Making sense out of $ and ¢
OK, so President Obama (and most of the rest of America as well) are upset with the big banks and the guys and gals on Wall Street still getting all those big bonuses. I suppose, if I were among them, I wouldn't object, but I'm not, so...
But I have to wonder, why are we singling them out? Anybody who has read the headlines or listened to the news, or even the late night comedians on TV knows that there has been a war going on. No, I'm not talking about the one in Iraq or the one in Afghanistan. I'm talking about the one between NBC, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. I am getting too old to stay up to watch either of them, so again, why should it concern me? Yes, it does. Because, as I read the news, NBC has offered Conan a nice big fat $45,000,000--yes, that is $45 MILLION--to get off the air. Not only can he not be seen or heard on NBC, but it seems that they have put a muzzle on him, forbidding him to do any interviews on other programs or to start another program of his own for 6 months. Funny, but FOX hasn't, at least as far as I've heard, put such restrictions on Simon Cowell when he leaves American Idol. He will even be bringing his own competing program to the same network. It all reminds me of the government programs that pay farmers NOT to plant crops, yet the cost of everything at the grocery store seems to be more expensive than the last time you went. So what will Conan be doing for 6 months? My guess is that he will be writing a book, for which he will get umpteen million dollars as an advance, but that is purely speculation on my part.
The same policies that seem to be recommended for the bankers, Wall Street people, etc. don't seem to extend to the sports world either. I moved to Wisconsin just about the time the Brett Favre battle hit the fan. There was a lot of speculation at that time about whether or not he would retire, then he did retire, then he un-retired, then the Packers decided they didn't want him but New York did, then after just one season they didn't want him but the MN Vikings did. Reportedly he got $12,000,000 (yes MILLIONS again) for his first year there, with an additional $13,000,000 for his second year there. As a former Minnesotan and a current Wisconsin, I am just happy that I am not a big football fan. I'd have to have a split personality to figure out who to cheer for. There are many other multi-million dollar paid sports figures. And then there is Tiger Woods, who sort of cooked his own goose, but I somehow don't think he is living on Poverty Row until he makes a comeback, which I am sure he will do in time. I can't find a lot of sympathy for his loss of endorsements, but I do feel for his wife and child.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out where the double--or triple, or whatever--standards should end. I don't like our money going to give millions of dollars to support the people I can't afford to hire because I'm way out of their league. Considering the ups and downs of the stock market, the scam artists fleecing the people they represent, etc., I guess the best thing I have going for me is that I have never had enough money to invest anyway. Who knew one day that would be a blessing? You can't lose what you don't have. I'm also glad that I don't have any desire to pay the new higher prices to go see the Packers next year, not even if they are paying the Vikings. Ah, the simple things in life!
But I have to wonder, why are we singling them out? Anybody who has read the headlines or listened to the news, or even the late night comedians on TV knows that there has been a war going on. No, I'm not talking about the one in Iraq or the one in Afghanistan. I'm talking about the one between NBC, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. I am getting too old to stay up to watch either of them, so again, why should it concern me? Yes, it does. Because, as I read the news, NBC has offered Conan a nice big fat $45,000,000--yes, that is $45 MILLION--to get off the air. Not only can he not be seen or heard on NBC, but it seems that they have put a muzzle on him, forbidding him to do any interviews on other programs or to start another program of his own for 6 months. Funny, but FOX hasn't, at least as far as I've heard, put such restrictions on Simon Cowell when he leaves American Idol. He will even be bringing his own competing program to the same network. It all reminds me of the government programs that pay farmers NOT to plant crops, yet the cost of everything at the grocery store seems to be more expensive than the last time you went. So what will Conan be doing for 6 months? My guess is that he will be writing a book, for which he will get umpteen million dollars as an advance, but that is purely speculation on my part.
The same policies that seem to be recommended for the bankers, Wall Street people, etc. don't seem to extend to the sports world either. I moved to Wisconsin just about the time the Brett Favre battle hit the fan. There was a lot of speculation at that time about whether or not he would retire, then he did retire, then he un-retired, then the Packers decided they didn't want him but New York did, then after just one season they didn't want him but the MN Vikings did. Reportedly he got $12,000,000 (yes MILLIONS again) for his first year there, with an additional $13,000,000 for his second year there. As a former Minnesotan and a current Wisconsin, I am just happy that I am not a big football fan. I'd have to have a split personality to figure out who to cheer for. There are many other multi-million dollar paid sports figures. And then there is Tiger Woods, who sort of cooked his own goose, but I somehow don't think he is living on Poverty Row until he makes a comeback, which I am sure he will do in time. I can't find a lot of sympathy for his loss of endorsements, but I do feel for his wife and child.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out where the double--or triple, or whatever--standards should end. I don't like our money going to give millions of dollars to support the people I can't afford to hire because I'm way out of their league. Considering the ups and downs of the stock market, the scam artists fleecing the people they represent, etc., I guess the best thing I have going for me is that I have never had enough money to invest anyway. Who knew one day that would be a blessing? You can't lose what you don't have. I'm also glad that I don't have any desire to pay the new higher prices to go see the Packers next year, not even if they are paying the Vikings. Ah, the simple things in life!
Labels: Brett Favre, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, NBC, Packers, Tiger Woods, Vikings, Wall Street
posted by JanetElaineSmith @ 1:24 PM
6 Comments:
At 5:46 PM,
griefcase.blogspot.com said…
Applause! Applause! Applause!
It's nice to see it in print--what I'm thinking that is.
Thanks, Janet.
Linda Della Donna
www.griefcase.net
At 6:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
If they need a ghost writer, I'm available. I call dibs. lol
Happy New Year,
J. Aday Kennedy
The Differently-Abled Children's Author
www.jadaykennedy.com
At 6:28 PM,
Unknown said…
The difference as I see it, Janet, is that tax dollars, paid by you and me, were used to bail Wall Street out. One reason for doing that was to help loosen up credit. Instead of using the bailout money to make loans/extend credit, which would have helped get the economy back on track, though, the financial industry used it to increase their profits -- obscenely -- and uber-reward their top execs -- also obscenely. To my knowledge, we taxpayers haven't and aren't bailing out Tiger Woods (or paying for his 'rehab'), the Vikings, Brett, Conan or Jay.
The problem isn't mega compensation (although that does seem to be out of whack), but doing so with public funds and to the detriment of the public good.
Jerrianne
At 7:41 PM,
Jay Hudson said…
Hey,
Don't you know that with $45 million Conan can do anything he wants for the next seven months.
I have finally accepted Brett Favre! I admire him because he is to football what we are to writing.He loves it so much!
I know some of you are Saints fans, but I hope Brett lights up the Superdome.
Hey, Rosco P. Coltrane, AKA, JB, let me ghostwrite your next book.
Jay Hudson
Jay's Writer's World
At 2:05 AM,
Karen Kay said…
Like you Janet I've never had enough to invest so you can't lose what you don't have. However, their unethical behavior does affect us all in terms of places hiring -- jobs -- money to live on, etc.
If you ever get a chance, go read Joint House Resolution 192 -- 1933 -- in 1933, the United States was bankrupt. It had declared itself bankrupt, and it owed the international banksters lots of money. In order to "pay" their debt and continue to spend money as they always had, that Congress via the Joint House resolution 192 pledged the labor and property of every man, woman and child in America then and in the future for the debt of those Congressmen and President -- Frankie D Roosevelt was the extraordinarily unethical President who did this.
If you want a link to the resolution, I'll ask my husband to get it for you. Frankie D. and that Congress pledged our labor and sent every American into Slavery. No wonder Congress and the banksters act as if we owed them for their tenure in Congress -- as if we are slaves.
The only thing is, it was done in fraud. They pledged something they didn't own and in fact is immoral to own, and then hid their actions from the American public. And when someone commits fraud, guess what, that action is completely illegal -- even per their own laws in the Uniform Commerical Code and elsewhere -- like Common Law.
(I've been studying and reading a bit lately.) For more info, I would highly recommend the book, "They Own it all, including you by means of toxic currency." Available at Amazon.
At 12:53 AM,
WillowMorningsky said…
What has just left me stunned and rather fumble-brained is how thoroughly and immediately any effort at providing a sensible healthcare program was just dropped. Abandoned. With nary a further word on the subject or attempt to reconsider a new approach.
.....and, somebody tell me, please....so why is it that we, whom our elected officials purportedly serve, do not get the same healthcare program and benefits as they?????
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