Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

     . . . or is it? On Monday August 29, 2009, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared on ABC-TV's Good Morning America . In introducing the Republican National Committee's “Seniors’ Health Care Bill of Rights” (SHCBoR), Mr. Steele stated, "We should protect the seniors' ability to access health care.”      The first item promised by the SHCBoR was, “. . . [to] protect Medicare and not cut it in the name of health care reform.” Mr. Steele claimed that the health care plan being proposed by the Democrats would cut Medicare funding by $500B. Actually the proposed savings, none of which came from cutting benefits to seniors , was $219B.      Jump forward to April 5, 2011. The new House Republican majority introduced a budget called The Path to Prosperity . If Congress follows “the path,” current recipients and future Medicare beneficiaries age 55 and older will see no change in benefits.      But starting in 2022, Medicare as we know it will be

     The history of politicians being caught with their pants down, literally, goes back a long way, but until Bill Clinton's adventures came to light, no one seemed to care very much. And it seems as if the burden of infidelity has fallen more often on stalwarts of the Republican party.      Oh, I know the Democrats have had their free-swingers, e.g. Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, John Edwards and the fore-mentioned Bill Clinton, but they are not the ones who are out there preaching “family values” as part of their party platform. And although the Democrats have often engaged in “left-wing social engineering,” they are not attempting to highjack must-pass bills, e.g. raising the debt ceiling, by attaching “right-wing social engineering” anti-abortion and anti-gay riders to it. (Left-wing and right-wing social engineering terms were raised by Newt Gingrich on the May 15th telecast of Meet The Press. On May 17th he asked everyone to forget he ever mentioned them.)      Here are

     I came across an item on Today which stated that Saturday, May 14th was World Naked Gardening Day . Thinking it was some kind of a gag, I did a little research, and it not only was not a gag – I discovered a couple of other nude holidays: June 11th is Naked Bike Riding Day and June 21st is Nude Hiking Day . Who knew?      Although I know some gardeners, I am pretty sure that none of them celebrated WNGD. I can't blame them because the weather was rather cold and damp, although that probably had nothing to do with their non-celebration of this great event.      I also know some bikers and hikers, and while the weather will probably be more agreeable in June, I doubt that anyone I know will be celebrating these little-known holidays. But I'll keep my eyes open, just in case.      During my research, I discovered that there are many unusual holidays; in fact, every day of the year has two or three. I have compiled a list of some that I thought were interesting for no part

     ...and ignore those who elected you to office.      The Marcellus Shale was deposited almost 400M years ago in an area running from Ohio through West Virginia, western Maryland, western and northern Pennsylvania, and into southern New York state. Far beneath the surface of the sea which covered the area, organic material trapped in the shale formed into pools of oil. Some liquid petroleum can still be found in the western area; further east the oil was converted to natural gas during still deeper burial some 240M years ago.      Because of the continuously increasing cost of fuel, recovery of natural gas from shale has become economically feasible. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that the Marcellus contains 252 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, and that volume could increase as more advanced technology becomes available. The Marcellus is the second largest source of natural gas in the world; some estimates place the total value of recoverable gas at one

     The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which includes the price of gasoline and food, shows an increase of 2.7% over March, 2010. Gasoline at the pump rose 5.6% in March alone, and is now 27.5% higher than it was a year ago. Food is 2.9% higher than it was at March 31st, 2010.      Economists generally consider the core-CPI, which excludes energy and food prices, to be a better indicator of long-term inflation. At March 31st this index was just 1.2% higher than it was a year earlier – hardly a harbinger of runaway inflation. Unfortunately, most of us have to live with short-term inflation; regardless of what the price at the pump will be in six months, we have to deal with it today.      According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS), in spite of a 0.6 increase in average weekly hours worked, real average weekly earnings for all employees decreased 0.4% between March 2010 and March 2011. People are working longer and getting paid less! Even though the inflation low, employees

     When I read in yesterday's newspaper that the Rapture was coming on May 21st at 6 pm, I thought about calling my attorney to make sure that my estate, such as it is, would go to persons among the chosen few. Then I realized that I had no way of telling who would be chosen and who would not.      Further reflection convinced me that it doesn't matter – those chosen would not need what little pittance I had planned for them, while those remaining behind would be too busy suffering the events of the Tribulation.      Perhaps a little digression would be good at this point. According to Wikipedia, the Rapture is a reference to 1st Thessalonians 4:15-17, in which Paul cites "the word of the Lord" about the return of Jesus to gather his saints. ...and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be raptured (or "caught up") together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.      The Tribulation refers to Matthew

     One of the ways Republicans are trying to sell their Medicare proposal is by claiming that beneficiaries would “be enrolled in the same kind of health-care program that members of Congress enjoy.” Let's examine that claim.      Suppose that on the date the “Roadmap for America's Future” becomes effective, a government employee and a non-government employee are enrolled in a family health care plan for which the total annual premium is $7,600. The government pays $5,700 (75%) of its employee's plan and allows a $5,700 tax credit for the non-government employee.      Assume that the next year the premium increases by $50 per month for an annual premium of $8,200. For the government employee his employer will pay $6,150 (75%) of the premium – he will pay the usual 25%.      The non-government employee will also see an increase in his tax credit, but it will be based on the inflation rate. Suppose the rate is 3%. The tax credit will be, at most, $5,871, just short of 72

     Many TV crime dramas have a plot similar to the following: A crime boss goes into hiding. The police form a special undercover unit to find him. After months of questioning suspects, following up leads, etc., they locate his hideaway. A swat team raids his hideout, and he is killed in the ensuing gun battle.      Change “crime boss” to “Osama bin Laden,” the “undercover unit” to “CIA and SIS (Pakastani secret service),” and the “swat team” to “79 heroic Navy Seals;” now you have the story the U.S. has been waiting for since September 11, 2001.      The point is that bin Laden was found, not by the coalition forces in Afghanistan, but by good police-style work. He wasn't in Afghanistan. Although the armed forces were the best-trained in history, they were looking in the wrong place!      The old story goes that one night Johnny found his friend, Billy, crawling around on his hands and knees under a street light. Billy explained that he was looking for a quarter he had droppe