Monday, November 24, 2008

Congratulations, Liz McCartney!

Liz McCartney, cofounder of the St. Bernard Project has been voted CNN's "Hero of the Year."

St. Bernard Project cofounder Liz McCartney voted CNN's 'Hero of the Year' - Walker, TV Ranger - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

Genius idea of the century: teach kids about money!!!!!

Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! Somebody listen to this guy please!

A College Sophomore Solves the Financial Crisis - The Daily Beast: "The Jump$tart Coalition found the following in its annual survey of high school seniors:

* Only 48% understand that a credit card holder who only pays the minimum amount on monthly card balances will pay more in annual finance charges than a card holder who pays off the balance in full each month. That level of ignorance can easily lead to thousands in interest charges each year, and can easily be the difference between financial security and destitution.
* Only 40% realized that they could lose their health insurance if a parent suddenly lost his/her job....

In the current economic environment, increased financial literacy is absolutely essential for people to understand the issues as consumers and as voters. No one should leave high school without a solid foundation of practical financial skills. Students should be able to understand credit card offers, evaluate investments, compare insurance products, and understand their rights and responsibilities as consumers. Trust me, it's a lot more useful than Latin."

Quick Quips on the Nature of Government

Here's one:

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences."

The Capital Grill: Potent Quotables: P.J. O'Rourke

These are pretty libertarian sounding, and I'm inclined to agree with all of them.
Any thoughts?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Bailout Balogna. Can you believe it?

The mainstream media narrative goes like this: Katrina recovery has struggled because local Louisiana politicians were inept and unable to provide oversight. So much money has been wasted because of lack of oversight... I'm not going to dispute that.

But you would think the federal government-- so brilliant, uncorrupted and efficient compared to our "backwards state" of Louisiana would do things a little more carefully, wouldn't you? You would be wrong. Turns out there is hardly any oversight in the spending of the billions in this humongous national bailout!