Archive for the 'Baby Boomer' Category

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Mitch McConnell, Lehman Brothers, SCOTUS and Lobbys R Us Made It Easy to Leave The U.S.

Published on March 30, 2012 in Baby Boomer and Politics. 0 Comments

We are residents of Costa Rica, but citizens of the United States. Some people think we have given up our citizenship and abandoned the U.S.

They are misinformed.

There is a discussion on the Costa Rica Living group about those of us who choose to live in Costa Rica abandoning the United States in its time of need.

My home is the United States.I have a business there and a couple of houses and life there has
treated me well, allowing me to come here when I get the urge to relax and play.

What prompted me to ask these questions is after hearing from a number of people
about how terrible things are in the US and that you are escaping these horrible
conditions, I also remember a comment by President Kennedy, Ask not what your
country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Do any of you feel like you have abandoned your homeland?

(You can read the thread here – requires a Yahoo Login and joining the group. Not really worth it, so you’ll have to trust that I’m not taking this yahoo out of context.)

The yahoo then rails about how the poor and the downtrodden in the U.S. deserve my support and questions if I ever feel like a traitor.

As another poster puts it…

Simple for me my friend. I am not leaving “my” country, it left me.

I agree.

Mitch McConnell, the senator from the state in which I used to reside has declared that any measure that comes to the senate has to be able to withstand a filibuster. This means it now takes 60 votes to pass a bill rather than a simple majority!

For example… a bill was labeled “defeated” even though a majority of senators voted “aye.”

…Then, starting five years ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Republican minority accelerated a preexisting trend and ramped up filibuster threats to historically unprecedented levels. … Since essentially every bill or nomination is now subject to a filibuster threat, a change of norms has de facto become a change of rules. And — as I’ve mentioned a mere four or five million times to date — the Constitution has been so thoroughly de facto amended that a sitting Supreme Court justice can say that it “takes” 60 votes to get Senate business done…

So thanks to Mitch McConnell the simple majority rules is kaput.

Lehman Brothers and all the bankers also made it easy for me to leave the United States. I wanted to retire, but because of the bank bailout and all the fiscal fiascoes related my retirement savings collapsed along with the rest of the economy. I could have continued to “coast” at my job probably for a lot more years, but I simply could not afford to retire in the United States. There are a lot of reasons under my control that were at work too, but the recession was a big culprit.

The rich guy (Cash) on the Yahoo Groups tries to lay more guilt on us expats living elsewhere while bragging:

My home is the United States. I have a business there and a couple of houses and life there has treated e well, allowing me to come here when I get the urge to relax and play.

Sounds like a 1% er to me! Owns a business and multiple houses and takes exotic vacations, but chastises me for wanting just a taste of the same lifestyle!

Hey Cash… how about you pay more in taxes or just give a cash donation to the gummit to help out?

He questions why expats volunteer outside the U.S.

I’m talking about people whose families go back generations in the US and they are still drastically poor, uneducated, unemployed, and are struggling to survive. Why does a foreign country merit your efforts more than your own country?

What a jerk! Where a volunteer spends their time and to what end is a totally personal decision.  Its not a zero sum game: people that volunteer in Costa Rica probably volunteered in the U.S. also at one time or another.

Remember too: Lobbys R Us is in charge of the United States Congress. Big money lobbyists determine who gets elected.

The SCOTUS has usurped Congress when it comes to making laws and taken the power of the people to elect a president. (Al Gore won the popular vote, remember that?)

From a political standpoint, it was easy to leave the United States, because the United States left me.

It Just Makes Cents: Canadians Kill The Penny

Published on March 30, 2012 in Baby Boomer and Money. 0 Comments Tags: .

It was the prudent thing to do, so the head Canadian penny-pincher decided that ditching the penny would begin this fall. The Canadian gummit will no longer produce pennies.

The Finance Minister encouraged Canadians to donate their pennies to charity.

It won’t be easy, but it’s done in other countries. The U.S. should watch and learn.

In line with a 2010 Senate report, the government will stop making pennies this fall and ask Canadian businesses and consumers to simply round up (or down) to the nearest five cents at the cash register.

But if you pay with plastic you can avoid the rounding and pay to the exact penny.

The government expects the initiative will save tax dollars, because Canadians currently lose money on every new penny produced by the Royal Canadian Mint — to the tune of $11 million per year.

The Canadian nickel is next up to be eliminated one of the lawmakers claimed.

NDP MP Pat Martin, who said he has tabled four private members bills since 2005 aimed at getting rid of the “nuisance coin,” said it costs 1.5 cents to manufacture each penny.

“Making cents hasn’t made sense for a long time,” said the parliamentarian, who said his next crusade will be against the nickel.

Australia removed its one- and two-cent coins from circulation in 1992, the United Kingdom pitched the half-penny in 1984, and after getting rid of its one-agora coin in 1991, Israel followed suit in 2008 with the five-agorot coin.

Did you know that the U.S. Military already has eliminated the penny? Yeppers, all prices are rounded to the nearest nickel…

Here’s the case for dropping the penny in the U.S.

Makes cents to me.

I Done My Stoopid Taxes, Including Kentucky Cuz I Was Part Year Resident

Published on March 29, 2012 in Baby Boomer, Holy Shit! Lookit This! and kentucky. 2 Comments


Since I left Kentucky on July 1, 2011, I wasn’t sure if I was a full year or part year resident. So I sent an email to the Kentucky Department of Revenuers.

Teresa send me a reply saying that I would be considered a part year resident and they want taxes on money I earned…

while you was a KY resident.

Some of that money needs to go toward edjamacation for them there Kentucky chilren.

Geeky Animated Gif Monday – Shove Off Turtle

Published on March 26, 2012 in Baby Boomer. 0 Comments Tags: , .

21 Reasons You Might Be a Gringo…

Published on March 25, 2012 in Baby Boomer and Costa Rica. 2 Comments Tags: .

In Costa Rica, non-natives are Gringoes. As far as I know, it’s not pejorative. But then again, I don’t speaka da Spanish, so how would I know? It’s kinda like calling somebody redneck. It’s OK if YOU are a redneck, but if you’re a hipster, it’s an insult.

So as a Gringo in Costa Rica, I offer you

… you might be a Gringo if:

  • You refer to your country of birth as “the old country.“
  • You drive around a bridge thru a dry river bed because it’s less rough.
  • You call the above move, “using the bypass.”
  • You volunteer to drive.
  • You talk or text and drive.
  • You still scoff when they serve a glass of ice with a beer.
  • You own a watch.
  • You wear a watch.
  • The watch works and you look at it regularly.
  • You talk in short phrases, and refer to the lapses as “buffering.”
  • You refer to water from the tap as “cold.”
  • You care about the price of vehicle gas more than the cost of propane.
  • You have a “to-do” list.
  • You know and use multiple attorneys.
  • Your essential technology is GPS.
  • You still get pissed off when you overhear a loud cell phone conversation.
  • You still get a thrill when you see your seven figure bank balance (in Colones.)
  • You say  ”Como se dice” more than “una cerveza por favor.”
  • The last thing you say as you leave the house is “got your passport?“
  • “Why?” is still a question you ask repeatedly and expect an answer.
  • Instead of shouting “alo” repeatedly into your cell, you say “can you hear me now?”

If you live in Costa Rica, please add your “you might be a Gringo if…” thoughts in the comments.