud’s rank among the list of top Federal Trade Commission consumer complaints.<\/p>\n

200,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Number of telemarketing fraud complaints the FTC receives every month<\/em>.<\/p>\n

80<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Percentage of robocalls successfully blocked by nomorobo.com.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Maximum price, in cents, that telemarketers typically pay per call — but it’s usually less.<\/p>\n

Sources: Privatis<\/a>; Gizmag<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Question of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

[poll id=\"20\"]<\/code><\/p>\n

Last Week’s Poll Result<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever been fired from a job?<\/p>\n