WIC Trouble

WIC Trouble A friend was buying groceries. The woman ahead of her was paying for her cart of groceries with WIC bucks. (Women, Infants and Children food program, from the US Department of Agriculture, administered by the states.) The woman held up the line for 15 minutes. She not only looted their wallets but inconvenienced [...]

Ten Commandments About Money

Ten Commandments About Money Does your life feel like an action movie? Are you constantly getting shot at, figuratively, careening in high speed chases, falling off cliffs into raging rivers, and facing down roaring monsters? Is your financial life a wreck? Do accidents seem to follow you around? Ten Commandments about Money 1. Pay your [...]

Overheard From Kids

Kids Falling Behind. My young relative’s birthday party was yesterday. I complimented her for winning a recent math competition. I told her how disappointed I was to know so many 3rd and 4th graders who don’t know what 3×4 is or the answer to 23 minus 7. She said some of her classmates don’t know [...]

Taxes or Donations

Our nephew’s high school track team sent out a fund raising request. He lives in a Minnesota town. We live in Montana. He’s a good kid and we believe in supporting youth development programs. There could be more private funding. I sent the following letter accompanying the donation. Dear Alex: We’re glad you are involved [...]

Overheard in Student Union Building

In January, early in this semester, I heard a young man talking on his cell phone. “He’s not out of money yet because I’m going to buy his kayak off him as soon as I get my loan check.” This is the first thing I think of when I hear talk in our state legislature [...]

Recession? What Recession?

We have a long ways to go. Standards of living in Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico are far below the lowered standards of living we are experiencing since the bubble burst. I recall a nearly naked man in Brazil, living on the jungle floor outside of town. I recall a haggard 14 year-old man-handling an iron-wheeled [...]

Losing Wealth

The headline read: Americans Lose 18% of Their Wealth. Liberals must be delighted. To them, wealth is evil. They constantly castigate those who possess wealth. They concoct ways to take it. They tax it. They make it hard to amass. They think people should avoid it. With an 18% reduction, liberals must be thrilled. Hard [...]

NPR, Obama, Medicine

The president has plans for medicine. He is bringing people together. The best plan is a market. NPR this morning told of President Obama’s desire to “reform” health care. His three big goals are: 1. Increase the number of people “covered” 2. Lower costs 3. Improved quality The system known to do such things is [...]

Spot Reflections on Welfare

Spot Reflections on Welfare Could the stake handle 10% unemployment? 3,000 members. 300 in unemployed families. The census says there are about three people per household, in our case, 100 families. $50,000 per year per family. $5,000,000 per year. Plainly, the stake cannot provide this through fast offerings. Presently, we collect a fraction of this. [...]

Self-reliance Quiz

Self-reliance Quiz (For Young Single Adults, young married couples, and college students) Have you ever: 1. Made muffins from scratch? 2. Bisquits from scratch? 3. Cornbread? 4. Bread with yeast? 5. Cake? 6. Cookies? 7. Gardened start to finish? 8. Canned? 9. Slaughtered chickens? 10. Started your own business? How much have you saved?___________________ How [...]