If You Like Your Lightbulbs....

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If I were running for president today, I would run on the platform "If you like your light bulbs, you can keep your light bulbs."  After all, that particular line worked pretty successfully for one particular president when it came to his health care bill.  So what if it was a big colossal lie.

Thanks to the ruling elite who know far better than the rest of us what types of products we should have and use, effective January 1st, the United States will ban the production of an item that has been in American homes for over 100 years, the incandescent light bulb.  Thomas Edison must be spinning in his grave. You'll still be able to buy them until existing inventory sells through, so stock up now.

George W. Bush proved that he was no real conservative when he signed into law the bill that phases out the traditional light bulb.  Sure compared to Barack Obama, he is a right wing nut job as my liberal friends would say, but no true conservative would take a safe and reliable product used by nearly everybody and force people to have to go to more expensive, and in some cases, more hazardous products.  That is not how the free market works.

Granted, the choices we will now have will last longer and save you on your electric bill, but the initial outlay is a bit much for the average person's wallet, especially those who live paycheck to paycheck.  It is really going to be a hardship for lower and middle income families.  I am not crazy about any of the options the government is forcing upon its citizenry.  Just another little bit of our freedom being taken away from us.

English: Compact fluorescent light bulb (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The compact fluorescent bulb, or CFLs, are the most affordable of the options that we will have to choose them.  Frankly, I hate them.  I hate there twisted curly-q shape.  Sure, there are some that have the twisted bulb nicely encased in a more traditional light bulb shape, but even those still have their problems.  They are dangerous.  CFLs contain mercury, which is such a horrible toxin that states, including Maryland, have banned the use of mercury in thermostats for your home cooling/heating system.  If you happen to break a CFL, you might need to call in a hazmat crew.  If you think I am exaggerating, just check out what is on the Environment Protection Agency's website regarding cleaning up a broken CFL.

The other option that folks have to choose from are LED lights.  LED lights apparently aren't much safer as they may contain arsenic and lead.  Again, there are very detailed instructions on cleaning up an LED light if they break.  One site I saw said to wear gloves and a mask when cleaning up a broken LED light and to use a broom, no vacuum.  Then dispose of those gloves, mask, and broom after cleaning.  Also, LED lights are extremely expensive.

Today, I did my grocery shopping at my local Wegman's Supermarket.  I decided to pick up a few packs of incandescent bulbs.  Unfortunately, there was only one 4-pack of 60 watt bulbs available.  I looked at some of the options available to me and was saddened.  Some of the LED lights were nearly $20 per bulb.  I conservatively have about 20 light bulbs in my house.  When I do have to replace them, they usually come in bunches.  That is not an outlay of cash that I am prepared to make.  Hopefully, there will be something more affordable.  Until then, I will be stocking up on my incandescent bulbs while I can.

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The Now Annual Year End Tax Drama

Image via WikipediaOne year ago at this time, I was concerned about whether or not Congress and President Obama would keep the George W. Bush tax rates in place.  It was a particular concern for me at the time because I was weighing my health insurance benefit options at the time.  My portion of my health insurance was going to be going up 23% over the previous year.  Having a tax increase at that time would have been a tremendous hardship for my family at the time.

Thankfully, they were able to agree that during the tough economic climate, it was not a wise idea to let the tax rates expire.  In addition to extending the existing tax rates, in an effort to stimulate the economy and to give an additional tax break for middle and lower income folks, Obama asked for and Congress passed a 2% payroll tax holiday.  All told, that small tax break ended up being just enough to cover my increased health insurance costs.

Overall, the tax break did little to stimulate the economy.  As I said, for me personally, the tax holiday just about covered my additional health care expense.  Couple that with higher food and energy prices, and my purchasing power probably dropped a bit.  I am sure most people in my income bracket experienced similar results this past year.

Unfortunately, the tax holiday is set to expire at the end of the month.  Currently, both parties say that they want to extend the tax holiday, but of course they do not agree on how to do it.  Obama, of course, wants to raise taxes on higher income earners, while the Republicans want to cut other spending.  I don't know if extending the payroll tax holiday will help the economy or not.  I do know that if it isn't extended, that it will hurt my own financial situation and that of others I know, which definitely won't help.

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Bocephus and Politics

Image via WikipediaI have to say up front that I am a Hank Williams, Jr. fan.  I have been for a long time and will continue to be one.  So, as such, I feel the need to make a comment or two about his inartful comments the other day on Fox & Friends when he compared President Obama and Speaker John Boehner playing golf together to be the equivalent of Hitler playing with Netanyahu.  The comments got his Monday Night Football anthem "Are You Ready for Some Football" pulled from being aired on this week's game.

Williams has come out and apologized for using a poor analogy.  He was trying to emphasize that Boehner and Obama are polar opposites on the political spectrum, much like Hitler and Netanyahu would be. Granted, he could have used a better analogy.  You can never really win when you bring Hitler into the conversation.  Of course, those on the left were quick to compare George W. Bush to Hitler, but I digress.

The big thing is, why should we even care what Bocephus thinks politically?  He is, after all, primarily an entertainer, and a damn fine one at that.  I will say that Hank Jr and I definitely sit on the same side of the political aisle, but I learned a long time ago that I do not care what my favorite entertainers have to say politically.  If I did, I would have ceased to be a Jimmy Buffett fan a long time ago since he is decidedly more liberal than I am.

The other thing about entertainers and politics is this; why would you even want to get out there with your political views and possibly alienate a portion of your audience?  Years ago, I was at a Jackson Browne concert, and he kept spouting off on his left wing ideology.  It was a major turnoff.  All I wanted was to hear him sing Running on Empty and his other songs.  I didn't care what he thought the CIA had been up to.

In fact, the Jackson Browne concert is where I learned my lesson in regards to entertainers and politics.  For several years after that concert, I basically gave up listening to Jackson Browne.  It was only after I got my iPod and was going through all my old CDs to load onto it that I started listening to all those old Jackson Browne tunes.  There was a lot of good shit on those CDs.  Who cares if he is a left wing nutjob.

My point in all this is, yes, Hank probably used a poor choice of words on Fox & Friends.  Yes, ESPN is probably within its rights to have pulled Hank's anthem on Monday night, just as I was within my rights to not watch MNF in protest of their decision (though to be honest, I didn't plan to watch anyway).  The bigger point is, who cares what a singer has to say about politics?  These shows should be talking to them about their music, not politics.

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September 11th

Image via WikipediaI was not sure whether or not I was going to post anything today in commemoration of the horrific events that took place 10 years ago today in New York, Pennsylvania, and just down the road at the Pentagon.  There will be so many others that will post regarding what happened that day.  I did not know what more that I could add.

Ten years ago, I was sitting in my office working on some reports when my wife called to tell me that an airplane had crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.  Shortly thereafter, a second plane crashed into the other tower.  A third plane crashed into the Pentagon.  A fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA thanks to passengers storming the cockpit and overcoming the hijackers.

I remember sitting in my office stunned.  I had a boombox in my office that I used to listen to CDs, but on this day, I turned on the radio to try to follow the events of the day.  I was really in a state of shock, and unable to concentrate enough to do any work.  My son and nephew were both attending a school in Baltimore a couple blocks from Baltimore's World Trade Center building.  Concerned that another attack could occur there, my brother in law went to pick up both boys from school 

One of the public affairs managers came down to see if we had enough water in the warehouse to provide a truckload of water for those rescuers and workers at the Pentagon crash site.  That was the good of my company.  Most of our upper management was in California for a meeting.  Later in the day, one of our VPs sent a voice mail encouraging us to capitalize on the event by making sure we had enough of emergency items like bottle water in the stores because there might be a run on those things.  I thought it a rather callous and inhumane thing to do.

A lot of things have changed in the 10 years since the attacks.  I remember being able to have my wife and son sit with me at the gate while waiting for my flight to take off, or being able to greet me at the gate when I returned.  Now, you can't get through without a ticket.  Security is such that we have to take off shoes, belts, and coats to get through.  We are subjected to pat downs usually reserved for criminals and we are subjected to various scanner devices.

After the events, the country stood resolute and united in wanting to track down those responsible for the attacks.  There was near unanimous support from both sides of the political spectrum for the war that would soon follow.  Ten years later, we still have our military forces in the Middle East fighting the war on terror.  Our political leaders are severely divided on nearly every issue that comes before them. 

It saddens me that as a country we can now stand so bitterly divided when a relatively short time ago, we stood united and strong.  Now, both sides are looking for every political advantage that they can garner to maintain and achieve more power.  It is no longer about what is best for the country.  I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln, who quoted Jesus, when he said "a house divided against itself can not stand." 

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Ronald Wilson Reagan

Image via WikipediaToday marks the 100th anniversary of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States.  Reagan was elected to the presidency in 1980, which happened to be the first presidential election that I was eligible to vote. 

I did not vote for him in that first election.  I was registered as an independent in those days.  As a teenager, I could not see me voting for this old man who I best new as having been in the movie "Bedtime for Bonzo."  At the same time, Jimmy Carter as president had been a disaster, so I voted for the independent candidate, John Anderson.

Four years later, I gladly voted for the re-election of Ronald Reagan.  His presidency helped to shape my current political views.  He instilled in me a sense of patriotism and love of country that I had not felt before.  During his presidency, I changed my party affiliation from independent to Republican.  Without a doubt, in my view, he was the greatest president of my lifetime.

I will be 50 years old at the end of this month.  The first president that I can remember is Richard Nixon.  I remember joking after the Watergate incident that the only thing that Nixon ever did wrong was get caught.  Still, he brought disgrace to the office and to the country.  When Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford took over and finished the last two years of Nixon's term.  He lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.

As I said earlier, Jimmy Carter was a disaster as president.  During his presidency we had high unemployment, high inflation, and high interests rates.  During his term, the Shah of Iran fell, and 52 US citizen were taken hostage.  They were held in captivity for 444 days, and released shortly after Reagan was sworn in as President.

During the campaign, Reagan asked voters if they were better off today than they were four years ago when Carter became president.  The answer was without a doubt no. Under Reagan, the country recovered from the Jimmy Carter days, the economy thrived.  After the Reagan years, I think it was safe to say that the country was much better off than under his predecessor.

Reagan was succeeded by his Vice-President, George H.W. Bush.  A nice enough guy, but no Ronald Reagan.  He may best be remembered for two quotes.  First, "I don't like broccoli," and his campaign promise to Congress, "Read my lips, no new taxes!"  It was a campaign promise he did not keep and probably one of the reasons that H. Ross Perot entered the 1992 as an independent candidate.  Perot captured 19% of the vote and likely caused Bush to lose re-election to Bill Clinton.

I look at Bill Clinton a couple of different ways.  In a lot of ways, he was the first "cool" president.  He appeared on late night shows playing his saxophone.  I thought he would be a fun guy to hang out with and have a beer, but I didn't think he would be presidential material.  To be fair, he did some good things as president, like having a balanced budget during his term.  It should be noted that period came when the House was under the control of the GOP and Speaker Newt Gingrich.  However, there is something decidedly un-presidential about receiving a blow job from a White House intern.

Next up came George W. Bush.  In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Bush the younger enjoyed extremely high approval ratings for the way he handled the crisis.  It was the first time in years that I felt a higher than normal sense of pride in the president.  Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain that level of popularity.  In fact, in his re-election bid, I voted against the Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1980.  In retrospect, I am glad that the Democrat candidate lost.

Which brings us to the current President, Barack Obama.  I think it is still too early to make a final judgment on Obama, but suffice it to say that I am not impressed so far.  It took a Jimmy Carter to get us a Ronald Reagan in 1980.  One has to wonder what a Barack Obama will get us.  Unfortunately, at this time, I don't see another Ronald Reagan on the horizon, although I pray we find one soon.

 

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Live the Beautiful Game

OK.  I admit that I am not a big fan of the World Cup and all its hype.  However, I think this is pretty cool.  Originally, I used a photo of my son to create it, but Mrs. Dickster asked me to remove it.  She didn't like the bee scene in it.  So, instead, here is a revised video featuring former President George W. Bush.  Check it out and make your own.

News Briefs-4/18/10

Under normal circumstances, it would be proper and appropriate for the POTUS, Barack Obama, to attend the funeral service of the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, after Kaczynski died in an airplane crash.  However, with the volcanic eruption in Iceland that has grounded transatlantic flights for the past few days, it is prudent that the administration has decided not to attend.  As much as I disagree with Obama and his policies, I would not want to see Air Force One involved in a disaster because of the volcanic ash.  I mean seriously, could you ever imagine Joe Biden as president if anything were to happen to Obama.  On a serious note, an old friend of mine has been stuck in the UK for the past four days because of the eruption.  Todd, I hope you make it home safely and soon.

Speaking of the President, at first I thought I would just let it go by without mentioning it, but I just can't do it.  On April 15th, as there were rallies across the country regarding the nation's tax policy and the ever increasing spending by the administration, Barack Obama showed the disdain he had for the American people that disagree with him.  He essentially mocks those in the Tea Party movement by saying he is amused at the protests and he would think that they would be thanking him.  What a fucking arrogant asshole!  Sorry, I guess that makes me a racist.  George W. Bush was not without his faults, but I don't think you once heard him mock or dismiss the citizens that disagreed with his policies.  IMHO Bush is a much bigger man that Obama would ever hope to be.

On a somewhat lighter note, former escort Ashley Dupre appears on the cover of the May issue of Playboy magazine.  Within the pages is a nude pictorial and interview.  Should we even care?  If you have forgotten about Ashley, she is the escort who was involved with Elliot Spitzer, thus ending his political career.  As a Libertarian, I have no real issue with Ashley's former vocation, or with Spitzer's involvement with her.  I usually take the position that I am more concerned with dealing with my own sins rather than the sins of others.  However, Spitzer set himself up as a holier than thou reformer, and when you set yourself up above everyone else, you have farther to fall.  He got what he deserved.  One other thing, Ashley was an aspiring singer, and blames the scandal for derailing her singing career.  That wasn't it.  I heard a couple of her songs, and she just could not sing.

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Henry Waxman Summons Executives

Once again the Democrat party is out to silence dissent.  A few days after the passage of Obamacare, several major US corporations released statements that tax provisions in the new law would make it difficult for companies to continue to provide prescription coverage to retirees.  Under former President George W. Bush's passage of Medicare Prescription Drug coverage, the government gave tax breaks to companies that continued to provide coverage for retirees.  Those tax breaks have been eliminated under the new bill.

So far, AT&T, Verizon, Caterpillar, Deere, Valero Energy, AK Steel and 3M have announced that the new tax provision will make it far more expensive to continue providing prescription benefits to retirees.  They have said that in the future they may have to reduce or even cancel the benefit.  AT&T announced that they will be taking a charge of $1 billion (that is billion with a b) against earnings because of the provision.  That does not sit well with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry "Bat Boy" Waxman.

Waxman has sent letters to company executives calling them to Washington to defend their assessment that the legislation will cost them millions.  He is also demanding any internal documents related to health care finances, including their analysis of the new legislation.  The letter states, “The new law is designed to expand coverage and bring down costs, so your assertions are a matter of concern...They also appear to conflict with independent analyses.”

So let this be a lesson to you, America.  Release any news that in any way contradicts legislation passed by the politburo and you will be summoned to appear before them. 

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