Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: A financial plan

  1. #1
    God/dess dlabtot's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2005
    Location
    in your dreams, in my nightmares
    Posts
    2,085
    Thanks
    59
    Thanked 139 Times in 85 Posts

    Default A financial plan

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A man who couldn't find steady work came up with a plan to make it through the next few years until he could collect Social Security: He robbed a bank, then handed the money to a guard and waited for police. On Wednesday, Timothy J. Bowers told a judge a three-year prison sentence would suit him, and the judge obliged.

    "At my age, the jobs available to me are minimum-wage jobs. There is age discrimination out there," Bowers, who turns 63 in a few weeks, told Judge Angela White. The judge told him: "It's unfortunate you feel this is the only way to deal with the situation."

    Bowers said he had been able to find only odd jobs after the drug wholesaler he made deliveries for closed in 2003. He walked to a bank and handed a teller a note demanding cash in an envelope. The teller gave him four $20 bills and pushed a silent alarm. Bowers handed the money to a security guard standing in the lobby and told him it was his day to be a hero.

    -snip-

    Prosecutors had considered arguing against putting Bowers in prison at taxpayer expense, but they worried he would do something more reckless to be put behind bars.

    "It's not the financial plan I would choose, but it's a financial plan," prosecutor Dan Cable said.
    http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/12/ro....ap/index.html
    Something tells me he's gonna be sorry he didn't just stick to doing odd jobs.

  2. #2
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: A financial plan

    well, it's certainly true that the 'minimum acceptable standard of living' for incarcerated criminals in some US states is pretty high ! Free rent, free food, free utilities, free education, free medical care ... and at 63 years old he really won't have to worry about 'dropping the soap'.

  3. #3
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    5,493
    Thanks
    120
    Thanked 50 Times in 35 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    Predators prey on the weak and unwarey - not the beautiful.

  4. #4
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: A financial plan

    ^^^ ask any dancer, and she'll tell you that isn't true !

  5. #5
    God/dess scarlett_vancouver's Avatar
    Joined
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    6,699
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 22 Times in 20 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    Poor guy. He was that desperate.

    I don't think minimum security prisons really have that whole Oz/drop-the-soap factor, do they?

    Feature costumes for sale!

  6. #6
    God/dess
    Joined
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Mid America
    Posts
    2,355
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    I've heard they're pretty nice as well. Cable TV, time outside, food, etc.

  7. #7
    madmaxine
    Guest

    Default Re: A financial plan



    Young adults do this too, when they can't go home & can't find a way to support themselves.......
    I'm not a bleeding heart, but things are WRONG in America when a little old man thinks jail is an option to get his basic needs met.
    Ironically, he might learn some new job skills in the can, maybe not entirely legal skills, but ways to "hustle" once he gets out.
    PS Someone should make a movie about this.

  8. #8
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: A financial plan

    ^^^ well, that's the end result when some states decide that the 'minimum standard of living' that is acceptable for their prisoners and/or social benefit program recipients exceeds the 'true value' of unskilled labor --- a problem which is only amplified when the same states decide that they don't want the pollution and/or worker safety risks of manufacturing or mining or oil/gas drilling in their state which would have otherwise provided 'decent paying' jobs for unskilled labor. Put another way, high technology industries plus entertainment industries plus banking industries plus 'public sector' jobs in education / research / gov't services may be environmentally clean and safe from a worker standpoint and pay very well, but there is a very limited role for unskilled labor in that sort of economy. Therefore, the decision to subsidize the living standard of unskilled labor above the level that the 'true value' of that unskilled labor can pay for, whether by wealth transfer / taxation or by mandatory unskilled labor pay rates which are well above the 'true value' of that unskilled labor (which is fundamentally just a stealthier wealth transfer / taxation scheme) creates a drain on the most productive segments of the local economy in order to subsidize the least productive elements.

    Sooner or later Americans, and particularly Americans living in states that support a high 'minimum acceptable standard of living', have to come to terms with the fact that there are lots of people in the world that consider this American 'minimum acceptable standard of living' (in certain 'blue' states at least) to be luxurious compared to the living standard associated with unskilled labor in their own country (or even skilled labor in many countries) - that this 'minimum acceptable standard of living' is economically unjustifiable and unsustainable in today's global economy, and that the ever increasing wealth transfer / taxation levels on the most productive citizens of their state required to continue subsidizing that 'minimum acceptable standard of living' for the least productive citizens (or totally unproductive residents) is gradually killing the proverbial golden goose.

    Simply being an American citizen, or a legal resident, or even an illegal resident in some states whose courts have decided that citizenship needn't be a criteria for eligibility for social welfare benefits, should NOT guarantee a right to a private apartment plus heat plus lights plus food plus medical care plus cable TV plus free/subsidized education for your children under the guise of these things being 'basic needs' requiring no effort whatsoever on the part of the citizen / resident. But when the local economy has effectively eliminated most of the historical demand for unskilled labor by gov't policy driving out industries that could have employed unskilled labor productively, plus local gov't has adopted a policy that the things mentioned above constitute a de-facto 'minimum acceptable standard of living' for anybody residing in their state that the state treasury is willing to cut benefit / subsidy checks to pay for (or mandate by law that businesses and higher income residents must pay for indirectly), that's exactly what has wound up happening.

    The historical American Dream revolved around the OPPORTUNITY for anyone coming from anywhere to achieve a high standard of living in America via their own personal effort. However, today's situation re the 'minimum acceptable standard of living' available to Americans in certain states who simply sit at home (or in jail) and collect social welfare benefits, versus the actual standard of living which can be achieved by unskilled Americans who are willing to work their asses off, is that the standard of living achieved is essentially the same ! This HAS to change, and eventually will change by one means or another. The fact that many Americans do not realize the difference between a personal effort contingent OPPORTUNITY and a de-facto right that every resident should be 'entitled to' simply by being here and taking up space only illustrates how much America has changed in the past 75 years since the first gov't (tax) funded 'entitlement programs' were put into effect. It is also arguable that those very same 'entitlement programs' have been responsible for taking away at least part of that historical opportunity.

    Per the 'tin foil hat' crowd the change will take the form of an exodus of heavily taxed productive citizens and businesses, leading to bankrupt state budgets, leading to tapped out credit for state govt's, eventually leading to a reduction in gov't benefit / subsidy levels and thus to a reduced 'minimum acceptable standard of living' in that state. When that happens, such that prisoners are required to work on 'road gangs' again rather than sitting in air conditioned cells and lounges watching cable TV, you won't find 63 year old men willingly committing crimes in order to seek the 'minimum acceptable standard of living' that goes along with incarceration. You also won't find American citizens or residents sitting at home collecting social welfare benefits instead of taking an available job harvesting agricultural products. You also probably won't find state govt's enacting / continuing environmental / worker rights and benefits / business taxation policies which drive / keep certain industries (and the jobs / tax revenue they could offer) out of the state.

    But then again, it's also possible that nothing will change until the state's economy implodes altogether and hungry people start climbing their neighbor's fences en masse ! After all, most of the existing jails are already filled to capacity and then some ! But at that point, even Mr. Bower's economic plan wouldn't work any more since there wouldn't be any available cells and the state wouldn't have sufficient credit to finance construction of new ones !
    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 10-13-2006 at 10:38 PM.

  9. #9
    God/dess FrustratedBunny's Avatar
    Joined
    Jan 2006
    Location
    New Orleans, LA
    Posts
    2,457
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    poor guy. I guess being in jail is better than sleeping on a park bench.

  10. #10
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    5,493
    Thanks
    120
    Thanked 50 Times in 35 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    Being 63 years old, I bet he comes from that generation where one is lucky to encounter someone who has graduated from high school.

    Apparently that is America's new retirement plan for seniors - throw em in jail!

  11. #11
    Veteran Member StuartL's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2006
    Location
    European Man Of Mystery
    Posts
    648
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 21 Times in 7 Posts

    Default Re: A financial plan

    What an amazing story. Personally, I can't imagine anything worse, but what ingenuity.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 87
    Last Post: 01-19-2016, 05:55 PM
  2. Great Webcamming Financial Plan (That Worked For Me)
    By ReginaGeorge in forum Camming Connection
    Replies: 41
    Last Post: 10-17-2011, 02:55 PM
  3. i have a plan! :)
    By britt244 in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 11-17-2007, 05:14 PM
  4. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-02-2007, 05:18 AM
  5. I need a plan
    By needtodance in forum Stripping (was Stripping General)
    Replies: 33
    Last Post: 09-06-2007, 07:56 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •