Danni's Blog

Here’s something a few friends & family members have sent to my email. You’ve probably seen it, too. It’s definitely good enough to share!

Pastor’s wife’s letter

How’s this for apocalyptic literature. This was written by a pastor’s wife in biblical prose as a commentary of current events. It is Brilliant.

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their initiative,and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as “The One”.

He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.”

And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what “The One” would do, he had promised that it was good; and they believed.

And “The One” said “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah! Change is good!”

Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats.”

And the people said “Sock it to them!”

“And redistribute their wealth.”

And the people said, “Show us the money!”

And then He said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”

And Joe the plumber asked, “Are you kidding me? You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??”

And “The One” ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.

One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?” And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?”

And “The One” said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”

Then “The One” said, “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.”

And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.”

So “The One” said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Show us the money!”

Then “The One” said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!”

And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.

And He said, “I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics.”

And the people said, “Give me some of that!”

Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”

And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”

Then “The One” said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”

And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.”

So “The One” said, “Not to worry.. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!”

Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s grant them amnesty,Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing…”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!!” And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff.

The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.

Then “The One” said, “I am the “The One” – The Messiah – and I’m here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!”

But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, “Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more…”

And the people said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!”

And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”

And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?” But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon “The One” and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung.

And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change “The One” had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, “Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!”

But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

You may think this is a fairy tale, but it’s not. It’s happening RIGHT NOW !!!

There has been a butt-load of chatter going on the past few days about the big bonuses being paid to top executives of the companies that received bail out funds from the Federal Government. Namely AIG, the insurance & finance giant, but other companies as well.

And I understand the uproar. These companies were in trouble, supposedly about to crash, and the government (we tax payers and our children and grandchildren) bailed them out. And now MILLIONS are going to the very corporate executives who watched it all happen & did nothing to stop it?!?!?!?

So now the government wants to do something about it. One idea is to get the bail-out funds back. Ok, that’s fair. If the company is doing so well that they can afford to blow money like this, then they don’t need it. If the government gets the funds back, then that’s less debt on the backs of tax payers of this and the next two generations.

But what our elected & esteemed members of Congress are really focusing on is capping the incomes of executives with those companies who received bailout funds at $500,000.

BAD idea!!! Let me count the ways.

It ain’t nobody’s business!

That’s a matter between each Corporate Executive, their bosses, and the owners and/or shareholders of the company.

First of all, these executives aren’t regular employees like most people are. They don’t go in to the HR department begging for a job, fill out an employment application hoping there’s a position available that meets their skill set, and wait by the phone for a call. Then go into an interview and lie about how great they are and why they should be hired, when their only motivation is to “get a job, any job, as long as there’s some money coming in to pay the rent and utlities.”

These are persons with highly specialized skills, which they spell out on a resume. Most likely, they didn’t go begging for a job. The employer chased them! In exchange for the company’s use of those specialized skills, there is a contract between this executive and the company, which specifies the means by which they’ll be paid. Included in that contract is a salary AND certain bonuses that are payable annually (at least).

Since contractual law is binding, under the terms of the contract, that company is obligated to pay those bonuses. Are we going to start allowing companies to break contracts because WE don’t agree with it? If we’re going to start doing that, then contracts will loose their power to bind by law.

The Constitution is our Federal Government’s contract with its Citizens. It specifically mentions contracts, that’s how important they are. Thus, IF the government forces the companies to break those contracts, either the US Constitution is invalidated, or those we’ve elected who support this measure are immediately subject to impeachment because they’ve violated their oath to uphold & protect it.

That said, here’s where those companies are stupid, in my opinion…

Bonuses should ALWAYS be performance based.

Those bonuses should have been based on a percentage of company profits. If I were the owner of that company (or a member of the board of directors of a public company), there’s no way I would bind myself via contract to pay someone a bonus that might be undeserved. If the company is failing, those who are running it are failing. After all, if the company isn’t making any profit, where is that bonus money coming from? And if the company isn’t making profits, and the bonuses are paid, then those funds decrease the revenues available to pay the owner/shareholders. Or, as in this case, the company goes in debt to pay those contractually bound bonuses. Now that’s stupid!

Before going into my next point, let’s talk a little basic economics. You might recall an earlier post I wrote regarding economics & the Presidential Election. Remember one of the basic premesis of a free-market system is supply & demand – which is highly influenced by…

Reward & Punishment.

The free-market will determine which product, services or skills are in demand, as well as how much they are worth. They are worth what the market is willing to pay. I may be a decent singer, but the market is definitely not willing to pay to hear me! So if certain people have certain skills that are in demand to fulfill certain needs within a company, it is that company and the free market system that will determine how much those skills are worth.

And the government is the worse entity to put a cap on ANYTHING. Remember those $200 hammers & $500 toilet seats? The government is also the ones who set the $10,000 life insurance coverage for disabled vets. That was set back in WWII, and is still in effect today! Granted that was a lot of money back then – could buy you a really nice house. But today, that’s barely a down payment on a small home! Are we going to leave this up to the Feds?!?!?!?

On the other hand, if the free-market is working as it normally does, and one of the corporate executives from AIG, or other bailed out or failed companies goes looking for his next job, do you think they’re gonna be able to get such a cushy salary and multi-million dollar bonuses? Absolutely not! They’ve just proved their level of incompetence!

Life isn’t always fair.

So, although there are obviously many people in our country today who believe it’s unfair that corporate executives get paid so much, maybe they should really take a deep look in the mirror. There are always going to be some people who make more than the average person. And there’s always going to be a large pool from which to hire a McDonald’s cashier. What are you doing to improve your worth in the marketplace such that you are worthy for higher pay?

Ok, that question has the potential to take us on a real tangent! Enough books have been written on the subject without my adding to the subject.

The point is, sometimes life is unfair. The climate runs in cycles. The economy runs in cycles. And the problem is only as bad as we perceive it to be. The government needs to get its nose out of the free market. Let it correct itself. And it needs to stop trying to hinder free enterprise! Let companies make their own decisions and pay the consequences of them. Good or bad.

This is Dannielle Romaine Wood Hixson. Most people know me as Dannielle, but I’ve known myself as Danni since birth (yes, I remember it well! LOL). My name and pictures of me have been on the Internet since 1996. So, this really isn’t my first hello to the world. Just maybe my first hello to you.

Why did I start doing this blog? Because quite a few of my friends and business associates convinced me that I have something to say, and that the way that I write is engaging. In other words, they made the suggestion, then I found reasons to justify the efforts.

This blog will mostly be about Network Marketing and related topics. Since it belongs to me, it might contain other completely unrelated topics. Your feedback will help me know in which topics you’re most interested. It will also let me know whether or not those friends and business associates lied!

Don’t look for political correctness, in my writings. I don’t believe in it. For example, pronouns will be “he” or “she” depending on my mood (but consistent within the context), and I will point fingers. I can at least guarantee that my posts will be mostly grammatically correct, usually contain proper sentence structure, and usually use proper punctuation. It’s hard to believe that an Alabama redneck could be so snobbish about such things, but I am. Both – an Alabama redneck and a grammar/writing snob.

I’m a work-at-home mom of one, an entrepreneur specializing in coaching others to succeed more easily than myself. If you’re looking for, or struggling with your Plan B, request a no-strings-attached, free <a href=”http://www.danniellewood.com/consultation.html”>consultation</a>.

Ok, that’s my hello. You’ll be hearing from me again…

Danni