Major Mike's Musings » politics

Cheer Up! 17 Reasons It’s a Great Time to Be Alive | Reader’s Digest

Mike — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:26:01 +0000

Do you ever get depressed reading or watching the news or discussing current events with a neighbor or friend? I do sometimes. Maybe the problem is with the source of our information. Optimism doesn’t sell newspapers, get viewers, or win elections.

We’ve been lied to, folks. Things are better than they were 50 years ago. The gold old days weren’t as good as the good now days.

Check out Matt Ridley’s article in the April Reader’s Digest:

Cheer Up! 17 Reasons It’s a Great Time to Be Alive | Reader’s Digest.

As The Curtain Lifts

Mike — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:37:40 +0000

I read in this morning’s The Villages Daily Sun that there is a move afoot in Congress to repeal the part of the health care law that requires all businesses to file paperwork on all of their vendors from whom they buy $600.00 goods or services in a year. Small businesses are up in arms because of the expense and massive amount of paperwork required to accomplish this. Democrats and Republicans are both in favor of repealing this section of the health care law.

It was allegedly incorporated originally to collect $19 billion of estimated unpaid taxes. $19 billion to help “pay” for the bill. That the health care bill would pay for itself was just plain incorrect. Now the curtain is being lifted.

Government at Work

Mike — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:44:23 +0000

USA Today reports that the contractors who spent 16 billion dollars of the stimulus package created 30,383 jobs!

Incredible, the stimulus package is working. It only cost $528,610 per job. If the rest of the package is as successful, the stimulus should create just over one million new jobs.

Let’s turn over more stuff for the government to run.

Big Brother

Mike — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:48:52 +0000

From the White House Blog:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Seems a little Orwellian to me. Beware: don’t post anything anti ObamaCare or your web site, ip address, or email might make it to the White House suspects list.

Oh, crap . . .

Birthers

Mike — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:46:23 +0000

Note to “birthers”: Get a life!

Cash for Clunkers

Mike — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:19:09 +0000

Anyone out there taken advantage of the cash for clunkers program?

Universal Health Care

Mike — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:12:38 +0000

Formerly called health care reform, now called health insurance reform bill has been delayed until fall. Whew. That was close. I was afraid we’d get a reform bill that nobody in Congress or the administration will have read. Maybe there’s time now to get some things right. (Warning: this is Congress, however).

History and Governments

Mike — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:16:22 +0000

“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.” —William H. Borah

Are You Ready?

Mike — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:32:14 +0000

Sung to the tune of “Are you ready for some football?”

Are you ready for the VAT tax?

Politics

Mike — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:26:20 +0000

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”¹

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Ernest Benn