Hey STUPID!!!! Come in here and buy something you don’t really need, that you can’t really afford… something you’ve lived without up until now and you could easily continue to live without… pay a premium price, and we’ll gladly wait 12 months to hammer you with a high interest rate because we KNOW for a fact that 99% of you lame brains out there won’t pay off the bill before then.

And we sure as heck won’t do anything to encourage or remind you to pay it off. Ha, ha, ha, ha… come one, come all… all idiots welcome! It’s payday boys, they’re lining up around the block….”

It’s an election year folks. The liberal (Democrat or Republican) media has every interest in portraying the country and economy as falling apart so that liberals (from both parties) can come to the “rescue” with more and bigger government. Whether it’s President Bush doubling the size of government in 7 years, or the Democrats pandering to virtually every group in America with promise of government welfare, politicians have spiraled out of controlled taking money from you and me to give to others… for votes. All of this is ALWAYS exaggerated in an election year.

This morning one of my friends wrote a blog post that falls hook, line and sinker for the media hysteria.

Gas prices are at “crisis” levels. The mortgage “crisis” is threatening to collapse our entire economy. Then we have the “climate change crisis”, the “poverty crisis”, “the unemployment/minimum-wage crisis”, the “healthcare crisis”… blah, blah, blah.

When are people going to learn that a “crisis” is the favorite tool of politicians, government and special interests. Why? Because it appeals to people’s greed to have the government take away money and resources from one group of people, and give it to them to help them through their “crisis”. It removes personal responsibility for your choices and circumstances.

The global-warming-climate-change crisis is a political power grab who’s real intent is to cripple and constraint the free market. It is tantamount to a HOAX lacking ANY evidence, and to the contrary, is disputed by REAL evidence. This crisis is going to cost us TRILLIONS of dollars, and myriads of freedoms… for NOTHING. It’s a farce, a hoax, a political fairy tale.

The “mortgage crisis” is NOT a crisis. Less than 2% of mortgages are in danger of foreclosure. Many of those are from speculators, and the remainder are from people who should have never been given loans in the first place. The GOVERNMENT pressured lenders to make loans easier for people who cannot afford them… why? Votes. The people who fall into that category are typically those who look to the government for their welfare. Now they are looking for the government to bail them out of this “crisis”. Meanwhile, people who would normally “tough it out” and find a way to pay, logically reason “why? The government can bail me out too”.

The gas price crisis? This nothing more than the natural ebb and flow of prices and they will go down again, like they always do at the end of the summer (just like they always rise going into summer). Adjust for inflation, gas prices are nowhere near record or crisis levels.

Now the big-government liberals (Democrat and Republican) want to throw a token crumb and remove the “gas tax” for the summer. Wow… this will save each of us about .40 cents a day…. It’s cosmetic pandering, typical of politicians, and typically attractive to Americans who are increasingly dependent on politicians and government.

Ironically, and predictably, the high gas prices are due to liberal, big government policies: corn is being subsidized to produce Ethanol that will FAIL as an energy source. Higher corn prices due to government subsidy causing ALL food and gas prices to rise. As well, the liberal environmentalist movement is in large part to blame because they block all efforts to drill for domestic oil even though we can do it now with virtually NO impact on the environment. It’s not about the environment… it’s about POWER and hating humankind, especially American humankind.

The “health care crisis”? You hear the constant drone of “60 million uninsured”. Horse doo doo. No one is denied healthcare in America, not even non-citizens. Millions of those uninsured are young, healthy and uninsured by choice. Millions are uninsured because they are undisciplined and impulsive choosing to spend their money on flat screen TV’s, cigarettes, new rims on the car and cell phones. The American healthcare system, with its many flaws, is BY FAR the best in the world… but we are about to ruin that with “universal healthcare”, aka government controlled socialist medicine.

The “minimum wage” crisis? Minimum wage is mostly for kids getting their first jobs. Anyone who does not choose to educate themselves, improve their skills and better themselves PAST minimum wage, doesn’t deserve to be paid more. Anyone truly unable to move past that (TRULY UNABLE) should be helped by caring Christian communities. But that would entail taking personal responsibility for your own life, and we can’t have that in America, can we?

“Poverty crisis”? The poor in America typically have cell phones, TV’s, food stamps, free healthcare, tax “credits” (welfare), and endless government handouts. At less than 5% unemployment there are VERY few genuinely poor in America who have no way of escaping poverty. It is the victim-welfare-entitlement mentality that makes people poor, and even then our “poor” live like kings compared to the truly poor in the rest of the world.

	Hey, folks... if you appreciate the time and effort put into writing this, you can help me pay the bills by throwing a tip in the tip jar...

Does America have big financial problems? You bet. Our spend-and-increase-debt-addicted government is going to eventually cause our economy to completely collapse into chaos and hyperinflation. Our rejection of God and acceptance of all things immoral is rapidly causing the disintegration of family, goodness, patriotism and heritage.

These are the REAL crisis’s in America, not the made-up-for-election-year-liberal “so we can get more votes and power” political so-called crisis’s that so many are wringing their hands over today.

The sky is NOT falling. Quit giving Chicken Little more government power. If anything, what we have today is CRUMBLING FOUNDATION, not a falling sky.

What are your questions or comments about this topic?

A reader asks:

How can I grow my client email/customer list for my online business?

This is probably the most frequent question I receive and for obvious reason. I’ve answered it different ways several times in the past. However, I never mind answering it again because it is such a crucial part of doing business online.

I’m going to give you a list of ideas, but there is no way I can expand on each of them here. Many of them are self explanatory, and many of them will point you in the right direction and you can pursue some self education on the ones that interest you. I have used all of these myself in some form or another, so none of it is pie in the sky, or just me parroting other online business sites.

I welcome your questions about any of these ideas and I’ll post up answers for the benefit of all my readers.

1. Make sure you have a business card that you give out to anything that moves or breathes.
2. Have multiple websites and blogs rather than one great big one that contains all your “stuff”.
3. Use Pay Per Click advertising campaigns such as Google Adwords.
4. Publish articles to article directories that are then used on other sites and newsletters.
5. Have an email and printed newsletter.
6. Visit discussion forums that are in any way related to your customer base and post replies (your signature will have links to your site or blog)
7. Make sure your email has a GOOD signature with links to your site or blog.
8. Use traditional advertising such as radio ads, TV commercials, or ads in magazines/newsletters.
9. Get articles published in magazines and newsletters.
10. Create blogs where you publish your opinions and expertise, answer questions and give advice.
11. Learn “search engine optimization” and make sure your sites/blogs are being returned in search engine results when the appropriate search phrases are being queried.
12. 12. Study what your competitors are doing RIGHT and copy them, then improve it.

	Hey, folks... if you appreciate the time and effort put into writing this, you can help me pay the bills by throwing a tip in the tip jar...

You would think we all learned that lesson in the era of TV and magazine scams… but the Internet is offering a whole new generation of people the same old “get rich quick with no effort” nonsense… and people are making MILLIONS from it. Don’t help them buy a new Ferrari.

Like all successful business, it takes time, effort and continual education. If you aren’t willing to do that, give up having your own business. It will just be a waste of your time and money.

I expand on many of these ideas in my newest DVD here...

What are your questions about these ideas?

“My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.” – [Put a politicians name here during any election year]

Inevitably, it seems like elections always come down to the economy and personal finances. Right or wrong, good or bad, this seems to be the reality of our elections.

Here are some facts everyone should consider as we race towards the big election this year. I could not find a source or author for some of the these lists, so I can’t credit them, but they are worth reading:

Change

Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following:

A little over one year ago…

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummeted;
2) The cost of gasoline soared to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it! Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him. While the Congress and the liberal media LOVE to proclaim the low approval rating of President Bush, THE CONGRESS’S APPROVAL RATING IS LOWER THAN HIS!

Taxes

Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.
www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

• Taxes under Clinton 1999:
  Single making 30K - tax $8,400
  Single making 50K - tax $14,000
  Single making 75K - tax $23,250
  Married making 60K - tax $16,800
  Married making 75K - tax $21,000
  Married making 125K - tax $38,750
  
• Taxes under Bush 2008:
  Single making 30K - tax $4,500
  Single making 50K - tax $12,500
  Single making 75K - tax $18,750
  Married making 60K- tax $9,000
  Married making 75K - tax $18,750
  Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates. They have promised that one of the first things they will do is END THE BUSH TAX CUTS. It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is the worse person on the planet and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that
fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen.

People voting Democrat are either ignorant and don’t realize the facts, or WANT to pay even more taxes (or they are part of the large portion of America that doesn’t pay taxes, but are the recipients of the forced redistribution of wealth taken at gun point from those who work and given to those who don’t).

The reality is that most people have NO CLUE the amount of taxes they pay because of "employer deductions"... and that is BY DESIGN.

Government Waste

It is absolutely MIND BOGGLING how much money the American Federal Government wastes, and yet we are constantly bombarded with guilt about how we don’t “invest” enough, and how throwing more money at government programs will solve all our problems.

It is IMMORAL and psychotic how much money the government wastes. It’s an extraordinary statement about the apathy, ignorance and narcissism of America proper that 1) most people aren’t aware of this, and 2) we do nothing about it.

Consider the following facts that deal with JUST ONE portion of waste in our government:

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at:
http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. Verify at:
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal
aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Verify at: Homeland Security Report:
http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 BILLION or an average
cost of between $41 and $46 BILLION annually over a five year period.' Verify at:
http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. Verify at:
http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .' Verify at:
http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

	Hey, folks... if you appreciate the time and effort put into writing this, you can help me pay the bills by throwing a tip in the tip jar...

Unfortunately we are faced with a Presidential choice this year that ranges from an America-hating, racist Marxist to a die-hard Socialist to a big government liberal. And there is no indication that the Liberal, America-haters aren’t going to gain more presence in Congress.

Lucky us.

Now, what does this mean to us as Christians, and why am I putting this on a “money blog”? It means that we will have increased opportunity to trust in God’s sovereignty, and to demonstrate financial responsibility as a growing minority of people who have the right attitude about money.

As Christians, we are not to stick our head in the sand; neither are we to despair or be worried. God is control.

Know the facts. Know the truth. Trust God. Be a Christ-like example to others.

I’ve posted some comments over on my blog that are relevant to this blog as well. They deal with how to handle life when you make a mistake, do something stupid, or face a personal embarrassment.

This is particularly relevant to business. Whether you are an employee, the business owner, or even the customer, life can be SO MUCH EASIER when you learn how to deal with your personal blunders without defensiveness or excuses.

	Hey, folks... if you appreciate the time and effort put into writing this, you can help me pay the bills by throwing a tip in the tip jar...

As online business owners, this comes in particularly handy when dealing with your clients, or the readers of your blogs/sites. You ARE going to make mistakes. You ARE going to say something stupidly wrong on occasion. You ARE going to stick your foot in your mouth once in a while. Unless… your content is so drab and uninteresting there is no chance of making a mistake. Even if you are only selling products and not writing commentary, you are going to occasionally pull a “bonehead” and learning how to deal with it, keeps mistakes from sucking the life out of you.

Like all things you learn, this is also a good lesson to teach those you have influence over. It’s amazing how much personal grief and mental anguish we can avoid if we simply learn the right attitude and response concerning our flaws, mistakes, blunders, embarrassments and goofs.

After you read the comments on my blog, let me know what your questions about are specifically about this topic and how it relates to doing business or handling finances.

Read here… http://www.brentriggsblog.com/Default.asp?ItemID=138

I have launched my latest DVD… check it out here.

24 HOUR SPECIAL FOR MY CURRENT READERS ONLY - even though the price says $56.95 on the sales page, when you purchase in the next 24 hours, you'll see the price on the order form is $36.95. Twenty four hours only...