Taxes Should Increase

Can someone explain to me why is there is incredible inflexibility upon the part of Republicans to talk about any tax increases for the wealthy? They have consistently said they will not consider any plan that has any tax increases. The President has only proposed taxes on those who have household incomes over $250,000 or individuals over $200,000. I’m quite sure that all Republicans are not making that much money, so what’s the complaint. Progressive taxes have been the basis of taxes since we started taking taxes. And then we have these whacky governors, like as ours, who give more tax cuts to the wealthy and then cry budget crisis as a means of getting rid of collective bargaining.

 Plus we have had over three decades of government deregulation of business; hasn’t anyone connected that process with all the problems with Wall Street and the Banks (among others) at the end of the Bush era? And, has anyone looked at who bears the brunt of the government reductions being proposed? It’s the poorer folk again, the same ones who have been subsidizing the rich in subsidizing legislation on all levels of government.

Finally, there is the mantra about big government causing all our problems. We need sufficient government to again regulate an out of control market. It takes people to do that. Especially we do not need governmental regulators being seduced by the very businesses they are supposed to regulate.

Let me say it again, the rich, the ultra rich have bought the government and until we get the laws on campaign funding under control they will continue to control it.

Fitness

A couple of days ago Doreen and I joined a fitness center in Winona...FREE...it's one of the bennies you get for getting old. Today we go in for our orientation, likely amounting to how to stay out of young whipper snappers ways as they grunt and groan. Well let me tell you we can grunt and groan like the best of them, it just doesn't take as much effort. After 18 holes yesterday I had lots of grunting and groaning to do.


Oh well as the gladiators said on their way into the arena, "morituri te salutant" (meaning: we who are about to do salute you - in case you're not up on your Latin.)

New Apple Mac User

Well, we’ve done it. We now have joined the world of Apple Mac users. We replaced Doreen’s old Gateway with a brand new spanking  Mac desktop. Whoopee!

Actually I’ve been less the whooping getting the thing up and running. ‘Twas simple to set up basically, just plug the dumb thing in. But then there was the super dupper humdinger more powerful than a locomotive router which seems to have less umph than my old wimpy one. It has a connection so you can hook it up to and external harddrive (which we also purchased) but with the puny connection power was so worthless I just plugged into the Mac itself. If wouldn’t have enough connection power on my laptop in the schackteau to access it.

Then there came good old Quicken, our stalwart financial package and its rather imperfect Mac counter part. The Geek squad put the material on the external hard drive but didn’t tell me if it was converted for Mac use or not. After messing about a good deal, I did it all myself and as a few minutes ago it is up and running. Had to go back to my good ol PC to convert the data.

I suppose I’ll get enthusiastic sometime, right now it just seems slow, less intuitive than windows and a hassle. Ah progress. All you Mac users may now rise up in righteous indignation. Doreen and I will let you know after a bit and some tweaking whether we’ve become converts or not.

Oh, also those of you on SKYPE will notice new invitation from Doreen as I put it on the new Mac (another thing the Best Buy Geek squad failed to do, for which I am glad.)

It sure looks pretty thought and the screen is immense! Weird keyboard.

New Authors/Invivations

I have just sent out a number of new invitations to our little blog. A lot of them I had not  invited before because I didn't have their addresses (I just raided Doreen's computer) and others because I want to include more of our extended family.

Please join and share ideas and thoughts; mean crap or dumb jokes will likely be edited out by the administrator (me) unless I write them.

I would also suggest new folk to check out the old blogs to get a feel of things.

The Age of Irrelavancy

No blogs for days and now I can't quit.

My latest tidbit. I received an e-mail from golf digest asking if I would fill out a survey. I, being a very helpful person decided to do so, and poked the appropriate icon. They thanked me and asked my age and gender. The next page to flash up said, thanks but my responses were not necessary.

Ah, how good it is to be old and irrelevant. I find this particularly interesting after spending the last three months in a plus 55 golfing community of 2,500 housing units where I was looked at as being a youngster at age 68.

A Political Solution

I think I've got it. I am assuming that you, along with me and the rest of American and the entire world are totally sick and tired of the non-stop bickering the members of congress. Statesmen they do not appear to be.


My solution is to confine each and everyone of them in a private cell with books and writing by and about Abraham Lincoln who truly was a statesmen with incredible compassion.


Periodically they could let them out of their respective cells to discuss issues from a Lincoln perspective, and when they wander back to self serving bickering--back to their cells.


If you know your history Lincoln was a Republican back in the days when Republicans had a democratic philosophy.

David Feherty and Michael Campbell

For those golf non-enthusiasts who do not know David Feherty let me tell you who he is. He's an Irishman now a proud American citizen. He was a golf pro and now a golf commentator with the wit of Robin Williams. Ferherty has the disctinction (like the current House of Representatives leader) to look like a ferret  just smiles a lot more and cries less. He also writes for  Golf Magazine from hence these thoughts come. Michael Campbell (not the New Zealand golfer) just showed up one day at the TV compound during last May's Colonial. Campbell is a 28 year old marine who decided he wanted to walk with Feherty that day and did. Feherty has a very tender heart for members of the military so that was fine with him. Periodically Campbell would ask Feherty his name. It turns out he was injured in combat and has about 2 minutes of short term memory and thought the walking scoreboard was a great feat of genius. They have remained in contact. Campbell loves golf and would like to play on the PGA, and apparently just may have the skills to do so. Butch Harmon thinks so. Why not!


It came to me that Campbell may have a distinct advantage as a golfer with a two minute memory limit. If I had that limit I wouldn't have remembered the 11 I took on the back nine yesterday and followed with an 8. On the other hand I'm quite proud that I could even remember that I took that amount of strokes as my memory on the golf course seems less than Campbells. Then there is Megan's Bob (Stilling) who remembers every shot he ever took.


There may be a point in these ramblings but I'll let you figure it out for yourselves.


Blessing...curse....blessing...curse...blessing...curse....