Taxing Simply

Okay, so a fellow I know pointed out to me that Herman Cain's whacky 9-9-9 plan does not impose a 30% sales tax. He is right as far as it goes. But Herman Cain has already admitted his plan is really a stepping stone to the Fair Tax plan proposed back in 2007. That plan would abolish most taxes, replacing them with a 23%(some are convinced it is really 30%) national sales tax. My friend's response was "What's wrong with simplifying the tax code? We all end up with more money in our pockets."

Hmm............The notion of condensing our tax code into one basket that will only cost us 23% (30%)of every dollar we spend does on the surface seem simple - spend less, you keep more. To a nation trained to make their mind up from 30 second soundbites and clever catch phrases, I can see why this idea might have some support.

Being prone to the same trap of relying on catchphrases and soundbites, I remembered my wife , the accountant, and her feelings about changes in the tax code. Paraphrased, her pearl of wisdom goes -

"Whenever the word 'simplify' is attached to changes in the tax code, two things happen. One the code becomes even more intricate and two, millions of accountants get richer. There is no simple tax code, just different tax codes."

Armed thusly to whatever teeth I had in my head, I visited the fair tax plan website for more information.

I am not a gifted analytical thinker. I am not gifted with much other than the ability to breath. So imagine my befuddlement when I visited a link provided by Fair Tax and attempted to understand the pros of this plan as written by Paul Bachman and others. Just the highlighted intro had my head spinning.

And while I am not a great analyst, I do have a knack for getting the gist of a thing. After reading through as many pages as I could handle before my eyes rolled up into my head, I realized my wife was correct. This plan may be simpler than the hodge podge cornucopia of taxes we pay now, but not by much, if at all.

First of all, this whole tax plan, like any new proposal is based on assumptions. The assumption is that people will not change their spending habits. We will still over consume as we always have. Okay fine. But will we? And then there is the fact that assumptions are created to paint the rosiest of pictures or the most dire of consequences. Depending on which side of the economic fence you sit on, take your pick.

This tax is still a tax and many people will still do their damndest to avoid paying it just because of what it is called. Which brings me to another assumption of the plan I don't understand. Somehow, this fair tax plan will reign in the trillion or so dollars spent that avoid the current sales taxes in play presently. Huh? My assumption is that current trillion dollars of lost taxable money will grow instead of shrink.

Another claim I have heard is the IRS will no longer be needed. Okay so I did not hear it from the Fair Tax site, but advocates of the plan have made the claim. Come on people, any tax plan will require goons to twist the arms of those of us who would skip our tax paying duty. They might change the name, but there will still be federal agents of some kind knocking on our doors if the government feels we are ducking our responsibilities.

One of the complaints about this national sales tax is that it will punish the poor. The Fair Tax Plan people have an answer for that. It is called a "Prebate". The government will issue checks preemptively in amounts that will cover the purchases of the poor up to the poverty level. Right. As is the case when the government decides what a level is, they come up with a broad brush answer that does not take into account what the poverty level is in a given region. So I make another assumption and assume that "prebate" will often fall short. And the fact that money will be spent before money is taken in seems like more of the same voodoo economic madness we deal with now.

I will say that the "Fair Tax Plan" and even Cain's "9-9-9 Plan" are at least proof someone is trying to come up with alternatives to what we all agree is an overly complicated mished and mashed tax code. But neither of them are even close to being what I would call "simple". And from what I read, the potential pitfalls that might and probably will happen will punish the most vulnerable among us first.

In my mind if the financial wizards are intent in re-creating our tax code into revenue based on consumerism, then why not just let us allocate our tax dollars in the same manner - pay into those services and government efforts we feel represent our interests.

Say everyone has to pay oh, Hell, for arguments sake any number will do, say we all have to pay 15% of our income to the Feds. But we can break it down into whatever area we want. That way we could support and change government services with our choices. Personally I would allocate all my 15% the first few years to education,infrastructure and job creation. Defense can pound sand. DEA can pound sand. Congress can pound sand. Maybe if some of these departments have their funds cut by angry citizens, they might just deliver in the future a better government. Let them compete for my tax dollars just as I compete for the dollars my customers may or may not spend in my store.

Realistically, I know this would not work out. But in my opinion, my plan is as worthy as either the Fair Tax Plan or the even shakier 9-9-9 plan. All are pie in the sky ideas that have no real place in the real world. We do not live in a simple world. And sometimes, simple solutions are not the answer.

Later..............................

Tipping Scales

There seems to be a direct correlation between our recent economic downturn and the recent consolidation of wealth among the richest one percent of the population. I read an interesting op/ed by Robert Reich (Worked in three administrations) regarding this trend. He says and I quote:

"In the late 1970s the richest 1 percent of Americans received 9 percent of total income and held 18 percent of the nation’s wealth; by 2007, they had more than 23 percent of total income and 35 percent of America’s wealth."

His op/ed is about how the conservatives of today are not conservatives but regressives. I will let you read his take on this as I have something else on my mind.

It would seem odd that as the richest one percent gathered and consolidated more wealth, our economic position began to show cracks. This transfer of wealth went unnoticed until it finally collapsed under its own weight. And even then, our leaders propped up the transfer of wealth so more of the wealth could move from Main St to the endlessly deep pockets of Wall Street. In the meantime our wages went down, our hours were cut or just disappeared.

It seems obvious to me this is not a healthy situation for the majority of Americans. Yet, these same robber barons have convinced a sizable chunk of the folks affected that what they are doing right in front of us is "good" for the nation. Some of us even embrace the recent hot tax plan 9-9-9 that will by almost every account I have read only take more from the poorest of us and put even more money back in the pockets of the sleaze bags who have been pillaging our economy. I gotta say, a national 30% sales tax on top of the state sales tax would kill my retail business.

Okay fine. Perspective, political slant, ideologies. But the fact is, the richest of the rich have been quietly tipping the economic scale more and more in their direction. And I guess this is fine if one believes that power consolidated in fewer hands is a good thing. Because we have now become a country that judges power on how big our paycheck is. At some point, once our pockets have been completely picked clean, they will go to work on restricting the diminishing rights like voting, right to negotiate labor contracts, and who we pray to as a nation.............. Uh, oh yeah they already are.

Keep it 'tween the ditches.......................

Torturing Children

I am sure I have mentioned this before. If not here, I have voiced my opinion bluntly many times to the small fry who wander in and out of my bike shop on any given day.

It is the 10th visit to make sure the bike part they lust after is still in stock and they have finally scraped together enough money to purchase the part. If I am feeling evil that day, I play the "change game" with them.

Barely able to look over my counter, a grubby little tacker will place both hands on the counter, one hand clutching tightly the money he has been able to scrape together by hook or crook to walk out with those Odyssey pedals he has been lusting after the last month or so.

"How much are those pedals?" He knows full well how much, he has asked me the same question the last nine times he visited.

I refrain from being snarky and I evenly say, "$16.95 and a little for the governor for a grand total of $17.80."

When the kid places several crumbled bills on the counter and asks me, "Is this enough?" - My evil side takes over. The little punk should know whether he has enough to pay for it. Now it is time for me to pass on some education.

I gather up the balled up money and begin to separate it. A typical wad will have way more than the pedals cost. A ten, a five, and some ones would be the typical combination.

"Well young sir, it appears you have, uh, how much is here?"

The kid looks at me as if I had just asked him the capital of Mongolia.

"I don't know. Is it enough?"

"I don't know kid, you tell me. The pedals are gonna set you back $17.80. Is there enough here?"

Again a blank look. Then, "My mom gave me this money and said whatever it was I just had to have better not be over $20. I guess it is $20."

"Guess? How old are you kid?"

"Um, I'm 11. Why?"

"I don't know, but I was just thinking 11 is a tad too old to not be able to add a few bills together. How many ones are there?"

The kid moves them around and whispers, "Five."

"So far so good. Now add this to the five. How much is five and five?

"Ten."

I take the five and the ones and set them next to the ten.

"How much is ten plus ten?"

Immediately I get one of the classic eye rolls kids toss out when confronted by an adult intent on making their lives miserable. But he hesitates and looks up at the ceiling and maybe begins to twitch his fingers like he was counting. His eyes brighten and he looks at me. "Twenty, there's twenty dollars there.", he says triumphantly.

"Very good. Now the question to you is, is twenty dollars enough to cover the $17.80 you owe for the pedals?"

The eye roll is replaced by two small eyes glaring, wishing I was dead. But the lust for the pedals outweighs the frustration of dealing with a math quiz out in the real world, so he might say something like, "Yeah, it's enough."

If I am feeling particularly evil that day, I will collect up the five, the ones and the ten and put them in the cash drawer and hand him his pedals. I will offer him no change. I hope to shake loose some kind of defense response, some clue they have a clue that they deserve some change back.

To be fair most kids will tell me they deserve some change. For the ones who actually begin to leave, I stop them. I don't rip off kids. I prefer to torture them.

Now the real fun begins.

"Okay so I owe you change now. How much change do I owe you?"

Nine times out of ten, I get no answer, just dark sullen anger. So I continue the lesson with, "Come on kid, you should be able to count change if you are going to carry money. Trust me when I say there are adults out there who will take advantage of you. Think now, how much change should you be getting back?"

Some kids get angry and will tell me that this is not school and they don't have to do math problems. I agree wholeheartedly but finish by saying they are just asking to ripped off. I will try once more to engage them in the game. If they refuse, I hand them the change without comment.

Some kids rise to the occasion and will do their best to figure it out. I will work with them until I feel they have gotten it or they have at least given it their best shot. It will be these kids who will be running the world and bossing the kids who refuse to learn. There is nothing wrong with not knowing an answer, what's important is seeking the answer.

I used to be shocked by this inability of the local youth to count money. I would like to say counting change was taught to me just as I stepped out of the womb, but the reality is I just know my parents made sure I could count money long before I hit kindergarten. I grew up assuming everyone could count money. Apparently not.

Later.....................

Tangible Worth

A couple of days ago I tore off a few sharply written words regarding a couple of less than impressive examples of American leadership. Mixed into the rant was this statement, "....the fine folks wearing wing tips and Brooks Brother suits who shuffle money around but produce nothing of tangible worth."

I was referencing the working inhabitants of Wall Street, the movers and shakers who control the flow of wealth as it moves in, out  and about  this country. Off and on yesterday, I thought about that line. Was I being unfair to these buttoned down tight asses in $1000 dollar suits when I accused them of producing nothing of tangible worth? Or was I just jealous that they had more than I did as Herman Cain claimed anyone who criticized them was?

Fair is fair, so I tried my best to conjure up a viewpoint with their perspective in mind.  I am sure many, if not all of the financial wizards and their gang of spreadsheet lackeys, are positive that without them this country would be in chaos and nothing but a larger version of the Sudan. After all, they are charged with the stewardship of all our wealth. 

I then considered the notion of wealth and what exactly it was. I have never really considered wealth in any terms that did not incorporate the idea of money along with it. It appears I have been successfully indoctrinated to believe that wealth without money is nothing.  Thousands of years ago Man invented money to facilitate commerce more expediently and now money has replaced the actual products it was meant to represent.  We came to value money more than how many cows we have in our barns.  The financial class has fooled us into believing protecting the representative (money) of our wealth is more important than protecting the physical, touch it feel it, eat it wealth.  Are we stupid or what?

Following my own path to enlightenment or the usual deeper befuddlement, I attempted to get my head around the phrase "tangible worth". What made something tangible?   Could something be tangibly worth more than something else? Certainly assigning the sliding scale of a monetary system quickly and logically creates relative values in most cases. But is that product or service really tangibly worth the value someone has placed on it? And should I believe something is worth more than something else just because it has a higher price tag?  Is a pair of Gucci shoes more valuable than a pair of work boots?  It is because we perceive it is. 

Looking at tangible worth from a strictly capitalistic slant, whatever the market is willing to pay is the tangible worth of that product or service. Okay fine. Why then has the storage of money combined with the shifting of stored money from one coffer to another become more valuable than the products or services whose purchases originally set the stored money into motion?   Again I say, are we stupid or what?

I understand that money is used to initiate the physical process of gathering and distributing wealth through investment.  However, it seems today, more money is generated by keeping it out of the physical world and just moving it around inside a virtual circle of bank accounts and investment portfolios. Less of it is used to actually buy things or employ people.  It stays off Main Street and is kept under lock and key in the exclusive club known as Wall Street.  How can this kind of activity be of any tangible worth other than in the small economic circle it loops around in?  It is nothing but virtual worth and we have been fooled into believing there is some kind of intrinsic value to our economy because these fancy pants are getting filthy rich by passing money off to each other.  It is a massive ponzi scheme that is carried out legally.  Is it any wonder it failed?  No.  What amazes me is we handed these clowns more money to do it again.  Are we stupid or what?

I'm sorry, but wealth derived from a shaky concept is not tangible in any way I can think of. It is more like some fantasy game that creates virtual worth. The only true value being in our minds, not on the dinner table or parked in the garage.  Until such time the money changers decide to stop sitting on their over stuffed coffers and actually return that money to the real world in the form or investment, purchases, or taxes, they have done nothing of tangible worth. And it is a crime, or should be that they have been allowed to hoodwink us into believing their chosen profession is even close to being as critically important as, oh say, picking up the garbage, growing the food, fixing the roads. These activities have tangible worth and are considerably more valuable to our nation than shifting paper money from one account to another.

I'm going to bed. My head hurts....................

Words of Encouragement – 100 words

The grey understood the edict forbidding contact of any kind. They were to leave no clue of their presence in this part of the Great Beyond. The grey knew well his race's failures in the past when they exposed themselves too early.

The grey still bristled. Some encouragement should be communicated. Some signal that would let them know they would prevail. Instead he had to watch them suffer…………… But did he?

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together” – just silly lyrics thought up while on LSD Lennon insisted. “They mean nothing.”
______________________________

Image from Dreamstime

The Most Recent Anti - American Americans

What a great country. And I mean it. Not so much because we thump our chests and say it is so, but more because we are still in business in spite of ourselves. Our founding fathers landed some serious beginners luck when they created what is shaping up to be an idiot proof system of government. So far the wheels are still on the bus, but every day at least one or two of the boneheads in charge do their best to flatten the tires by pruning more rights from the shrinking quiver we still have.

A couple of tidbits that illustrate my point:

"U.S. Drug Policy Would Be Imposed Globally By New House Bill"
Apparently the Einsteins running the House Judiciary Committee have come up with another useless weapon in the "War on Drugs". If their bill makes it through Congress, any US citizen who buys a joint or a gram of hash or even discusses the possibility of scoring said substances while on that 6 day, 5 night tour of Portugal could be jailed here in the US once they deplane at Kennedy. I am guessing that running our lives here is not enough for some of these clowns. They want to make sure we mind our P's and Q's when overseas. And at the same time jam our notion of law down the rest of the planet's throat. What a bunch of cocky and arrogant assholes. Rep Lamar Smith of Texas - you are a class A ugly American and if anything cries out to be tagged "anti-American", your recent sponsoring of this bill would fit nicely into that category.

Rather than admit the "War on Drugs" is the prime catalyst creating the violent crime associated with drug use or abuse, these idiots want to continue to expand a failed policy. There is no way to legislate stupidity. For Lamar Smith apparently, punishing it is a satisfactory alternative.

And then there is the new Republican golden boy, Herman Cain calling the Wall Street protesters Anti American because they are carrying signs that disparage the fine folks wearing wing tips and Brooks Brother suits who shuffle money around but produce nothing of tangible worth. As he puts it, to be Anti-Wall Street is to be Anti-American. But go ahead and preach to your brain dead choir that Wall Street is somehow just shy of God on the ideological barometer that determines the difference between Good and Evil.

Capitalism is not an ideology, it is an economic system. Sadly however, you and the big money interests you represent have managed to convince too many of us that the idea of money is interchangeable with the ideal of freedom. In my opinion you sanctimonious jerk wad, the activity of peaceful protest represents what is great about America, not the money changers of Wall Street. Economic power only supports Freedom when everyone, not a select few are invited along for the ride.

Rep Lamar Smith and Herman Cain - you two get my Anti-American awards for this week.

Later........................

Taking the Test

I was putzing around the Internet this evening when I came upon a teaser headline on the "Drudge Retort" - "Poll: What does GOP mean?" I found out that barely 51% of Republicans polled knew the answer. I chuckled and moved on. One site led to another and the next thing I knew I was on the Christian Science Monitor site taking a written version of the US Citizenship test given to eager immigrants wanting to become citizens in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The test took awhile. Each question was on it's own page and well, I almost dropped it mid stream. I carried on til the end just to see if I had what it took to be a US citizen in the eyes of some bureaucrat hunkered over US facts and figures in some dusty cubicle over to Foggy Bottom.

Apparently I passed with flying colors. In order to gain a passing grade one must get 58 of the 96 questions correct. Using only my porous brain pan to find the answers I got 93 correct. One of the wrong answers I cry foul on. It was a trick question. Another one I just flat out blew. And the third, well, Not sure why I got that one wrong. I was thinking 1787, but I punched 1789.

So I could have passed the test. Does that mean anything other than I have a decent working knowledge of how our country was set up and has run since the beginning? No, not really. This test does not ensure that I am a good citizen or even a bad one. But I guess if I was a just landed immigrant, it would indicate that I have enough interest in this country to at least study for this test. A place to start.

I looked up some US statistics regarding the numbers of legal immigrants entering this country. I had made some assumptions that were not supported by the figures. I assumed that immigration was down, but lo and behold, we legally allowed 1,042,625 foreigners to move here in 2010. The World is still knocking on our door even though the mythical streets of gold turned to potholes many many years ago. I guess as bad as I sometimes think it is here, I could be someplace else and in a much worst life situation.

Which just reinforces the notion I should be grateful for what I have and not angry about what I don't have.

Later.....................................

An Encounter Down to the Hardware Store

Tom Roberts pulled up in front of Sunnyvale Hardware. His mind was hard into figuring what pieces and parts he needed to fix that antique lamp his wife had been pestering him about. He almost walked right over Jedidiah Ridley who was bent over by the shovels stacked up carelessly near the front door.

"Jeezum Jed, ferchrisakes what the Hell?"

Jedidiah straightened up. In his hand was a True American #12 feed shovel. Shiny new aluminum, light as a feather and it had one of those new gee whiz poly carbonate grips. Jedidiah turned and squinted in Tom's direction. "Just pickin up a new shovel. Thought I'd try this one..... Seems plenty rugged"......He turned the #12 shovel over and looked at the back side, "Um, I don't know though, wish it were straight out flat." He spun it back to view the top. "She is a light one though."

Tom looked at the shovel and nodded. "Yep, got one of those last Spring. The ole steel one Pepe used in the barn finally shit the bed. They's nice, but they wear out quick. Guess it's the aluminum.... jes don't hold up to real shovelin."

Jedidiah set the shovel blade on the ground and leaned on the handle. "Well sir, I ain't gonna use it in the barn. Need a new road kill scoop. That old flat snow shovel I bought a month ago jes ain't working out."

"Why's that Jed? Not rugged enough for that occasional moose you sometimes run over?" Tom grinned and shook his head.

Jedidiah snorted. "Funny man. No, the flat shovel was fine for scoopin, but not so good for cookin."

"Cookin?" Tom's eyes opened some as his mind created an image of Jed holding a shovel full of dead possum or squirrel over an open fire.

"Yes sir, cookin. Seems they don't make a straight clean shovel no more. All of them are either plastic or the metal ones come with some kinda anti stick coatin that bubbles all up and sends up a real stench when I hold it over the fire........Makes the meat taste funny."

What Happened to Being Bored?

As it turns out, September, 2011 is now officially the highest grossing month of the year down at the bike shop. This is certainly good news as it helps to put me in a better position financially to weather the slack sales of winter. This is also a very odd turn of events in that September is traditionally the month the door to summer begins to close. My previous best September grossed only 25% of what I brought in this September.

What does this mean? My best months historically are April, May, June. September has never been more than a meet expenses and maybe pack a little away for October. I am a tad unsettled and mildly disturbed about this.

Being true to my nature however, I would not be happy unless I was able to find something about this month to bitch about.

For 20 years, this bike shop and the one I owned previously enjoyed or suffered a predictable flow of business over the course of a year. The season slowly winds up in late February, builds a good head of steam in March, and then settles into a dull roar for April, May and June. July is often a cruising month. Sales flatten out some, but business remains brisk. August is when the winter wind down begins. And by September, I am usually ready for a break. I got no break this September. Not one day at the shop this past month did the words,"I'm bored, would someone, anyone at least call with a wrong number or try to sell me some insurance?" No, every day in September was another high RPM day just like the previous 180 of 2011.

A man gets used to his life panning out in predictable ways. And while stepping outside of a comfort zone is one thing, being forced outside of it is a whole other matter. If this unpredictable flow of events continues, I may just have to find something other than boredom to whine about this winter. And I was so looking forward to it too.

Oh well.............

Johnson Closure

By the time you read this or at the least when this post self publishes thanks to the black magic that makes computers and the Internet work, by that time I will be somewhere between here and there on the superslab, trying to fit in with other southbound buggies as they head for home, the beach, their parents house or in my case some wedding 500 miles from my home.

I managed to not leave New England these last few years. Massachusetts was about about far as I ventured. This trip to Maryland will be my 3rd visit in the last 4 months. Beginning to feel like a recurring nightmare. Like the road will always be part of my life. I just can't escape its clutches.

Spent my first 28 years on this planet on the road. First as a little tacker tagging along behind my military ole man. Because I had been born to it, I knew no better. Hit the road behind the wheel of the big rigs and pounded a million or so miles out before I smartened up, came to Maine, parked my ass in the woods and settled down. The World did fine without me. Well, maybe not fine, but it certainly didn't miss me.

I was hoping to spend my last decades off the road and parked on my bike or comfortably reclined in my local barco-lounger with a cold beverage instead of cussing and fussing while other road warriors did their best to run me into the ditch. Just not in the cards I guess. Huffing exhaust fumes and dodging blown up truck retreads seems to be my destiny.

But what am I doing here? This was supposed to be the upbeat post that countered the previous angry man posts. I was aiming higher than I could punch I guess.......which reminds me of the best toilet graffiti I ever read.

Some years ago I walked into some public toilet in some unremembered truck stop in the outer reaches of America and scratched into the graffiti proof paint at face level:

"Your hose is too short

Your pump, it's too weak

Stand closer to the seat dude

Or you'll piss on your feet."

Unconsciously I edged closer to the ole American Standard urinal and laughed out loud. All the gnarly trucker dudes lined up next to me silently taking care of their own business looked at me at the same time. In my hurry to leave and take my red face out of there, what should have been a routine johnson closure turned into a very painful johnson snagged three or four links into the zipper. 

Well, you just don't follow up a belly laugh with a scream and leave with your dignity intact.

Not my best moment. But most definitely one of my most painful.

Later........................

Okay I admit it, I have a burr under my saddle, a hair across................I guess I have just about had it with the Right blaming our current economic woes on Obama. First of all I have a fundamental problem blaming any one person, political group, or a specific alignment of the stars for the mess we got ourselves into. This economy is a group grope and the only ones we should be blaming are those who now waste time placing blame instead of coming up with ideas on how to solve it. Republicans are so busy saying they are not interested in hearing Obama's ideas on job creation, yet do I hear anything but the same old tired solutions that have not worked yet come out of their mouths? No, they seem stuck on the idea that lowering taxes and cutting spending is somehow going to magically turn this floundering economy around.........Right. It seems odd that after all these years since the implementation of the Bush Tax Cuts, our economy has been nose diving steadily ever since. And somehow more cuts are going to right the ship? .............Right.

I agree we should actively look to cut spending and taxes where feasible, but to do so without looking at the long range effects right now is flat out stupid. Trickle down economics has never worked. Why we keep thinking the rich and famous are going to give up more money if we give them back more money is foolish. The lords of the private sector want to make money at both ends. That is their economic model.

But since the Right is so Hell bent on fixing blame, let's just put some perspective on it. 8 Trillion dollars of the 14 Trillion dollar debt was run up under Republican, read Right side of the aisle, administrations. Based on their own blame the guy at the top tendency, they should be placing blame on the doorstep at their own leadership. But as it is with whiners and complainers, it is always someone else's fault. Or in matters with political stinkery wrapped up in them, it is always the Left's fault. A lot of things are the Left's fault, but they do not own all the blame or even as much blame as the Republicans for this economy. But they both share blame for why it is getting worse instead of better.

Let's use Gov Rick Perry's new Texas model as our example of what a new Republican economic policy might look like. The recent ongoing wildfires there are a perfect example. Prior to these wildfires, the great state of Texas cut state funding for voluntary fire response by 75%. They saved a sizable bundle of cash on some ledger somewhere and made the books look better. Now that their fire response capabilities have been cut back rather dramatically, Gov. Perry is whining about the slow response of the Feds in bailing his tax cutting stupid ass out. Rather than admit that maybe cutting their own fire fighting appropriations may have contributed to the less than timely response to fighting the fires early on, Perry wants to blame Obama. And If I am not mistaken Obama has made sure he got the Fed response moving as fast as possible. He certainly responded much faster than Bush did when Katrina hit. Classic Right Wing logic. Look out the window for someone to blame instead of first looking in the mirror in front of them.

See, this is what happens when I let the political bile build up to dangerous levels. I lash out. But I did see a great bumper sticker the other day on a thrashed mid 1990's Ford pick up - "I'm Too Poor to Vote Republican."

That about covers it for me.

Later........................................

What Goes Around Comes Around

Now that the brain dead Tea Baggers of the Right have successfully taken political rhetoric completely into the gutter these past few election cycles, I find it hilarious they now seem so shocked to be getting their own style of rhetoric thrown back in their face. The Right Wing Tea Baggin blogosphere is absolutely aghast the liver lillied Lefties would stoop so low. What a bunch of hypocrites. You morons set the stage, the example, the tone. What did you expect? No backlash whatsoever? BTW , the image is from 2009 at one of your hoe downs. Yeah, you folks are real class act alright.

Eric Bolling of Fox News was righteously indignant regarding Teamster president Hoffa's comment "Let's take the Conservatives out in November". I especially enjoyed the video where Bolling whined about Media Matters calling him and Fox out for selective editing. He said he listened to Hoffa's remarks again saw no "selective editing." Well dumb ass, maybe you should not listen to the same clip over and over, but maybe the whole speech. Or at the least the complete comment.

And of course Ann Coulter pipes up on some Fox panel of idiots and all she can do is criticize Hoffa's teamsters for representing "useless Kindergarten teachers". When called on this by one of her panel mates, she does not back down. Public sector workers are useless she contends, especially teachers.

Part of me says let the Tea Baggin whackos on the Right have the steering wheel. Let's just put America on a faster downward spiral than we are already in. Maybe hitting bottom sooner than later is better than this slow prolonged fall from grace.

But then I remember, "Oh yeah, they are idiots and I know we would only suffer more if they had the reins." Tea Baggers and their ideas will not put us back on top. That boat sailed years ago when their corporate sponsors found China. All they can do is knee jerk us into a worse situation than we are already in, what with their panties so bunched over stupid crap like transgender dancing, Creationism, making sure Gays cannot get married, and putting God back into the Constitution as they know the founders wanted. And in their minds, this will satisfy their odd notion of Freedom. That by restricting other people's freedoms somehow makes us all more free.

What I see coming at us is a uniquely Americanized version of a culture in decline. The basic model is there with the trends mirroring the declines of many cultures before us. Letting Tea Baggers have their way will just force us to re-set sooner than later. But then I again remember, they are idiots.

Later.......................

Worn Out Welcomes

I sometimes wonder what welcomes I have worn down, worn out over the years I have stacked up behind me. Blissful and ignorant, my Younger self stretched the limits of more than a few relationships, friendships. Blithely, and with no concern for what my actions might cause in others, I forged ahead with my agenda whatever it was or might become. I meant no harm, but invariably I still hurt some feelings over the years.

My Older self would like to imagine any pain I may have caused to be minor hits like we all take as we beat our way through the jungle from the cradle to our graves. I would guess that it is normal my older self would skim over the unpleasant times and dwell only on the good ones.

But would that be honest? Memories collected to make my youth look like some 1950s sitcom may be by themselves true. What about the filler, the moments and times in between I would just as soon forget? Rough times and ugly moments also left scars, imprints on what I was, what I became. I am nothing now but an accumulation of moments, good and bad.

Facing up to all of them is difficult. Some dark times I can only remember in pieces and parts. A facial expression…… Eyes filled with pain staring me down…. The way I felt when another's words cut me like a knife……. A ten second slice remembering my physical escape after hurting someone deep………… Or the ten seconds watching their backside fade into the sunset after they wrenched my guts out.

Remembering the pain can often leave me feeling better in the here and now. Even though I will sometimes wince internally when certain memories pass by, I notice now that I have come through them all without being bitter over the hurt caused me and only minor pangs of guilt still linger over the pain I caused in others. My list of regrets is actually rather short. And that makes me feel good.

Ya Gotta Wet it!

I picked up this pre-owned CD for exactly $8.97. How Bull Moose Music determined that exact value, well, I guess it doesn't matter. With my frequent buyer card, I paid maybe $6. I bought it because any CD with a title that incorporated the word "Copulatin" and of course "Blues"........Well, how could I resist? Old school Jazz and Blues from the 1920s and 30s, maybe some from the 1940s. I dunno, they are old tunes, great tunes, and damn filthy tunes.

I'm not into porn sites, dirty mags, or XXX videos rented from the back room down to Don's Videos on Rte 236. But sing me a smutty song and I perk right up. I think it was my exposure to all the dirty Irish tunes my brother brought back from College in the early 1960s and managed to recall perfectly no matter how shit faced he was. Or maybe it was the heavy doses of Hawaiian music when I was but 5 years old watching nubile native girls move their hips in unnatural and sinful ways at the King Kamehameha Club while my parents got exuberant and sloppy, stumble back to the car and barely make it home on mixed drinks had to make an impression even on a small fry like I was. Music and sex were inseparable from then on. Even when I wasn't sure what sex was or could be.

And now, well, I'm still not sure. Music and sex are momentary instantaneous ecstasies I never feel when involved in day to day, one foot in front of the other drudgeries dealt with until I can come home and..........................Crank it............. or ..... Wet it.

Either one will blow my dress up.

Grief

I have truly been lost in the BoZone the last 10 days or so. I lost my way the moment I answered the phone. A close relative informed me of a death in the family. Immediate grief set in. The following days became a fog. A trip south to attend the services and stand or sit for hours crowded in with other grieving relatives and friends while the immediate family stood numb trying to deal with the unsought overwhelming show of support. I wonder if we helped them cope or made the process worse? I know I did not feel better when I finally began the 600 mile drive back to Maine. My pain will have to wear itself out I guess.

Rituals, traditions, and the best clothes are dug out from the back of our closets when someone close dies. Moods are somber and serious. Jokes are carefully made in attempts to bring some relief without being insensitive. Copious amounts of food are set up on tables while strangers mingle with relatives. Old friendships are re-kindled, old feuds forgotten, and possible new connections created.

Like weddings, funerals bring people together in celebration. One celebrates a new beginning. The other celebrates an end. Tears accompany both. Then we move on. Damaged maybe, but we move on.

I have some experience with death. Live 59 years and it has to touch you more than a few times. No matter what ceremonial rigamarole we wrap death in, grief always ends up being a truly personal struggle. Sure it is fine to say misery loves company, but our misery is felt individually, no matter what the person next to you feels.

Tired platitudes are pulled out of religious hats, out of secular hats and used to try to make our pain go away. "She's in God's hands now", "Her pain is gone now", or "She is in a better place now" - All of them not meant to make the deceased feel better, but aimed at keeping their memory alive in our minds. If the person is important enough to us, their memory will always be there, an uncomfortable knot in our soul. We will sift through our memories and settle on one or two that make us smile and maybe a few that make us weep. But part of them will always be here, no matter what.

With this in mind, I would say that none of us ever really dies as long as someone remembers us.

RIP Erin.

That Guy

Last Saturday, Bike Shop Jim tried to pin me down. "You riding tomorrow with us over to Bear Brook?"

I was still undecided at that point. The plan called for another Sunday shot because of a bike ride. I knew it would turn into an all day affair. Bear Brook State Park in New Hampster was chock full of punishing trails.....miles of punishing trails. Besides, the group we were hooking up with were true gnarly dudes, looking to pound whoever was along into the ground with their stiff pace and aggressive riding. My body was no longer young and numb and finally I had started to wrap my mind around this notion. Riding on Sunday was gonna hurt............deep.

I looked at Bike Shop Jim. "Uh, I don't know yet. You know I have a yard that is out of control and I......."

"Here come the excuses." Jim started in. "Come on ole man, just admit you are over the hill. Grab your walker and go home." He smiled and then said, "You picking up lunch today? I feel like a Turkey club from Rosa's."

"Yeah I guess so. Call it in. Order me up a roast beef club, ...uh... No, make that a ham and cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. Not toasted." I grabbed the truck keys and headed out.

The whole run to Rosa's Jim's "walker" comment stuck in my craw. On the way back to the bike shop I saw an old duffer inching along Main St making slow but steady progress with his walker. If I lived long enough, I knew the odds were even I would be that guy someday. And the day I might become that guy was not as far off as it used to be.

When asked my age recently, I have been telling people I am sixty years old like some teenager not quite 16 who cannot wait to claim that next birthday less than a year away. I don't think I am doing it because I am looking forward to being sixty. Christ, who looks forward to being sixty? I think I am claiming sixty as a kind of preparation exercise for when my next birthday finally rolls around. Claiming it now keeps the shock of hitting the big 6-0 down to a minimum. Anyway, that's my theory and for now I'm running with it.

So I slow down and pull over on Main St to watch in my mirror the old codger struggle along behind his walker. He never slows. He never speeds up. Two steps, pick up the walker, move it forward a foot or so and then two more steps, and so on. He finally catches up to where I am pulled over.

As he passes my window, he looks over and says, "Beautiful day, ain't it." And on he goes, not even hesitating to hear my reply which I never made, because his cheery demeanor caught me off guard. I could not imagine myself with even the hint of a cheerful thought if I was stuck behind a walker on Main St. And here is this old fart, smiling and cruising at a snail's pace loving life. Damn.

I pulled back into traffic and finished the drive back to the bike shop. On the way, I decided I was going to ride on Sunday come Hell or high water. I knew that the number of rides I had left in me were dwindling and any day on a bike, no matter how painful, beat gimping on Main St behind a walker. And yeah, the ride was painful, but I survived and grinned all the way home. Thanks to that guy and his walker.

See Ya...............................
___________________________________________________

Image poached from Bleed Cubbie Blue

Is That A Cruller in Your Pocket.........

......Or are you just happy to see me.

I had to laugh this morning when I came upon this headline "N.J. Dunkin Donuts worker caught in 'extra sugar' sex sting". Of course I had to open it and read it.

Seems for a nominal fee over and above the price of a cup of coffee and a donut, one enterprising young woman augmented her income by offering personal services to the patrons of the drive through. Because these "services" were deemed illegal by local and state statutes, naturally the local police became interested in her "off the clock" and "on the c(l)ock" activities. Determined to muzzle this budding entrepreneur and restore civility and morality to the Dunkin Donut parking lot, they set up an undercover sting operation. Of course they caught her.

All I can think of is this really puts a new spin on the term "Dunkin Donut".

Later...............................

August 2nd

I was sitting at my computer this morning. Spread out on any unoccupied flat service was the financial information from the last month at the bike shop. As I balanced this and entered that into the loose dog balance sheet I use to keep myself from spending more than I have, I thought about Congress and this date.

At first, that flash of anger I have been nursing since this whole cluster f......this whole mess began surged up to the front and I lost my concentration on my own efforts to curb spending while still trying to keep my doors open. I had not realized just how angry I was at Congress. I screamed, 'You fuckin assholes".......and then softer but with deep seated disgust, "you fucked us again".

No matter who claims victory out of all this, it is a sure thing the main losers are the 95% of the American population not flying in corporate jets and smoozing poolside in Palm Beach. We got screwed again. They kicked the can further down the street for someone else to deal with. What a bunch of gutless wonders.

I thought about what I would have done had I been in Congress. This thought stopped me cold. I have never been one to say, "If I was in charge...." Oh, I am quick with "You oughta do this, or not do that". But as far as imagining my reaction or action as the man in charge, I have never done that. I know this fiscal crap is way more complicated than the simplicity of the talking points tossed out there for public consumption. I also know, running a government is not as simple as running a business, no matter how big. So applying my own rules of fiscal responsibility would not really fit. But the basics might.

First of all if I am facing a debt ceiling, and believe me when I say I am always facing one, I look for new income streams besides budgeting what money I do have or expect to have. Closing loop holes is akin to me looking for back door ways to make my bottom line healthier. Closing loopholes is like finding money, and Congress did not even consider it for long. What is up with that? Are tax breaks for corporate jet rides that freakin important?

Second of all, I would never drop my price on anything, unless the cost to me went down. But Congress does not think along those lines. It seems that Congress has decided that even though for most of us, costs have gone up, Congress has allowed a privileged few to keep stuffing more money into their pockets on the the backs of the rest of us.

I am fed up with this notion of entitlement handed over to the corporations and those who run them. The rich have done nothing for me I did not earn through my sweat or my purchases. My life will continue on as usual even if they have to ante up and pay more for the privilege of being called Americans. It is not a matter of fairness. I just feel they should pay more for the privilege of picking my pockets.

Later.........................................

Getting back into this blogging game is coming harder than I thought it would. I have started several posts, but gave up on them for one reason or another. Too tired to finish, what I wrote didn't even interest me once I read them, or I just could not get comfortable stealing time away from all the other crap going on in my life at the moment.

Yet the urge to write still exists.

The Debt Ceiling

Just what the Hell is the problem? We have had no problem raising it at the drop of the hat in the past. Now all of a sudden there are those folks who would try to force this country into fiscal responsibility in one drastic measure. We cannot fix the damn economy overnight.

The argument that the solution is with spending cuts alone is patent bullshit. Of course we need to cutback our free spending ways, but we also need some kind of new income stream to stoke the fire. Closing loopholes and asking the income bracket we bailed out not 3 years ago to share some of the rewards they garnered on our dime seems appropriate.

Anyone who believes that taxing the rich more is flirting with disaster is either rich or clueless in my opinion. Yes, it took us 40 plus years to dig this hole we are in. The negative result we are experiencing now though seemed to pick up steam as soon as Bush the Lessor instituted his tax cuts. Trickle Down Economics did not work when Reagan pushed it, and it has not worked since. All it has down is pour money into pockets already flush with cash with no tangible rewards for the majority of the country.

I am so sick and tired of hearing how important and entitled the rich are I could spit. Instead of stepping up and making sacrifices the rest of us have been forced to make, the rich folk have dug in their heels and basically told us to pound sand. It seems Congress agrees.

Congress

About as useless a crew as I have ever seen take up space inside the Capitol Beltway. No matter what party we belong to, we should all be thoroughly disgusted with the lot of them. Ideology has completely taken over from pragmatism. What's good for the country not even on their radar. They are so wrapped up in butting heads over policy, nothing is getting done.

One of my Senators, Olympia Snowe, sends me a monthly(?) news letter entitled "The Snowe Report". In it she focuses on all of the issues she is concerned about. Her latest report gave the current gridlock in DC only a passing mention while she pushed the notion that a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution will solve all our fiscal problems. The majority of the report then became nothing more than a public relations effort to show her as an effective legislator. She stopped being effective years ago. All of them stopped being effective years ago. Bunch of jive talking losers in my opinion.

Obama

I voted for the man. And even though he has disappointed me some since he was elected, I will vote for him again. He seems to be the only voice coming out of DC that is pushing for some kind of solution that will move us along. Whether his ideas have any merit or not, at least he is focusing on solving problems, not just arguing over stupid shit and trying to shift blame. He acknowledges that mistakes have been made, but we need to move on. Republicans and Democrats in Congress however seem to only be interested in blaming each other or Obama for the mess the country got itself into.

We are all responsible to some degree for what we have now. That is the nature of a democratic culture. The prosperity of the population rises or falls based on the choices and attention we pay to the process. Demanding change is worthless unless all of us are willing to step up and be part of it. Ideology can set our course, but we should be ready to use common sense to help avoid the pitfalls and reefs that course may have in its path.

Later..............................

Back in the Groove?

Having been MIA from my blog and yours these past many weeks, I find it difficult to write without serious struggle. I have excuses for my absence. Some are honest excuses and did contribute to the why of why I was away. The Bike Shop, broken computers, and a rediscovered ability to sleep at night pushed me in a new direction and away from being parked here in front of the screen for hours at a time. The other excuses were just me looking for a way to avoid posting when I thought I had surely lost whatever touch I may have had previously.

To be fair, my blog is not the only thing I have been ignoring. I stopped my compulsion to find news that pissed me off. And I gotta say it has been great. I read the headlines, feel a twitch and a lip quiver, then I move on. Regaining control over my own small piece of the World instead of ranting about the world I can never hope to control has helped to calm me down and focus on what is really important at this moment in my life.

But the last 6 years of blogging have proven my addiction to seeing my own words in print, albeit, electronic print. I have always enjoyed writing and am now jones-ing hard to get back to it. Many potential stories, opinions, and general observations have gone by the wayside. It is time for me to find room for my blog again.

Call this my crude attempt to get back in the groove.

Later...............................