Disqus - Latest Comments for tsawyer

Re: It’s Going to Cost Us About $50 Billion to Help General Motors

tsawyer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:01:08 -0000

I'm away from my computer so u can't type a long response on my
iPhone, but I want to talk briefly about government healthcare.

If I could have got the money that the military claimed our healthcare
costs I would have taken it in a heartbeat. Motrin, known as vitamin M
in the military, is given for everything from head to toe. I even had
a doctor admit that they over-prescribe it. I got in arguments with
doctors who outranked me on the issue. My thought was the military
will be done with me once I retire so I have to safegaurd my physical
well-being.

Also, military doctors are recruited after they are doctors. I think
some of them come in to avoid paying high malpractice insurance.
Especially if they like to travel, it is a win win situation for them.

America does NOT want government healthcare.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: It’s Going to Cost Us About $50 Billion to Help General Motors

tsawyer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:52:17 -0000

Wow. Why did you wait until the end of your comment to say the most
important thing? :)

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: It’s Going to Cost Us About $50 Billion to Help General Motors

tsawyer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:51:31 -0000

Ryan, you came through again with a thoughtful comment, but I don't totally agree with what you are saying.

First and foremost, GM is guilty of being sorry at what they exist to do: build automobiles. To say they are behind in technology would be an understatement - I say this in general terms because there are a few exceptions like the Corvette. When I say technology, I'm talking about things that contribute directly to reliability and total cost of ownership. Generally, fit and finish on American vehicles is horrible. To see a good example of what I'm talking about don't look at brand new vehicles in the showroom, look at vehicles 3-years-old and compare them to their foreign counterparts. Technology like direct-injection is basically missing. Foreign vehicles are getting 300 horsepower with 3.5 liter naturally aspirated engines or 3.0 liter turbo-charged engines. Meanwhile, American cars use V8 engines for the same amount of horsepower. Those V8s don't get equal MPG so basically the cars aren't as efficient and the total cost of ownership goes up.

Let's talk about how American cars look. Surely this is an objective category, but you can't tell me that a blue emblem (Ford) looks good on every color car - the only company that can get away with this has a propellar on the hood. Additionally, Americans' love of big (American) trucks and SUVs has come back to bite us hard! It just doesn't make sense to crowd the roads with huge vehicles carrying 1 or 2 people (most of the time) that get bad gas mileage. Detroit has lived off of selling these vehicles and when the gas prices went up people stopped buying them as much which hurt big time! Meanwhile, people scoff at Smart cars and Mini Coopers.

I say all the American car companies get a huge F for failing to deliver the kinds of cars that people need in this economy. If the cars were sitting on the lot or were at least in the pipeline they would be available to purchase. Since the American vehicles are somewhat crappy and lose their value people with those trucks/SUVs were facing negative equity of up to $8,000 just because of the economy. The smart thing to do would be to never buy that brand again. The sad part is I don't think things are going to change one bit with the newly organized American car companies. The money will be used to keep the lights on and the executives paid.

You always say Obama, Obama, Obama, but never mention Bush. Obama was back peddling as soon as he got into office, but that is rarely mentioned. It is like Bush is "Teflon Don" even though common sense points to him being a Monumental Idiot! Why does it seem like people don't hold him responsible for much of what happened during his 8 years? Clinton is to blame for some things and now Obama. Amazing!

Why did Colin Powell, one of the smartest military minds of our time, choose to leave his administration? Did the Bush family benefit, in any way, when gas prices went up? Was Bush doing business, any kind of business, with the Bin Laden family before 9/11? I'm no political expert, but I would like to know the true answers these questions.

I looked up Socialism and here is what I found: Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society.

I'm not sure if we are going that far, but I believe the government shouldn't own companies like GM. I think GM and Chrysler should have been left on their own and another company would have emerged. Maybe Toyota and Honda would have grown resulting in more jobs for Americans since many of their cars are made here.

I also don't necessarily agree with the proposed healthcare system, but then again I already don't think we are the "Land of the free." We already pay enough taxes as it is.

I don't even want to touch the Social Security issue because it really scares me. Maybe we need to put together the biggest class action lawsuit in the history of mankind if the money taken from us isn't there when we are supposed to get it. I guess we should file now. :D

I can tell you one thing I'm in favor of: improve our education system. I would like to do this primarily through increased wages for teachers. We need to attract better teachers and become a smarter nation. We also need to improve our work ethics, morals and integrity across the board. I think doing this will keep us out of situations like the one we find ourselves in right now. How can the greatest nation in the world be in such a bind when we have the resources to do so much better? I think it all comes down to greed. People wanted the interest only loans and the mortgage companies were so willing to give them out and make more money. When it was time to pay up, it really hit the fan. As far as gas prices go, the oil companies were making record profits at a time when gas was sky high and we had to take it on the chin. Again, greed. The car companies were putting out relative crap, but it was selling. Once their crap met up with high gas prices, it hit the fan (again).

Sorry for the rambling, but the discussion is easily an emotional one. While I agree with you partially, I think the situation as a whole is horrible while you want to place a large part of the blame on someone who has been in power for less than 6 months. I hope Obama changes some things he is doing, but he is not the only one who must change.

Re: Leno Set To Do His Last Tonight Show - O’Brien Taking Over

tsawyer — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:28:11 -0000

Do you, or Len, think Conan could bring some of his late night fans
with him? He reportedly averages about 2 million viewers a night
which is a little less than half if the tonight show.

Since Leno decided to step away, who do you think would do a better
job? You have to remember, the viewers have changed; many people who
watched Carson aren't watching anymore.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Just Like People You Know

tsawyer — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:40:47 -0000

I think this is part of the smoke screen: certain companies aren't
doing as well as they once were. The bailout money is being used to
keep the money going to key executives since customers aren't buying
as much.

Re: Just Like People You Know

tsawyer — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:17:07 -0000

My disgust is growing. This is an "ignorance is bliss" situation
because the more you know what is going on the more upset it will make
you.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Biden or Bush: Who’s Funnier?

tsawyer — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:15:20 -0000

Biden might pass Bush by Christmas!

Re: Friday Funny: Can You See Sarah?

tsawyer — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:22:15 -0000

Stay tuned. Biden has some issues too.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Your Drinking Water Is Tainted!

tsawyer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:33:39 -0000

The water here in Las Vegas is brutal. We have a water softener and
the filtered water out of the refrigerator really isn't enough. We
are either going to have to go with bottled water or a RO system.

Re: Another Angry Customer Calls 911 For Food!

tsawyer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:04:20 -0000

Yes I am! I always want to be a good customer: tell me how much
something is and once I decide to get it, I will pay the price. When
Best Buy game me the run around and the sales associate had a little
attitude too, I was through. Having recently moved, I can say for
certain that other places have the same products for less. The only
reason buying from BB makes sense (someone pointed this out) is their
return/warranty policy. They do come through on that, but keep in
mind, the consumer is paying for it with their high prices. Now that
Circuit City is out of business they can really jack the prices up.

Re: Need Money? Print Your Own!

tsawyer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:04:15 -0000

Kathy,

I'm not sure what kind of information you had to give them, but do you
know businesses profile? If you were an avid shopper with them they
probably wouldn't have offered you that deal. They run all kinds of
metrics and use their databases to determine who is a good customer
and who they need to attract.

Profiling also happens at companies we deal with on a regular. If Joe
has a Citibank card and Marsha does to, they may not get the same
customer care rep. Depending on many variables, the red carpet might
be rolled out for Marsha and Joe could get the ordinary treatment. It
happens.

Re: Does The Title “Sunday School Teacher” Matter?

tsawyer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:25:09 -0000

On one hand you have someone with mental illness who is called out. I
think there would be many people who would breath a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, there are people with mental illnesses who are
counseled, rehabilitated and prayed for. It is a slippery slope for
sure and the answer could be a combination of both. If we have more
of a sense of community, there wouldn't be a problem knowing about
things like this because most people would be willing to help. But as
things stand, most people don't care because they have so many other
things to be concerned about.

Re: Does The Title “Sunday School Teacher” Matter?

tsawyer — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:04:24 -0000

Yes it is!

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Afghanistan’s President Keeps The Country Far From Civilized

tsawyer — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:39:20 -0000

Richard,

I'm glad that the new system is allowing you to comment again.

Regardless of religion, what do you think about a law legalizing
rape? I think it is wrong no matter what.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Afghanistan’s President Keeps The Country Far From Civilized

tsawyer — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:30:52 -0000

Well put Ann.

Tom Sawyer
7daybuzz.com
proud2parent.com

Re: Another Angry Customer Calls 911 For Food!

tsawyer — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:04:43 -0000

A thought just occurred to me. Could the writers of these two stories be stretching the truth a little? I say that because this seems to stupid to actually be true. Yes, people who abuse the 911 system for frivolous reasons like this need to be punished.

Re: Need Money? Print Your Own!

tsawyer — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:44:42 -0000

I think it is an interesting idea, but I don't know how effective it is. The net gain is $5 and I don't see how that makes that much of a difference. If someone came to me and offered me $100 worth of "credit" for $95 I would say OK, but it wouldn't make me feel like I got a huge gain.

Re: Should Athletes Gamble?

tsawyer — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:43:26 -0000

You should feel good - you are on the front page now!