Please note: This post is not intended to come across as bitter or in search of a pity party. I am merely expressing thoughts that I have muling about in my head, partly out of frustration; partly out of confusion; partly out of desperation; partly out of a desire to let others know what not to do. I am not trying to excuse anything.

First, some things must be understood:

1. I am this close to having my parents paid off!!! I want it to happen; I want the loan out of my life; I want to make it happen this month. I wanted it to happen last month, but circumstances such as interest on the loan and taxes prevented it. I adjusted the target for this month, but I goofed. I over spent. And now am at one of those points of fear that I never want to be at again, much like the one that got me into this loan two years ago.
2. I am going to cross the finish line. I may be scraped and bruised from head to toe, but I am going to cross the finish line.
3. I will finish this course of the race. Again, I may be scraped and bruised from head to toe, but I will finish this course of the race. Likewise, the next course, and the course to follow. Just like the Jamaican Bobsled Team, I may feel dead, but I’ve got to finish the race.

I plan to send the following to my Senators and Representative.

OK, so last month was our favorite month, which featured our favorite day, April 15th. I went through the agony of preparing my taxes via the Free File service vendored by H&R Block. When I saw the amount I was going to have to owe, I realized I couldn’t quite do it in one lump sum. I wasn’t all that crazy about the extra $52 fee that would essentially negate the student loan interest deduction, but as I calculated things out, a payment plan was the only option I had.

I filled out the appropriate paperwork and submitted the forms along with the amount of my proposed monthly payment. The way I figured it, it would only be a couple or so months and I’d have them taken care of since it only seemed logical for them to apply my economic stimulus to my taxes due, which should take close to three months off, a month’s worth sent in, and I should only have a month or so left to pay. This isn’t all that bad.

Granted, I was looking forward to stimulating the economy of paying off my loan from my parents, but, if I was keeping the IRS happy, I could divert my earned money to the primary debt of the moment.

I don’t know what happened, other than I got careless. I had paid the rent. I had eaten every day. Apparently a lot, because I was about to run out of money. This was not cool at all. I had no one to blame but myself. Fortunately, I get a pay check from one job or the other each week, so it’s just a matter of cinching up and holding on tight for a bumpy ride for a few days, and surviving.

Then I get a letter from the IRS, and I’m thinking, What did the H&R Block software miss? I don’t need this in my life right now!

I trembled with great fear as I opened it up, and was relieved to read the first paragraph:

We’ve accepted your offer to have your monthly installment payments automatically taken from your bank account. …

OK, this is alright. Then I read they want me to send in a check with “the enclosed envelope” for the $52 payment plan fee. That left me wondering why they didn’t just calculate it into the payment plan and automatically take it out of my account. Furthermore, what enclosed envelope was I supposed to use? Yup, no enclosed envelope! That was real smart on the part of the bureaucracy!

Then there was a fancy chart about special deferrals for low-income situations, and if they looked at my return, they would know I didn’t qualify, so why waste my time and space on the paper? Next paragraph talks about if I’ve already paid the $105 user fee, and I’m thinking, Wasn’t it only $52??? What’s this $105 business? No explanation was provided, nor did $105 further appear, other than to say if I qualified and had already paid, $62 would be applied to my owed taxes.

You have to understand that I’ve done all my business with the IRS on the same account for 10 years. The bank did do some reformatting a while back, but for the last 5-7 years (at the very least), it hasn’t changed. On the same note, I had authorized them to automatically debit a month’s worth of my proposal with the return. So I was a bit dumbfounded when the next paragraph stated that they needed to verify the bank account information before they could automatically debit from said account. Meanwhile, I was welcome to send in monthly payments until they start their automatic debit, perhaps next month (June).

In addition to all that, they will automatically calculate the “final payment” amount and presumably automatically debit said amount. No further reminders of this commitment will be sent to me. That to me is a little offensive as I would like to know what my final payoff amount is going to be BEFORE they attempt to ping my account for money.

Page three. Nothing has been said about my current balance. Nothing has been said about the economic stimulus refund and how my taxes owed relate to it. Terms and conditions are stated. #4 mentions that any (emphasis added) refunds will be used to pay the amount owed. Does this mean my economic stimulus is going/has gone toward my tax bill? Who knows. One word on the street is I get my check regardless of my tax obligation and then I can send it back for my taxes if I want. The other word on the street is that if I owe them, they automatically put it on my tab. I guess I’ll find out in the near future.

It goes on to talk about withholding and estimated payments to avoid this situation in the future, etc. I can call with any questions (that’s good!) or I can write, but I have to enclose a copy of the letter (five pages in all!) along with my phone number and available hours. Whatever happened to the Paperwork Reduction Acts of 1980 and 1995?? They’ll get a phone call before I send in a copy of the letter they sent me just so I can ask a question.

Reading all this leaves me wondering about that ad campaign in the 90’s about putting the Service back in the S of the IRS. The letter goes a number of different directions that make me wonder what I need to do right now, and in spite of me using the same back account with them for several years, nigh unto a decade, they can’t hit the ground running on this plan. I fail to see the improvement that they were so happy to announce.

All schools are closed today. Actually, not today, but in a few days. In an under-reported news item, the President signed an executive order that accomplished three tasks:

1. February now has 30 days every year, except in leap years when it will have 31. Since most even-numbered months have 30 days, the President thought it best to be consistent, plus he really has it in for the calendar industry for making all those calendars that count down to his last day in office in January of 2009. Since the leap year can’t be gotten rid of, every four years, February will still have an extra day. An adviser close to the   situation said that the Supreme Court would surely strike down any attempt to get rid of the 29th day of February, which is now the 31st of February, as a violation of Campaign Finance Reform laws that Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Sen. John McCain (R [sometimes]-AZ) spearheaded.
2. The executive order, signed at 11:47 PM, EDT on March 31, 2008, is retroactive. To take care of the extra days in February that were not observed because they didn’t exist, March of this year gets two extra days. The President has called them “Flashback days,” since they fill in missing gaps in the calendar that would have already taken place. Today, instead of being April 1st is March 32nd to make up for February 30th. Tomorrow will be March 33, to account for February 31st. Next year, February will only have 30 days. February will not have 31 days again until 2012.
3. What is April 3 on your calendar this year will be deemed a national “no school day” from here on out. Most private, charter, and home schools are exempted from this school holiday. This April 3 is, due to the executive order, really April 1, commonly known as April Fool’s Day. In signing the executive order to give mostly public school children across the country the day off, the President noted that No Child Left Behind has been viewed by many, conservative and liberal alike, as a joke due to the bureaucratic red-tape that it created. Additionally, the President figured since many hold to there being a separation of Church and State, and God is hardly given any recognition in the public schools, April 1 would be a good day for the schools to have as a holiday.

I know. I was shocked when I read the news too. But, I have to wish you all a happy April Fool’s Day somehow!!!!  Read more on this fun day at Snopes.com (really).

In April of 2006, I financially wrecked. Two credit cards were maxed out and then some and two outstanding loans were no longer current. I didn’t want to admit that I had a problem to my parents, though I knew I did. I’d find a way out, though I knew not where to start. Answering the phone was a thing of the past, as I couldn’t bear the thought of having to talk to a collector. Only problem was I started out with these while living with my parents, so when “I couldn’t be reached” at my home, they called my previous number. Then Mom came to my place wondering why a creditor was this close to suing me.

That’ll make you feel sick to your stomach. Being a failure is one thing, but being a failure and your Mom knowing about it is a whole different can of worms.

That weekend, Mom, Dad, and I had a chat about money, debt, and how I needed to shape up. The first step was to face the fear of talking to my lenders and getting things worked out so I could get to where I was standing again. By the way, if you have an education loan, they are about the easiest to work with. If you can’t pay for a season, they’ll deffer for a time. That’s a lot better than defaulting, plus they’re more than willing to work with you since they get rewarded for every loan that doesn’t default.

Anyway, part of the solution was a loan in Mom’s name to get the Credit Cards settled. At the time, it was a great idea, but now I don’t endorse familial debt. As Dave Ramsey says, Thanksgiving dinner just tastes different when it’s with your lender instead of your family. This loan had a four year life and I had to pay at least $25 above the minimum. Talk about not fun.I had a total of $8,000 with Mom’s name on the line. $500 was in a convenience check to make up part of the remaining balance on a card. Knocked that out in a couple payments. Then the big task started.

Oh, yea, I had to get a second job too. I landed that the day before my move back in with Mom and Dad deadline. I started doing my minimum payments and after almost a year, I realized, I could tack on another $50 to what I was paying. Then I got a huge bonus from my primary job, and did something that I never thought I’d be able to do. I spent my bonus on debt reduction. Not the latest gadget or anything else. I also came up with another $100 a month to put on the familial debt. The lender that Mom talked to even offered me a month off, penalty free, which I flatly rejected in my new mindset.

When you’re going through Baby Step 2 (paying off all debt, smallest to largest), it is easy to get weary, no matter how good you’re doing. I do a little jig when I reach a $1000 threshold or my finance charge drops $10. Why? Because it’s a progress marker. Finance charge drops because the principle drops. Principle drops because I’m paying above and beyond what the lender wants.

But it’s still easy to get discouraged that the debt is hanging around too long (and it is).

So, last night, I took all my debts paid up-to-date this month. Mom’s loan, with another $50 per month has just five months to live. That means, just in time for Mom’s and mine birthday’s, I’ll have my parents back!!!!!!!!!! I told my Mom the good news today and her jaw nearly hit the floor when I told here that I’d have her paid off in half the time the lender stipulated. I think it was her recent neck surgery that prevented it from falling all the way down.

My next debt is a car (yuck!). Don’t get me wrong, the car is nice and all, but it’s dragging a little having a bank as the primary owner. I calculated out five months of payments and ran what I’m paying on Mom’s loan into the minimum for the car. Seven months after I reclaim my parents, the car will have a bumper sticker that says “PAID FOR.”

After that, I have this lady I’m living with named Sallie; Sallie Mae, every college grads live-in girlfriend. I calculated out a year’s worth of payments on my college education and then rolled my new minimum on the car into the monthly plan for the education loan. In a little over a year, Sallie will be evicted. I set a personal goal for the end of 2009.

That’s just two years away. I did some figuring on time saved. Mom’s loan will be two years early; the car will be just over a year and a half early; Sallie Mae will be just under 10 years early. Added all up, I’ll be saving 13 years and 3 months of loan time!!!! I’m looking forward to being debt-free, especially now that I know it’s so close, I can see it on approach.

Thanks be to God for His grace that has gotten me through this self-inflicted tough time, for loving parents to say “We’ve been there and we still love you,” and for friends to share the good news with.

Chalk another one up for a Colorado team headed for the National Championship.

Yup, the Colorado Rockies had us all holding our breath when the DBacks came back to within two (we’re used to it as vetran Broncos fans), but how sweep the poetic justice that Eric “Lucky Break” Byrnes got the third out of the ninth inning. Here’s wishin’ the best for Cleveland (until Rocktober continues)!

I’ve just completed watching my first post-season baseball game in about a year. Usually, I wait out on baseball until the World Series actually starts up, but since a regional team is on fire, I decided to take advantage of my parents’ satellite programing and watch the Colorado Rockies knock another sock off the Diamondbacks.

Nothing against the D-backs (I was in Phx, AZ in 2001 for their World Series win and have a celebratory shirt from my niece’s father), but I’m really optimistic about the Rockies headed for the World Series and doing well.

Took this last night (early this morning) on my way home for lunch. Not quite 2 degrees, but still a single digit

PLEASE NOTE: This IS NOT the Photo of the Week! That is still up for your vote to decide.

In just under five years, the Dow has nearly doubled. Today, Rush Limbaugh enlightened his listeners about the fact that in Oct. of 2002, the Dow bottomed out just below the 7,200 mark. Although the Dow just missed closing at the 14,000 mark that it attained to early this morning, it should be safe to say the economy is on track, regardless of the experts saying that there are a number of worrisome things going on. However, for the past several months, the experts have been shocked that the economy is doing so well. Today’s closure just above the 13-9 mark (13,900 for those of you that are wondering what I mean) is still a record high that is part of the current upward trend in the stock market.

CNBC’s Erin Burnett reported some seldom-noted economic info on the Today Show:

You know, it’s an amazing thing here. We’re looking at the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 30% over the past six months, 30 days this year alone we have had record closes for that index. So it’s really another day, another record on Wall Street. It’s also worth noting that while politicians talk about two Americas, virtually all Americans are seeing wages rise and unemployment is at a historic low. The issue of taxes is important here. The top 1% of Americans pay 30% of taxes in this country. The bottom 20% of American wage earners pay only 5%.

Outside of talk radio sources like Rush Limbaugh, figures like this have seldom been noted.

In other numerical news, the Political Cowboy blog has nearly reached the 25K threshold! This would be just over doubling the page loads in less than a year. One reader from Emblem, WY anonymously noted that while he/she was not necessarily looking for anything great here, he/she found the Political Cowboy to be better than expected. A number of the 26,000-plus spammers tended to agree with the Emblem reader.

Some interesting stuff from Govtrack.us:

• Barbara Cubin missed 955 of 6432 votes (15%) since Jan 7, 1997 (Very Poor relative to peers). But let us delve into some bits of interesting related info:
  • She is tied for 7th most absent with Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) who has missed 618 of 4033 votes (15%) since Jan 3, 2001
  • Eni Faleomavaega (Democrat, U.S. Delegate, American Samoa), the  most absent member of the House, missed 123 of 229 votes (54%) since Feb 8, 2007 (Exceedingly Poor relative to peers).
  • John Kerry (D-MA) missed 573 of 3507 votes (16%) since Jan 22, 1997 (Very Poor relative to peers).

I had to bring up the Barbara Cubin info because the way people talk (especially the Wyoming media), you would think that Rep. Cubin was NEVER there. Granted, she is our one vote in the House, and we all know that her husband is in poor health (well, most of us should anyway). Do I like it when she misses a vote (regardless of importance)? No, but I understand. And now we can all rest knowing that others miss more than she does.

Moving along….

• SurveyUSA reports Enzi’s job approval rating at 65% as of 2006-11-22. The average approval rating among senators is 56%.
• Michael Enzi missed 90 of 3507 votes (3%) since Jan 22, 1997 (Average relative to peers).
• SurveyUSA reports Thomas’s job approval rating at 68% as of 2006-11-22. The average approval rating among senators is 56%. See their survey details or approval tracker for more information.
• Craig Thomas missed 107 of 3451 votes (3%) since Jan 22, 1997 (Average relative to peers).

If you have done any tracking of the Wyoming Delegates on Gov Track, and are wondering about updating your RSS tracking feed to include Sen. Barrasso, but have been to timid to ask, I e-mailed the webmaster about it.

Right now, Sen. Barrasso is not listed in the database. However, now that the webmaster knows we have a new Senator in Wyoming, I have been assured that the update should hopefully be done sometime this week.

I have a good excuse for the delay in this posting. I had to work this morning, so I’m getting caught up on the news. Would you believe that an above-average, everyday, normal citizen can get the news out faster than the big media of Wyoming? Well, believe it, because this morning it happened! The 10 quarter finalists were announced and Tieki Rae must have been in the fast lane of the information superhighway, because there was a near 90 minute lag between her post and the CST blog post.

Sad news that my favorite candidate, Larry French, did not make the list. Also sad that my “no way” candidates – - Colin Simpson, Cale Case, and Clark Stith – - did make the list. Troublesome that my questionable candidates (Randall Luthi and Matt Mead) also made the list.

For all the latest, or should I say earliest, happenings in Casper, stay tuned to Haemet Yeshachrer Otcha.

Lately there has been some discussion about Ray Hunkins and his commitment to not seek election in 2008. He’s the one that has gotten all the attention because he is a known figure after seeking the office of Governor in the last two gubernatorial elections.

I still maintain that it is the office holder’s prerogative whether or not to run, but the 2008 election did come up in the Park County GOP forum (I believe it was during introductory comments, which I didn’t take to many notes on since they mainly rehashed their application platforms).

There is an advantage to having someone run in ‘08 that has been there, even for a mere 14 months (accounting for Wyoming’s August primary election). While a certain amount of seniority is lost for the season of being there by appointment, if the appointee is elected by the people in ‘08, the appointee rises to the top of the freshman class of Senators that were elected in ‘08, thus gaining some seniority.

For the time being, we’ll have to give Sen. Testor (D-MT) the joy of being #99 in the U.S. Senate, up from #100.