Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Joe, Ohio on January 13, 2008:

I was recently looking over old tax returns and when I married in 1980 (TSgt USAF) our combined annual income was $9,612.00. My wife and I and her two kids lived comfortably on this and even bought season passes to Santa Claus' North Pole for us and the children.

We thought we were middle class, LOL.

Poor is a state of mind.

Posted by Cat, Albuquerque, N.M. on January 13, 2008:

A begging letter from an IRS employee? OH, hahahaha. He should be ashamed of himself. I am handicapped, a senior citizen and receive only a small SS payment monthly. I, too, wish I could afford a sub to the Premium edition, but there is no way I would accept such a gift.

We seem to have managed to make the Nanny Generation totally dependent on handouts.

Posted by Tammie, Omaha NE on January 13, 2008:

Boy I feel so sorry for Bill. Here in Omaha (where I have to admit the cost of living is lower than D.C.) I make $7.00 an hour with no benefits working at a Veteran's club. I subscribe to the free edition simply because with a 7 year old to support I truly can't spare any extra expense. We don't have cable TV or a cell phone and I drive a 20 year old 500 dollar car. But I simply don't feel the need or want to ask for charity from individuals or the government for anything. The only subsidy we receive is the free school lunch program, and as long as I can keep food in the cupboards and the rent paid it will stay that way. When prices go up I cut out unnecessary expenses.

Sorry Bill, just don't have any sympathy for you.You're just another person scamming to get something for nothing and the way I see it that's exactly what's wrong with our country right now. Charity is for those who through no fault of their own need help with necessities, not for well paid government workers.

Posted by Shanti (Louisiana) on January 13, 2008:

Ok, $50,000 a year. I am a stay at home mom and a full time student. My husband works his tail off to make us $30,000 a year. We have 2 kids and we MAKE it.

This just makes me so upset to see/hear people like this to "beg" for money.

Posted by Jim, Melbourne on January 14, 2008:

It's hard to believe that one man can be so insensitive to other people's situations and at the same time so sure of his view of the world. This kind of attitude deserves an award and even though the year has only just begun, for 2008 Global Self-Righteousness Award I hereby nominate (drum roll) Randy Cassingham!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some people might think Randy is just mildly self-opinionated and hasn't worked hard enough for this award, but consider his latest stellar performance with the man we all now know as 'Bill'. Many newsletter editors get requests for free subscriptions, and most of them reply with 'sorry, nothing doing' or simply ignore it. But not our Randy! He is outraged and so is his good friend at the IRS, and what's more he's ready to share his outrage with more than 120,000 readers in over 200 countries so we can all be outraged together!

So now I'd like everyone to join together to do the Randy Outrage Dance. First you need somewhere to take a stand, so find some really high moral ground - the higher the better. Then imagine someone called Bill is lying on that ground, defiling it with his bad attitude, so stamp your foot really hard. Go on, sink the boot. Now purse your lips like a cat's back end. If you can't get them tight enough try to imagine a government employee reading emails on your dime. Finally turn to the person next to you and exchange some outrage - that's right, share the venom! Feels great doesn't it?

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My job -- since you obviously don't understand it -- is to point out stupid actions and comment on them. That's what I do -- that's what you signed up to read every week. At times, the person or situation is so patently ridiculous that I don't need to comment about their intelligence or actions. So I won't. -rc

Posted by Denise, NC on January 14, 2008:

In the past I, too, have toyed the thought of asking for a gift subscription. I'm a disabled vet with a husband in graduate school and two small kids, and our only income is my disability pay and his school loans (which only put us further into debt). Pride and the realization that skimping on a few luxuries would allow me to afford it myself prevented me, though.

Certainly there are a number of frauds out there who would abuse their grandmothers to get a buck... But how else is some deserving person supposed to get the gift subscription unless they ask for it? If asking opens a person up to accusations like "Bill" is suffering, why would they bother? It seems from the responses that those who really deserve it wind up being too proud to ask, and those choking back their pride may be judged not worthy enough.

Randy, how do you determine who gets a free subscription and who is just milking you for a free ride?

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Read my reply again. I didn't say Bill's case wasn't good enough, I said that I don't relay begging requests. And if I did (I continued), it would be for different (and actually underpaid) "government workers" -- the kids fighting wars for the citizens sitting comfy at home. I do accept gift subscription orders: people give them to friends and family members all the time. I'm sure some of those are requested. If you have a friend or relative where it's OK to ask for a gift, I see nothing wrong with that. If you plead poverty because you only make $50,000 a year and want ME to ask strangers for you, and track it to ensure you have enough, etc. -- well, that's far from reasonable. -rc

Posted by Larry, Sacramento on January 14, 2008:

To heck with Bill, I only make $90k a year and am single with no bills other than my house that I bought when the home prices were cheap ten years ago. I want a free Premium sub and if there's any extra money donated I'd like to setup a bank to pay my utility phones each month.

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I'll get right on it! -rc

Posted by donna, rochester, ny on January 14, 2008:

Randy, i could not agree w/your sentiments more! as someone who has not been able to find employment for >2 years, i would love for someone to donate a premium subscription to me; however i will just have to wait until i can afford it on my own. in the meanwhile, i will enjoy the quality of the free edition.

government workers, especially those who have been in their jobs for more than 5 years, generally are well fed, well compensated, and over-overed compared to those in the public sector. i was a teamster for >15 years until repetitive stress injuries caused my doctor to put a weight restriction on my job activities. i now realize how great it was to have a union job -- but a government job might even be sweeter. most government workers i know do much less work for greater compensation and benefits.

bill should just suck it up and cough up the $ for the premium edition if that's what he wants. surely forgoing a starbuck's drink or a rachael ray donut wouldn't be too large of a sacrifice. by the way, i volunteer to do taxes for elderly and poor taxpayers through a program w/ the irs.

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Very cool that you help people with their taxes. Thanks for doing that! -rc

Posted by Awful Man on January 14, 2008:

I want to defend myself. When I emailed Randy, it was an attempt to compliment his site. That attempt obviously failed.

I was not on "company" time when I sent that email. And as far as I know, we at work are allowed to use our email on a limited basis.

I was not using my position as a means for asking for any sort of charity. That would be wrong.

I do not make as much money as was reported in the story. Could my life be worse financially? Absolutely....and I will never argue that. As bad as things are at times, they could be alot worse, and I recognize that. But contrary to what Randy said, I could not just make a sacrifice to afford this. If I could, I would.

Randy mentioned that I wanted my letter published....and that is not true. As soon as I saw my name, I was sick.... I absolutely did not want that. If he had asked, I would have told him that.

I do concur fully with Randy that if someone "deserved" a gift from you folks, it would be the men and women serving us before me. Absolutely. I have had family members serve, and they do not get nearly the compensation, supplies, or even thanks that they deserve. It amazes me that they (along with police and fire) volunteer to put themselves in harms way for me. I would never have the guts to do once what they do every day.

Anyway, I am not a bad guy....I do not think anyone owes me anything. I read ThisisTrue while I am off duty. And I sent the email as a compliment, and because I thought I read about gift subscriptions, and people "sponsoring" Premium subs. It is a great email, very entertaining. Oh, and yes...I am writing this from my home computer ;)

Thanks for listening.

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It says something very positive about you, Bill, that you stood up to respond. Thank you. (And to everyone else reading, I am indeed confident that it's the same person -- he wrote me privately first, and I encouraged him to reply here.)

I'm sorry that I misunderstood that you regarding wanting your letter published. As it says on the Contact page, I assume all "Letters to the Editor" are meant for publication unless they specifically say otherwise. But I did indeed understand your message was complimentary; that was definitely clear.

We could argue over whether you were "using your position" to "ask for charity" -- for instance, "charity case" and "beg" were your words, not mine -- but I don't need to quibble over details. Thanks again for posting; that took guts, and as you know I admire guts. -rc

Posted by Duncan, Richmond, VA on January 14, 2008:

3 step kids, a dead beat father who is obviously not supporting them financially, a 17 month old baby and he has ANOTHER one on the way? I suggest he takes some of those financial planning classes they offer.