The Life and Times of Joe Suttle

Stimulus Money to Non-Citizens

joe June 12, 2009 Political

Understandably, the world is in chaos. Financial markets around the world are suffering because of an unknown ailment. Some would say the ailment is based in greed, but who am I to judge. I just know that my 401K has dwindled in value because of what is happening.

So, let's take some good U.S. government money and put it to work. Get the money out there and people will start spending, and that will restart our (the U.S.) and the world's economies growing again.

Well, except for that $250, nothing has made it down to us the citizens of what was the greatest nation in the world. Even in the S.F. Bay Area, they are still meeting to decide what to do with some "transit" funds in the "Stimulus Package." Here it is some 45 days later, and we still have bureaucrats and politicians posturing over where the money could be best spent.

Why couldn't they just sit down with a list of projects – remember, they solicited a list from almost every imaginable group in the region. Now that they have that list, it should have been an easy thing to immediately take a vote for projects, and just get started on the one with the most votes.[more] No…they have to have some more meetings to discuss ALL the projects, and then try to work on prioritizing them, then vote on the list. Not one project at a time – the package. Errr!

Now, to top it off, there is word that your Congress and President want to put "e-verify" on hold for 5 years for whatever reason they can find. They say that using e-verify to make sure hired employees are citizens or in the country legally would create an extra burden for contractors getting federal stimulus contract money.

Apparently Obama is thinkng of signing an executive order (rescinding the existing one), that government contractors and subcontractors will no longer be obliged to verify all employees working on government contracts. They will only have to verify those employees who are hired specifically for the contract and are hired after the company receives the government contract. What if the company already has 200 non-citizens or illegal aliens working for them, gets the contract and puts them to work on the contracted work and hires other workers for the non-contract work (non-citizens again…)?

So, how many U.S. citizens was that Stimulus Package supposed to put back to work? And, if it's working, why is the unemployment figure going up rather than down?

Thanks Friend!

joe June 12, 2009 Faith

Job is starting to feel the heat and pressure from his friends. Bildad in Chapter 18 attacks Job for either being at a loss for words, or having a "stupid day". Not only that, he tends to imply again that everything that has happened to Job is Job's fault. Like "bad things happen to bad people, so get over it!"

Bildad's words sound so much like what we so often hear from our friends and relatives when our lives are going down the tube (or we hear other people treated like this). Many are quick to point out our shortcomings – places or times when we could have done something different or better. All the while, they demonstrate a good sense of "hitting while you're down."

It's as though this friend wants to say, again, "you get what you give." Or as many remember,[more] "you reap what you sow." That phrase in itself is another story, because it does have some truth. But when you or I apply it to a friend in need or in crisis, without any understanding of what really happened, we fail our friend.

Job makes sure Bildad knows he is barking up the wrong tree. His retort is "How long will you put me down and make me feel worse." It should have been easy for Bildad and Job's other friends to see the pain and anguish he was suffering. Then again, why would they. Nothing had happened to them, so surely "you must have done it to yourself."

The words must have resounded in the place where they were meeting. The message kept repeating in Job's ears from his friends – "Nothing has happened to us, so you must have really screwed up."

Job clearly defines that everything has fallen down around him – he sees and feels it. The reality of life is not a distant subject. He is crushed and tormented. His friends and relatives offer no heel+p, only accusation of how badly he has lived (or must have lived).

But in the end of chapter 19, Job drives home his reason for holding on. He says "no matter how bad this is or gets to be, I will not forget that the one who has promised to redeem me is still in charge. Doesn't make any difference what happens to me, I will still see Him."

What a sense of trust Job demonstrates. What a lesson Bildad gives us in how not to help our friends.

Gone!

joe June 11, 2009 General

Sounds like something else should be there, but then that says it all.

Opened the paper yesterday, and while flipping past the obituary page, a picture popped out at me. The face was unmistakable. A man many of us knew, was gone.

Bill was a manager for the Pinole Radio Shack store. Over the years (can't remember how many) we had talked about his open heart surgery and his foibles with Radio Shack. At one time, they had him managing three stores, simply because he was the best.

What first got my attention about Bill was the smile, always on his face. Then, there was the almost instant knowledge about where something was in the store.[more] You describe it or show him a picture, and he would say something like "over on the second aisle, about halfway down and about your belly button height…"

He chided those young guys and gals who worked in the store about learning what was there and where it was. Many times, I went to Radio Shack and spent more time talking to Bill about life and his health than I did buying whatever it was that had taken me to the store.

After Pastor Dave's "30 Days" series, it draws me up a little short. Not that he died, but Bill's age – only 58. Whenever someone younger than me dies, I start to appreciate the fact that I got another day. But the real question is "what have I done with that day?" Have I touched any lives to the point where it makes any difference, or am I just wasting precious minutes on nothing? Have I given, rather than taken?

Life has more meaning than "fun". We were put here for a purpose – more like a whole bunch of purposes. Major one is that we make a difference by living our lives so that others can see the "Light" in us and want to have some of it for themselves. Our lives should be building up others – making their lives better, rather than tearing down. Bringing joy – not sadness.

Every day is a gift. A gift that is an opportunity to share the one who came in love and gave His life to rescue us all. A gift to share what God has given me, through whatever way He gives me to share it. I'm thankful for today – every minute of it. Sure hope I live it that way!