Due to the economy, I was recently “down-sized” from full-time with benefits to less than half-time, at a lower hourly pay rate, with no benefits. I have 2 young children, and am quickly being swallowed alive by debt. Even living paycheck to paycheck and running up what little credit I have left on my credit cards whileI look for supplemental work is not helping me keep my head above water — I NEED THE STATE’S HELP, NOT FOR IT TO ENCOURAGE MY FINANCIAL DOWNFALL BY STEALING THE TINY BIT I HAVE! This ridiculous tax increase may well be the final nail in the coffin for my family, causing us to lose our home.
LOS ANGELES (PRWeb) – Starting this month, California will take an additional 10 percent of our state tax withholdings in order to run the state, and one local consumer advocate says it’s not fair. And he’s fighting back with a new website, www.NoToSacramento.org.
“There was no vote on this,” says founder and consumer advocate Philip Tirone. “Simply, our state government has unilaterally decided to withhold a bigger chunk of our paychecks.”
“This is not fair, and that is why I’m doing something about it” Tirone adds. “Sacramento needs to start managing the State’s finances like Californians are managing their own pocketbooks. Most of us are cutting back and changing our lifestyle, but not state legislature. Basically, they issue an order for a no interest loan, with no vote, simply mandated by Sacramento. What gives them that right? This is stealing money from all working Californians, many of whom are living paycheck-to-paycheck.”
To urge the state to end this practice, Californians can sign an online petition at www.NoToSacramento.org.
“We must speak up together,” Tirone urged. “As individuals, we are weak, but together, they cannot deny us.”
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger and state legislators:
You do not have a right to take my hard earned money simply because of your inability to govern our state.
You are clearly incapable of making independent decisions because the special interest groups have lined your political coffers with millions of dollars. This is preventing you from making the kinds of difficult choices that need to be made.
Instead of throwing up your hands and apologizing for not being able to make the cut, how about showing some true grit and announcing you will be going without pay for the next year?
Sacrifice should start from the top, especially considering that is where the trouble started.
If you don’t, we the voters will speak up, and we will start with this petition. We are saying “No To Sacramento.” If you think you are going to cram this self-imposed loan with no interest down our throats, think again.
If you voted Yes on this amendment, we will vote No on you in the upcoming election. If you do not change this immediately, you will be out of office quicker than you can say “pass the buck and stick it to the little guy,” which is obviously what you are trying to say.
Spend LESS and California would not be in such a financial disaster. Stop making the taxpayers pay for your big spending.
Eric,Clovis, CA says:
I am sick and tired of my Government spending above and beyond its means. They should be on a tighter and smaller budget.
Dawn Robsion, Long Beach, CA says:
I have nothing extra for you to “borrow”.
Debbie,Whittier, CA says:
Essentially you are”borrowing” money from me (interest free) as my access to credit and cash becomes more limited making it impossible for me to “borrow”from banks and/or credit institutions. How is this fair? And what if YOU cannot pay it back?
Kelly,Mill Valley, CA says:
Cut Government Not Tax cuts. Get out of our lives. This is madness, all the spending. STOP STOP STOP SPENDING. Sincerely you are all gone next year, so help me god and all the rational people left in this state.
Eloisa, OakPark, ca says:
UNFAIR FOR PEOPLE WHO IS TRYING TO FOOD ON THEIR TABLE FOR THEIR FAMILY…
Eloisa, Oak Park, ca says:
This is unfair..Don’t punish me for your mistake…
Michael, Redding, California says:
Hey California, don’t bitch. You must love high taxes and government control because you voted in these high tax, money grabbing, freedom taking, power hungry democrats.Elections have consequences and voting for the democrats this is what you get.I think I’ll move to Texas and watch California go down the drain. There publicans sit on their butts and won’t get out and vote to make a real change in the state so I am leaving and just watch it go down the toilet.
Mosheh Thezion, Burbank, ca says:
I am running for the U.S.Senate out of Ca… and if elected I promise to promote sweeping changes to the present financial systems it is, and free the people of this never ending debt.see…..> http://mosheh.org/THE-ISSUES.htmlhhttp://mosheh.org/Banks-47-Credit-Cards. htmlttp://mosheh.org/Currency.htmlAnd solve the global crisis… http://mosheh.org/Message-for-Bankers.html And to explain the problem to the people… see……..> http://mosheh.org/message-for-people.htmlTogether we can solve these problems. -Mosheh Thezion
Alberto, Huntington Park, California says:
A bunch of B.S. I’m already making minimum wage because of the way he’s running things and now this. Land of the free my butt!
Marlene, Santa Ana, CA says:
It is a shame that people are already hurting and now deeper into debt; we the people will experience greater discomfort. Whatever happened to compassion, community, preserving family, life, and dreams? California was the golden state where gold was first founded. What is important? What is the real agenda? Why are we suffering? We already pay enough taxes without leaving our home. Property tax, resale tax,transportation tax, auto tax, gas pump tax, income tax, business tax, school tax, the list goes on…ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Robert, REDLANDS, Ca says:
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!This is theft! I did not opt for this! A loan? You say we get this back on our tax return? Back from where? If you are broke ad taking money, how can you give it back and still run the budget? HOW DARE YOU! And right at the holiday time too! This is going to make Black Friday a little less black for the stores and me. GUESS WHAT: I SHOP OUT OF STATE SIMPLY TO DEPRIVE YOU OF TAX MONEY. When I am in PA or AZ or FL or OR I buy all the things I want. Laptops, iPods, you name it. This is time I can shot and NOT GIVE CA MONEY and I love it to bits.You are so mismanaging the money that you get that until you get your act right, there is no reason I should still fill your coffers. BE GONE WITH THE LOT OF YOU!
Scott,San Pedro, CA says:
Please notice What Partyin Sacramento is RAISING YOUR TAXES. It is the DEMOCRATIC PARTY -NOT- the Republicans. Don’t believe me, just check it out. Google the results of ANY Tax Bill. You’ll see the ENTIRE backers are DEMOCRATS and the small Republican Party can’t stop them by VOTING NO. YOU have got to Vote these Democrats OUT OF OFFICE if you WANT YOUR TAXES TO STOP!
Nicole,San Pedro, CA says:
There are currently seven of us living in our house (not including our 3 month old puppy) and we barely get by because 4 of said residents are still school age children and 1 is a high schooler still unable to get a job due to age. I feel that we are beginning to follow the French and other medieval countries, in the sense that we don’t tax the upper class as much as we, the middle or lower class(es), get paid. I feel that the adults in my household shouldn’t be working so hard to live in a country, in a state, that tells you dreams can come true. We aren’t all movie stars or producers. Many of us are just normal people trying to get by and when lawmakers misrepresent themselves and us, it’s just tyrannical and wrong. We shouldn’t have to pay for other people’s mistakes. It’s unjust and shows poor development of the state of California. Let’s INNOVATE and prove that WE ARE ALL EQUALS and just because you make more money than many of us,you shouldn’t be taxed less. Half of what a “Hollywood housewife”spends on luxuries we could use to pay rent, bills, etc. Why don’t they (the upper, richer, more luxurious class) start feeling our pain? We must learn from the past so we don’t keep messing up our futures and that of further generations!
Scott,San Pedro, California says:
10% EXTRA taken out is NOT Temporary BUT PERMANENT ! RE-STARTING EVERY YEAR. Most people foolishly thought it was Temporary. When will it be raised to 20-50% of our Income?
Michelle, Lynwood, CA says:
An increase on the prices of goods will decrease consumption, which will lead continue to hurt the economy because companies will have surplus and overall have a decrease in real GDP.
Jennie Castillo, Perris, California says:
Haven’t the working people been sacrificed enough? It seems anytime there is a problem WE the PEOPLE have to pay for it. You have done enough damage already.
Deborah,Venice, CA says:
I already got a ten percent PAY CUT in February that practically ruined everything. Another hit like this WITH NO NOTICE is just unacceptable. Why didn’t everyone get notified??
Misty, Murrieta, Ca says:
I’m a divorced, single mother of three..working hard. I live pay check to pay check and am already below poverty. Take any more money from me and we will be on the streets! Not far!!!Try not giving our money to illegal’s and maybe we can recoup. I sure the hell can’t get any help from the system I payed into!
Cynthia, Oakland,ca says:
This is not a far act because a lot of our hard earned money is going to taxes as is and this is just another thing that will keep many of us from forward with the money we receive from our checks. Thank you for listening Cynthia
Jesse, Palmdale, California says:
Too many of us in California are living pay check to pay check…and one pay check away from poverty. An increase in taxes will only expedite this insidious decree.
Bob Davis, Huntington Beach, California says:
I can’t afford for you to take more money from my paycheck.
Chris, Pasadena,CA says:
It is abhorrent that only the state can resist fiscal prudence this long. The answer is to cut spending– cut until the budget is balanced — just like we do at home.
Ricardo Zanotti, Camarillo,CA says:
It is an irresponsible shame what CA has done and continues to do. It’s not surprising the people that every progressive state is near bankruptcy. No more entitlements, people who earn their money respect it. Quit supporting illegal’s!!!
On November 1, 2009, our politicians “serving” in Sacramento have decided to take an additional 10 percent of our state tax withholdings in order to run the state.
That’s not a typo: they have imposed an additional 10 percent on November 1st, 2009.
Think about this…. A no interest loan that is MANDATED BY SACRAMENTO.
Basically, a loan that is stealing money (it’s without our consent or vote) from all working Californians, many of whom are living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Sure, the banks have been hit hard by the recession, but they are enjoying gross profits in one area: overdraft fees. USA Today reports that banks are expected to pocket $38.5 billion in 2009 from insufficient funds and overdraft fees, more than double the amount banks earned a decade ago.
In light of the bad press they have suffered in the past year, banks are eager to rebrand themselves as kinder and gentler. A few—including Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One—have capped the maximum number of overdraft fees it will charge any single customer in one day to four. At $35 a pop, this still causes customers in the red $140 a day—a hefty price tag for people who are already suffering financial strain. This is down from 10 in one day; Can you imagine getting charged $350 in one day due to overdraft fees?
How do you avoid this? Here are two ideas:
1. Call your bank and ask that it stop automatically paying transactions that overdraw your account. While they are not currently required to oblige your request (though a federal regulation might make it mandatory in months to come), banks might be eager to please unhappy customers by declining transactions that put your account in the red and saving you the overdraft fee.
2. Give yourself a $100 or $200 cushion—at least on paper. Today, make an adjustment to your bank ledger so that your records show that you have $100 or $200 less than you actually have. This will help protect you from overdrafts caused by charges that might have slipped your mind.
LOS ANGELES (PRWeb) — Nationally recognized credit guru Philip Tirone says millions of Americans are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to applying for a job, because many routine pre-employment screening now include a credit check.
While some states are pondering limits on this practice, a 2006 study by the Society of Human Resource Management showed that 43 percent of companies conducting any type of pre-employment screening used credit checks for some or all employees.
“In our current economy, job seekers are absolutely affected by this practice,” says Tirone, author of “7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score” and founder and president of 720CreditScore.com. “It’s the perfect storm. With the U.S. unemployment rate hitting almost 10 percent, and with one in eight Americans behind on their mortgages—not to mention the millions of foreclosures and short sales, job seekers must be diligent about protecting their credit rating.”
Tirone says the majority of his clients over the past 12 months are people who cannot pay their bills due to a job loss “and don’t want this to affect their financial lives forever.”
He offers advice to those with less than perfect credit who are also looking for work, “Always be up front with any potential employer about three things: What they will find on your credit report; what you are doing to fix it, and what you learned from the experience.”
According to Tirone, “this shows the future employer that you are conscientious, and that you learn from your mistakes – which is precisely what employers what in an employee. Remember, employers understand that millions of Americans at all demographic levels are impacted by this economy; the key is how you handle it. In fact, chances are, the person who is conducting the interview has personally been impacted as well!”
Tirone says the myth that a late payment, a foreclosure or a short sale will limit your credit for 7 years is just that,an urban myth. “This was most likely started by the banks not wanting to take back homes,” he adds. “There are many lenders who will work with borrowers with negative items on their credit reports, plus there are many steps individuals can take to improve their credit right away.”
After a foreclosure or short sale, Tirone recommends that borrowers work to reestablish new credit immediately. “This is imperative,” he said. “The key is establishing credit that will improve your score, not just establish credit for credit stake.”
By following the right techniques, individuals who have had a difficult credit past, will not only present a better picture to prospective employers, but they wil also have dramatically improved their credit scores.
If you are a job seeker who is troubled by your credit report, Philip Tirone offers a free 90-minute tele-seminar. For information visit www.RaiseYourCreditScore.us.
About Philip Tirone:
Nationally recognized credit guru Phil Tirone offers a low-cost, self-help credit repair program at www.720CreditScore.com. He and his programs have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Woman’s World Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Bottom Line Magazine, and the New York Times bestseller “Secrets of the Young & Successful.” Recognized as a thought leader in the credit industry, Tirone speaks nationwide on the problems with our credit-scoring system and how it erroneously burdens America. He created the 7 Steps to a 720® Credit Score to expose the rules of the credit game and to create a way for countless Americans to increase their credit scores and save hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars in interest payments
LOS ANGELES (PRWeb) — With the government’s popular “Cash for Clunkers” program now closed, many prospective car buyers may feel they missed the boat. But credit guru Philip Tirone says all is not lost—even for those with low credit scores.
Tirone is the creator and president of 720CreditScore.com and the author of Getting a Car When the Banks Aren’t Lending, a free eBook available at www.720Car.com.
He says more than half the people who owned eligible “clunkers” were unable to qualify for Cash for Clunkers due to their credit scores.
“The statistics speak for themselves: About 80 percent of people have errors on their credit reports and 50 percent have credit scores below 720,” Tirone says. “Add in the tightened lending restrictions, and the program failed about 50 percent of the people who applied.”
So what can people do when their gas-guzzling lemons are breaking down, but the banks are turning them away? “This is the top question people want answered when downloading my ebook,” he says. “I tell prospective car buyers to make themselves more appealing to banks by raising their credit scores.”
He suggests these three immediate credit-building techniques:
• First, pull your credit report and report errors to the credit bureaus, particularly limits that are being reported incorrectly.
• Second, make sure the debt you are carrying on your credit cards is in proportion to the limits you have—meaning you should not have one card maxed out, and nothing on another card.
• Finally, if you are relatively young and have little credit, you should find immediate family members who can add you as an authorized user to existing credit cards with positive histories.
“By taking just these three steps, prospective car buyers could see their scores jump 50 or 60 points,” says Tirone.
He adds one more word of advice for credit-challenged clunker owners who are looking to buy a new car, even if the dealer they are talking to is saying no: “One of the biggest mistakes people make is buying and financing their car in the same location,” says Tirone. “Shop around. Many smaller credit unions and local banks have taken less of a hit than their big bank counterparts. As a result, they are better positioned to lend money than the banks associated with many dealerships.”
About Philip Tirone:
Nationally recognized credit guru Phil Tirone offers a low-cost, self-help credit repair program at www.720CreditScore.com. He and his programs have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Woman’s World Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Bottom Line Magazine, and the New York Times bestseller “Secrets of the Young & Successful.” Recognized as a thought leader in the credit industry, Tirone speaks nationwide on the problems with our credit-scoring system and how it erroneously burdens America. He created the 7 Steps to a 720® Credit Score to expose the rules of the credit game and to create a way for countless Americans to increase their credit scores and save hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars in interest payments.
LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) — For those Americans receiving a tax refund this year, by spending the money strategically you can lower your other bills and save hundreds of dollars per month. Philip Tirone, author of 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score (www.7StepsTo720.com), outlines the points to put you on the road to financial success.
The first thing a person should pay off is “financed loans” which have a negative impact on their credit score. Specifically, these are loans where payment has been delayed more that 30 days (“No Payments for 6 Months”). These loans negatively impact your credit score and should be avoided at all cost.
Contrary to popular belief, merely paying your bills on time will not ensure great credit. Other factors such as the number of credit cards you have and the balances outstanding on those cards have a direct impact on your credit score. Be certain that each credit card has a balance less than 30% of the card’s credit limit. If you have a credit card where the balance is more than 30% of the credit limit, use a portion of your tax refund to pay down that balance to below the accepted utilization rate.
More than 100 million people have a FICO score of less than 720, which means they are overpaying on their mortgage, car, and credit card loans. Many consumers are not even aware they are overpaying, instead believing that they are being charged “market rate” and not a higher interest rate based on a low FICO score. Every American should check their FICO score bi-annually as the score is used to determine their mortgage interest rate, auto loan interest rate, auto insurance interest rate and may also affect other areas of their life.
The first thing a consumer should do to understand their financial health is to be aware of their FICO score, not the consumer score that is generally released by the bureaus with the credit report. While every consumer should review their credit reports regularly to check for errors, the consumer score released with most credit reports is of less value than the lender’s score.
Following the above steps will create a stronger economic foundation for the future. Know where you stand with your credit score, avoid finance loans and be certain the revolving balances on each credit card you have is below the standard utilization rate to improve your future finances.
About Philip Tirone:
Philip’s book “7 Steps to a 720® Credit Score” dispels the misconceptions around our credit scoring system and guides consumers who are struggling with Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, Short Sale, Divorce, and many other experiences that impact a person’s credit score.
Philip and his programs have been featured in the LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others. Additionally, Philip has been a frequent guest lecturer at UCLA Anderson School of Business and Management.
