Stimulus, anyone?
I’m just curious if anyone has directly felt the results of the stimulus package or new economic policies recently. Here are some ways in which they have positively impacted me lately, from more direct to less direct:
- I was able to claim the $600 tax credit on my 2008 taxes (I think because I didn’t receive it the year before but was eligible this year)
- I will be able to claim a 30% rebate on the installation of an energy-efficient tankless water heater on next year’s taxes (and if I decide to replace my old windows later this year, on that too)
- I refinanced at a rate of 4.65, which will save me $200/month in payments, and a good friend did the same and will save $400/month, and I know of at least two other friends who have refinanced for big savings and/or reduction in loan period
- I have one friend who avoided foreclosure of her home through the new program
- Seems like my SEP-IRA has rebounded a bit
Now if only this were my first house, I could have claimed that sweet $8000 tax credit on buying it last year! Oh well… On the plus side, my cousin and his fiance are buying their first house at very good prices and will get the rebate, so yay :) It was a foreclosed house and they are putting a lot of work into it, but in the end it will be a very good deal for them.
Stuff that is less reassuring… WA Mutual got taken over by Chase. I suppose that is neutral and still fall-out from the original issues. Nothing seems to have changed (we have an non-profit account there that I manage as Treasurer). My bank reduced my credit line from a really ridiculously high level to a somewhat more reasonable level (amounts not listed to protect the innocent) because I pay it off each month and never get anywhere near it. To me, that actually seems like a bright move on their part, a tiny bit of fiscal responsibility. What a concept – give people only the level of credit they actually need/want.
What about you? I usually wouldn’t talk this much about personal money, but it’s interesting to see when/if a government policy actually makes a difference. I haven’t heard of anyone I know getting or keeping a job due to the stimulus money, though I know organizations that have benefited from it. Have you?
A kinder, gentler IRS?
A while back, maybe in March, I heard an interview with the new Director of the IRS on NPR. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and basically said the IRS was going to cut people some slack this year due to all the economic upheaval. Even if you couldn’t pay your taxes, you were encouraged to send in your return and work with them on a plan, or maybe they could find you some credits to help out. Sounds great, in theory :)
Well, this year I had a little problem with my taxes, as in underpaying them. Last year, I decided to start using the annualized income method, which a complicated way of calculating your quarterly estimated taxes. Normally, you have to pay the same amount each quarter, based on what you earned last year. But my income varies so much from year to year and from quarter to quarter that that just wasn’t working for me. I kept guessing wrong and overpaying or underpaying substantially.
So, I started using the horribly complicated form each quarter and carefully filled it out, basically like doing your whole taxes every quarter. Still, I felt good that I was paying the right amount as I went along, and at the end of the year it would all work out right. NOT. You see, I made sort of a basic, unrelated mistake. In the middle of the year I moved and got new bank accounts (but still had the old ones). I downloaded those into Quicken and started directing a lot of my payments into them. But forgot to add them to the automatic reports I was using to calculate my taxes (OOPS!). So, I underpaid for the 3rd and 4th quarters and owed a penalty at the end of the year.
SIGH. In early April I sat down to do my taxes, paid the unpaid amount, and then worked on the form to calculate the penalty. Because I was using annualized income, the IRS couldn’t do it for me – so I had to do all four quarters ALL OVER AGAIN. Nevertheless, at the end, I found I only owed about $60 in penalty. Yay! Mostly because the error was late in the year and the interest on the unpaid amount wasn’t that much.
Remembering the NPR interview and at a friend’s urging, I included a note of apology and an explanation of how I had managed to underpay my taxes. Yesterday, I got something from the IRS. This always makes me a little nervous, as any small business should at even the remotest possibility of an audit. But lo and behold, it was a check in the amount of my penalty payment. Apparently they took my good faith and attempts to do the right thing into account, and gave me a break. It’s not that much in terms of dollars, but it feels like a nice gesture anyway. So thanks, IRS!
Cruelty knows no bounds
In California, the Prop 8 folks have a new champion – our friend, the one and only Ken Starr, who has now introduced a court case to force gays and lesbians who were legally married in California before Prop 8 to divorce. To force them to divorce!!! I have to just express a little outrage at the incredible cruelty of the idea.
Never mind that Prop 8 is still winding its own way through the courts, and may be illegal. THIS case is going to the Supreme Court on March 5. How he managed that I have no idea. But just imagine… your mom and dad, your friends who are married, being forced to divorce. Imagine the effects on you, their children, their family and friends. Imagine the effects on their legal arrangements, their mortgages and bank accounts, their adopted children. Imagine how those with partners in the hospital feel, who can only wait and pray that their rights to visit and care for and make decisions for their loved ones aren’t taken away.
Really, imagine anyone being forced to divorce. ESPECIALLY couples who have, in some cases, waited decades for the right to marry their loved ones. All I can say to the Supreme Court at this moment, if any are listening, is… Have Mercy. You can express your views to the Supreme Court here. But don’t take too long…
It’s high time for a new law in this land. While I support gay marriage universally, I know that others don’t. Obama took a middle course in his inauguration night speech, so here is my proposal, until that day when love prevails and intelligent people decide that supporting stable families is a good idea:
1. Leave the issue of gay marriage up to the states, for now. Pass some form of civil union law at the federal level, if possible. At a minimum, repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
2. As part of the civil union law, require all states to honor legal marriages from any other state or country, and, upon production of a valid marriage certificate, provide any benefits to those couples that would be provided to any other married couple.
3. Invalidate any state or local law that would nullify any marriage in any manner or for any reason other than the two people themselves deciding to end their marriage.
No marriage should ever be involuntarily taken away from two people who love each other. That’s just the height of cruelty.
Quiet doings in Obama-land
Watching the news from Florida last week, it was pretty much all about presidential appointees (which has been disappointing, though it was nice to hear him say he screwed up), and the economic stimulus plan – which isn’t going nearly as bipartisanly as I would have hoped, though thank you to the Senate for trying harder than the House and showing a tad more wisdom on that.
But what really strikes me is what nobody’s hearing about. I do read the EarthJustice blog, because I’ve done some legal work for them over the years. They’re tracking the Obama administration very closely, and he and his people have been doing serious things for the environment and continue to do them almost every day since they’ve been in office. These aren’t really getting reported in the news, but it’s just a reminder to me of why I wanted to elect this guy. He actually cares enough, in the midst of all this other economic and political stuff, to make sure these environmental issues are taken care of.
A partial list in just the first two weeks of office:
- Ordered the EPA to re-review CA and other states’ request for higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles
- Directed the Dept. of Transportation to finalize its own long-awaited federal fuel efficiency standards
- Ordered the EPA to release its long-stalled report on dioxin toxicity
- Removed the federal government’s support for a case before the Supreme Court allowing higher mercury emissions from power plants, which may hopefully lead to it being dropped
- Directed DOE to create energy efficiency standards for dozens of household appliances
- Cancelled 100,000 acres of oil and gas leases near pristine wilderness in the West that were pushed through at the last minute by Bush
- Sent representatives to the international global warming conference in Poland to work constructively for solutions
- Has put all of Bush’s last-minute environmental directives on hold for review
Just reading about this makes me feel a lot better. Finally, it feels like someone up there cares. Makes me wonder what all else he’s up to that isn’t getting reported in the news…
Inaugural impressions
Random walk through the inauguration…
From Obama’s speech, the quote that struck me the hardest: “… we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” Always what I have liked about Obama – he says what needs saying.
At the exact moment when Obama became President (12 noon), he was listening to the beautiful music of Itzhac Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, and Gabriela Montero. Nothing could have been more fitting.
They had the courage to walk part of the parade route. I have to admit I was holding my breath. I am so glad they did, and that they are unafraid.
I received a beautiful embossed invitation to the inauguration, and even though I couldn’t go, I want to keep it. This, from a person who never keeps ANYTHING. I still might keep it.
I never watch TV, but even I can tell that the ads are unique – they’re about health care, green energy, the rights of workers to have a better life, grass-roots organizing, sustainable product cycles. It’s amazing that even advertising is being shaped by Obama’s vision. I remember during the election the major ad campaign for “clean coal”. My favorite ad of inauguration day is the sham ad by coal executives from Al Gore’s group, gently funny enough to be straight out of SNL (“just leave global warming to us”), ending with the tagline “There’s no such thing as clean coal.”
And all day I was thinking, “I can’t wait to see what he does tomorrow.”
Campaign finance and other topics
OK – I know I’ve been quiet lately. I am trying to finish one career to start another (well, really two new ones). Having three jobs is pretty wearing. It’s not that there hasn’t been a lot going on and a lot to talk about! I just keep thinking about blogging and not doing it. I’ve resolved lately to carve out some time though… even if it’s just little observations here and there.
Today’s thoughts are about campaign financing from the public perspective – yeah, that’s you and me. I’ve never given to a campaign before, at least not for a politician. And I don’t tend to like being approached on the street or solicited by mail. This is a candidate I feel strongly about, however, more so than any other politician in my life. Of course, I’m talking about Obama.
That doesn’t mean that I would just run out and give money. As I mentioned, things have been a bit hectic. Knowing that you SHOULD do something is different from actually getting around to it – if I can’t find time to go to the grocery store, clean house, or get my hair cut because I’m working so hard, giving to a political campaign is just not going to be high on my list, no matter how important.
Nevertheless, they’ve managed to get a bunch of my donations, and I think it’s very telling how that happened. First, I found Barack Obama on Twitter. I decided to follow him, and oddly enough, he followed me back. I doubt he’s really reading all our posts ^.^ but it was kind of symbolic. Then I visited the website and signed up for e-mail updates. Then text messages – and yes, I was one of the first to know who the VP was :) That was cool.
Almost immediately, as you would expect, the e-mail requests for donations started coming to my inbox. But these were different. Each one was accompanied by a personal video – of Barack, Michelle, Joe, or the campaign manager. They talked about who they were, shared personal moments on the campaign, talked about the campaign strategy.
Those were the best ones, later in the game. It wasn’t hard to convince me to part with the first $100 or two. After that, I wanted to know what I was paying for. Well, they told us. In detail. Often a specific ad would come with the request for money that we were being asked to fund – that was not airing yet. They would explain why this particular ad right now and where it would be playing. Now Obama hasn’t had too many ads I disliked, most have been very positive. But if for any reason you didn’t want to fund a particular ad – well, you didn’t have to! I REALLY liked that.
Later came discussions of what exactly they were doing in battleground states that was costing so much money. It was nice to hear that, and to think we had some hope of taking Florida, for example. That might go a long way toward erasing the Al Gore pain of old.
The last tactic I personally enjoyed was grass roots matching funds. Everyone has employer matching funds – this was person to person – those that had given before matching new contributors and sending personal messages about why we support this candidate – and getting personal messages back from the person who got our match. That was fun, too.
All of this has contributed to Obama having more than 3 million contributors now. Each has given an AVERAGE of only $86. Compare that to lobbyists, PACs, and industry. Yet, he is so far outstripping McCain in fundraising that he is able to compete in places that no presidential candidate has bothered to before.
It doesn’t hurt that he has a huge army of volunteers (organized on the internet, of course) working for him on the ground. If you don’t have money, you can get lists of people in your neighborhood to call or visit and talk with – and they emphasize that this is just as important or more so. Ads go only so far.
I hope the fact that this personal fund-raising approach has beat the pants off of traditional campaign financing will change the face of politics forever. We’ve shown what our money can do as the vast public, $86 at a time. Go, Obama!
(and please keep sending those videos, twitters, and e-mails AFTER you become president)
Obama’s speech on race
OK – I finally got to listen to the whole thing in its entirety. I have never heard a better speech from a politician in my lifetime, or one more appropriate to our time. Please don’t limit yourself to what you’ve heard on the news – go listen to it. It is now the most downloaded ever video on YouTube. It is 37 minutes long – and he wrote the entire thing himself.
You can find it here. Go listen, for the future of the country. We need this type of honesty, intelligence, personal fearlessness, and character in office.
Here’s another video from Portland that’s pretty interesting – it’s Obama’s comments on getting endorsed by Bill Richardson. Listening to what Obama says about Gov. Richardson, I wonder if we’re seeing a possible vice-presidential candidate… He’d be a very good one, far better than most people had any idea of during the election.
Obama – the Mediator’s Candidate
I received this from a fellow mediator, Ron Kelly. I agree with him 100% and just wanted to pass these ideas along. For those of you Dems reading this in Washington State – please make this your year to go to the caucuses, it’s the only way your vote will count!
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Obama – A Mediator’s Candidate?
I remember early on in the campaign, before I had formed a preference, I heard an experienced Washington reporter discussing the candidates. He found Obama puzzling. He claimed that if you were in a disagreement with Obama, he would summarize your arguments even better than you could yourself. This got my attention.
Then, in an early debate, Obama was asked if he would negotiate directly with the leaders of countries with whom we have strong differences. He said yes. He was attacked by many who said this just proved how naive he was. He didn’t back down. He pointed out that we negotiated with Stalin and we negotiated with Mao. He asserted that you do not need to give away anything to enter negotiations with people with whom you strongly disagree.
In speeches, he consistently advocated sitting down to negotiate with, and respectfully listening to, the heads of oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, and health care companies. He was roundly attacked as “wanting to bring Kumbaya to a knife fight”. He responded that he could afford to listen respectfully to the other side, especially if he was able to reach across the aisle to enlist even a few opposition Senators to his efforts.
I was skeptical. I read one of his books, “The Audacity of Hope”. I went back to read an article he wrote twenty years ago on why he was a community organizer. I concluded he had been consistent his entire adult life about reaching out to those with whom you disagree to build effective working coalitions.
I listened to his January 3 Iowa speech. He said he understood 9/11 not as a way to scare up votes, but as “a challenge to unite America and the world against our common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease.” His speech moved me deeply.
The next morning I woke up realizing that Obama inspired me like no other major presidential candidate has in decades. I have not heard any other politician currently on the national center stage asserting these core beliefs as consistently and effectively as Barack Obama.
Then, yesterday, I saw the letter that finally prompted me to send you this. It was signed by eighty lawyers working to preserve our rights to habeas corpus. It says: “When others stood back, Senator Obama helped lead the fight in the Senate against the Administration’s efforts in the Fall of 2006 to strip the courts of jurisdiction, and when we were walking the halls of the Capitol trying to win over enough Senators to beat back the Administration’s bill, Senator Obama made his key staffers and even his offices available to help us. Senator Obama worked with us to count the votes, and he personally lobbied colleagues who worried about the political ramifications of voting to preserve habeas corpus for the men held at Guantanamo.”
If you have decided to support Senator Clinton, please know I will be working enthusiastically for your candidate in November if she is the Democratic nominee. As a mediator, I have felt inspired and uplifted since deciding the morning after Iowa that I would put in some work for Obama every day until my state’s primary. If you want to help him, I urge you to go now to http://www.barackobama.com and to contribute as much of your time, money, letter writing, etc. as you can.
Enthusiastically yours,
Ron Kelly
DC This Week – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Well, let’s just see what’s going on in our nation’s capitol – shall we start with the good news, or the bad news? Maybe the good news, since there’s so little of it.
The Good – The Supreme Court upheld the right of companies that conduct Superfund cleanups voluntarily to recover part of their costs from other responsible entities. This preserves one of the basic incentives for companies to do voluntary cleanups without waiting to be ordered, since otherwise no-one would want to incur costs to clean up other people’s messes. This is especially important since Congress eliminated the tax that funded the Superfund program some while back, and this is now how most cleanups get done.
Who would oppose this? The Bush administration – of course. The case in question was one where the federal government shared a portion of the liability, but relied on its contractor to step up and do the cleanup, then denied their claim for compensation on the grounds that no-one should get to recover costs unless they were actually forced by the government to conduct a cleanup. 38 states filed briefs opposing the federal government on this one. Even Clarence Thomas, who wrote the opinion, could see what a ridiculous stance this is. The government has an estimated liability of 300 billion in Superfund cleanup costs, which could have something to do with it – ya think? Still, one would hope they wouldn’t stiff their own contractors.
Also in the Good category, though not in Washington DC – I can’t help mentioning Google and Intel, who yesterday announced that they are joining in an initiative to make computers more energy-efficient (they currently waste 50% of their energy). Succeeding at this goal is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of eliminating 11 million cars, or closing 20 coal-fired power plants. Awesome idea.
The Bad – Well gee, where should I start. I almost hate to go back to the Bush Administration, because it’s just too easy. Mr. Bush is threatening to veto Congressional legislation designed to lower vehicle emissions, make appliances more energy-efficient, create incentives for inventions that will lower energy use, and various other useful programs, such as ways to make school buses less polluting. Why? Because there is oil-company price-gouging legislation included.
On another topic – The Administration is busy developing a strategy to improve the US’s public image around the world, by focusing on countering terrorist arguments and ideology, and by touting “American” values of human rights, dignity, freedom, and humanitarian aid. If we spent more time actually LIVING UP to these ideals – we wouldn’t need this “strategy.”
The Ugly – Here I really must have Congress and the State Department share this award, sad as I am to see this Democratic Congress contributing to such activities. Our Congress is sending funds to the tune of $30 million to fund opposition groups in Iran – at the same time Condi et al. are over there pointing fingers at Iran for funding the insurgency in Iraq. How on earth do we get away with this stuff? THIS is the problem with our “image.”
And now we’re talking about arming ex-Al Qaeda troops in Iraq because they claim to be disgruntled and will fight on our side instead of theirs. They’re probably laughing all the way back to their arms depot. Haven’t we learned ANYTHING from history?
SIGH.
Living in another country… the whys
I’ve often thought about living in another country in the not-too-distant future, most likely south of the border – central America, Costa Rica, maybe. There are several motivations for this – not the least of which is growing disenchantment with the US. I’m so unhappy with our politics and priorities that it just kills me to be a representative of our country and to send my taxes to support what we’re doing in the world.
I have a girlfriend who argues that in that case, one should work harder to elect the right people, so that our country does what we intend and prefer. That’s a valid argument. She says we have to take responsibility for what our country does, because it’s each and every one of our responsibilities to make sure we have a government with the right priorities.
I have a completely different instinct, and that is to vote with my feet (and my money). Ever since WWII, the military-industrial complex in the US has been growing. I can’t see it being reduced substantially anytime soon, no matter what administration is in power. And Americans in general don’t seem to share my values; I am reminded of this each election cycle. Apparently a large majority of them believe we are entitled to (or by some reckoning, are morally required to) be the world’s policemen. While there even may be some merit to the ethical arguments, I prefer to live in a country that keeps its hands off the rest of the world.
Hmm… I didn’t mean for this post to get so political :) Because that is only one of the reasons. One other is financial. I am increasingly finding it impossible to live in the US and get ahead financially in any meaningful way, while still having a reasonable standard of living. I’m not sure how I will provide for my old age, and I have this dream firmly imprinted in my mind of being able to live somewhere where I can see and hear the ocean – whether it be Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier, or the waves on the beach in Puerto Vallarta (a surprisingly nice town, as I found out this week).
I’d like to sell my house in the US, get more and more of my income streams online, and go international. My money would go a much longer way almost anywhere other than the US or Europe. I’d especially like to do conservation work in the south. I’ve tried doing it in the States, but in spite of my having all the right science degrees and experience, the big conservation organizations don’t seem to want my help, even as a volunteer (!). They want volunteers to pull weeds, plant trees, count salmon, etc., but not to do the long-range planning and data collection that I’m able and trained and willing to do.
Also, there’s the very simple reason that every time I’ve traveled in central America, South America, or Mexico I’ve loved it. This may have something to do with avoiding the big tourist traps and really seeing the places as much as is possible to do as a gringo, but it would be even easier as a resident. What’s a birder not to like about Costa Rica, for example? :) Speaking of Costa Rica, the central plateau has year-round temperatures of about 75 degrees, and is known as the garden state because of its profuse gardens, butterflies, and hummingbirds :) I could live with that!
How sweet to know that my taxes (what little there are) would be going toward improving the health care system in Costa Rica and not to the war in Iraq (oops, there’s those politics again). Yes, I’d have to learn Spanish, as well as possible to be able to work there. I don’t expect that to be difficult if I spend any significant amount of time there. Next blog… how to do it.
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