What’ll it take? – Housing Economy Views and News 3/7/2010 – Bob Zartarian
What’ll it take to pull us out of the malaise that is Housing and our Economy? Will it be Health Care Reform, Cap and Trade or Environmental mandates? How about HARP and HAMP and the other well meaning but thus far ineffective housing programs intended to stop the decline in property values? Will it be higher fees on government services or higher taxes? I think not.
What’s needed is a fundamental change in the way our nation does business. Let’s put the energy we’ve expended in the health care reform debate and instead allow America to restore its position as the world leader in commerce. Let’s focus the energy of the American people on business and admire innovation. Let’s conclude trade agreements and reduce corporate taxes to allow our industry to compete on the world stage. Let’s harness the fundamental industriousness of our people to work. Let’s allow Americans to create wealth for a better and richer life for themselves and their families.
No, tinkering with a tax credit here and there or giving a bank $1000 as an incentive to approve a short sale will not return America to prosperity, it’ll take a national policy that recognizes what America does business best and business begets jobs. It’s jobs that will create real demand and that will lead us out of our malaise. Tell your elected representatives to pave the way for business to thrive and do it now before our overspending thoroughly weakens us as a nation. That’s what it’ll take.
These views are strictly my own
Bob Zartarian
Choose a New Insurance Agent – Marietta Based Chris Jordan – Atlanta Insurance Live
I met @thechrisjordan at a tweet-up at @fuegomundo sponsored by @toddschnick and @stephaniealloyd. Chris is an insurance agent and I had already started following him on Twitter. After the social Part of the tweet-up a number of us stuck around for dinner and Chris and I sat next to each other. Chris is a really bright guy who is using Social Media as the fundamental backbone for his marketing process. I’d spend time writing about how well he is using social media but another friend @NotEasyToForget James Ball has already done a wonderful job and I’ll simply refer you to his article, Social Media: Selling Insurance from the Bathtub Since 2009.
What I’d like to do in this article is sell you on going to Chris’s site and requesting a quote. Fist let me say I am not being paid to do this article and Chris is not currently aware that I’m writing it. This article is consistent with this site’s main objective of promoting small businesses in Marietta and Roswell and I have recently become a Life Insurance customer of Chris’s and I will be switching my home and car insurance to Chris as well. Let me explain why.
Atlanta Insurance Live is Chris’s site and his business is based out of his home in Marietta. On the site he provides copious amounts of information about insurance and insurance issues. He begins to build trust through providing information about his industry and by giving the reader a sense of his personality. Chris is a friendly and funny guy as you’ll see in his entertaining video’s.
Another important point about Chris is his availability. I was working late one night and on Twitter. I saw Chris get on and said “hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you for a quote” This was at 12:00AM in the morning. He readily got on the phone with me, took my information and provided a quote by the next day. You can’t ask for better or quicker service than that. Additionally when I asked about my insurance needs he did not try to up sell me to a crappy whole life product I didn’t need and he was honest about how, when and where one might need a product like that.
I have a busy schedule. I work 40+ hours per week, I blog, I’m training for a 1/2 marathon and I have 3 kids and a wife. I’m busy! Chris actually when out of his way to come to my house on a Saturday afternoon and spent 2 hours with me going through paperwork and making sure I was comfortable with the transaction. Chris is the real deal. Many insurance agents spend all their time acquiring new customers but don’t do jack to service them. I have no doubt that Chris will continue to be excellent as an insurance agent.
So if you are here in Georgia and you need insurance, spend a few minutes asking Chris to help you out. He will make the process painless, ensure you get the services you need and most likely save you money. He saved me $40/month and increase the value of my Life Insurance plan by $250,000. Chris is a independent insurance agent and will be able to help you out. Go ask him for a quote. or Talk with him online live at Insurance Live.
They Both Got it Wrong – Housing Economy Views and News 2/24/2010 – Bob Zartarian
First it was New York, now it’s Washington. Unfortunately both got it wrong.
It’s not controversial to say that overzealous Wall Street types created fancy financial instruments that blew up Housing and ultimately the Economy. Let’s also remember that Washington types jumped in and instructed banks to make loans that didn’t make sense either. So Wall Street with Washington’s “encouragement” worked together to bring it all down.
Now the music’s stopped; we’re faced with high unemployment for years to come except now Washington is the old New York. Instead of Wall Street derivatives bringing us down we have massive Washington spending programs led by Health Care Reform and Cap and Trade looming. And then there’s taxes – old ones, new ones and those old ones ratcheted higher that will drain the pocketbooks of consumers. Without a vision of a solid future past job creators are holding back – with what’s going on why do otherwise? Turns out those Wall Street types aren’t so stupid after all. This time banks aren’t following Washington’s lead with easy credit and catching lots of heat for it.
Both got it wrong before. Hopefully Washington, the new New York will listen to the American people who appear to be saying our lawmakers must stop spending in a no growth, high debt and deficit, no job creation economy. We need years of good old fashioned common sense – that will restore confidence and the jobs that will lead us out of this morass we’re in now.
Bob Zartarian These views are strictly my own
Housing Economy Views and News 2/24/2010 – Bob Zartarian
Most would agree that to get Housing and the Economy back on track we need more demand and spending brought about by consumers with jobs and disposable income. After all, that’s what all that stimulus spending was supposed to be about.
How is it then that allowing the “Bush” tax cuts to expire and instituting Health Care reform which will add taxes for years before benefits kick in can bring back jobs and grow the economy? Don’t taxes take disposable income away from consumers and slow job creation?
Bob Zartarian – These views are strictly my own
Housing Economy Views and News 2/8/2010 – Bob Zartarian
How sad, less than two weeks of focusing on Job creation and were already back to Health Care Reform, something that has mistakenly had the limelight for a year. We’re also back to Tea Parties, the KSM trials and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that dilute the focus on Job creation. Important no doubt but not the priority that Job creation can and must be.
If the economy was strong we could deal with issues we WANT to tackle but they are unnecessarily taking the emphasis away from the NEED to create Jobs. As a country we need to distinguish between Needs and Wants. I’m fine with Reforming Health Care and debating those other issues but they are WANTS and not NEEDS (yes, there is already a way for the uninsured to get health care).
The statistical anomaly that recently brought down the unemployment rate at the same time as unemployment rose must be ignored. What we should be more concerned about are the tax cuts that will be allowed to expire at year end and the elimination of the program to buy Mortgage Backed Securities by the Federal Reserve in less than two months. The Congress and the administration must increase demand which will ultimately put people to work. Forget targeted stimulus – it has no lasting effect and is rife with waste and abuse. There are plenty of examples from the past year to prove that. Stop the plan to take more taxes from the American people. It may create a double dip recession.
The solution: reduce payroll taxes, reduce corporate taxes, eliminate capital gains taxes, keep the “Bush” tax cuts, eliminate the “death” tax and watch the economy “SNAP” back. Tax revenues will rise, we’ll be able to balance the budget and pay down the deficit and the country will recover. Let’s strengthen the employer class, put people to work and then address our WANTS.
Bob Zartarian - These views are strictly my own
The future of Metzger Business
Metzger business has been used to keep track of my rambelings as an experienced Internet and ecommere business architect who is interested in social media. I am also very interested in small business and my community so I’ve decided to turn this endevor into an experminent. I’d like to help small businesses and my community by making this a platform for publishing. I’ve invited a number of small businesses jnthe community to start posting articles one a regular basis. I hanlve room for several additional business to post as well. On top of that I’ll be doing business reviews of businesses in the Marietta and Roswell comunities. I’ll continue to write about how I think social media can help both small and large business and how this site helps the businesses that participate on it.
You’ll see chAnges in the site Over the coming weeks and months but we are going to start slowly. So please enjoy drop us some comments and tell you friends in marietta and Roswell. If for a business and would like to contribute please feel free to reachout to me. Kevin [at] Metzgerbusiness [dot] com
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