Welcome to my FRIDAY RANT.  I have decided to keep these to once a week, although I am sure I could find plenty of fodder to do them more often!  It’s just not productive, and it’s not positive, but every once in a while, it’s REAL.  That is when I post it.

A friend of mine sent this to me today in an email.  I read it twice, then decided it needed to be published and shared!

Are you a Democrat, a Republican? An Independent?  A Liberitarian?  A vote who goes to the polls, closes their eyes and pokes a finger or a push pin in the first slot they hit, hoping for the best, against all odds?  Ya know what – it doesn’t matter!  This truth is the same for any of us because we are ALL taxpayers~

How many zeros are in a billion?

The next time you hear  any politician use the world “billion” in a casual manner, think about whether you want a politician spending YOUR tax dollars!  If you hear the word “trillion” well…this post will explain it too…

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a gret job of putting that figure into perspective.  This you WILL comprehend!

A Billion SECONDS ago it was 1959;

A Billion MINUTES ago Jesus was alive.

A Billion HOURS ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A Billion DAYS ago no one walked on the earth on two feet.

A Billion DOLLARS ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate that our government is spending it!

Now, while this thought is still fresh in your brain, let’s take a look at New Orleans, LA.

It’s amazing what you can learn with simple division!

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans.  What does this number really mean?

Well, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329.787.00

If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child last accounted for) your EACH get $516,628.00

If you are a family of four, that means your family unit gets $2,009,012.00

WASHINGTON, D,C.

HELLO!!!! Are all your calculators broken!!???  Here are taxes I am sure all of us have paid in our lives:

• Building Permit Tax
• CDL License Tax
• Corporate Income Tax
• Dog License Tax
• Federal Income Tax (FED)
• Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
• Fishing License Tax
• Food License Tax
• Fuel Permit Tax
• Gasoline Taxes
• Hunters License Taxes
• Inheritance Tax
• Intangible Property Tax
• Inventory Tax
• IRS Interest Tax (taxes on taxes – double taxation?!)
• IRS Penalties (taxes on taxes on taxes)
• Liquor Tax
• Luxury Tax
• Marriage License Tax
• Medicare Tax
• Tangible Property Tax
• Real Property Tax
• Road Use Tax (truckers)
• Service Charge Taxes
• Social Security Tax
• Sales Tax
• Recreation Vehicle Tax
• School Tax
• State Income Tax
• State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
• Telephone Federal Excise Tax
• Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
• Telephone Federal State and Local Surcharge Tax
• Telephone Recurring and Non-Recurring Charges Tax
• Telephone State and Local Tax
• Telephone Useage Charge Tax
• Utility Tax
• Vehicle License Registration Tax
• Vehicle Sales Tax
• Watercraft Registration Tax
• Well Permit Tax
• Workers Compensation Tax

and I am sure there are more so feel free to add them as a comment!

Now – explain to me again, why did we break to America to avoid taxation?

NOT ONE OF THESE TAXES EXISTED 100 YEARS AGO!  OUR NATION WAS THE MOST PROSPEROUS IN THE WORLD.  WE HAD ZERO NATIONAL DEBT, AND THE LARGEST MIDDLE CLASS IN THE WORLD…..

AND MOTHERS COULD AFFORD TO STAY HOME AND RAISE THEIR KIDS!

Who is the biggest employer in America?

OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!

“Read this snippet from “Federal Jobs Net”:  The average annual federal workers compensation in 2008, including pay plus benefits, was $119,982compared to just $59,909 for the private sector according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.”

Know how to fix the economy and restore jobs almost over night?

Forget unemployment!  Let’s ALL work for the Federal Government – shortly we ALL could earn an average of $79,197!

—- oh wait, that would be socialism!  Never mind! (p.s.  if socialism is less bothersome to you than say, being homeless or starving, click the link above for Federal Jobs Net, look for a job and APPLY OFTEN!  Imagine what might happen if suddenly millions of us did that.  Beyond the possibility of being employed with great pay, we might even restore our “NEW” economy!)

Economic hardship has impacted every facet of life – and that is also true for law firms (yes, I know you find that hard to believe, but they are experiencing layoffs as well).  One law firm has stepped up, listened to their clients, and answered a need clients were complaining about.

I read an impressive story that will be published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s latest edition. Foley and Lardner, LLP, raised the bar in client satisfaction, and erased the biggest fear of anyone who is thinking of hiring a lawyer.

That fear is about receiving a bill for more than they expected in legal fees.

Its a universal problem – people don’t hire lawyers even when they should, because they do not believe they can afford to.  It’s not just the initial retainer, it’s the fear that once the attorney is retained for a matter, the bill becomes an unknown quantity – a day to day worry that they may have a second legal issue to deal with when they can’t afford to pay their lawyer.

Foley and Lardner, LLP get an A+ in client care, because they LISTENED to their clients, and answered their concern.

In fact, they may create a World Wide Rave as defined by David Meerman Scott in his book of that title.  They gave up control to the client – Rule 3 of the Rave!!   When it comes to billing and budgeting of legal matters, they have successfully taken away the fear of  that big ulgy surprise when their clients open the envelope containing their legal bill every month.

In response to client concerns (this is a concern of ANYONE who hires a lawer for ANY legal matter),  they developed a proprietary software system, part of which allows clients of all 1000 of the lawyers in the firm to interactively share real-time billing information and keep their legal matter on a budget.  Clients can go online anytime and see trending in the billable hours by their lawyer,  and make contact to discuss options for their case BEFORE they go over budget and have yet another legal matter to deal with.

The full story was reported in the Wall Street Journal on Jan 5, 2010.

To be honest, this system does more than just allow the client to manage their legal bills and budget, and that is why it cost $1 Million to put in place.  However, this is a true investment in the firm.  It serves as a management tool, as a client communication tool and as a marketing tool to attract new business!

Smaller firms will say they can’t afford $1Million investment to do the same thing.  They don’t have to.  Small firms can do the same thing, very easily, using much simpler tools.  The real question has always been:  will they come out from behind the curtain on fees and allow the client control?  Will they allow the client to speak honestly and hold them to a budget the client can afford?  If they are smart, they surely will do that – and reap the rewards of (a) honest communications with their clients; and (b) growth of their law practices.

The bar has been raised – let’s see if a precedent in billing practices has now been set,  and which lawyers and law firms creatively  rise to the occasion!

***UPDATE***Monday, November 9, 2009:

Oh snap! Just as I thought: Headlines in today’s Jacksonville Business Journal:
“Mortgage Fraud Defendant Gets 7 years”….. here is an excerpt from that story:

“According to court documents, during 2004 and 2005, Gonzalez contracted to purchase 55 properties. For each property, Gonzalez directed an appraiser to significantly inflate the property’s value and submitted the inflated price to a lender to support a mortgage loan based on that price.”

OK HOLD ON A MINUTE. HE “directed” the Appraiser to do this? WOW. What a farce! I have a question: HOW did he direct the Appraiser do this? HOW? Damn, I tried to “direct” an Appraiser 10 years ago to include the REAL value of the swimming pool I had just paid to install (I even presented the receipts and cancelled checks!) and he told me to go to hell! It wasn’t worth crap when it came to the value of the house.

So…what did Mr. Gonzalez do to get his better outcome? Threaten the guy? Pay him off? Is anyone but ME asking that?
Seriously.

This guy seems to have been riding the greed train, and I am not saying he doesn’t deserve his 7 years given the scope of the mortgages and properties – I mean, hell, I didn’t have the guts to take out ONE mortgage during this real estate frenzy because I was afraid — after living here 35 years I KNEW the bottom was going to fall out – and I didn’t want to go down the tubes with it!

Like I said, this guy got really REALLY greedy, so he needs to pay the piper – but still, no one is asking the hard questions here.
That is what is getting my ire up!

The rest of the story: Jacksonville Business Journal (via email newsletter today)

—November 5, 2009 – Original Post—–
Oh seriously! Florida is #2 in Mortgage Fraud. Florida is “ground zero”. .. NO!

More like NO KIDDING!

I would bet you, right now, that ZERO of those arrested are from Wall Street, bankers or mortgage brokers! If they are, I would be SHOCKED.

Let me tell you, in 2008 I had to quit going into my bank’s branch office in order to prevent myself from being accosted by the employees who wanted me to “sign and drive” a mortgage loan. No qualifying necessary! Just make it up!

My first instinct? RUN LIKE HELL.
Trust me, there is always a reprecussion! Here is a headline that proves it, not more than a year later.

Tell me WHY investors and regular people are the first to be arrested and not all the “professionals” who were involved in these transactions. Tell me!

I am livid. Back on a rant. It’s either health care or mortgage foreclosure or jobs that get me going. I was having a fairly nice spell of just focusing on health care. Not any more.

DOES ANY OF THIS IMPROVE WHAT THE REST OF US ARE GOING THROUGH?? NO!

I think if they broke the law, they should pay the price, but let me ask you something. Doesn’t this seem like the Feds are more interested in the “easy cases” than really going after the troublemakers….you know, the ones we bailed out – Wall Street, etc.

I really don’t know what this Country has come to stand for. Right now it clearly looks like greed and a lot of other negative things and I frankly am sick of it!

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal

Wonder why there are so many foreclosures? Wonder why there is such a health care crisis? Wonder why the economy is having trouble getting it’s feet back under it?

It’s always related to EMPLOYMENT. ALWAYS.

Research firm: U.S. lost 284,000 jobs in Oct., a modest improvement over the 358,000 jobs shed in September.

In a research note, TrimTabs added that wages and salaries are still declining sequentially. The firm estimates based on income tax deposits that wages and salaries fell 5.3 percent year over year in September and 4.6 percent year over year in October, steeper than declines earlier in the year.

Source: Trim Tabs Investment Research