Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Credit card charges hurt local businesses
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Credit card charges hurt local businesses
There was a story on "Good Morning America" the other morning about rewards that various credit card companies offer and which is the best. In this economy, everyone is looking for extras, but I'd like you to be informed of something. The credit card companies don't give these rewards out of the goodness of their hearts.
It's obviously an effective marketing tool, and the money to fund these rewards comes from the fees the card companies charge the retailers for being able to accept customers' card use.
In low-profit situations, the fee often negates any profit the retailer may make from a sale. That's why you're seeing minimum purchase requirements for credit card use at many retailers. These fees are especially hard on the locally owned independent retailer who is struggling to stay in business in the shadow of Big Business.
Please keep in mind that if you can pay by cash or check when you patronize the locally owned independent retailer, you are helping to keep him in business.
AEP should control its costs
The news media remind us, the customers of American Electric Power and subsidiary Appalachian Power, that it is reasonable and permissible for AEP to pass on its expenses as well as make a reasonable profit. The news media also report that AEP's fourth-quarter 2009 profit rose 57 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 ("AEP chief points to 2009 financial successes," Jan. 29 Business story).
In the current time and economy, ingenuity and austerity are called for and are easily seen in the private-sector manufacturing and service industries (known as "lean"), in private households and even community organizations.
AEP has a license to operate a monopoly, which we cannot escape, but it does not have a license to ignore its business obligations and ethical responsibilities. AEP needs to improve its operations and reduce operational expenses rather than merely pass on its expenses.
Every organization that sincerely looks for internal opportunities to reduce costs, improve product or services, comply with regulations, or even go green has found benefits for itself and its customers. AEP needs to step up to reduce its costs and perhaps lessen its profit from the 57 percent increase recently reported.
Tax cuts don't trickle down
Re: "Cut taxes to stimulate the economy," Feb. 3 commentary by Bradford C. Archer:
It seems some will never give up on the idea of a trickle-down economy funded by tax cuts. Cuts sound like a good idea. However, if you look deeper into the funding of the federal government, one can see that tax cuts while the budget is in deficit are simply welfare for the wealthy.
If a person making more than $250,000 per year gets a tax cut, what happens to the money? Many will simply loan the money back to the government. Great deal for these people. They get money from the tax cut then interest from the money as they lend it back to the government.
This money does not flow into the economy, building business and buying products as Archer suggests. Those of us less fortunate will be left to pay the interest, a significant figure in today's budgets.
Welfare for the wealthy is something we can no longer afford. Taxes must be raised on earnings above $250,000 to balance the budget. If the budget had been balanced over the past years, current spending would not be a problem.
Warner should read Constitution
I just can't believe that CNS News is reporting the following from an interview with Sen. Mark Warner:
CNSNews.com: "Does the Constitution give Congress the authority to mandate whether individuals should purchase health insurance -- to mandate that they have to purchase health insurance?"
Warner: "The United States Congress passed laws regarding Medicare and Medicaid that became de facto mandatory programs. States all the time require people to have driver's licenses. I think that this is a bit of a spurious argument that's being made by some folks."
If the report is accurate, I am ashamed of the senator's lack of knowledge and respect for our Constitution because that is the most asinine statement about our Constitution I've ever heard. I can't wait for the senator to be questioned in the debates before next election, but I'll bet he does his homework before then.
It's too bad he didn't do the homework before voting on the unconstitutional Senate health care bill.
Government is ruining America
Can the Obama administration justify the fact that the federal government is hiring thousands of new federal employees while the private sector is laying off millions of workers? How will we pay for them?
America is collapsing from the weight of our national debt, and Washington is continuing to expand its insane spending. We are now using borrowed dollars to pay the interest on the debt. This is the definition of insolvency.
There is a fury rapidly building out here in the real world that many in Washington have no conception of. America, the greatest single nation the world has ever known, is being destroyed by the madness emitting from the White House and Congress. We will know more in November.
Toyota must work to clean up name
As I recall, recent Ford advertising said something like "Our quality matches Toyota." When Best Buys recommendations seem to evade a certain product line, advertising focused on convincing our children they needed a Hemi in their life. Not that long ago we didn't want a car built on Mondays, and you bought a new model the second year. It took the first year to get all the bugs worked out.
"This isn't your father's Oldsmobile," they said. Too bad. It was a heck of a car. Today's American car quality is a direct result of import competition, but that's OK. We got there.
Toyota did a poor job of telling its customers what was going on and when the fix is coming. Exceptional quality still surrounds a gas pedal problem. Once the fix is in, put the Toyota pedal to the metal. The customer will again purchase cars based on looks, emotion, monthly payments and a smidge more of good common sense. Unlike stocks, past performance is a good indicator of future reliability.
A brand name is best kept clean. How long the Toyota scrubbing will take remains to be seen.
