Feb. 20, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS: Protests in Wisconsin have knocked the protests in Egypt off the front page. In Egypt, they protested against a dictator because they want freedom to find a job paying more than $2 a day. In Madison, they are protesting against a governor because they don’t want to pay $2 toward their retirement. As for freedom, the Governor says these teachers and government employees are always free to look for another job.
Snow has shut down Minneapolis today (Sunday). Not completely, of course, but it closed the airport long enough to give me an extra day or two here. But I ain’t complaining. We had a fine crowd up in Staples last night and I’d a lot rather have my flight canceled after a show than before it. Minnesota poked fun at Oklahoma with their 20 to 30 inches a couple of weeks ago; now it’s Minnesota’s turn to show us how to deal with half as much. They’ll be plowing snow for awhile.
On the way to Staples I got to stop at the boyhood home of Charles Lindbergh. It’s at Little Falls, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. They have a museum, and even if you know a lot about this aviation hero you’re guaranteed to learn something new. For instance, he attended eleven different schools, and at the University of Wisconsin he quit after three semesters before they could kick him out for poor grades. But then he went to Flight School, and he did ok.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are more than neighbors. In 1928 I said, “A child born in Wisconsin is taught two things. One is to love LaFollette, and the other is to hate Minnesota. Wisconsin is never doubtful. You can always count on it doing just exactly what the other forty-seven states don’t.”
Governor Walker is never doubtful, and he’s got governors across the country, both Republican and Democrat, watching because many states need to do exactly what Wisconsin is doing. And if you asked these governors, I bet they are all irked by the President’s meddling in Wisconsin affairs. While Mr. Obama admits he’ll spend 40 percent more than he takes in, these governors are forced to balance a checkbook.
Mr. Obama is an intelligent man. No argument on that. And I bet that if you go back into his childhood, all through school, and on up to recent years you’ll find that he was in a lot of clubs and organizations. He was probably president of a few. But I bet out of all of them, he never once served as Treasurer. If he did, and he managed that account the same as he’s managing the one he’s in charge of today, the club would be defunct.
Minnesota’s Governor Dayton is using the old fashioned approach to balance a budget: raise tax rates. Dayton is counting on folks not leaving just because of higher taxes. But if General Mills, Target and the billionaire Pohlad family, for example, pulled up stakes and moved to Florida, he’ll face a deficit worse than Wisconsin. Illinois already raised their tax rates. The Illinois governor announced, “I haven’t heard of any rich men leaving, and I know for a fact we’ve added fourteen Democratic Senators from Wisconsin.” Well, it’s a good thing he raised taxes; it can take a lot to feed and house a wayward Democrat.
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“Somebody with a sense of humor built St. Paul and Minneapolis close together. They were born the “Twin Cities”, but since birth they have grown together. Now they are locked. One can’t do anything without interfering with the other… The Mississippi River is between them, but Lord, that don’t stop ‘em from cussing each other. What should separate them is the Pacific Ocean.” WA #152, Nov. 8, 1925
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Weekly Comments: U.S. Budget woes strain relations with China #639
Jan. 23, 2011
COLUMBUS: President Obama spent the past few days preparing his State of the Union address to Congress. You notice that the speech was scheduled to come after (not before) a visit from the leader of China. Our President wanted to sure that he didn’t give a glowing report to the nation about our economy only to have China show up the next day and foreclose.
We rolled out the red carpet for China’s President Hu. Even honored him with a State Dinner at the White House. But he did not appear to enjoy the trip, never smiled, usually just looked straight ahead like a good poker player with four aces.
All our big comedians were telling jokes on him, not to his face of course, but I think he got wind of it. His name is Hu (pronounced Who), and they brought up the old joke about "Who’s on first, What’s on second." Someone asked Hu, "How’s the president of North Korea?" Hu replied, "He’s Ill." Well, that may be funny to us, but in China poking fun at the President can land you in jail. Don’t be surprised if the next time we need to borrow a Trillion dollars, he’ll jack up the interest rate a couple of points.
Congress is getting serious about cutting the budget deficit. Republicans want to cut spending, but have not admitted which expenses they want to cut. Democrats prefer to raise taxes, but are afraid to tell which ones. Here’s a modest proposal for consideration: Return federal employment to 2008 numbers, and trim the salaries of the ones left to 2006 levels. That may seem cruel, but if a small business found itself spending a third more than it took in, that’s what the owner would do, usually starting with his own pay. As for taxes, concentrate on raising more revenue, not higher rates. If a business or manufacturer doubles production, tax revenue would naturally go up. And they might hire some of those out-of-work federal employees.
Folks in Washington and on television continue to harp on any use of battlefield language in politics. Words like target, attack, cross hairs, gunning for, aiming at, and bullet points. In Detroit Sunday afternoon, a gunman barged into a police station and shot four officers. I’m waiting to see if the New York Times blames Sarah.
The Chicago Bears and New York Jets made it close at the end of their games, but it’ll be Green Bay against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. After winning games in frigid weather, these two old industrial towns will battle each other in comfort in Dallas.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"Politics pretty quiet over the week-end. Democrats are attacking and the Republicans are defending." DT #1917, Sept. 26, 1932
"One of the few stipulated duties of the President is that every once in awhile he delivers a message to Congress to tell them the "Condition of the Country." This message as I say is to Congress; the rest of the country knows the condition of the country, for they live in it. But the Senators and Congressmen being in Washington all the time have no idea what is going on in America. So the President has to tell 'em." WA #371, Feb. 2, 1930
"The budget is a mythical bean bag. Congress votes mythical beans into it, and then tries to reach in and pull real beans out." DT #2047, Feb. 24, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: President Obama spent the past few days preparing his State of the Union address to Congress. You notice that the speech was scheduled to come after (not before) a visit from the leader of China. Our President wanted to sure that he didn’t give a glowing report to the nation about our economy only to have China show up the next day and foreclose.
We rolled out the red carpet for China’s President Hu. Even honored him with a State Dinner at the White House. But he did not appear to enjoy the trip, never smiled, usually just looked straight ahead like a good poker player with four aces.
All our big comedians were telling jokes on him, not to his face of course, but I think he got wind of it. His name is Hu (pronounced Who), and they brought up the old joke about "Who’s on first, What’s on second." Someone asked Hu, "How’s the president of North Korea?" Hu replied, "He’s Ill." Well, that may be funny to us, but in China poking fun at the President can land you in jail. Don’t be surprised if the next time we need to borrow a Trillion dollars, he’ll jack up the interest rate a couple of points.
Congress is getting serious about cutting the budget deficit. Republicans want to cut spending, but have not admitted which expenses they want to cut. Democrats prefer to raise taxes, but are afraid to tell which ones. Here’s a modest proposal for consideration: Return federal employment to 2008 numbers, and trim the salaries of the ones left to 2006 levels. That may seem cruel, but if a small business found itself spending a third more than it took in, that’s what the owner would do, usually starting with his own pay. As for taxes, concentrate on raising more revenue, not higher rates. If a business or manufacturer doubles production, tax revenue would naturally go up. And they might hire some of those out-of-work federal employees.
Folks in Washington and on television continue to harp on any use of battlefield language in politics. Words like target, attack, cross hairs, gunning for, aiming at, and bullet points. In Detroit Sunday afternoon, a gunman barged into a police station and shot four officers. I’m waiting to see if the New York Times blames Sarah.
The Chicago Bears and New York Jets made it close at the end of their games, but it’ll be Green Bay against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. After winning games in frigid weather, these two old industrial towns will battle each other in comfort in Dallas.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"Politics pretty quiet over the week-end. Democrats are attacking and the Republicans are defending." DT #1917, Sept. 26, 1932
"One of the few stipulated duties of the President is that every once in awhile he delivers a message to Congress to tell them the "Condition of the Country." This message as I say is to Congress; the rest of the country knows the condition of the country, for they live in it. But the Senators and Congressmen being in Washington all the time have no idea what is going on in America. So the President has to tell 'em." WA #371, Feb. 2, 1930
"The budget is a mythical bean bag. Congress votes mythical beans into it, and then tries to reach in and pull real beans out." DT #2047, Feb. 24, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Deficits and dictators, but is spring far off? #640
Jan. 30, 2011
COLUMBUS: While we’re all worrying about China and the deficit, why Egypt breaks out on us. It seems that a poor young Egyptian heard about the protests in Tunisia, sent a few friends a message on Facebook saying, ‘Let’s protest against our dictator Mubarak,’ and the next day a million showed up. I know they’re poor, with extreme unemployment, but how bad can it be when everyone seems to have a computer, a cell phone, and a TV to watch Al Jazerra.
Mubarak has been in there for thirty years and frankly no one in Washington expected him to last this long without getting shot. If we had a President for even half that long we would have riots, too. Mubarak helped keep the Muslim terrorists from getting a foothold in Egypt so we kinda strung along with him. We don’t like dictators, but we don’t like Hamas and other Islamic radicals either, like the ones running Iran and Gaza.
I have a friend in Cairo and I hope he can let me know soon how it looks to him. Egypt is a great country with a civilization going back thousands of years. It has survived storms worse than this, but a fairly smooth shift to democracy would be good for them, and the rest of us, too.
President Obama gave his solution to the budget deficit in the State of the Union speech: keep spending the same amount for the next five years. He probably meant it as a joke, but nobody is laughing. His plan would raise our debt $7,500,000,000,000 by 2016 if revenue stays the same.
There are two industries doing well through the Great Recession. Maybe with some encouragement those two can increase revenue and add to the overall economy. What are they? One is agriculture. Don’t laugh; farmers are growing more crops and exporting more than ever to balance imports of other goods. The other is the oil and gas business. Producing more of our own fuel can decrease imports, reduce prices, and lessen the headache that might result if the Egyptian protests spread to Saudi Arabia.
Hey, it ain’t all doom and gloom. Groundhog Day offers hope for an early spring.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"It's kinder as I heard a very learned American man one time say, ‘Dictatorship is the greatest form of Government there is, provided you have a good Dictator.’" WA #641, Apr. 7, 1935
"A Senator introduced a bill where the government couldn’t appropriate more money than was coming in. That is, if you didn't have any money you could not dole out any. Well the Senate like to mobbed him. They called the idea treason, sacrilegious, inhuman and taking the last vestige of power for a politician, that is, the right to appropriate your money which you don't have." DT #2024, Jan. 29, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: While we’re all worrying about China and the deficit, why Egypt breaks out on us. It seems that a poor young Egyptian heard about the protests in Tunisia, sent a few friends a message on Facebook saying, ‘Let’s protest against our dictator Mubarak,’ and the next day a million showed up. I know they’re poor, with extreme unemployment, but how bad can it be when everyone seems to have a computer, a cell phone, and a TV to watch Al Jazerra.
Mubarak has been in there for thirty years and frankly no one in Washington expected him to last this long without getting shot. If we had a President for even half that long we would have riots, too. Mubarak helped keep the Muslim terrorists from getting a foothold in Egypt so we kinda strung along with him. We don’t like dictators, but we don’t like Hamas and other Islamic radicals either, like the ones running Iran and Gaza.
I have a friend in Cairo and I hope he can let me know soon how it looks to him. Egypt is a great country with a civilization going back thousands of years. It has survived storms worse than this, but a fairly smooth shift to democracy would be good for them, and the rest of us, too.
President Obama gave his solution to the budget deficit in the State of the Union speech: keep spending the same amount for the next five years. He probably meant it as a joke, but nobody is laughing. His plan would raise our debt $7,500,000,000,000 by 2016 if revenue stays the same.
There are two industries doing well through the Great Recession. Maybe with some encouragement those two can increase revenue and add to the overall economy. What are they? One is agriculture. Don’t laugh; farmers are growing more crops and exporting more than ever to balance imports of other goods. The other is the oil and gas business. Producing more of our own fuel can decrease imports, reduce prices, and lessen the headache that might result if the Egyptian protests spread to Saudi Arabia.
Hey, it ain’t all doom and gloom. Groundhog Day offers hope for an early spring.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"It's kinder as I heard a very learned American man one time say, ‘Dictatorship is the greatest form of Government there is, provided you have a good Dictator.’" WA #641, Apr. 7, 1935
"A Senator introduced a bill where the government couldn’t appropriate more money than was coming in. That is, if you didn't have any money you could not dole out any. Well the Senate like to mobbed him. They called the idea treason, sacrilegious, inhuman and taking the last vestige of power for a politician, that is, the right to appropriate your money which you don't have." DT #2024, Jan. 29, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Inside information from Egypt #641
Feb. 6, 2011
COLUMBUS: With twenty inches of snow at Claremore and Oologah, a lot of the Oklahoma home folks wish they still had a horse. Ford cars and ATVs got stuck in the drifts, but an old horse had no trouble at all. More snow coming.
That snow was from the same winter storm that froze Dallas during Super Bowl week, making Green Bay and Pittsburgh fans feel right at home. At least they played the game inside. The Packers beat the Steelers 31 to 25, and Aaron Rodgers escaped Brett Favre’s shadow.
My friend in Egypt sent me a first-rate report and analysis on the protest, including a couple of details you haven’t heard on the networks: "The present violence is the result of the damned dictatorship. The regime is so corrupt. Mubarak’s party netted all except 6 of the 498 Parliament seats in the elections last October!
"Many TV stations put the wealth of the president, his wife and his two sons at $52 Billion. The UN says 40% of all 85 million Egyptians live below the poverty line on $1 a day. The government claims only 20%, or17 million Egyptians, are in poverty. [Folks, can you imagine the uproar if one of our Presidents amassed even $1 Billion while in office?]
"Party officials use the secret police and hired thugs to make us feel unsafe and force the protestors to return to their homes to defend them. They want us to choose between safety (and no democracy) under the present regime, or party-sponsored terrorism under any other regime. It is the classical birth pains of a new order in Egypt, painful but necessary!
"The protest focuses on the Tahreer (Liberation) Square in front of the Egyptian Museum, the Nile Hilton and the massive government office building. Protestors overflow into the square between the Museum and the Ramses Hilton, near the entrance and exit ramps of the October Bridge in the TV coverage. There are also many major demonstrations in other parts of Cairo and in other cities and towns around Egypt.
"Egyptians are safe as long as the army does not take the side of the government. This might have changed, however, after the army failed to protect the unarmed protestors from being massacred in the Tahreer Square (Feb 2) by government thugs and secret police.
"Our city, about 20 miles from Cairo, has been relatively quiet during the current uprising. There were scattered serious incidents, however, in several other towns. When the national police vanished on Friday night, January 28, the country was terrorized by lawless bands that ran wild and unchecked, stealing, terrorizing and killing. It was no accident. The regime that withdrew the police most probably planned and organized the bands, consisting of undercover police, government-paid thugs, thousands of convicts who broke out (or were forced to break out), and criminals who simply took advantage of the situation.
"On January 29, our village owners association put in place an emergency protection plan using armed security groups during the curfew hours, 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. No serious incidents occurred to the village, except perhaps a couple. The armed guards were let go 4 days later." [I posted 2 more paragraphs in the current Weekly Comments on http://WillRogersToday.com]
President Obama is limited in what he can suggest or do with Egypt. We want democracy and elections, but not if the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood is likely to win. If we had supported the Iranian protesters last year, maybe the current situation would be more predictable.
In Egypt, half of all income for the average family is spent on food. By comparison, in the U.S. we only spend 10% for food, and half of that is in restaurants. If Mubarak’s $52 Billion were returned from Swiss banks and spread around, Egyptians could be well fed for a while.
Today was Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday celebration. He seems to have picked up a few more friends since he died, which offers eternal hope for the rest of us.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"Hurry up planes and start leaving here. I can't walk in these snowshoes. Been run over by two sleighs today. Taxicabs are being pulled by dog teams and the weather man says there will be a blizzard tonight." DT #2361, Feb. 26, 1934
"There’ll never be a time when the old horse is not superior to any auto ever made." WA# 507, Sept. 11, 1932
"Just passed thru Chicago. It's not a boast, it's an achievement. The snow was so deep today the crooks could only hit a tall man." DT #1079, Jan. 9, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: With twenty inches of snow at Claremore and Oologah, a lot of the Oklahoma home folks wish they still had a horse. Ford cars and ATVs got stuck in the drifts, but an old horse had no trouble at all. More snow coming.
That snow was from the same winter storm that froze Dallas during Super Bowl week, making Green Bay and Pittsburgh fans feel right at home. At least they played the game inside. The Packers beat the Steelers 31 to 25, and Aaron Rodgers escaped Brett Favre’s shadow.
My friend in Egypt sent me a first-rate report and analysis on the protest, including a couple of details you haven’t heard on the networks: "The present violence is the result of the damned dictatorship. The regime is so corrupt. Mubarak’s party netted all except 6 of the 498 Parliament seats in the elections last October!
"Many TV stations put the wealth of the president, his wife and his two sons at $52 Billion. The UN says 40% of all 85 million Egyptians live below the poverty line on $1 a day. The government claims only 20%, or17 million Egyptians, are in poverty. [Folks, can you imagine the uproar if one of our Presidents amassed even $1 Billion while in office?]
"Party officials use the secret police and hired thugs to make us feel unsafe and force the protestors to return to their homes to defend them. They want us to choose between safety (and no democracy) under the present regime, or party-sponsored terrorism under any other regime. It is the classical birth pains of a new order in Egypt, painful but necessary!
"The protest focuses on the Tahreer (Liberation) Square in front of the Egyptian Museum, the Nile Hilton and the massive government office building. Protestors overflow into the square between the Museum and the Ramses Hilton, near the entrance and exit ramps of the October Bridge in the TV coverage. There are also many major demonstrations in other parts of Cairo and in other cities and towns around Egypt.
"Egyptians are safe as long as the army does not take the side of the government. This might have changed, however, after the army failed to protect the unarmed protestors from being massacred in the Tahreer Square (Feb 2) by government thugs and secret police.
"Our city, about 20 miles from Cairo, has been relatively quiet during the current uprising. There were scattered serious incidents, however, in several other towns. When the national police vanished on Friday night, January 28, the country was terrorized by lawless bands that ran wild and unchecked, stealing, terrorizing and killing. It was no accident. The regime that withdrew the police most probably planned and organized the bands, consisting of undercover police, government-paid thugs, thousands of convicts who broke out (or were forced to break out), and criminals who simply took advantage of the situation.
"On January 29, our village owners association put in place an emergency protection plan using armed security groups during the curfew hours, 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. No serious incidents occurred to the village, except perhaps a couple. The armed guards were let go 4 days later." [I posted 2 more paragraphs in the current Weekly Comments on http://WillRogersToday.com]
President Obama is limited in what he can suggest or do with Egypt. We want democracy and elections, but not if the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood is likely to win. If we had supported the Iranian protesters last year, maybe the current situation would be more predictable.
In Egypt, half of all income for the average family is spent on food. By comparison, in the U.S. we only spend 10% for food, and half of that is in restaurants. If Mubarak’s $52 Billion were returned from Swiss banks and spread around, Egyptians could be well fed for a while.
Today was Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday celebration. He seems to have picked up a few more friends since he died, which offers eternal hope for the rest of us.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"Hurry up planes and start leaving here. I can't walk in these snowshoes. Been run over by two sleighs today. Taxicabs are being pulled by dog teams and the weather man says there will be a blizzard tonight." DT #2361, Feb. 26, 1934
"There’ll never be a time when the old horse is not superior to any auto ever made." WA# 507, Sept. 11, 1932
"Just passed thru Chicago. It's not a boast, it's an achievement. The snow was so deep today the crooks could only hit a tall man." DT #1079, Jan. 9, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Weekly Comments: Congress returns with John Boehner at the wheel #638
Jan. 16, 2011
COLUMBUS: There’s some good news from Tucson. Congresswoman Giffords continues to improve, and it may not be too long until she is talking.
I know a fellow in Atlanta, Ken Futch, who accidently shot himself in the head, and he makes a good living entertaining and inspiring people across the country talking about it. So let’s pray that she fully recovers, and when she gets tired of Congress she can give humorous speeches for a living. She’s already got the perfect nickname: Gabby.
She and the six who were killed were gunned down by a drug and alcohol addicted paranoid schizophrenic who should have been locked up in a psychiatric ward years ago.
Everybody knows he committed the crime except for Sheriff Dupnik. He says the bullet that went through Giffords’ head was fired from Wasilla, Alaska.
He’s not the only one that got it wrong. Dozens of journalists on television and in newspaper columns have blamed this tragedy on everyone from the Tea Party to the Republicans, radio commentators, the NRA and political ad writers.
Congress is getting down to business this week, balancing the budget. At least that’s what they claim. John Boehner of Ohio is the new Speaker of the House, replacing Nancy Pelosi. Four years ago she announced she would balance the budget every year, and she only missed her target by $5,000,000,000,000. So keep your fingers crossed for this new bunch. Mr. Boehner is the first Speaker from Ohio in more than 75 years. "Nick Longworth is the most able and popular Speaker the House has had. In fact the greatest since Alexander Hamilton." (1928)
I met Congressman Boehner in 2000. I was invited to speak at a retreat of the House Agriculture Committee, and he introduced me. At that time it was headed up by two Texans, Charles Stehnolm and Larry Combest. Now an Oklahoma rancher is the chairman, Frank Lucas.
Congress will take up the President’s Health Care plan. Mr. Boehner knows he has the votes to repeal it. But he also knows the Senate will turn him down, and if it did pass the Senate, the President would veto it. The whole exercise will waste a week, but for the rookie members it will be kinda like pre-season practice for when the real games begin.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people." DT #1990, Dec. 20, 1932
"Anything that has to pass by that Senate is just like a Rat having to pass a Cat Convention; it's sure to be pounced on, and the more meritorious the scheme is the less chance it has of passing." WA #385, May 11, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: There’s some good news from Tucson. Congresswoman Giffords continues to improve, and it may not be too long until she is talking.
I know a fellow in Atlanta, Ken Futch, who accidently shot himself in the head, and he makes a good living entertaining and inspiring people across the country talking about it. So let’s pray that she fully recovers, and when she gets tired of Congress she can give humorous speeches for a living. She’s already got the perfect nickname: Gabby.
She and the six who were killed were gunned down by a drug and alcohol addicted paranoid schizophrenic who should have been locked up in a psychiatric ward years ago.
Everybody knows he committed the crime except for Sheriff Dupnik. He says the bullet that went through Giffords’ head was fired from Wasilla, Alaska.
He’s not the only one that got it wrong. Dozens of journalists on television and in newspaper columns have blamed this tragedy on everyone from the Tea Party to the Republicans, radio commentators, the NRA and political ad writers.
Congress is getting down to business this week, balancing the budget. At least that’s what they claim. John Boehner of Ohio is the new Speaker of the House, replacing Nancy Pelosi. Four years ago she announced she would balance the budget every year, and she only missed her target by $5,000,000,000,000. So keep your fingers crossed for this new bunch. Mr. Boehner is the first Speaker from Ohio in more than 75 years. "Nick Longworth is the most able and popular Speaker the House has had. In fact the greatest since Alexander Hamilton." (1928)
I met Congressman Boehner in 2000. I was invited to speak at a retreat of the House Agriculture Committee, and he introduced me. At that time it was headed up by two Texans, Charles Stehnolm and Larry Combest. Now an Oklahoma rancher is the chairman, Frank Lucas.
Congress will take up the President’s Health Care plan. Mr. Boehner knows he has the votes to repeal it. But he also knows the Senate will turn him down, and if it did pass the Senate, the President would veto it. The whole exercise will waste a week, but for the rookie members it will be kinda like pre-season practice for when the real games begin.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
"What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people." DT #1990, Dec. 20, 1932
"Anything that has to pass by that Senate is just like a Rat having to pass a Cat Convention; it's sure to be pounced on, and the more meritorious the scheme is the less chance it has of passing." WA #385, May 11, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Weekly Comments: National Debt piles up, might slow immigration #637
Jan. 9, 2011
COLUMBUS: America suffered a tragedy in Tucson when Congresswoman Giffords was shot from behind, and six people with her were killed, including a federal judge. Twenty were shot all together in a few seconds by a kook who never should have had a gun in the first place. We all joke about Congress, but no one wants to see any harm done to ‘em.
Saturday night an Ohio Cattlemens group asked me to say a few words at their banquet in Barnesville. After some lean years these folks are feeling better with cattle on the hoof bringing around a dollar a pound. As long as they have enough hay to get through the winter, it looks like a good year for these cowmen and women. Their steaks and hamburgers will be mighty tasty off the grill next summer and fall.
Everybody knows we need to produce more food for a growing population so you might be surprised to learn that our farmland is disappearing. Not completely, of course, but every state has fewer acres for farming than they did 25 years ago. Texas and Florida are two of three states that lost the most.
In related news last week, we learned that, starting in 2012, Texas and Florida will be asked to house a few excess Congressmen from New York, Ohio and a couple of other states. It seems that in the last ten years a lot of folks decided to leave these northern states and move south, perhaps to escape from their Congressmen. But now these birds are following them.
This population shift and loss of farmland paint a picture that’s not so rosy. "You can just tell the difference when you look at land that has to support a Senator or a white-faced bull. (I’m) for more cattle and less Congressmen." (1927)
Last week I wrote that in four years our debt had gone up $3 Trillion, but I was wrong. It has increased $5 Trillion, with $3 Trillion of that in the last two years. Instead of cutting back, Congress will vote to raise the debt limit to about $15,000,000,000,000. When the President signs the bill, I hope he will go on television and announce, "This total debt load now means that every man, woman and child in the U.S. owes $50,000." Brother, that would cut off illegal immigration faster than any 15-foot fence. And a few million of the ones already here would be scrambling to get out before the bill comes due.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"There is a change coming over the country. People have just got to get more used to debt. If we just let the fellow we owe do the worrying, the U. S. will be the happiest land on earth." DT #2421, May 7, 1934
"There is not a better day in the world to be spent than with a lot of wise old cowmen around barbecued beef, black coffee and good (refried) beans." DT #2430, May 17, 1934
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: America suffered a tragedy in Tucson when Congresswoman Giffords was shot from behind, and six people with her were killed, including a federal judge. Twenty were shot all together in a few seconds by a kook who never should have had a gun in the first place. We all joke about Congress, but no one wants to see any harm done to ‘em.
Saturday night an Ohio Cattlemens group asked me to say a few words at their banquet in Barnesville. After some lean years these folks are feeling better with cattle on the hoof bringing around a dollar a pound. As long as they have enough hay to get through the winter, it looks like a good year for these cowmen and women. Their steaks and hamburgers will be mighty tasty off the grill next summer and fall.
Everybody knows we need to produce more food for a growing population so you might be surprised to learn that our farmland is disappearing. Not completely, of course, but every state has fewer acres for farming than they did 25 years ago. Texas and Florida are two of three states that lost the most.
In related news last week, we learned that, starting in 2012, Texas and Florida will be asked to house a few excess Congressmen from New York, Ohio and a couple of other states. It seems that in the last ten years a lot of folks decided to leave these northern states and move south, perhaps to escape from their Congressmen. But now these birds are following them.
This population shift and loss of farmland paint a picture that’s not so rosy. "You can just tell the difference when you look at land that has to support a Senator or a white-faced bull. (I’m) for more cattle and less Congressmen." (1927)
Last week I wrote that in four years our debt had gone up $3 Trillion, but I was wrong. It has increased $5 Trillion, with $3 Trillion of that in the last two years. Instead of cutting back, Congress will vote to raise the debt limit to about $15,000,000,000,000. When the President signs the bill, I hope he will go on television and announce, "This total debt load now means that every man, woman and child in the U.S. owes $50,000." Brother, that would cut off illegal immigration faster than any 15-foot fence. And a few million of the ones already here would be scrambling to get out before the bill comes due.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"There is a change coming over the country. People have just got to get more used to debt. If we just let the fellow we owe do the worrying, the U. S. will be the happiest land on earth." DT #2421, May 7, 1934
"There is not a better day in the world to be spent than with a lot of wise old cowmen around barbecued beef, black coffee and good (refried) beans." DT #2430, May 17, 1934
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Weekly Comments: A look back at New Year’s Predictions #636
Jan. 2, 2011
COLUMBUS: With everybody predicting what 2011 will bring, I decided to go back and see what I wrote here a year ago about 2010. Let’s see how I did...
"Unemployment is over 10 percent and will drop to 8 or 9 percent by Christmas." Well, it didn’t, but maybe it will by Christmas ‘11 or ‘12.
"The stock market is at 10,500, a third below 2007. Even if it don’t go up, you can bet on Wall Streeters collecting million dollar salaries." In 2010 it went up1000, but still needs another 3000 point gain to eliminate the losses. Meanwhile, Wall Street salaries have recovered nicely.
"The deficit will get worse. But nobody knows how much worse because it depends on how much China will lend us. Half of our states are broke and looking to Washington for help." That one was easy to get right. Speaker Pelosi predicted four years ago the national debt would not increase while she was Speaker, but she let $3 Trillion get added to it. That’s the most expensive mistake ever made on a New Year’s prediction.
"On global warming... Ever since that conference in Copenhagen, the weather has gotten colder. These global warming proponents got us excited about the prospects of vacationing at home instead of Florida. We should have suspected it was a trick when the President booked his vacation in Hawaii." And again this Christmas, he flew off to Hawaii when he could have taken the train to New York City or Philadelphia and shoveled snow. My prediction is that Earth will continue the way she has for the past million years, sometimes warmer and sometimes colder. And there’s nothing 300,000,000 Americans can do to persuade her one way or the other.
"On the end of the inheritance tax... You would be surprised at the number of rich old men who have been hanging on for the last month or two (of 2009) just to avoid paying this tax. Since the death tax returns next January at around fifty percent, 2010 is liable to go down in history as a record year for the high number of our wealthy men and women passing on." On that one the Lame Duck Congress gave a reprieve to anyone with less than $5 million. And ones with more will only pay 35 percent.
In my predictions a year ago I said nothing about the election. On Nov. 2, the Democrats took, as Obama described it, a shellacking. There was no shellacking even close to it until yesterday’s drubbing suffered by five football schools from the Big Ten. They played like the Little Sisters of the Poor. Even the mighty Badgers from Wisconsin were chased back in their hole by the Christians from Texas.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Nothing much in papers today but just what I predicted to you the other day would be on New Year's Day -- optimistic predictions by all prominent men who are doing well." DT #759, Jan. 1, 1929
[a year later] "We are obliged to read the usual New Year's prosperity apple-sauce by our same prominent men who are always rich enough to see a great year coming up. And to show you they don't know any more about it than Clara Bow, last year they had their usual hokum predictions, and in October we lost (a huge amount), and yet not a one of these predicted it." DT #1070, Dec 30, 1929
"There is not a single person that knows any more about what 1933 has in store for us than a billy goat. Ten million people have gone without work for three years just listening to ‘big men’ solve their problems." DT #2000, Jan. 1, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again
COLUMBUS: With everybody predicting what 2011 will bring, I decided to go back and see what I wrote here a year ago about 2010. Let’s see how I did...
"Unemployment is over 10 percent and will drop to 8 or 9 percent by Christmas." Well, it didn’t, but maybe it will by Christmas ‘11 or ‘12.
"The stock market is at 10,500, a third below 2007. Even if it don’t go up, you can bet on Wall Streeters collecting million dollar salaries." In 2010 it went up1000, but still needs another 3000 point gain to eliminate the losses. Meanwhile, Wall Street salaries have recovered nicely.
"The deficit will get worse. But nobody knows how much worse because it depends on how much China will lend us. Half of our states are broke and looking to Washington for help." That one was easy to get right. Speaker Pelosi predicted four years ago the national debt would not increase while she was Speaker, but she let $3 Trillion get added to it. That’s the most expensive mistake ever made on a New Year’s prediction.
"On global warming... Ever since that conference in Copenhagen, the weather has gotten colder. These global warming proponents got us excited about the prospects of vacationing at home instead of Florida. We should have suspected it was a trick when the President booked his vacation in Hawaii." And again this Christmas, he flew off to Hawaii when he could have taken the train to New York City or Philadelphia and shoveled snow. My prediction is that Earth will continue the way she has for the past million years, sometimes warmer and sometimes colder. And there’s nothing 300,000,000 Americans can do to persuade her one way or the other.
"On the end of the inheritance tax... You would be surprised at the number of rich old men who have been hanging on for the last month or two (of 2009) just to avoid paying this tax. Since the death tax returns next January at around fifty percent, 2010 is liable to go down in history as a record year for the high number of our wealthy men and women passing on." On that one the Lame Duck Congress gave a reprieve to anyone with less than $5 million. And ones with more will only pay 35 percent.
In my predictions a year ago I said nothing about the election. On Nov. 2, the Democrats took, as Obama described it, a shellacking. There was no shellacking even close to it until yesterday’s drubbing suffered by five football schools from the Big Ten. They played like the Little Sisters of the Poor. Even the mighty Badgers from Wisconsin were chased back in their hole by the Christians from Texas.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Nothing much in papers today but just what I predicted to you the other day would be on New Year's Day -- optimistic predictions by all prominent men who are doing well." DT #759, Jan. 1, 1929
[a year later] "We are obliged to read the usual New Year's prosperity apple-sauce by our same prominent men who are always rich enough to see a great year coming up. And to show you they don't know any more about it than Clara Bow, last year they had their usual hokum predictions, and in October we lost (a huge amount), and yet not a one of these predicted it." DT #1070, Dec 30, 1929
"There is not a single person that knows any more about what 1933 has in store for us than a billy goat. Ten million people have gone without work for three years just listening to ‘big men’ solve their problems." DT #2000, Jan. 1, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Weekly Comments: Florida oysters and Jersey berry breeders lose in Congress #634
Dec. 19, 2010
COLUMBUS: Congress has been rushing around this week to make up for two years of procrastination. A couple of important bills passed.
But a Trillion dollar appropriations bill failed. It was so loaded down with Christmas presents, it never got off the ground. Six thousand pork barrel projects were wrapped and loaded in the back of Santa’s sleigh, and all it could do was slide down Capitol Hill and crash into a pile of stunned lobbyists. No doubt some of these earmark requests are valuable, but when you know $8 Billion would have to be borrowed from China, it puts these projects in a different light.
New Jersey asked for $500,000 for cranberry and blueberry breeding. Is that for people who want blue cranberries to go along with the red ones?
Retiring Ohio Senator, George Voinovich, asked for $20 million for a Coast Guard station in Cleveland, apparently to protect Ohio from an impending invasion of Canadians. There was $10 Million earmarked to build a Ted Kennedy Institute. The Kennedy family still has over a Billion of old Joe’s bootlegging profits, so they can easily build it themselves.
Florida requested $500,000 for "oyster safety". You know, the best way for a Florida oyster to stay safe from human hands is to claim it’s a close relative of Rocky Mountain oysters. Get a YouTube video showing how "Uncle Rocky" gets harvested and peeled, post a few photos on Facebook, and believe you me, Florida oysters will be safe from consumption by Easterners.
The whole tax argument is over who gets to play Santa Claus. Congress wants you to give ‘em a big chunk of what you earn so they can decide who gets a visit from St. Nick, and how much will be in each stocking. On the other hand, most folks would kinda like to keep most of what they earn, and make up their own mind on spending, investing, or what needy person or charity to give it to.
Merry Christmas everybody, including Congress. Let’s pray the Lame Ducks get out of town before turning into Turkeys. Or mountain oysters.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Taxes is all there is to politics. You take taxes out of politics, and you don’t have any politics, or taxes, either." WA #161, Jan. 10, 1926
"Merry Christmas, my constant readers, both of you... Men, act surprised this morning as if you didn't know the tie was coming." DT #121, Dec. 24, 1926
"Generally speaking, we do have good cheer in our hearts on Christmas. 'Course, we can't hardly wait till the day is over and to get back to our devilment again." DT # 1379, Dec. 24, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again
COLUMBUS: Congress has been rushing around this week to make up for two years of procrastination. A couple of important bills passed.
But a Trillion dollar appropriations bill failed. It was so loaded down with Christmas presents, it never got off the ground. Six thousand pork barrel projects were wrapped and loaded in the back of Santa’s sleigh, and all it could do was slide down Capitol Hill and crash into a pile of stunned lobbyists. No doubt some of these earmark requests are valuable, but when you know $8 Billion would have to be borrowed from China, it puts these projects in a different light.
New Jersey asked for $500,000 for cranberry and blueberry breeding. Is that for people who want blue cranberries to go along with the red ones?
Retiring Ohio Senator, George Voinovich, asked for $20 million for a Coast Guard station in Cleveland, apparently to protect Ohio from an impending invasion of Canadians. There was $10 Million earmarked to build a Ted Kennedy Institute. The Kennedy family still has over a Billion of old Joe’s bootlegging profits, so they can easily build it themselves.
Florida requested $500,000 for "oyster safety". You know, the best way for a Florida oyster to stay safe from human hands is to claim it’s a close relative of Rocky Mountain oysters. Get a YouTube video showing how "Uncle Rocky" gets harvested and peeled, post a few photos on Facebook, and believe you me, Florida oysters will be safe from consumption by Easterners.
The whole tax argument is over who gets to play Santa Claus. Congress wants you to give ‘em a big chunk of what you earn so they can decide who gets a visit from St. Nick, and how much will be in each stocking. On the other hand, most folks would kinda like to keep most of what they earn, and make up their own mind on spending, investing, or what needy person or charity to give it to.
Merry Christmas everybody, including Congress. Let’s pray the Lame Ducks get out of town before turning into Turkeys. Or mountain oysters.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Taxes is all there is to politics. You take taxes out of politics, and you don’t have any politics, or taxes, either." WA #161, Jan. 10, 1926
"Merry Christmas, my constant readers, both of you... Men, act surprised this morning as if you didn't know the tie was coming." DT #121, Dec. 24, 1926
"Generally speaking, we do have good cheer in our hearts on Christmas. 'Course, we can't hardly wait till the day is over and to get back to our devilment again." DT # 1379, Dec. 24, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again
Monday, December 13, 2010
Weekly Comments: End of Prohibition could balance budget, and more #632
Dec. 5, 2010
COLUMBUS: Here’s good news from Washington tonight on WikiLeaks. President Obama has ordered all Federal employees without a security clearance to "avoid reading any classified documents from WikiLeaks." Six billion other people have read them, but for government workers they are off limits.
I want to assure our federal workers that nothing in this column is classified. You’re free to keep on reading. It is pure coincidence if any of my disparaging or humorous remarks about a foreign dignitary sound like they were uttered by an Ambassador.
On this day 77 years ago, Prohibition ended. The 21st Amendment wiped out the 18th Amendment but it had little effect on the amount that was drunk. After fourteen years, Americans could once again "have a sociable drink without watching the door."
This got me thinking about other things we Prohibit. What if we took off the prohibition of marijuana? I ain’t in favor of it, but imagine how it could turn out. California held a vote to legalize it November 2, but it failed because too many proponents started celebrating early and totally missed the election. If California farmers started growing thousands of acres of it like they do alfalfa and other crops, they could make a good living selling it for $200 a ton. California could tax it a dollar an ounce and balance the state budget.
The big city legislators would be overjoyed and vote to give the farmers all the irrigation water they need. Minnows be damned. All those tunnels under the Mexican border would come in handy to ship it the other way.
We export 80 percent of the cotton we grow and if we took over the world market in marijuana we could wipe out the trade deficit. If we expanded this idea to include Opium poppies, why it might even stop a war. Afghanistan poppy growers couldn’t compete with American farmers, and without those profits the Taliban is out of business.
Of course, this is foolishness. But no more foolish than some of the blabber coming out of Congress on why they can’t pass an income tax bill, an appropriations bill or an estate tax bill.
Oregon and Auburn finished undefeated and will play for the football championship. TCU was also unbeaten but they’ll have to be content trying to knock off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Our system of deciding a football champion may have its defects and flaws, but at least we won’t make them fight it out in 120 degree heat in Qatar.
Historic quote from Will Rogers:
"(Here’s) what is happening to the youth of this country through drugs. Talk about our crime waves, it's nothing but Heroin. They have got to rob to supply the dope. Talk about profit. Opium from the time a certain amount leaves its original owner until it is split up into all its various ingredients and passes through all the hundreds of hands, increases in value nine thousand times. Talk about bootlegging and doubling your money." WA #242, Aug. 14, 1927
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Here’s good news from Washington tonight on WikiLeaks. President Obama has ordered all Federal employees without a security clearance to "avoid reading any classified documents from WikiLeaks." Six billion other people have read them, but for government workers they are off limits.
I want to assure our federal workers that nothing in this column is classified. You’re free to keep on reading. It is pure coincidence if any of my disparaging or humorous remarks about a foreign dignitary sound like they were uttered by an Ambassador.
On this day 77 years ago, Prohibition ended. The 21st Amendment wiped out the 18th Amendment but it had little effect on the amount that was drunk. After fourteen years, Americans could once again "have a sociable drink without watching the door."
This got me thinking about other things we Prohibit. What if we took off the prohibition of marijuana? I ain’t in favor of it, but imagine how it could turn out. California held a vote to legalize it November 2, but it failed because too many proponents started celebrating early and totally missed the election. If California farmers started growing thousands of acres of it like they do alfalfa and other crops, they could make a good living selling it for $200 a ton. California could tax it a dollar an ounce and balance the state budget.
The big city legislators would be overjoyed and vote to give the farmers all the irrigation water they need. Minnows be damned. All those tunnels under the Mexican border would come in handy to ship it the other way.
We export 80 percent of the cotton we grow and if we took over the world market in marijuana we could wipe out the trade deficit. If we expanded this idea to include Opium poppies, why it might even stop a war. Afghanistan poppy growers couldn’t compete with American farmers, and without those profits the Taliban is out of business.
Of course, this is foolishness. But no more foolish than some of the blabber coming out of Congress on why they can’t pass an income tax bill, an appropriations bill or an estate tax bill.
Oregon and Auburn finished undefeated and will play for the football championship. TCU was also unbeaten but they’ll have to be content trying to knock off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Our system of deciding a football champion may have its defects and flaws, but at least we won’t make them fight it out in 120 degree heat in Qatar.
Historic quote from Will Rogers:
"(Here’s) what is happening to the youth of this country through drugs. Talk about our crime waves, it's nothing but Heroin. They have got to rob to supply the dope. Talk about profit. Opium from the time a certain amount leaves its original owner until it is split up into all its various ingredients and passes through all the hundreds of hands, increases in value nine thousand times. Talk about bootlegging and doubling your money." WA #242, Aug. 14, 1927
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: A better plan for Social Security contributions #633
Dec. 12, 2010
COLUMBUS: The tax deal between the President and the Republicans would leave income taxes where they are, but workers who pay into Social Security will end up with a 2% raise for a year. That may be the only raise they get, so it’ll be appreciated. But the problem is, that means Social Security will go broke sooner.
A better plan would be to eliminate ALL employee contributions to Social Security for a year. But in return, everybody would have to wait a year later to start drawing out their SS checks. The workers won’t complain because they get the money immediately. They can spend it, like the Democrats want them to, or invest it as the Republicans prefer. They’re gonna raise the age anyway, why not do it at once and get it over with.
President Obama had President Clinton join him for a news conference. That went over so well, don’t be surprised if the next one, he’ll invite President Bush. Can you imagine the questions the White House press corps would fire at him? Are Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas still around?
The President’s supporters are howling that he’s being too easy on the Republicans, giving in on taxes for the rich and estate taxes. Well, all he has to do is point to the election results. A bunch of these folks have been asleep since the election, and most of them were asleep during it. If they had all voted Nov. 2 Obama wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve fired up the old printing press. He got tired of waiting for the rest of us to spend some of the money we have stashed in the cookie jar. So he’ll run off $600,000,000 in new bills and spread them around the country. I know that Mr. Bernanke is a smart man, but it has me puzzled how this differs from your local counterfeiter. Either way, if the Xerox is working perfectly, these fresh bills spend the same as the real ones you’ve been hoarding. And the ones you’re been hoarding won’t buy as much as they used to.
John Boehner says that he’ll cut the budget for Congress by 5%. Makes you wonder why the whole federal government can’t do the same thing. At least it’s a start.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Congress put a tax as high as 72% on some incomes. Of course for a man to give up three million out of four is tough; but, on the other hand, 90 percent of our people would be willing to give up 99 percent of a million if allowed to make one... The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it's in the way that it's spent." DT #1764, March 20, 1932
(On inflation) "There's two different schools of thought in this country on the value of money. People who have money are against the printing press. They're against printing any more money. And people that haven't got any are in favor of it, you see? That's the two schools. Both of them, mind you, are equally honest. It's awful hard to reconcile two views like that. The only way I see for folks to ever view the money question alike is for everybody not to have any. Then they'll all look at it the same way; or go the other way and let everybody have some, and then they'll all look at it the same way. But if nobody's got any, the old printing press will look pretty good. But if everybody's got some, in the ash can goes the printing press." Radio, May 26, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: The tax deal between the President and the Republicans would leave income taxes where they are, but workers who pay into Social Security will end up with a 2% raise for a year. That may be the only raise they get, so it’ll be appreciated. But the problem is, that means Social Security will go broke sooner.
A better plan would be to eliminate ALL employee contributions to Social Security for a year. But in return, everybody would have to wait a year later to start drawing out their SS checks. The workers won’t complain because they get the money immediately. They can spend it, like the Democrats want them to, or invest it as the Republicans prefer. They’re gonna raise the age anyway, why not do it at once and get it over with.
President Obama had President Clinton join him for a news conference. That went over so well, don’t be surprised if the next one, he’ll invite President Bush. Can you imagine the questions the White House press corps would fire at him? Are Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas still around?
The President’s supporters are howling that he’s being too easy on the Republicans, giving in on taxes for the rich and estate taxes. Well, all he has to do is point to the election results. A bunch of these folks have been asleep since the election, and most of them were asleep during it. If they had all voted Nov. 2 Obama wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve fired up the old printing press. He got tired of waiting for the rest of us to spend some of the money we have stashed in the cookie jar. So he’ll run off $600,000,000 in new bills and spread them around the country. I know that Mr. Bernanke is a smart man, but it has me puzzled how this differs from your local counterfeiter. Either way, if the Xerox is working perfectly, these fresh bills spend the same as the real ones you’ve been hoarding. And the ones you’re been hoarding won’t buy as much as they used to.
John Boehner says that he’ll cut the budget for Congress by 5%. Makes you wonder why the whole federal government can’t do the same thing. At least it’s a start.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Congress put a tax as high as 72% on some incomes. Of course for a man to give up three million out of four is tough; but, on the other hand, 90 percent of our people would be willing to give up 99 percent of a million if allowed to make one... The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it's in the way that it's spent." DT #1764, March 20, 1932
(On inflation) "There's two different schools of thought in this country on the value of money. People who have money are against the printing press. They're against printing any more money. And people that haven't got any are in favor of it, you see? That's the two schools. Both of them, mind you, are equally honest. It's awful hard to reconcile two views like that. The only way I see for folks to ever view the money question alike is for everybody not to have any. Then they'll all look at it the same way; or go the other way and let everybody have some, and then they'll all look at it the same way. But if nobody's got any, the old printing press will look pretty good. But if everybody's got some, in the ash can goes the printing press." Radio, May 26, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Weekly Comments: State Secrets, Billionaires and Lame Ducks #631
Nov. 28, 2010
COLUMBUS: The Lame Duck Congress is back. If we expect the same lame results and lame excuses at least we won’t be disappointed. The problem with this Congress is when it comes to important bills they keep ducking. Our income taxes are set to go up, the death tax returns, and no money has been appropriated to run the government.
On income taxes, I heard Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on television today say that billionaires should be paying higher taxes. Well, nobody is keeping them from writing a check to the government instead of to their charities. But those two men seem to prefer to decide where their money goes instead of leaving it up to Congress.
Wikileaks is raising havoc again. This Australian fellow – I believe his name is Assange, yes, Judas Assange – is publishing millions of secret messages stolen from the State Department. The news that these secret documents would be published made President Obama so mad he sent Assange an email.
If this had happened during World War II, do you think Roosevelt would have sent him a letter? Not a chance. General Eisenhower would have tracked him down and had him hung. And the traitors that leaked the information, too.
Assange says he is against war. If he wants to end the war, why don’t he publish secret messages from Osama bin Ladin and tell us where he’s hiding.
President Obama wants the Senate to approve a nuclear treaty. With all the threats coming from North Korea and Iran you might think this treaty discussion was with them. No, this treaty is with Russia. And the main argument with Russia is not over how many nuclear missiles each of us can have, but whether we can build a bigger defense to shoot ‘em down. Personally, I think we should sign the treaty, then go on building up our missile defense but keep it a secret. From the State Department. If they don’t know about it, neither will Wikileaks.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"A Lame Duck is a politician who has had his salary shot from under him." WA #101, Nov. 16, 1924
"Well, the lame ducks met Monday and that's why they are lame, is because their constituents were thinking faster than they was." DT #1974. Dec 1, 1932
"Everybody is knocking this lame-duck Congress, but do you know those fellows have a chance to make a real name for themselves... They know exactly how the people voted on every question that they will be asked to decide on. They know the majority didn't want prohibition. They know everybody wants government expense cut in half. So when any question comes up all they have to do is read the election returns." DT #1976, Dec. 4, 1932
"Diplomats write notes because they wouldn’t have the nerve to tell the same thing to each other’s face." Saturday Evening Post, June 9,1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: The Lame Duck Congress is back. If we expect the same lame results and lame excuses at least we won’t be disappointed. The problem with this Congress is when it comes to important bills they keep ducking. Our income taxes are set to go up, the death tax returns, and no money has been appropriated to run the government.
On income taxes, I heard Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on television today say that billionaires should be paying higher taxes. Well, nobody is keeping them from writing a check to the government instead of to their charities. But those two men seem to prefer to decide where their money goes instead of leaving it up to Congress.
Wikileaks is raising havoc again. This Australian fellow – I believe his name is Assange, yes, Judas Assange – is publishing millions of secret messages stolen from the State Department. The news that these secret documents would be published made President Obama so mad he sent Assange an email.
If this had happened during World War II, do you think Roosevelt would have sent him a letter? Not a chance. General Eisenhower would have tracked him down and had him hung. And the traitors that leaked the information, too.
Assange says he is against war. If he wants to end the war, why don’t he publish secret messages from Osama bin Ladin and tell us where he’s hiding.
President Obama wants the Senate to approve a nuclear treaty. With all the threats coming from North Korea and Iran you might think this treaty discussion was with them. No, this treaty is with Russia. And the main argument with Russia is not over how many nuclear missiles each of us can have, but whether we can build a bigger defense to shoot ‘em down. Personally, I think we should sign the treaty, then go on building up our missile defense but keep it a secret. From the State Department. If they don’t know about it, neither will Wikileaks.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"A Lame Duck is a politician who has had his salary shot from under him." WA #101, Nov. 16, 1924
"Well, the lame ducks met Monday and that's why they are lame, is because their constituents were thinking faster than they was." DT #1974. Dec 1, 1932
"Everybody is knocking this lame-duck Congress, but do you know those fellows have a chance to make a real name for themselves... They know exactly how the people voted on every question that they will be asked to decide on. They know the majority didn't want prohibition. They know everybody wants government expense cut in half. So when any question comes up all they have to do is read the election returns." DT #1976, Dec. 4, 1932
"Diplomats write notes because they wouldn’t have the nerve to tell the same thing to each other’s face." Saturday Evening Post, June 9,1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Weekly Comments: Pat-downs, deficits, and giving thanks #630
Nov. 21, 2010
COLUMBUS: If you’re one of those airline passengers fretting over the new security procedures, I suggest you call your doctor and request, as a precautionary measure, an "internal urological examination." After they look around in there a while for kidney stones, even if they come up empty handed, those TSA pat-downs won’t seem so intrusive.
Ireland announced they need a bailout. I’ve always had a soft spot for Ireland. And I figure if every American who can trace their roots back to Ireland would send them a check for maybe $50, why that would help get them out of a hole. Of course it was the bankers who caused the financial meltdown (does that sound familiar?) so you may be reluctant send your dough to a country whose big bankers are just as shrewd, conniving, and underhanded as ours.
The United States is in a hole far deeper than Ireland’s. President Obama appointed a Commission to look for ways to eliminate the deficit and last week the Chairmen, Mr. Boles and Sen. Simpson, gave a preliminary report. From the reaction in Washington, you would have thought the world was ending. Republicans whined about paying more gas taxes and cuts to defense. Democrats howled about eliminating tax deductions, lowering tax rates, and the prospect that a 5-year old might have to work an extra two years before collecting Social Security. This yammering was caused by some reasonable men and women who have come up with ways to reduce our overspending by half. Imagine the ruckus if they had proposed eliminating it all together.
When you are spending $3.6 Trillion and taking in $2.1 Trillion, you gotta do more than skip a meal once in a while to balance a budget. One of their suggestions is to eliminate 20,000 federal employees (out of 200,000). I think it can work if we find the 20,000 who are responsible for spending the excess $1.5 Trillion every year, and get rid of them along with their budgets. We might lose a few Senators and Congressmen in the process (and a couple of Cabinet Secretaries), but that’s just the price you have to pay for sanity.
This is Thanksgiving week. Besides being thankful for the farmers who provide the food for a bountiful feast, I’m glad to live in a country where a nut can write stuff like this and put it in a newspaper without fear of arrest or getting shot.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"This is Thanksgiving. It was started by the Pilgrims, who would give thanks every time they killed an Indian and took more of his land. As years went by and they had all his land, they changed it into a day to give thanks for the bountiful harvest, when the boll-weevil and the protective tariff didn't remove all cause for thanks." DT #417, Nov. 23, 1927.
"I have been in twenty countries and the only one where American tourists are welcomed wholeheartedly by everyone is in Ireland. They don't owe us and they don't hate us." DT #3, Aug. 1, 1927
"A Senator named (Millard) Tydings the other day introduced a bill where the government couldn't appropriate more money than was coming in. That is, if you didn't have any money you could not dole out any. Well the Senate like to mobbed him. They called the idea treason, sacrilegious, inhuman and taking the last vestige of power for a politician, that is, the right to appropriate money which you don't have." DT #2024, Jan. 29, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: If you’re one of those airline passengers fretting over the new security procedures, I suggest you call your doctor and request, as a precautionary measure, an "internal urological examination." After they look around in there a while for kidney stones, even if they come up empty handed, those TSA pat-downs won’t seem so intrusive.
Ireland announced they need a bailout. I’ve always had a soft spot for Ireland. And I figure if every American who can trace their roots back to Ireland would send them a check for maybe $50, why that would help get them out of a hole. Of course it was the bankers who caused the financial meltdown (does that sound familiar?) so you may be reluctant send your dough to a country whose big bankers are just as shrewd, conniving, and underhanded as ours.
The United States is in a hole far deeper than Ireland’s. President Obama appointed a Commission to look for ways to eliminate the deficit and last week the Chairmen, Mr. Boles and Sen. Simpson, gave a preliminary report. From the reaction in Washington, you would have thought the world was ending. Republicans whined about paying more gas taxes and cuts to defense. Democrats howled about eliminating tax deductions, lowering tax rates, and the prospect that a 5-year old might have to work an extra two years before collecting Social Security. This yammering was caused by some reasonable men and women who have come up with ways to reduce our overspending by half. Imagine the ruckus if they had proposed eliminating it all together.
When you are spending $3.6 Trillion and taking in $2.1 Trillion, you gotta do more than skip a meal once in a while to balance a budget. One of their suggestions is to eliminate 20,000 federal employees (out of 200,000). I think it can work if we find the 20,000 who are responsible for spending the excess $1.5 Trillion every year, and get rid of them along with their budgets. We might lose a few Senators and Congressmen in the process (and a couple of Cabinet Secretaries), but that’s just the price you have to pay for sanity.
This is Thanksgiving week. Besides being thankful for the farmers who provide the food for a bountiful feast, I’m glad to live in a country where a nut can write stuff like this and put it in a newspaper without fear of arrest or getting shot.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"This is Thanksgiving. It was started by the Pilgrims, who would give thanks every time they killed an Indian and took more of his land. As years went by and they had all his land, they changed it into a day to give thanks for the bountiful harvest, when the boll-weevil and the protective tariff didn't remove all cause for thanks." DT #417, Nov. 23, 1927.
"I have been in twenty countries and the only one where American tourists are welcomed wholeheartedly by everyone is in Ireland. They don't owe us and they don't hate us." DT #3, Aug. 1, 1927
"A Senator named (Millard) Tydings the other day introduced a bill where the government couldn't appropriate more money than was coming in. That is, if you didn't have any money you could not dole out any. Well the Senate like to mobbed him. They called the idea treason, sacrilegious, inhuman and taking the last vestige of power for a politician, that is, the right to appropriate money which you don't have." DT #2024, Jan. 29, 1933
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Weekly Comments: Lame Duck Congress or Federal Reserve – which is worse? #629
Nov. 14, 2010
COLUMBUS: Congress returns this week. Not the one you just elected, the one you just kicked out. They’re back in Washington to finish off bills in the next two weeks that they couldn’t agree on for the past two years. Of course, about 75 of them are there mainly to update their resumes and try to land a job with the Administration.
Congress knew for years about the income tax increase coming due January 1. Republicans say nobody should have to pay more, while the Democrats say only the two percent who pay about a fourth of all our taxes should get stuck with a higher tax.
The whole debate centers on who gets to spend the money. The government says, "Give us your money and we’ll make sure it’s spent. In fact for every ten dollars you give us, we’ll likely spend fifteen." On the other side, the folks making over $200,000 say, "Leave us alone and we promise to spend it, not hoard it like we’re doing now. We’ll even hire some workers if we can find ones who want to work."
The Federal Reserve didn’t wait for Congress or the President to act on jobs or anything else. They just went out, borrowed a printing press, and ran off $600 Billion in fresh bills. Now, these bills are real, you can spend them, but they’re going to drop the value of any dollars you’ve got in the bank the same as if they were counterfeit.
The Federal Reserve is telling people who squirreled away some cash, even if it’s barely enough to retire on, that you better spend it because a dollar today will be worth only ninety cents in a few months. But old folks want to put it in something safe, like CDs, and live off the interest. Seems mighty logical. But the Federal Reserve don’t want you to save because they plan to lower the interest rate to zero. Maybe not actually zero, but if it’s half a percent, and you managed to scrimp and save $200,000, you’ll only have $1000 a year in interest to live on.
The old commodity traders saw this inflation coming. They loaded up on oil, corn, wheat, copper, cotton and gold and drove the price of these commodities way higher than a few months ago. We’re paying more for gasoline, but not because it’s worth more; it’s because the dollar is worth less. Let’s hope it don’t go from worth less to worthless.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"An awful lot of people are confused as to just what is meant by a Lame Duck Congress. It's like where some fellows worked for you and their work wasn't satisfactory and you let 'em out, but after you fired 'em, you let 'em stay long enough so they could burn your house down." DT #1980, Dec. 8, 1932
"Now maybe a little shot of printing money would be just what this country needs. They say there's nothing that will make a guy pull his dough out of a bank and start buying something with it as quick as to know that his dollar is going to go down in value. Well, when money's going down you want to have it in something besides a bank. So a little scare might have been just what was needed to kind of get things started" Radio, May 26, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Congress returns this week. Not the one you just elected, the one you just kicked out. They’re back in Washington to finish off bills in the next two weeks that they couldn’t agree on for the past two years. Of course, about 75 of them are there mainly to update their resumes and try to land a job with the Administration.
Congress knew for years about the income tax increase coming due January 1. Republicans say nobody should have to pay more, while the Democrats say only the two percent who pay about a fourth of all our taxes should get stuck with a higher tax.
The whole debate centers on who gets to spend the money. The government says, "Give us your money and we’ll make sure it’s spent. In fact for every ten dollars you give us, we’ll likely spend fifteen." On the other side, the folks making over $200,000 say, "Leave us alone and we promise to spend it, not hoard it like we’re doing now. We’ll even hire some workers if we can find ones who want to work."
The Federal Reserve didn’t wait for Congress or the President to act on jobs or anything else. They just went out, borrowed a printing press, and ran off $600 Billion in fresh bills. Now, these bills are real, you can spend them, but they’re going to drop the value of any dollars you’ve got in the bank the same as if they were counterfeit.
The Federal Reserve is telling people who squirreled away some cash, even if it’s barely enough to retire on, that you better spend it because a dollar today will be worth only ninety cents in a few months. But old folks want to put it in something safe, like CDs, and live off the interest. Seems mighty logical. But the Federal Reserve don’t want you to save because they plan to lower the interest rate to zero. Maybe not actually zero, but if it’s half a percent, and you managed to scrimp and save $200,000, you’ll only have $1000 a year in interest to live on.
The old commodity traders saw this inflation coming. They loaded up on oil, corn, wheat, copper, cotton and gold and drove the price of these commodities way higher than a few months ago. We’re paying more for gasoline, but not because it’s worth more; it’s because the dollar is worth less. Let’s hope it don’t go from worth less to worthless.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"An awful lot of people are confused as to just what is meant by a Lame Duck Congress. It's like where some fellows worked for you and their work wasn't satisfactory and you let 'em out, but after you fired 'em, you let 'em stay long enough so they could burn your house down." DT #1980, Dec. 8, 1932
"Now maybe a little shot of printing money would be just what this country needs. They say there's nothing that will make a guy pull his dough out of a bank and start buying something with it as quick as to know that his dollar is going to go down in value. Well, when money's going down you want to have it in something besides a bank. So a little scare might have been just what was needed to kind of get things started" Radio, May 26, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Weekly Comments: Election campaign climaxes, alibis are next #627
Folks, I’ll be on the road this week, in California and Oklahoma. In Long Beach Tuesday (election day), I’ll speak about soil at the national convention of agronomists and soil scientists, then fly to Oklahoma for Will Rogers’ birthday celebration, Thur.-Sat. I hope to see a few of you.
Weekly Comments: Election campaign climaxes, alibis are next
#627 Oct 31, 2010
COLUMBUS: This election campaign is climaxing in Ohio. Bill Clinton and Vice-President Biden were here. And President Obama was in Cleveland today pushing Democrats to vote. You know, when it takes a President to convince Cleveland to vote Democratic, prospects ain’t looking so good for Democrats.
Over in Yemen a few disguised bombs were air mailed by way of FedEx to the US. The good news, for now, is they were intercepted before any exploded. Yemen is an Arab country, pretty much controlled by Al-Qaida. Everyone knows Muslims did it. But you’ll be surprised how many TV commentators will question that conclusion. They’ll say, "It’s not fair to blame it on Muslims. Those bombs could have been put together and mailed by Jews or Hindus or even Methodists."
When it comes to elections, there was one held in Indianapolis last week that hardly anyone can argue with. The National FFA selected their officers for next year and the President is from Oklahoma. Riley Pagett is a member of the Woodward FFA Chapter out in the western end of the state. He and five other officers will be traveling the country, speaking on behalf of what we used to call Future Farmers of America. Several previous national FFA Presidents have gone on to outstanding careers and Riley is sure to join them, if we can keep him out of politics.
Speaking of elections, if you are visiting the United States either legally or illegally, and you’ve got a hankerin’ to vote Tuesday, go to Arizona. See, two federal judges ruled that you don’t have to be an American citizen to vote in Arizona. I know a few Canadians who may fly south early just to have a say in how this country is run. From now on, when it comes to questionable election results, Arizona will rank right up there with Chicago.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers: (on elections)
"We cuss ‘em and we joke about ‘em, but if they wasent in (Congress), why, they would be doing something else against us that might be worse." Saturday Evening Post, July 24, 1926
"Our system has been that when a man is defeated at election he is appointed to a bigger job than the one he was defeated for." DT #1346, Nov. 16, 1930
"In this country people don't vote for, they vote against. The votes was against Hoover [in 1932]. It doesn't matter who was running." Radio, June 9, 1935
"A flock of Democrats will replace a mess of Republicans in quite a few districts. It won't mean a thing. They will go in like all the rest of 'em, go in on promises and come out on alibis." WA #403, Sept. 14, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Election campaign climaxes, alibis are next
#627 Oct 31, 2010
COLUMBUS: This election campaign is climaxing in Ohio. Bill Clinton and Vice-President Biden were here. And President Obama was in Cleveland today pushing Democrats to vote. You know, when it takes a President to convince Cleveland to vote Democratic, prospects ain’t looking so good for Democrats.
Over in Yemen a few disguised bombs were air mailed by way of FedEx to the US. The good news, for now, is they were intercepted before any exploded. Yemen is an Arab country, pretty much controlled by Al-Qaida. Everyone knows Muslims did it. But you’ll be surprised how many TV commentators will question that conclusion. They’ll say, "It’s not fair to blame it on Muslims. Those bombs could have been put together and mailed by Jews or Hindus or even Methodists."
When it comes to elections, there was one held in Indianapolis last week that hardly anyone can argue with. The National FFA selected their officers for next year and the President is from Oklahoma. Riley Pagett is a member of the Woodward FFA Chapter out in the western end of the state. He and five other officers will be traveling the country, speaking on behalf of what we used to call Future Farmers of America. Several previous national FFA Presidents have gone on to outstanding careers and Riley is sure to join them, if we can keep him out of politics.
Speaking of elections, if you are visiting the United States either legally or illegally, and you’ve got a hankerin’ to vote Tuesday, go to Arizona. See, two federal judges ruled that you don’t have to be an American citizen to vote in Arizona. I know a few Canadians who may fly south early just to have a say in how this country is run. From now on, when it comes to questionable election results, Arizona will rank right up there with Chicago.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers: (on elections)
"We cuss ‘em and we joke about ‘em, but if they wasent in (Congress), why, they would be doing something else against us that might be worse." Saturday Evening Post, July 24, 1926
"Our system has been that when a man is defeated at election he is appointed to a bigger job than the one he was defeated for." DT #1346, Nov. 16, 1930
"In this country people don't vote for, they vote against. The votes was against Hoover [in 1932]. It doesn't matter who was running." Radio, June 9, 1935
"A flock of Democrats will replace a mess of Republicans in quite a few districts. It won't mean a thing. They will go in like all the rest of 'em, go in on promises and come out on alibis." WA #403, Sept. 14, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Weekly Comments: Will offers plan for a gutsy candidate #625
Oct 17, 2010
COLUMBUS: The federal deficit is $1.3 Trillion this year. The President says the economy is improving because last year it was $1.4 Trillion.
President Obama was back in Columbus today. He’s been in Ohio a dozen times lately, rounding up votes. He’s telling Democrats, "Even if you don’t have a job, vote for the Democrat anyway. No use for both of you to be unemployed."
Speaker Pelosi’s comment about "more bang for the buck" is getting attention. You would be surprised the number of Democrat candidates who are carrying rifles in their TV ads. In West Virginia, Joe Manchin is not only carrying, but firing. He shot a hole plumb through the Carbon Tax and Trade bill. A lot of Democrats in Congress are taking aim at Pelosi.
Every candidate has been asked exactly how they will cut the deficit. Nary a one has been honest enough to answer, for fear of losing a couple of votes.
Here’s what I suggest for a candidate to announce next week, "Let’s raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 or 72. There will be no inflation adjustment for next year because there was no inflation. Be patient because inflation will take off sooner or later, and we’ll scrape us a small increase for you. For those on Medicaid, you better find a way to live healthier because you’re gonna pay half. Same for Medicare except you pay a quarter, including for drugs. For unemployment, forget about 99 weeks of checks. With my plan, the first week you get 100 percent, and it declines every week until after 29 weeks it’s zero. Currently you wait till the checks stop, then find a job. From now on, you decide how low to let it go before you get off the couch. We’ll raise the income tax, but only on the half that aren’t paying any. It’ll only be 5 percent, and it will give these poor folks a stake in wanting government to spend wisely. We’ll eliminate all public employee unions. If you want to join a union, work for a private company.
We’ll phase out home mortgage deductions. It’s the tax advisors that convince people to keep a maximum mortgage until they’re 80; take out that loophole and they’ll pay off the house by 50 or so, and be glad of it."
For any candidate who will make that proposal I can guarantee one thing: on November 2 he’ll lose. But in 5 to 10 years, people will be telling him he was right.
The rescue of those 33 Chili miners was an inspiring engineering achievement. A determined President went out and got the brightest, most experienced drillers in the world and turned them loose. NASA helped design the recovery capsule. And the miners were brilliantly organized and disciplined.
The first big football poll came out tonight. Oklahoma and Oregon are on top, and that means only one thing. Next Saturday, look for them to get beat.
Historic quote from Will Rogers: (Note that 2010 is kinda opposite of 1930.)
"My advice is, keep the Republicans in power. Otherwise you will add to the unemployment for, if you throw a Republican out there is nothing else he can do, while a Democrat must be able to making a living out of office. Otherwise he would not be living." DT #1335, Nov. 3, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: The federal deficit is $1.3 Trillion this year. The President says the economy is improving because last year it was $1.4 Trillion.
President Obama was back in Columbus today. He’s been in Ohio a dozen times lately, rounding up votes. He’s telling Democrats, "Even if you don’t have a job, vote for the Democrat anyway. No use for both of you to be unemployed."
Speaker Pelosi’s comment about "more bang for the buck" is getting attention. You would be surprised the number of Democrat candidates who are carrying rifles in their TV ads. In West Virginia, Joe Manchin is not only carrying, but firing. He shot a hole plumb through the Carbon Tax and Trade bill. A lot of Democrats in Congress are taking aim at Pelosi.
Every candidate has been asked exactly how they will cut the deficit. Nary a one has been honest enough to answer, for fear of losing a couple of votes.
Here’s what I suggest for a candidate to announce next week, "Let’s raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 or 72. There will be no inflation adjustment for next year because there was no inflation. Be patient because inflation will take off sooner or later, and we’ll scrape us a small increase for you. For those on Medicaid, you better find a way to live healthier because you’re gonna pay half. Same for Medicare except you pay a quarter, including for drugs. For unemployment, forget about 99 weeks of checks. With my plan, the first week you get 100 percent, and it declines every week until after 29 weeks it’s zero. Currently you wait till the checks stop, then find a job. From now on, you decide how low to let it go before you get off the couch. We’ll raise the income tax, but only on the half that aren’t paying any. It’ll only be 5 percent, and it will give these poor folks a stake in wanting government to spend wisely. We’ll eliminate all public employee unions. If you want to join a union, work for a private company.
We’ll phase out home mortgage deductions. It’s the tax advisors that convince people to keep a maximum mortgage until they’re 80; take out that loophole and they’ll pay off the house by 50 or so, and be glad of it."
For any candidate who will make that proposal I can guarantee one thing: on November 2 he’ll lose. But in 5 to 10 years, people will be telling him he was right.
The rescue of those 33 Chili miners was an inspiring engineering achievement. A determined President went out and got the brightest, most experienced drillers in the world and turned them loose. NASA helped design the recovery capsule. And the miners were brilliantly organized and disciplined.
The first big football poll came out tonight. Oklahoma and Oregon are on top, and that means only one thing. Next Saturday, look for them to get beat.
Historic quote from Will Rogers: (Note that 2010 is kinda opposite of 1930.)
"My advice is, keep the Republicans in power. Otherwise you will add to the unemployment for, if you throw a Republican out there is nothing else he can do, while a Democrat must be able to making a living out of office. Otherwise he would not be living." DT #1335, Nov. 3, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Politics getting smelly close to the election #624
10-10-10
COLUMBUS: The news got even worse for the Democrats this week. Unemployment is stuck at close to ten percent, and one out of every seven Americans are poverty stricken. And more of them than ever live in foreclosed homes in the suburbs.
Of course it was moving to the suburbs that caused a lot of these problems. When everyone lived in a big house in town, maybe with your in-laws and a bunch of kids, you could walk to work or school. I blame Henry Ford. When he started making the Model T Ford so cheap that just about anyone could afford one, why we moved out of town, built our own house and drove everywhere. Now you’re stuck with two cars and two mortgages. And when your two jobs disappeared, sharing a big house in town don’t seem so bad.
Speaker Pelosi announced that the best economic recovery plan is to hand out more food stamps and unemployment checks. She said that will give the "most bang for the buck." Well, I don’t know what economist she has been talking to, if any. I figure the loudest bang you’ll hear from these out-of-work men will be when they go into the woods aiming to shoot a buck. That can get you more meat than a month’s worth of food stamps.
We only have three weeks till the election. Can you survive that long? With some of these political ads on TV, you’ve got to not only cover your ears and close your eyes, but hold your nose, too. There seem to be more polecats running than usual.
Everybody knows there will be a bunch more Republicans elected to Congress. But the Democrats aren’t giving up without a fight. Why, there’s a few Democrat candidates cussing the President more than the Republicans are.
In West Virginia, the governor is running for Robert Byrd’s old Senate seat. He has come out against just about every one of the President’s policies, but still claims to be a Democrat. Most voters are telling him, "You stay as Governor and let us send someone else to clean up Washington."
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor house in an automobile." Radio, Oct. 18, 1931
"There is something about a Republican that you can only stand for him just so long. And, on the other hand, there is something about a Democrat that you can't stand for him quite that long." DT #1955, Nov. 9, 1932
(After the dedication of the new Will Rogers Hotel in Claremore, Oklahoma) "I know now how proud Christopher Columbus must have felt when he heard they had named Columbus, Ohio, after him." DT #1111, Feb. 16, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: The news got even worse for the Democrats this week. Unemployment is stuck at close to ten percent, and one out of every seven Americans are poverty stricken. And more of them than ever live in foreclosed homes in the suburbs.
Of course it was moving to the suburbs that caused a lot of these problems. When everyone lived in a big house in town, maybe with your in-laws and a bunch of kids, you could walk to work or school. I blame Henry Ford. When he started making the Model T Ford so cheap that just about anyone could afford one, why we moved out of town, built our own house and drove everywhere. Now you’re stuck with two cars and two mortgages. And when your two jobs disappeared, sharing a big house in town don’t seem so bad.
Speaker Pelosi announced that the best economic recovery plan is to hand out more food stamps and unemployment checks. She said that will give the "most bang for the buck." Well, I don’t know what economist she has been talking to, if any. I figure the loudest bang you’ll hear from these out-of-work men will be when they go into the woods aiming to shoot a buck. That can get you more meat than a month’s worth of food stamps.
We only have three weeks till the election. Can you survive that long? With some of these political ads on TV, you’ve got to not only cover your ears and close your eyes, but hold your nose, too. There seem to be more polecats running than usual.
Everybody knows there will be a bunch more Republicans elected to Congress. But the Democrats aren’t giving up without a fight. Why, there’s a few Democrat candidates cussing the President more than the Republicans are.
In West Virginia, the governor is running for Robert Byrd’s old Senate seat. He has come out against just about every one of the President’s policies, but still claims to be a Democrat. Most voters are telling him, "You stay as Governor and let us send someone else to clean up Washington."
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor house in an automobile." Radio, Oct. 18, 1931
"There is something about a Republican that you can only stand for him just so long. And, on the other hand, there is something about a Democrat that you can't stand for him quite that long." DT #1955, Nov. 9, 1932
(After the dedication of the new Will Rogers Hotel in Claremore, Oklahoma) "I know now how proud Christopher Columbus must have felt when he heard they had named Columbus, Ohio, after him." DT #1111, Feb. 16, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Congress prefers campaigning to voting #623
Oct. 3, 2010
COLUMBUS: McDonald’s may be dropping health insurance for their employees and that’s got Democrats in Congress concerned. After November, that’s where some of these folks may be working.
As for McDonald’s, the folks who should be concerned about health insurance are the ones eating there. But really, I’m not going to take potshots at any hamburger joint. I’ve raised (and eaten) enough beef in my time to know it won’t hurt you. If you want to stick to eating only vegetables, that’s fine with me. But I’ll take my chances with ham or steak or chicken breast meat along with potatoes, soup beans and onions. And cherry pie. Now that’s good eatin’.
Granted, eating a half dozen Big Macs every day might not leave you feeling chipper. But neither would five pounds a day of broccoli.
Rahm Emanuel is returning to Chicago to run for mayor. Politics in Washington was too mild for him. In Chicago he can cuss out the gangsters and a few stray Republicans.
Washington is deserted. With less than a month till the election, Congress decided it was more important to go home and tell the voters how they intend to vote instead of actually voting. If you want to know where your candidate stands on income tax rates, inheritance taxes, or immigration, just ask. But you can only vote for the person, not how he will vote. In the Lame Duck session, he might do just the opposite. In that two week session after the election, Speaker Pelosi says they will vote on twice as many bills as they have in the previous two years.
In California, the race for governor heated up. Not over how to fix a Fifty Billion Dollar deficit, but rather Meg Whitman’s maid who was fired more than a year ago. It seems Jerry Brown just learned the maid was a Mexican working here illegally, and made an example of her. On TV, Whitman said, "She told us she was legal, we treated her like part of the family, and paid her $23 an hour." The next day two million Californians called Whitman’s campaign office. Not to volunteer, not to complain, but rather to apply for the maid’s old job.
The government announced a warning for anyone traveling to Europe. Al Qaeda is threatening to blow up Europe like they did New York. Well, your odds of being wiped out by a terrorist are probably lower than being killed by a teenager texting while driving. Threat or no threat, here’s what I suggested in 1930: There ought to be a law against anybody going to Europe till they had seen the things we have in this country.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"I'll bet there is more fool things done for publicity's sake that defeat their own purpose than ever aided it." DT #1816, May 19, 1932
"Being serious or being a good fellow has got nothing to do with running this country. If the breaks are with you, you could be a laughing hyena and still have a great administration." DT #1315, Oct. 10, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: McDonald’s may be dropping health insurance for their employees and that’s got Democrats in Congress concerned. After November, that’s where some of these folks may be working.
As for McDonald’s, the folks who should be concerned about health insurance are the ones eating there. But really, I’m not going to take potshots at any hamburger joint. I’ve raised (and eaten) enough beef in my time to know it won’t hurt you. If you want to stick to eating only vegetables, that’s fine with me. But I’ll take my chances with ham or steak or chicken breast meat along with potatoes, soup beans and onions. And cherry pie. Now that’s good eatin’.
Granted, eating a half dozen Big Macs every day might not leave you feeling chipper. But neither would five pounds a day of broccoli.
Rahm Emanuel is returning to Chicago to run for mayor. Politics in Washington was too mild for him. In Chicago he can cuss out the gangsters and a few stray Republicans.
Washington is deserted. With less than a month till the election, Congress decided it was more important to go home and tell the voters how they intend to vote instead of actually voting. If you want to know where your candidate stands on income tax rates, inheritance taxes, or immigration, just ask. But you can only vote for the person, not how he will vote. In the Lame Duck session, he might do just the opposite. In that two week session after the election, Speaker Pelosi says they will vote on twice as many bills as they have in the previous two years.
In California, the race for governor heated up. Not over how to fix a Fifty Billion Dollar deficit, but rather Meg Whitman’s maid who was fired more than a year ago. It seems Jerry Brown just learned the maid was a Mexican working here illegally, and made an example of her. On TV, Whitman said, "She told us she was legal, we treated her like part of the family, and paid her $23 an hour." The next day two million Californians called Whitman’s campaign office. Not to volunteer, not to complain, but rather to apply for the maid’s old job.
The government announced a warning for anyone traveling to Europe. Al Qaeda is threatening to blow up Europe like they did New York. Well, your odds of being wiped out by a terrorist are probably lower than being killed by a teenager texting while driving. Threat or no threat, here’s what I suggested in 1930: There ought to be a law against anybody going to Europe till they had seen the things we have in this country.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"I'll bet there is more fool things done for publicity's sake that defeat their own purpose than ever aided it." DT #1816, May 19, 1932
"Being serious or being a good fellow has got nothing to do with running this country. If the breaks are with you, you could be a laughing hyena and still have a great administration." DT #1315, Oct. 10, 1930
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Election campaigns are same as 80 years ago #626
Oct 24, 2010
COLUMBUS: President Obama is crisscrossing the country campaigning for Democrats. Sarah Palin is doing the same for Republicans. Don’t know if it’ll help anybody, except maybe the opponents.
Most Democrats running for Congress swear that if elected, they will vote with the Republicans. And the Republicans vow they will never repeat the mistakes they made from 2002 to 2006. With the mishmash conglomeration that’s gonna get in there, Lord knows what shape we’ll be in by 2012.
As bad as the TV ads are, a surefire way for a candidate to get more votes would be to announce, "I’m stopping all campaigning. No more blistering ads, no long-winded speeches, no harassing phone calls. I’m gonna stay home for the next week, sit on the back porch and contemplate our future. Call me if you want to talk. Here’s my number ______."
Baseball decided they should start the World Series before Halloween. The Texas Rangers are in there for the first time, taking on the Giants of San Francisco. All the big baseball experts from east of the Mississippi were hoping for a few November night games in the balmy climates of New York or Philadelphia. They’ll find that these boys out West can play the game too, if they bother to watch.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers: (on election campaigns)
"Come pretty near having two holidays of equal importance in the same week, Halloween and Election, and of the two, election day provides us the most fun. On Halloween they put pumpkins on their heads, and on Election day they don't have to. Candidates have been telling you that if elected they would ‘pull you from this bog hole of financial misery.’ Now is a good chance to get even with ‘em by electing ‘em, just to prove what a liar they are." DT #1334, Nov. 2, 1930
"My idea of the height of conceit would be a political speaker that would go on the air when that World Series is on." DT #683, Oct 3, 1928
"There should be a moratorium called on candidates' speeches. From now on they are just talking themselves out of votes... You can do everybody a big favor by going fishing, then come back next Wednesday and we will let you know which one is the lesser of the two evils."DT #1948, Nov. 2, 1932
"All you will hear from now until the [election] will be: ‘We must get our government out of the hands of predatory wealth.’ ‘The good people of this great country are burdened to death with taxes." WA #86, Aug. 3, 1924
"The promising season ends next Tuesday, and at about 8 o'clock that same night the alibi season opens. Can you remember back when the promise was made on both sides that ‘The campaign will be run on a high plane’? This campaign ends Tuesday, but it will take two generations to sweep up the dirt." DT #706, Oct. 31, 1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: President Obama is crisscrossing the country campaigning for Democrats. Sarah Palin is doing the same for Republicans. Don’t know if it’ll help anybody, except maybe the opponents.
Most Democrats running for Congress swear that if elected, they will vote with the Republicans. And the Republicans vow they will never repeat the mistakes they made from 2002 to 2006. With the mishmash conglomeration that’s gonna get in there, Lord knows what shape we’ll be in by 2012.
As bad as the TV ads are, a surefire way for a candidate to get more votes would be to announce, "I’m stopping all campaigning. No more blistering ads, no long-winded speeches, no harassing phone calls. I’m gonna stay home for the next week, sit on the back porch and contemplate our future. Call me if you want to talk. Here’s my number ______."
Baseball decided they should start the World Series before Halloween. The Texas Rangers are in there for the first time, taking on the Giants of San Francisco. All the big baseball experts from east of the Mississippi were hoping for a few November night games in the balmy climates of New York or Philadelphia. They’ll find that these boys out West can play the game too, if they bother to watch.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers: (on election campaigns)
"Come pretty near having two holidays of equal importance in the same week, Halloween and Election, and of the two, election day provides us the most fun. On Halloween they put pumpkins on their heads, and on Election day they don't have to. Candidates have been telling you that if elected they would ‘pull you from this bog hole of financial misery.’ Now is a good chance to get even with ‘em by electing ‘em, just to prove what a liar they are." DT #1334, Nov. 2, 1930
"My idea of the height of conceit would be a political speaker that would go on the air when that World Series is on." DT #683, Oct 3, 1928
"There should be a moratorium called on candidates' speeches. From now on they are just talking themselves out of votes... You can do everybody a big favor by going fishing, then come back next Wednesday and we will let you know which one is the lesser of the two evils."DT #1948, Nov. 2, 1932
"All you will hear from now until the [election] will be: ‘We must get our government out of the hands of predatory wealth.’ ‘The good people of this great country are burdened to death with taxes." WA #86, Aug. 3, 1924
"The promising season ends next Tuesday, and at about 8 o'clock that same night the alibi season opens. Can you remember back when the promise was made on both sides that ‘The campaign will be run on a high plane’? This campaign ends Tuesday, but it will take two generations to sweep up the dirt." DT #706, Oct. 31, 1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekly Comments: Taxpayers waiting for relief, except in Arkansas #621
Sept. 19, 2010
COLUMBUS: Congress is back, so the comedy should be getting better. We had a long dry spell because most of them went home in August, locked their door, and didn’t come out till they were forced to return to the old Joke Factory. They would occasionally sneak a peek out the kitchen window, but when they saw what the Tea Party did to some of their friends, they jumped back in bed.
Before I get into the tax bill, did you see where Lady Gaga went to an awards show wearing a "dress" made entirely of meat? It was all beef, what there was of it. Not a speck of cereal. Just some cotton thread to hold it together. Ranchers and cattlemen appreciate her support, but if she ever offers you a slice of rump roast, refuse it.
Democrats and Republicans are arguing over the tax cuts that are expiring January 1. Republicans want to keep all income taxes where they are, but Democrats want to raise ‘em for anyone making over $250,000. Democrats figure that’s only 2 percent of the voters, but Republicans say, "Yes, but that 2 percent pays half the taxes, and their spending keeps the economy going." It all boils down to arithmetic, and who is doing the ciphering. To Democrats, votes is most important. To Republicans, it’s dollars.
I think the Democrats might go along with the Republicans if they adopt a controversial provision from the 1935 Townsend Plan. Dr. Townsend’s plan to give pensions to old folks was to pay them $200 a month, but (and here’s the requirement that killed it in the Senate) they have to spend it. No saving for a rainy day. Every month, spend every dollar.
Now, if these higher income folks, and maybe the rest of us, would agree that every month we’ll spend whatever the savings is between the Republican and Democrat plans, then it might get through Congress. That way, the money will be spent to stimulate the economy. The only difference is, the taxpayer decides where his money is spent instead of President Obama.
In Arkansas, Senator Lincoln didn’t wait for any tax savings plan; she reached into Treasury Secretary Geithner’s back pocket and plucked out some cash for her rice and cotton farmers. It’s a Disaster Aid package that zeros in on Arkansas. I figure if Sen. Lincoln hands out about $500,000,000, and she needs roughly 500,000 votes to win re-election, that comes to $1000 per vote.
That may seem absurd if you don’t live in Arkansas, but odds are your own Congressman or Senator has grabbed even more to spread among the voters.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"The whole trouble with the Republicans is their fear of an increase in income tax, especially on higher incomes. They speak of it almost like a national calamity." DT #1435, Feb. 27, 1931
"The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it's in the way that it's spent." DT #1764, March 20, 1932
"Our government is the only people that just loves to spend without being compelled to, at all. But the government is the only people that don't have to worry where it's coming from." Radio, April 21, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Congress is back, so the comedy should be getting better. We had a long dry spell because most of them went home in August, locked their door, and didn’t come out till they were forced to return to the old Joke Factory. They would occasionally sneak a peek out the kitchen window, but when they saw what the Tea Party did to some of their friends, they jumped back in bed.
Before I get into the tax bill, did you see where Lady Gaga went to an awards show wearing a "dress" made entirely of meat? It was all beef, what there was of it. Not a speck of cereal. Just some cotton thread to hold it together. Ranchers and cattlemen appreciate her support, but if she ever offers you a slice of rump roast, refuse it.
Democrats and Republicans are arguing over the tax cuts that are expiring January 1. Republicans want to keep all income taxes where they are, but Democrats want to raise ‘em for anyone making over $250,000. Democrats figure that’s only 2 percent of the voters, but Republicans say, "Yes, but that 2 percent pays half the taxes, and their spending keeps the economy going." It all boils down to arithmetic, and who is doing the ciphering. To Democrats, votes is most important. To Republicans, it’s dollars.
I think the Democrats might go along with the Republicans if they adopt a controversial provision from the 1935 Townsend Plan. Dr. Townsend’s plan to give pensions to old folks was to pay them $200 a month, but (and here’s the requirement that killed it in the Senate) they have to spend it. No saving for a rainy day. Every month, spend every dollar.
Now, if these higher income folks, and maybe the rest of us, would agree that every month we’ll spend whatever the savings is between the Republican and Democrat plans, then it might get through Congress. That way, the money will be spent to stimulate the economy. The only difference is, the taxpayer decides where his money is spent instead of President Obama.
In Arkansas, Senator Lincoln didn’t wait for any tax savings plan; she reached into Treasury Secretary Geithner’s back pocket and plucked out some cash for her rice and cotton farmers. It’s a Disaster Aid package that zeros in on Arkansas. I figure if Sen. Lincoln hands out about $500,000,000, and she needs roughly 500,000 votes to win re-election, that comes to $1000 per vote.
That may seem absurd if you don’t live in Arkansas, but odds are your own Congressman or Senator has grabbed even more to spread among the voters.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"The whole trouble with the Republicans is their fear of an increase in income tax, especially on higher incomes. They speak of it almost like a national calamity." DT #1435, Feb. 27, 1931
"The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it's in the way that it's spent." DT #1764, March 20, 1932
"Our government is the only people that just loves to spend without being compelled to, at all. But the government is the only people that don't have to worry where it's coming from." Radio, April 21, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Weekly Comments: Congress delays tax votes, prefers comedy instead #622
Sept. 26, 2010
COLUMBUS: Lindsay Lohan is back in a Hollywood jail. Meanwhile in New York the young woman hiker that Iran let out of jail for $500,000 met with Iran’s Ahmadinejad. She asked him to release the two guys that were with her but they could not agree on a price. Personally, I think we should offer a trade. Iran gives us the two men, and we give them Lohan and Paris Hilton.
Congress announced they do not have time to vote on the income tax bill until after the election. The voters already know where their Congressman stands on health care, the energy tax and illegal immigration, so Speaker Pelosi does not want to saddle the voters with having another hot issue to keep track of. On November 2, they’ll just have to guess whether their Senator or Representative is for or against ‘em. Of course the same bird that says he’s against a higher income tax now can turn around and vote for it after he’s knocked out.
One reason Congress is short of time is they invited comedian Stephen Colbert to testify about his views on farming. In his entire life he worked exactly one day on a farm so naturally Congress wanted to find out what he knew.
If Congress had invited some actual farmers and ranchers they could have heard the real scoop on agriculture. But farmers in the Midwest are all harvesting their corn and soybeans this month and don’t have time to go to Washington, even to ask for relief.
Congress also put off a vote on the inheritance tax. If you die now, your family gets to keep it all. But if you wait till January to die, the government gets first crack at your fortune, and all the heirs get is a check for what’s left over. Rich old folks will be wary of what Christmas packages they allow under the tree. If it’s ticking, out it goes.
Have you noticed that cars today don’t have bumpers? They used to be strong steel that protected your car when, for example, you bumped into another car while parallel parking. But now these so-called bumpers are self-destructing, plastic coated cardboard that collapses at the first hint of a slight bump with another so-called bumper. In the old days if your car rolled into another one at 3 miles per hour you got a slight jolt. Now what you get is a repair bill for $4000.
I read in the Sunday paper that in Cuba, businesses can now hire people to work for them. Maybe we ought to try that.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Everything is changing in America. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke, when it used to be visa versa." DT #1966, Nov. 22, 1932
"Now they got such a high inheritance tax on 'em that you won't catch these old rich boys dying promiscuously like they did. This bill makes patriots out of everybody. You sure do die for your country if you die from now on." DT #1767, March 23, 1932
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Lindsay Lohan is back in a Hollywood jail. Meanwhile in New York the young woman hiker that Iran let out of jail for $500,000 met with Iran’s Ahmadinejad. She asked him to release the two guys that were with her but they could not agree on a price. Personally, I think we should offer a trade. Iran gives us the two men, and we give them Lohan and Paris Hilton.
Congress announced they do not have time to vote on the income tax bill until after the election. The voters already know where their Congressman stands on health care, the energy tax and illegal immigration, so Speaker Pelosi does not want to saddle the voters with having another hot issue to keep track of. On November 2, they’ll just have to guess whether their Senator or Representative is for or against ‘em. Of course the same bird that says he’s against a higher income tax now can turn around and vote for it after he’s knocked out.
One reason Congress is short of time is they invited comedian Stephen Colbert to testify about his views on farming. In his entire life he worked exactly one day on a farm so naturally Congress wanted to find out what he knew.
If Congress had invited some actual farmers and ranchers they could have heard the real scoop on agriculture. But farmers in the Midwest are all harvesting their corn and soybeans this month and don’t have time to go to Washington, even to ask for relief.
Congress also put off a vote on the inheritance tax. If you die now, your family gets to keep it all. But if you wait till January to die, the government gets first crack at your fortune, and all the heirs get is a check for what’s left over. Rich old folks will be wary of what Christmas packages they allow under the tree. If it’s ticking, out it goes.
Have you noticed that cars today don’t have bumpers? They used to be strong steel that protected your car when, for example, you bumped into another car while parallel parking. But now these so-called bumpers are self-destructing, plastic coated cardboard that collapses at the first hint of a slight bump with another so-called bumper. In the old days if your car rolled into another one at 3 miles per hour you got a slight jolt. Now what you get is a repair bill for $4000.
I read in the Sunday paper that in Cuba, businesses can now hire people to work for them. Maybe we ought to try that.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Everything is changing in America. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke, when it used to be visa versa." DT #1966, Nov. 22, 1932
"Now they got such a high inheritance tax on 'em that you won't catch these old rich boys dying promiscuously like they did. This bill makes patriots out of everybody. You sure do die for your country if you die from now on." DT #1767, March 23, 1932
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
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