NEW YORK (July 15) -- Workers at the World Trade Center site are excavating a 32-foot-long ship hull that apparently was used in the 18th century as part of the fill that extended lower Manhattan into the Hudson River.
It's hoped the artifact can be retrieved by the end of the day on Thursday, said archaeologist Molly McDonald. A boat specialist was going to the site to take a look at it.
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Ancient Buried Ship Hull Found at Ground Zero Site
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Get America Growing Again!
The only way to fix our economy and start creating jobs at a brisk pace is to get middle class American Taxpayers to start to spend again. It is a proven method and to do so you have to get the cash into these people hands so they feel confident to spend again. Many middle class Americans have not had pay raises in at least 2 years, I being one of those. If you can get this class of people to start spending again, companies will start increasing sales and profits, more workers will be needed to help with the increase and more tax income will be generated. It is a trickle down effect that helps sustain long term growth. It will be a little tougher this go round because companies in order to survive have had to figure out how to do more with less. The cost of doing business has increased over the past 3 years and companies can no longer absorb all the costs. They either have to start passing them along or find a way to cut costs elsewhere. The sales per employee figure with many companies had to increase drastically, profit margins experienced steep drops. So now what they may have done with 30 workers 5 years ago, they have learned to do with 25 workers now. So to start adding employees they have to see substantial growth at a sustained rate. A lot of spending needs to be done folks!
With the government pumping money into large corporations and states, no income is generated to assist the people who spend on a regular basis - middle class Americans. The corporations use the money to pay off debts and clear their books. It gives them no incentive to really change their ways. I have respect for Ford, they did not take any money; they went back, regrouped, came up with a plan and instituted that plan right away. They are now one of the top automakers in the world, way ahead of the rest of the crowd.
Why can't our government figure this out - as long as Americans don't spend, the economy will not grow. There have also been so many home foreclosures, that there are now hundreds of thousands of people who have become ineligible to obtain home loans for the next several years. Many of these people are now living with relatives because they can not even get a lease. This will slow down home buying down the line and we will see a plateau.
It is going to be long term rebuilding process, at least another 5 to 7 years, before we all can dig out of this one - BUT that is only if the government sees how to fix the economy - get the money into the hands of people who will spend it and things will start to improve much quicker. I am not talking about the measly $400 or $800 to everyone - that is a slap in the face and worthless. You know if instead of bailing out all these companies and states with the billions that the government spent, they could have given each American taxpayer $40,000 or more each and spent less than 1/2 of what they did - the economy would have been much further along by now because most of these people would have went out and spent at least 3/4 of that. The only proven way to get out of a recession is for Americans to spend their way out. Maybe the government can look at suspending taxes for people making $125,000 or less for the rest of the year, this would throw more money to the people who need it and the people who will spend it. Bailouts of corporations is not and should not have been the direction the government took.
To get things straight again, there will also need to be a balance of cutting spending and an increase in taxes. You can only cut so much before you start having to eliminate many essential services. With debts in the federal and state governments so high a likely tax hike of some sort will be a necessary evil. I thinks an increase in gasoline taxes is fair, it is a tax that can be applied evenly across all classes. Everyone who drives will be pitching in. There has not been an increase here in years. Maybe look at a .02 or .03 increase per gallon. This will not cause a great hardship to anyone and it is a fair tax. Use 50% for Highway improvements and 50% for paying down the debt. I once saw an article from the oil industry that said increasing the taxes on gasoline would put an undue financial hardship on oil companies and they would have to increase the price of gas. The example was if the government imposed a tax of .04 a gallon, they would have to charge at least .08 or more. What a bunch of hogwash. It is a tax, you collect it and pass it through to the government. IF you get it done early, the government even gives you a little discount. So if the tax was .03 a gallon, you should only see prices increase by .03 a gallon. This would generate at current consumption about $350,000,000 a year.
With the government pumping money into large corporations and states, no income is generated to assist the people who spend on a regular basis - middle class Americans. The corporations use the money to pay off debts and clear their books. It gives them no incentive to really change their ways. I have respect for Ford, they did not take any money; they went back, regrouped, came up with a plan and instituted that plan right away. They are now one of the top automakers in the world, way ahead of the rest of the crowd.
Why can't our government figure this out - as long as Americans don't spend, the economy will not grow. There have also been so many home foreclosures, that there are now hundreds of thousands of people who have become ineligible to obtain home loans for the next several years. Many of these people are now living with relatives because they can not even get a lease. This will slow down home buying down the line and we will see a plateau.
It is going to be long term rebuilding process, at least another 5 to 7 years, before we all can dig out of this one - BUT that is only if the government sees how to fix the economy - get the money into the hands of people who will spend it and things will start to improve much quicker. I am not talking about the measly $400 or $800 to everyone - that is a slap in the face and worthless. You know if instead of bailing out all these companies and states with the billions that the government spent, they could have given each American taxpayer $40,000 or more each and spent less than 1/2 of what they did - the economy would have been much further along by now because most of these people would have went out and spent at least 3/4 of that. The only proven way to get out of a recession is for Americans to spend their way out. Maybe the government can look at suspending taxes for people making $125,000 or less for the rest of the year, this would throw more money to the people who need it and the people who will spend it. Bailouts of corporations is not and should not have been the direction the government took.
To get things straight again, there will also need to be a balance of cutting spending and an increase in taxes. You can only cut so much before you start having to eliminate many essential services. With debts in the federal and state governments so high a likely tax hike of some sort will be a necessary evil. I thinks an increase in gasoline taxes is fair, it is a tax that can be applied evenly across all classes. Everyone who drives will be pitching in. There has not been an increase here in years. Maybe look at a .02 or .03 increase per gallon. This will not cause a great hardship to anyone and it is a fair tax. Use 50% for Highway improvements and 50% for paying down the debt. I once saw an article from the oil industry that said increasing the taxes on gasoline would put an undue financial hardship on oil companies and they would have to increase the price of gas. The example was if the government imposed a tax of .04 a gallon, they would have to charge at least .08 or more. What a bunch of hogwash. It is a tax, you collect it and pass it through to the government. IF you get it done early, the government even gives you a little discount. So if the tax was .03 a gallon, you should only see prices increase by .03 a gallon. This would generate at current consumption about $350,000,000 a year.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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