• loanconsolidation.ed.gov - in-school consolidation program

For years, Clark has had a strong dislike for Ticketmaster. In fact, he’s not at all ashamed to say he despises the company. Ticketmaster develops a series of monopolies over venues and events and then gouges the people who buy tickets with gigantic service fees to get the tickets. Many venues have entered into an unholy alliance with Ticketmaster, which buys a monopoly on all events at the location in return for Ticketmaster making improvements to the concert hall or building. Monopolies are harmful to the American people, and Clark is excited to share news that there will soon be more alternatives for buying tickets. The Dallas Morning News reports that venues around the country are boycotting Ticketmaster. They are using the power of the Internet to sell their own tickets and not clobber the public with giant surcharges. One example given in the story was about a rock club that charged $6 for a show and Ticketmaster tacked on a $5 service fee. That’s 83 percent of the ticket price! That’s ridiculous. Today’s technology allows people to print out tickets online, so there is no need for these fees. And there is no need for companies, venues and sports teams to enter into agreements with Ticketmaster anymore. Clark refuses to buy a ticket to an event that charges one of these unnecessary fees. He will go to the box office and buy the tickets. So, the most frustrating thing is when no “box office” ticket buying option is available, and you must pay the Ticketmaster fee. Look for alternatives if there is a fee. Or boycott the even all together if you’re tired of these fees.

If you visited Clark’s home, you would notice one feature in every room of the house. It is a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a silent killer because people have no idea it’s happening. UL, Underwriter’s Laboratories, says at least 5,000 people are killed every year and at least 10,000 must be hospitalized because of carbon monoxide poisoning. The scariest part is you can’t taste it, smell it or see it. So, if something happened and a gas line broke, your only defense is the alarm. But it’s something many people don’t think about. These alarms are very inexpensive these days, and you should have a minimum of one per floor in your home.

We’re facing a time in modern American history when governments at all levels are facing tremendous pressure. The federal government has massive deficits and is virtually alone in its ability to spend money it doesn’t have. Most states have to close the budget gap. And you’ve probably heard about the new California governor who is trying to solve the $15 billion problem with bonds. Oregon has also faced enormous budget pressures for the past couple of years. School teachers have had to work for free for weeks at a time because of the budget shortages. Citizens there just had the opportunity to increase taxes to balance the budget, and overwhelmingly they decided not to. Voters in Oregon can even vote by mail, which Clark thinks would be great to roll out across the country. The vote was 60 percent to 40 percent, which is considered a landslide. For a second time, citizens said they would rather see a reduction in what the government does than pay more taxes. It means there will be cuts in school spending, medical care, police and fire of about half a billion dollars over the next two years. Clark thinks they made a smart decision. It is really hard to reign in the size of government, and most people vote time and time again to raise taxes. But along with the decision not to raise taxes comes the responsibility of telling citizens that services won’t exist. And that means cutting fat. We need to decide what we think the role of government should be and act on it.

Clark gets a lot of questions from people who want to buy a home. The first question he asks them is how long they plan to live there. And, he will say, if they don’t plan to live there five years or more, they should rethink buying a home. When you buy a home, you pay about 10 percent in transaction costs. The same is true when you sell a home. And you need to stay there at least five years to break even on those costs. But there may be a new way to meet your needs if you can’t live there that long. It was a pilot program that now is available in several states. What happens is you pay an insurance premium that is 1.5 percent of the value of home you want to protect. You pay the fee upfront and it buys you “downside protection.” That way, if there is a sudden downturn in the home values and you have to sell, the insurance picks up the loss. The program is called “The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation,” and it will be available through participating lenders. Lenders will have individual information on it. And, as lenders start to participate we will have more information on the site. Now, if you are planning to be there five years or longer, short-term spikes and falls will not affect you. Over time, home values rise just above the rate of inflation in states and regional areas. We don’t know how the market will respond to this, but we’ll see.

You’re a parent and you have to go to work. How do you get deals on daycare? Well, some people think dropping their kids off at the library is the answer. Some children have literally been left at the library while their parents go to work for an entire day. Clark first heard about this trend five years ago, and apparently it’s spreading across the country. The Washington Post claims that librarians have become baby sitters. It’s one of the biggest issues the American Library Association faces today. One parent interviewed for the Post story claimed there was no other resource. She said she couldn’t bring her child to a park because it wasn’t safe. But leaving her alone in a library is safe? These children sit for hours without a snack and they get so bored they become rowdy. At some libraries, the parents don’t show up before the library closes, so someone has to stay and wait until a parent arrives. Kids sometimes are found wandering the streets and parking lots. There are times when parents cross the line of what is right and wrong. It’s not the responsibility of the library to take care of your child.

What should you do if you get a solicitation saying you’ve won $6,000 in a sweepstakes? NOTHING! This is the hottest thing right now in the fake charity circuit. Lots of charities rely on fundraisers, so the job of the solicitation is to dupe you into believing you are giving money to a charity. So, the notice will typically ask you for a $5 or $10 donation as a “gift.” Once you give the money, you are entered you into a sweepstakes. And most people think they’re doing a good deed by entering. Winning the prize is just icing on the cake. But this is a total scam. If you get a solicitation in the mail that says, “You Have Won!,” don’t buy into it. Unless you have first hand knowledge about an organization, always ask them to send you literature. Most likely they’ll hang up quickly. And check out charities through the “Wise Giving Alliance” at give.org.