Steve Hoffacker's Sales Quips

The House valiantly - though misguidedly - ateempted to pass the BBA (Balanced Budget Amendment). It failed by 30 votes. Had it passed it would have needed 70 votes in the Senate and 38 States to approve as well.

I'm glad it didn't pass:

First, it was unnecessary. Congress can cut spending anytime it wants. They just have to do it.

Second, it couldn't be enforced. Who was not going to write the check or not going to authorize the continuation of a program just because the Constitution didn't allow it?

Third, we already have too many amendments.

So Congress will now have to cut spending the old-fashioned way - by actually doing it.

If every vacant position except some Cabinet and Department heads (and Energy, EPA, Education, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and TSA are not given the exemption) were permanently eliminated, look at the savings there. If space consolidation were to occur - why does every department need its own building? If Congressional staffing expenses were capped. See how easy it is?

Congress can do this. SO far they have chosen not to.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website or go to my other blog "Steve Hoffacker's Home Sales Insights" for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at "Steve Hoffacker's Happenings."

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Podcaster, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

The Post Office (USPS) that we all own through our endless subsidies is now advertising on TV. This isn't new, but it's certainly bad timing. Unless the ad time was free - maybe it was as a PSA, and unless the creative was free - doubtful, what is going on?

We can't afford for the USPS to advertise. The can't afford it.

Name one person in this country that doesn't know that you can put a stamp on a letter and have it delivered it a few days - hopefully.

When no one approves your budget, you can do pretty much what you want.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website or go to my other blog "Steve Hoffacker's Home Sales Insights" for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at "Steve Hoffacker's Happenings."

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Podcaster, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

With the credit downgrade by Standard and Poors (S&P), the finger pointing has begun. Barney Frank says it's the fault of defense spending. That's partically true - the spending part anyway. John Kerry says it's the Tea Party, and he couldn't be more wrong.

The simple fact is that we are overextended and unsustainable. It's no mystery except to members of Congress and the Administration. That's where all the fingers should point.

Forget this savings over 10 years nonsense. We need huge cuts now. Foreign aid, entitlements, roads, bridges, airports, museums, offices, staffs, subsidies. There is such huge waste of our financial resources.

Washington should eliminate every job not currently filled - permanently. Revert to the FY 09 budget (the last year there was an approved budget) and cut 10% or more off the bottom line. Same next year and the following year.

Washington should try zero-based budgeting. Businesses do it. Families do it.

Nothing is safe until it is justified.

It's going to take some leadership and decisive action to turn this mess around.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Reducing spending is something that has never been more important for us as a nation. The amount of special projects, grants, entitlement programs, foreign aid, wars, and bureaucratic paychecks have swollen the federal expenditures to historic proportions.

There are only a few things that the Constitution enumerates as required or permitted spending, and waging war is one of them. Everything else has been added over the years. Most of our spending today is on extra-constitutional activities.

We have to reduce spending.

Jefferson talked about the perils of borrowing.

Alexis de Tocqueville talked about the perils of entitlements and other government programs:

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

We are there.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

As the debate continues in Washington over whether to increase the debt limit, the issue seems very simple. If we spend less, we need less, and the debt limit is high enough already.

This is something that most everyone can relate to. If our household or office expenses are too high - more than we have the money for or can comfortably afford - we look for things to cut out or reduce.

We go through our budget and expenses looking for things that aren't absolutley necessary and we curtail or eliminate them.

All Washington has to do is stop spending so much. If an item is budgeted but not essential, don't spend the money.

This may not be a popular thing politically - where everyone is taught to spend every penny in the budget and then ask for more, or risk not getting as much next time - it is quite simple.

We must insist that Washington cut back on spending and forego the government funded museums, studies, festivals, and other pork projects.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Government waste isn't new. In fact, it's very old - so old we're way past ready for some fiscal responsibility.

Does the name William Proxmire mean anything to you? He was a Democratic Senator from Wisconsin - yes Democrat. He used to issue his annual "Golden Fleece Awards" - sort of a David Letterman (way before Letterman) approach to governmental wasteful spending.

Beginning in 1975, his very first award went to the NSA (Nationa Science Foundation) for an $84,000 study on why people fall in love. Bet it would cost well over a million to do that study today. He singled out the Justice Department for a study on why prisoners wanted to get out of jail. The NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) was awarded a grant (and "Golden Fleece") for studying a brothel in Peru (were there none in the US?).

The FAA won his admiration for studying the physical dimensions and attributes of 432 female flight attendants (stewardesses at that time).

He continued them through 1988.

We hear reports all the time of museums and buildings and festivals which serve no purpose other than to reward a local area for their support and demonstrate that the respective legislator can get a federal grant passed for them.

The Constitution was nbever designed for such shenanigans. If we want to continue as a country we need to abandon earmarks and pork. Everyone seems to support this - as long as it's the other guy's project.

We can live without government spending for anything that is not a national or interstate issue.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Very disturbing news from the Republican leader of the Senate.

First of all, Mitch McConnell has bought into the mistaken idea that the debt limit needs to be raised. It doesn't. Cut spending way below current levels and suddenly there is plenty of money to go around - as long as new spending is not authorized.

Second, Congress hasn't been able to decide on whether to raise the debt limit or by how much - and this is their job. So they want to give this power to the President? So much for separation of powers and checks and balances.

Third, McConnell's plan has been sweetened by Harry Reid. If Harry Reid likes your plan, you know it's not something we want.

Fourth, the President wants to raise taxes and letting him raise the debt limit unilaterally plays right into this.

About his threats and assertions, don't believe them. The August 2nd date is arbitrary - Geitner told us this. Stopping Social Security payments - can't be done on a moment's notice. Takes weeks to change the machinery that prints or deposits them automatically.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other blog homesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Now Tim Geitner is telling seniors that their Medicare costs will go up if we cut spending - clearly a blantant, inaccurate attempt to scare seniors and get them to lobby for increased spending. This is an end-run for raising the debt ceiling, raising spending, and raising taxes - the economic trifecta.

Today on "Face the Nation" he tried to convince seniors that they would end up paying as much as $6,500 each annually in out-of-pocket expenses to offset cuts in spending that the Republicans want. He labeled it a tax increase for beneficiaries.

Increasing out-of-pocket expenses could only happen if specific Medicare programs were cut, and that is not what is being discussed.

However, cutting Geitner's salary, his office staff, his limo and driver, and his travel budget would definitely save taxpayers money - and none of that would cost seniors or anyone else anything. It would be a great place to start.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Remember that Tim Geitner said we had to bail out the banks or we would see a collapse of our economy and a major worldwide monetary crisis? Remember that this wasn't really the case but it got the ball rolling toward major government spending?

He's at it again. He's been saying that we have to raise the debt ceiling or we will default. Again not true.

He's been doing his best to scare Americans into allowing Congress to raise the debt ceiling so he can write more checks - like it's his own personal checkbook.

He is saying once again that Congress "has no choice" but to raise the ceiling. Also incorrect. They have plenty of choices.

He is continuing his mantra that we will default without the limit being increased. He goes on to say that if the limit is not increased "you're going to see catastrophic damage across the American economy and across the global economy." Since he hasn't been right yet, I choose not to believe him now.

The only thing that will happen if we don't raise the debt limit is that we can't borrow anymore money - and this is a great thing. It means that spending has to come down. We can still pay our obligations - unlike what Timmy is threatening. Unless of course, as Treasury Secretary, he chooses to put us in default by his payment strategy of pying some bills and withholding payment on others even when the money is there.

Support keeping the debt limit where it is. Once spending is cut, the debt ceiling will be more than we need anyway.

Talk about your misplaced priorities. Rick Scott is against it, most citizens and business are against it, the majority of the Florida Legislature is against it, anyone who is concerned about rampant and irresponsible government spending is against it, but US Rep John Mica of Orlando is for it. I spoke to his office and was told that "he is confident that it will be a success." Confident? In the the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

In South Florida we have Tri-Rail - a real fun ride from West Palm Beach to Miami. A pleasant way to travel. But you have to get to the station, and you have to get from the train stop to your destination on your own. There used to be shuttle buses. That was terminated. Now we have a great commuter train with no way to get to or from it except by car, scheduled bus service, or taxi. Really defeats the convenience and the intent to reduce vehicle trips. Ridership is way down over what it was and what it needs to be.

Back to Orlando. The state refuses to fund it - and rightly so. This rail loop around Orlando will not connect with Disney or the Airport. There goes the tourism value. It is estimated to serve a maximum of just 2,150 people each day when it begins - if it begins - operations in 3 years. Look at that per capita expense!! If it's going to take 3 years to open, what are those 2,000 people doing now to get to work? Couldn't they just keep doing that? Of course they could.

This is Mica's attempt to spend federal money at a time when every penny needs to be scrutinized. This project is total folly - even if the money was there in abundance to build it. Then there's the opeation cost - and there's no way 2,000 people a day can sustain the operations. We the taxpayers are the backstop for this.

As with high speed rail in the Orlando areqa, if this project was such a great idea, and there was so much demand for it, don't you think it would already exist?

The Governor may have the power to pull the plug on this. Even so, federal money should not be spent on the SunRail folly.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other bloghomesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.