Embracing the March Madness Work Distraction

Today the games of March Madness® begin. Millions of rabid fans will be putting aside work to stream CBS game broadcasts to their desktops. Evil employers will try to prevent or discourage this, perhaps through clever site blocking strategies. Lunch “hours” will be stretched. Scores will be checked and re-checked.

Everyone needs to get over it and accept the distraction at hand.  Read more

Hard Truth Weekly Reader- Misguided Protest Edition

Some weird stuff in the news this week, including more political corruption in New York, and misguided protests about spending cuts in California. It seems that for state economies, the larger they are the harder they fall. Read more

Tax Man Charlie Rangel – I Told You So

Charlie Rangel was forced by prevailing sentiment to today take leave from his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.

It’s about time. Rangel can’t even spell the word “ethics” let alone understand its meaning.

I have been on Rangel’s case and ethical misdeeds since September 2008. The facts were there yet Rangel’s Congressional colleagues just sat there for months, ignoring them.

Even in his last words before stepping aside, Rangel’s dishonesty was on display. Catch this tidbit from the article:

Pushed on whether he would step aside temporarily, he replied, “No.”

He said he was headed back to his office to work on jobs legislation, and when a reporter asked if he would still be the committee chairman on Wednesday, Mr. Rangel said, “Yes, and I don’t lie to the press.”

Well, actually he did lie to the press because this is Wednesday and Rangel is no longer the Committee Chairman.

Everyone should be relieved that Rangel will no longer have the opportunity to direct his “mother of all tax bills” through the House. On the other hand, I have no doubt that the morons in his district will re-elect him.

We don’t need mere “change” in Washington. We need an earthquake – for Republicans and Democrats alike. Our collective financial future still hangs in the balance.

Vote Buying in Vegas

Lest you think that money and politics have changed (or will ever change), consider President Obama’s recent decision to use $1.5 billion of your money to buy votes for a desperate Harry Reid. Read more

Should Personal Finance Blogs Come with Warning Labels?

I scan/read a lot of personal finance blogs. A few I find educational. A few others are worth reading because of the quality of the writing. Some I read for no good reason at all. (I gotta do something about that time-waster.) And then there are those blog posts that just make you shake your head in amazement. Some of those need “bad money behavior” warning labels. Read more

State of the Debtor Union

Some exciting stuff happening today in the worlds of buying and selling. Let Mr. ToughMoneyLove tell you about them.

First, Apple is finally going to tell us all about its latest must-have product offering. This will have gadget freaks and the Apple-brand obsessed running for their credit cards to be the one of the early adopters. Read more

When the Name Brand Purchase is a Bad Deal

Paying more for a “name brand” product is a tricky proposition. A few high-end or luxury brands are worth the extra cost because they legitimately provide a valued upgrade in performance or durability. The cost-benefit analysis is favorable to the consumer. But that is not always true and the trend may be downward.

The worst reason to buy a name brand is to fulfill the purchaser’s desire to impress others and to create feelings of self-importance. There are plenty of consumers who play that game and the expensive name brand merchants are happy to oblige. We see a lot of that in the constantly changing world of high fashion. (Sorry ladies, but I think you are the primary players in that money-wasting area.) Today I learned of an extreme example of a “name brand” manufacturer taking advantage of careless consumers. Read more

What to Do About Rebuilding Haiti

I hope that the rush of international aid to Haiti will minimize the loss of life and suffering by the folks stranded on that island. Phase two of the recovery will involve important questions of what should be done to rebuild the country. As harsh as it may seem, this is a financial question as well as a human one. Read more

Clubbing with Money Morons

We knew that the clowns who crashed President Obama’s first State Dinner were in it for the money. What we weren’t sure of was exactly how they would exploit their faux celebrity. Now we know. Read more

Poor Money Judgment Loves Company

I read a lot of other personal finance blogs. Some of them write about their own poor money judgments. Others talk about the bad personal finance decisions made by readers who contact them. Read more

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