I Didn't Vote for Bush, so he Gave me a iPhone

As you've probably heard, Bush wants to give us money. Never mind that the average American's personal savings rate is negative AND it's the lowest it has been since the Great Depression -- Bush wants us to spend, not save. It's good for you. Come on, we're Americans. We love spending money.

If G Dubya's plan makes it through, I think for once I'll acquiesce. Instead of saving the money (as I think everyone should), I'm going to spend it as quickly as possible.

You'll find me buying an iPhone at the local uber-cool Apple store quicker that you can say "crackberry". That is unless, of course, Steve Jobs hasn't increased the iPhone's storage capacity by then. If that's the case, I'll probably just head over to Wal-Mart and buy as many trinkets as possible. I just can't get enough trinkets.

Wal-Mart is (and others are) Shady

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal that described how Wal-Mart Cuts Taxes by Paying Rent to Itself (I had to link to an anti-Wal-Mart site because the WSJ Online is subscription-only).

Granted, Wal-Mart isn't the only company using this tactic, but they're an easy target and that's why I'm assuming the WSJ published the article about them in particular. Regardless, I find it pathetic that businesses will knowingly partake in such shady undertakings.

Perhaps even shadier is Enrst & Young -- Wal-Mart's external auditor -- which originally proposed and sold the the strategy to Wal-Mart in the first place.

I could bore you with a few paragraphs summing up the strategy, but it's a lot easier and simpler sharing this graphic, taken from the WSJ: