Legal Blog of Thaddeus M. Bond & Associates

Many of us remember this line from the Michael Douglas character in the movie Wall Street. Yet a lot of people forget that Gordon Gecko was a lamentable person, not a hero. How much is too much? A small yet very influential segment of our society never believes that they have enough. Were we put on this earth to accumulate possessions? Or were we put here to use our God given talents to serve others? What point does massive wealth serve other than gratification of an ego or a need to feel superior to other human beings? The economic mess of the past few years can be largely attributed to those were never satiated. People who already had more money that they could ever need to live a comfortable lifestyle engaged in risky strategies with OPM (other people's money), all in the thirst for more, more, more. Now that those actions have failed, the fund managers, bankers and politicos walk away with plenty while their investors are left holding the bag. Greed is not good, it is evil. No one should be denied the right to pursue a decent living and to achieve all they are capable of achieving. But at some point, its time to recognize that you have enough. Back off the thirst for massive wealth and devote your time and energies to more philanthropic pursuits. Money alone cannot buy happiness.

Government bodies of all shapes and sizes are only recently beginning to discuss how to deal with the decreased revenues they knew were coming many months ago. There has been much hand wringing over the possibility of laying off workers who have become unnecessary because of the slowed pace of development and the real estate market. The County of Lake acted embarrassed to lay off 18 people out of a work force of over 3000, a staff reduction of well less than 1%. Why can't the government do what private businesses have been doing since the recession began a few years ago and significantly reduce their staffs to save money?
Proposals have been floating around left and right to raise taxes, fees and other funds we are forced to turn over to the government. I would suggest that this economic mess we are in is due in large part to a bloated bureaucracy. The government is the single largest employer in this country. Most of us turn over the equivalent of every dollar we earn from January 1 to May 15 each year just to meet our tax obligations. This is ridiculous. The vast majority of hard working and honest people do not get anywhere near fair value for their money in a return of government services.
To boost the economy, we need to slash the size of government and reduce taxes accordingly. There are plenty of non-essential government programs we can live without. It's time to leave more of our money in the efficient and profit driven private sector, not in the wasteful and inefficient government. We voters need to demand that our elected officials act more responsibly. The days of ever growing government and never ending tax increases must come to an end.