In an amazing election, Scott Brown has won in the Massachusett’s special election. He gives the Republicans their 41st vote returning civility to the Senate floor.

It isn’t fully up and running yet, but the MarketInstitute.org took another large step forward today and is on schedule to open it’s doors mid-February

This is the business idea that I have been waiting for! For several years I have had many ideas, and they just seem to be too distant. I can look on them now and say that the distance was felt because they required too much outside assistance to make them viable. The Market Institute, on the other hand, is something that builds on my skills, dreams, ambitions, network, and certainly my partners’ knowledge to almost insure success.

The next year will mean a lot of hard work, but I can’ t wait. I will keep updating here on the progress of the new venture, and I will now be blogging more as well.

Thanks for all of your support!

If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

Now, I am sometimes not sure if Corporate America should be “regulated” into producing safe products (long term successful business plan is selling safe products…not dangerous ones), but lets accept heavy regulations on corporations for a moment. Big Corporation sells product “A” to a mother, then the mother plays with her kid with the toy, her kid is ok, and then the toy is put away.  When the family has a garage sale the mother might decide to de-clutter and sell the toy. Her kid was ok, why wouldn’t somebody elses kid………especially at 80-90% off.

Nancy Lothrop, a mother of two in Monroe, Wash., was surprised to learn that she might be violating the law by selling about $200 worth of Polly Pocket dolls and accessories on Craigslist that her 12-year-old daughter no longer wants.

What are the regulators thinking?

“We’re not looking to come across as being heavy-handed,” he said. “We want to make sure that everybody knows what the rules of engagement are to help spur greater compliance, so that enforcement becomes less of an issue. But we’re still going to enforce.”

Oh great….they aren’t going to regulate unless they want to. That is one of the best ways to introduce uncertainty into a market. The result of uncertainty, especially when the profit margins are low (like a garage sale), is to stop the practice completely taking all garage sale merchandise off the market, and effectively lowering the quality of life for everyone that would buys from garage sales.

“Coroners and funeral directors in several cities say the number of people seeking government-paid funerals, cremations and burials is spiking. Most counties and states will use public money to cremate or bury people who are too poor to pay for private services.

“People just aren’t in a position to pay $7,000 for a private funeral and burial,” says Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, where the number of people seeking county burial has nearly doubled since last year.

The percentage of people in poverty in the USA is climbing, says Gregory Acs, a senior fellow at The Urban Institute. When the recession started at the end of 2007, about 12.5% of the U.S. population was considered impoverished, up from 11.7% in 2001, he says.”

Does it ever stop?

House leaders vowed to get a healthcare bill passed before the August recess, after unveiling a sweeping proposal to revamp the healthcare system that includes tax hikes on couples earning more than $350,000 and a new government-run health plan option. Link

So, more people want money to help keep themselves from going into FINANCIAL RUIN (did the caps make it more scary?). No.

I feel sorry for you, I really do. In fact, if you live close to me I will try to help you out, but the market is on a downturn and everything else is par for the course. The idea of helping everyone “not lose” is like telling people that its ok if you got a “D” on the test we will give you a “C” or for baseball, “yes you were out, but not by much, so you can stay on the bag.” It just doesn’t make sense.

Here is another group that I feel sorry for, but shouldn’t demand federal support. Link

President Barack Obama is mulling new ways to delay foreclosure for jobless homeowners who are unable to keep up with monthly payments, an administration official said on Monday.

The official told Reuters it was reasonable for policymakers to consider options for loan forbearance — allowing borrowers to delay, defer or skip payments — that are more effective than those currently available in the private sector.

The number of failing home loans has been climbing for three years as risky borrowers have defaulted on their easy-to-get loans, property values have sunk and the unemployment rate has climbed.

No wonder big media cozies up to Obama. They have their hands in his pockets. Link

A group of minority broadcasters asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday for financial assistance akin to the aid that has been extended to the financial and auto industries.

“Minority-owned broadcasters are close to becoming an extinct species,” the letter said. “Even in better economic times, minority broadcasters have historically had difficulties accessing the capital markets.”

The broadcasters told Mr. Geithner they can bounce back if they are given some temporary assistance while the credit markets are slow. “Unlike the auto business, broadcasting has been healthy for many years,” their letter said.

These bums are costing you a fortune.

Ricky Alardo, a homeless alcoholic nicknamed Ricky Ricardo, swigs cheap vodka by day at his favorite corner in Washington Heights, then calls an ambulance to chauffeur him to the hospital for a free meal and a warm place to sleep, courtesy of taxpayers who fund his Medicaid benefits.

For a chronic caller like Alardo — who phones 911 four or five times a week — the annual medical bill can be as high as $300,000. Over 13 years, the length of time he has been abusing the emergency room, he has cost the medical system an estimated $3.9 million.

Should they just stop picking him up?

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) appeared this morning before the HELP committee to answer questions about its analysis of the Kennedy/Dodd bill. There are a few important takeaways from CBO’s comments:

1. The Kennedy/Dodd bill will increase spending by more than $1.2 trillion, and this doesn’t include the 10-year cost of the plan when fully implemented.The bill includes $723 billion in new spending, not including the $500 billion cost of expanding Medicaid assumed in the bill. CBO agreed with Senator Burr when he pointed out that the estimate includes only 6 years of full implementation of the program.
2. If you like what you have, you can’t keep it. The CBO confirmed that several million Americans would lose their employer-based health insurance they have now if Kennedy/Dodd becomes law.
3. The Kennedy/Dodd version of a government-run plan will not lower health care costs. CBO repeatedly made clear that a government plan competing on a level playing field would have minimal impact.The only way the government plan would reduce costs is if it was “empowered” to reduce provider payments below market rates.CBO cautioned that reducing payment rates would cause a trade-off with provider access, as they noted has happened with Medicaid.
4. The cost of expanding Medicaid to people above 150 percent FPL could surpass $500 billion, and CBO’s estimate includes only the federal share of the expansion.The CBO estimate excludes the cost to state governments, which could be substantial.
5. The costs of the pay or play mandate will be passed on to workers and will reduce their cash wages.This new tax on businesses also will also cause job losses, which CBO is now working to model.

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