Gold Standard Mail Voting
(P)regressives claim Colorado’s Mail Voting System is the “Gold Standard”. Of
course, they are right by their standards (low bar, that).
Troublesome facts only upset them.
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Where is the effort among elected officials to vigorously
focus on these problems? Their disdain tells me they don’t care so long as the
dysfunctional system keeps them and their cronies in power.
Colorado Republicans
They continue to be above wrestling in the (P)regressive
mud. That should guarantee they won’t win any statewide races.
The primary winner for Governor, Victor Marks, hasn’t
received endorsements from ‘mainstream’ Republicans. He is an “outsider”
(unclean, unclean). His radical platform will ensure I vote for him.
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Should, by some divine miracle, he wins the
(P)regressives still will have a majority in the Legislature, even a
super-majority.
His words, as expected from any candidate.
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Various pundits are asking if the Republicans will unite
behind him. Silly question, IMO.
Car Leasing
With prices of “a family sized SUV” North of $80,000 and monthly stroke close to
$1,000, leasing may soon be the only way to get new transportation.
I’m a fan of leasing in general when done properly. More
on that later in this post.
This was the sales “pitch” I used. “Folks, when you buy a
car, you put money as a down payment and
then make monthly payments. During that time, who owns the car?”
We agree that that the bank owns the car until the loan
is paid off.
“With a lease, we turn the process around. You make much
smaller monthly payments for the same number of months because you are not
paying for the whole car, just the use. At the end you make the down payment.
You do that only if you want. What you pay is called the residual”.
“The market value of the car in relation to the residual
at the end of the lease will be one of three things, lower, higher, or about
the same. If it is lower, walk away. If it is higher, that is money that can go
in your pocket. If it about the same, you have the option to buy the car”. Get acknowledgment.
“Say you decide to keep the car. Those of us in the
business know people seldom trade in a perfectly good car. They either know or
suspect bad things are happening. You know the car, so no surprises”.
Hopefully, this approach brought on more questions. In my
time about 50% of my closes were leases.
Lease pitfalls. One, mileage. If you drive an average of
18,000 miles a year then don’t be stupid and lease for 10,000 miles to get a
lower payment. That will bite you hard at the end of the lease. Second, know
the capitalization cost (what to car is sold to the lease company) and, if
possible, the buy rate (interest). Yes, you can arrange leases outside the
dealerships and shop with that in your back pocket. You need to keep the car in
good repair and, perhaps, have it professionally detailed before turning it in
should you decide not to keep it.
Seldom mentioned lease benefit – liability. The lease
company owns the car. He who owns the car owns the liability. They will require
you to have higher insurance coverage because they, not you, are liable. Say
you are in a bad accident and the other parties get hooked by the billboard
lawyers. Your insurance company is obligated to defend you and pay up to the
policy limits. They are not, repeat not, obligated to defend you the way you
want to be defended. Do you think I’m wrong? Please read your policy.
You have $100,000 coverage. Your insurance company and
Whiplash Charlie settle for $137,200. You have now become liable for $37,200.
(Thing I’m wrong? Talk to a lawyer)
Take the same scenario with a lease. The lease company is
liable, not you. Think Whiplash Charlie wants to take on Ford Motor Credit
Corporation?
Yeah, but, you can still be sued yada, yada, yada. True,
but you are no longer low hanging fruit.
One last point. You will enter the shark tank when you
meet with the finance manager (known in the business as F&I). Next to parts
and service departments, this is the greatest profit center in a dealership.
Although I personally loath this father and son combination,
they do a good job of showing how dealerships and sales work.
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Iran
Taken off a Facebook post.
A reply.
The
Daily Perspective
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We’re not dealing with sane
people in Iran. They’re focused on world domination, they’re true believers in
their cultic religion, and they truly believe their god is guiding them and
won’t let them fail. They will lie about everything to achieve their goals, and
they will never stop lying or attacking “the infidels”. The only way this ends
is to completely eliminate the Islamic regime in Iran. Only then will the
people be free and the region be safe.
Another example is Japanese bushido prior to WWII. Even after
two atomic bombs, and the edict of the Emperor, some Japanese officers wanted
to continue fighting.
Fanatics remain fanatics until they are dead or
castrated.
John Denver
I’ve noticed John Denver mentioned in several places
recently and thought to post a wee John Denver story. To be clear, I never
personally met him but we were in Denver around the same time.
Colorado once had 3.2 beer for those 18-21 and Denver had
several 3.2 night club/bars. One, the Eastway, was on East Colfax near Colorado
Blvd and John Denver was playing in a band there. He was not yet a headliner
and may have still been John Deutschendorf. He was the proud owner of a three
tone Thunderbird. A big fight broke out in the parking lot and he was trying to
keep people off his car. He had courage, not size, and was getting his ass
kicked. My friends and I waded in and helped him. End of story. The police
arrived and we made a strategic retreat.
Sanctuary City
Car StoryRepo Man
From time to time we needed to get a sold vehicle back
because the financing fell through. This is one of the hazards of “spot”
delivery” for aggressive dealers. Usually it wasn’t a big problem but a few
were memorable.
Recently a Facebook idiot posted about putting his truck
behind a locked gate with some kind of printed notice attached to the lock.
Fool, few in the repo biz would let that stop them.
Laws vary but police attitudes are consistent. Going
through a gate onto private property, in the moment, is criminal. Once the
collateral is on a public street the police regard it as a civil matter. That
saves them a ton of paperwork. As a courtesy to the police, you want to repo
the vehicle with as few witnesses as possible.
My General Manager tasked me with retrieving a Ford
Ranger. The buyer parked it in his back yard with a high wood fence. He had
elaborate locks and chains securing the gate.
What to do? Pull the pins on the gate hinges, push the
gate far enough open to drive the Ranger out to the street, and then beat feet.
Regretfully, we didn’t take time to put the pins back in
the hinges.
As always, YMMV