Even Pepsi Cutting Jobs

Looks like even Pepsi is cutting jobs, over 3,000 this time.

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc., the world's largest snack maker, said it will cut 3,300 jobs after profit fell more than analysts estimated and the company lowered its forecast for the rest of the year. The shares dropped as much as 14 percent in New York trading.

PepsiCo wants to save $1.2 billion over three years as it closes as many as six plants and pares 1.8 percent of its workforce, including ``overlapping'' marketing and sales jobs, Chief Financial Officer Richard Goodman said today in an interview.

The maker of Gatorade and Pepsi-Cola will use some of the savings to boost marketing of its beverages in North America, which make up a fourth of PepsiCo's annual revenue. Drink sales in the U.S. and Canada decreased 3 percent in the third quarter as consumers cut back on soft drinks in groceries and convenience stores to better afford higher priced gasoline and food.

``The initiatives come at a time when it's evident they're necessary,'' Mark Swartzberg, a New Jersey-based analyst with Stifel Nicolas & Co., said today in an interview. ``Beverage performance in North America continues to be challenging and worse than expected.'' He recommends holding the stock.

Full-year earnings excluding some costs will be $3.67 to $3.68 a share, lower than its prediction of $3.72 in July, the Purchase, New York-based company said. The dollar's increase against other currencies will hurt profit in the fourth quarter, it said.

PepsiCo, the world's second-largest soda maker, dropped $5.44, or 8.8 percent, to $56.33 at 9:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares decreased 19 percent this year before today, compared with a 23 percent decline for Coca-Cola Co.

Americans are spending less on soda, to afford gas prices right now?

Sarah Palin's $30,000 Tanning Bed

When I heard that John McCain spend's over $250,000 on "household help" (maids) in a year, I thought that was outrageous. But now that I know Sarah Palin had a $30,000 tanning bed installed in the Governor's mansion in Alaska, I think that tops it all. Did she spend her own money on it? Sure. But that's beside the point.

Seems Sarah Palin installed a tanning bed in the governor's mansion in 2007.

"She did. She paid for it with her own money," Roger Wetherell, chief communications officer of Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities told Us Weekly.

"It was done shortly after she took office [in early 2007] and moved into the mansion," Wetherell told the Narco News, who first reported the story.

According to Wetherell, it was paid for with her own money and purchased used from a health club.

Now we know how she gets that wonderful "skin tone." Jokes aside though. She spends way too much trying to convince the world she is just an average "hockey mom." Lemme tell you a secret, middle class moms don't usually have $30,000 tanning beds.

Tanning beds can cost up to $35,000 to install in a home -- not including parts, Alaska-based Color Me Tan manager Erin Weise told the Narco News. Weise added, "I don't think it's normal for people to have a tanning bed in their house. It's expensive."

In a time when every day folk are losing their homes, 700 families a day in California are foreclosing, you'd think things like this would seem to get more attention. But to be fair, she did pay for it with her own money. Cool. But stop trying to compare yourself to ordinary people. You know, the ones who are struggling to pay these gas prices, and don't have that health care plan you do, as a Governor.

Now, I can't really say I'm actually angry about this. It seems almost too funny to be true, but it does make me wonder a few things. Mind if I do aloud?

1. Are there tanning beds in the White house already?
2. If there aren't would Sarah Palin be the first to have tanning beds installed in the White House, should McCain win?
3. How much would the installation cost, or if there are tanning beds already in the White House how much did it cost?
4. Does McCain consider tanning beds to be "pork barrel" spending?

Color me curious.

AIG Blog Relations

Something that has many Americans angry tonight, is the $440,000 retreat I brought up recently.

Well, today I got a blog comment from "AIG Blog Relations" and I felt I should make a quick post and direct your eyes that way and see their response to my entry. I am guessing AIG Blog Relations is someone being paid to, or a bot being directed to, post replies on blog entries regarding the AIG bailout.

I know a lot of people are angry about this, and rightfully so.

When people can barely fill up their car to go to work because of the gas prices right now, and they hear about people ordering $1,200 worth of food in a night, or spending $200,000 on rooms at an expensive California spa retreat. Yeah, ordinary folk tend to get angry.

And not only are average Americans digusted, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has called for people at American International Group Inc. to be fired over this.

"If AIG was throwing money around for tee times and hot stone massages while begging for Federal Reserve dollars, it's a scandal and an outrage and heads will roll," Baucus said. "I want to know who we can fire and how we can get this misspent money back and I want both of those things to happen pronto."

He said he is considering calling for a special investigation by the Federal Reserve Inspector General.

Even President Bush is mad LOL

Anyway, feel like saying something about this? Make an anonymous comment! join the discussion here

Bailout Execs $440,000 Spa Retreat

So here's what AIG execs are doing with those billions of tax-payer bailout dollars...

From MSNBC...

Less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc., the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown said Tuesday.

The tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees at the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy.

The retreat didn't include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers were still enraged over thousands of dollars spent on catered banquets, golf outings and visits to the resort's spa and salon for executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary.

"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement. "Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."

Aren't you in a hurry to help bailout more of these failing banks now?

Wonder Where All This Money Comes From?

The Los Angeles Times has said, "The House today approved a $700-billion financial rescue plan -- sweetened by $110 billion in tax cuts -- on a 263-171 vote four days after rejecting it in a move that stunned both Wall Street and Washington."

According to the Associated Press, "With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush who quickly signed it."

Today I read on the Wall Street Journal, "President George W. Bush signed the biggest government intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression after U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers wary of growing signs of the nation's economic distress voted Friday in favor of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package."



Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one who wonders these things? Where does all this money come from?

It must fall from the sky.

Gas Prices In America

We all know gas prices are out of control, they keep rising, then dropping a little then going up again. A hurricane comes along, or a gas line in the Middle East gets blown up by a terrorist and the price of oil just keeps going up and down, up and down. One thing remains the same though, the cost of filling up your vehicle in America is definitely not getting any cheaper, and one thing that is really putting a strain on our economy is the price of gasoline.

Here's a look at the gas prices in America...



This picture shows the gas prices in America. Oklahoma is paying the least right now, at just over $3.13. Alaska is paying the most at $4.84 a gallon. Without going too deep into it, even at the lowest gas prices right now this is putting a strain on American families.

I am lucky enough to not have to drive much to earn my living, but I have two twenty-something year old brothers, and I see what they are struggling with. One having to drive many miles in a day going from home to college campus, back to home, then to work, and so on. The other raising children, managing the bills of a household with multiple vehicles, and putting himself through college as well.

Being the oldest of the brothers I often give my younger brothers advice from time to time, and sometimes it has to do with money management. Because of my brother's job, he needs to have a big truck and it would be impossible for him to drive to work in one of the latest trendy hybrid cars. Long story short, he drives a Nissan Titan, and no matter how many compliments he gets about his truck, he always brings up the gas prices that are eating him up.

At 12 mpg, people in America are riding around in cars they can barely afford to drive back and forth to work in. The average guy doesn't even fill up his vehicle, he just puts in what he can and hopes it lasts him the remainder of the week! Which is what is actually making me want to learn more about the energy independence debate and alternative fuel options facing America.

McCain's Blame Game

We all know politics is sometimes the art of saying one thing and doing another, but nowhere is that fact more prevalent than in John McCain's call for no finger pointing during the current financial crisis, while pointing the finger at Barack Obama and blaming him for it.

McCain's latest ad even claims Democrats and Senator Barack Obama are to blame for blocking reforms that would have stopped the financial crisis from happening! But he wants the world to believe he is not casting blame on anyone. He has formally denied any blame game, however interviews illustrate this falsehood blatantly. Using his own words against him, reporter after reporter has shown he uses blame in many of his ads and speeches, and in the same paragraph will point the finger and cast blame on anyone except the actual people who helped cause the financial crisis, the banks, the people who fought for less regulation of financial institutions and policies.



McCain has proven himself to be quite the flip flopper during this campaign. Often saying one thing and doing another, or in this case, hypocrisy of placing blame on your opponent for doing exactly what you are in fact doing. The McCain Blame Game started long ago, and he uses it to great effect in the media, however reporters are pointing out his lies as the election continues.

McCain has also tried to use his "campaign suspension" to his advantage, when many in government feel his efforts actually slowed down and hindered the process. Again, in the same breath trying to paint himself as someone who was assisting the bailout effort, while in fact hindering it and aiming to cast blame on Barack Obama.

“He certainly did nothing for the first few days," McCain added. "I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face-to-face meetings.”

Let's not forget he cancelled his David Letterman interview to "catch a plane to Washington," but was in fact just a few blocks away having makeup put on to do another interview, and was actually not on his way to the nation's capitol.

McCain began introducing partisanship into the process of government as soon as he "suspended his campaign." That effort alone hindered and slowed down the actual work being done on negotiating the bill. "More harm than good" comes to mind. He sought to dominate news coverage, and in the end it backfired on him and made Barack Obama look good for wanting to continue the first Presidential Debate rather than avoid it.

One thing he cannot deny is Obama's recent surge in popularity and approval ratings in the polls. And McCain's latest quote buzzing around the internet news sites and blogs may be his best.

When asked why Obama is doing good in the latest polls McCain answered: "Because life isn’t fair.”

Senate Bailout Vote

How did the Senators that represent your state vote?

Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Webb (D-VA), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

This is how the Senate voted Wednesday on the financial bailout bill. (S. Amdt. 5685 to H.R. 1424)

Maxed Out

Despite being an avid horror movie fan, I have become addicted to documentaries lately, especially social and political ones.

So considering the latest financial crisis looming, I decided to finally check out the DVD Maxed Out.

Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. Shocking and incisive Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.Runtime: 87 mins

While I could gather what it was about from the title and brief description alone, it did provide a peek into some aspects of American debt that I was not aware of. Such as the average American household has at least $9,000 in credit card debt. As well as a brief hint into credit or debt related suicides in the population.

I already knew a few things this DVD seeks to inform the viewer of. How could most of us not be aware that most Americans are behind on bills and credit and debt are both sky high at this time in our nation's history? That most people will never pay off their credit cards before they die, and the majority of citizens have credit card debt, hence the title Maxed Out.



Maxed Out does include some entertaining clips of the major credit card company lobbyists and spokesman before congress and you can clearly see the influence they do have. You are briefly informed about Bush and the bankruptcy reform, but I felt it could have went a little more into real estate debt. However, I do understand this documentary was focused on credit card debt as opposed to the economic crisis facing America today.

I recommend this DVD to anyone interested in financial issues related to society, and or debt in general.