Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
I still trot that out in lectures as examples of Congressional wisdom.
However, nothing beats the late Sen. Ted Stevens' "The Internet Is a Series of Tubes" speech. That went viral before 'going viral' actually meant something!
Well, if you've ever wondered what the minimum requirements are to be elected to Congers, now we know for sure. Surprised that he didn't quote some passage from the Bible to authenticate the prediction.
@Mark- you scoff, but the only reason that CA hasn't tipped over into the ocean from the weight of all the cities on the west coast is that the weight is almost perfectly balanced by the Sierra mountain range on the eastern border.
Edit/add: And no, don't even think about it. I'm not running for anything!
About all I know about Guam is that it is the westernmost point of the US - Point Udall, named after Morris Udall, not to be confused with the easternmost point of the US - Point Udall, named after his brother Stewart.
If the Congressman is worried about an island twelve miles long tipping over because it has 175K people, then he should be panic stricken over an island closer to home, same length, with ten times as many people. It was "purchased" for $24. But maybe he's hoping that Wall Street will go down with that island?
Regarding qualifications - the constitution states, and somewhere there's a SC ruling that says you can't require anything other than age 25, seven years a citizen, and an inhabitant of the state represented. I suppose there's an implicit requirement that you be a living person, hence someone with a brain, but nothing about the quality of that brain. http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Constitutional-Qualifications/
On the investing front, if you think it will be more than 25 years before Guam tips over, you can pick up about 3.5%+ YTW bonds (callable in 2022, hence yield to worst), tax free in all states. Should handedly beat inflation (after tax), and if not called, yield looks even better.
Comments
I still trot that out in lectures as examples of Congressional wisdom.
However, nothing beats the late Sen. Ted Stevens' "The Internet Is a Series of Tubes" speech. That went viral before 'going viral' actually meant something!
@Mark- you scoff, but the only reason that CA hasn't tipped over into the ocean from the weight of all the cities on the west coast is that the weight is almost perfectly balanced by the Sierra mountain range on the eastern border.
Edit/add: And no, don't even think about it. I'm not running for anything!
Oops---my bad (twice). Forgive the flippancy.
If the Congressman is worried about an island twelve miles long tipping over because it has 175K people, then he should be panic stricken over an island closer to home, same length, with ten times as many people. It was "purchased" for $24. But maybe he's hoping that Wall Street will go down with that island?
Regarding qualifications - the constitution states, and somewhere there's a SC ruling that says you can't require anything other than age 25, seven years a citizen, and an inhabitant of the state represented. I suppose there's an implicit requirement that you be a living person, hence someone with a brain, but nothing about the quality of that brain.
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Constitutional-Qualifications/
Edit: The SC case was Powell v. McCormack 395 USC 486 (1969). They Oyez Project has an extremely clear, 3 paragraph summary here:
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1968/1968_138
Or ... they could go down with the island.