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
Sunday, December 19, 2010
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.
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