If It's Not A Tax...

Last Sunday Obama spent the better part of his day trying to explain his health care reform to the talking heads. The question most on everyone's mind was whether or not the mandated penalty of $1900.00 to be levied on those not buying insurance was in fact a tax increase. Obama insisted it was not. It would seem the IRS has a different opinion.

Senator John Ensign, R-NV, queried the chief-of-staff of the Joint Committee of Taxation, John Barthold, if the levy would be handled as a tax citing that many Americans are questioning whether the government has the Constitutional right to mandate the purchase of insurance.

Politico provided a copy of Berthold's handwritten reply. Let's see if I've got this right. People who don't need nor want to buy health insurance, for whatever reason, good, bad or indifferent, will have to do so or face a fine up to $1900.00. Forget that some of these people will be hard pressed to afford the premiums because their income's fall into a nether world just as Medicaid is today.

It's not a tax according to Obama yet Berthold cites Section 7203 of the tax code stating wilful failure to comply could lead to a misdemeanor charge with fines up to $25,000 and not more to a year in jail! Ouch!

If it should ever uptick to felony tax evasion the poor person who couldn't afford the premiums what's more the $1900 could wind up facing a fine of $100,000 for an individual and five years in prison.

Just be forewarned if the Baucus bill is the one that passes, it states, as of now, the penalty is a tax. Buyer beware! I hesitate to call this whole health care reform exercise a mess; the term doesn't seem to be strong enough!

Where's the TSA?

I got to thinking after watching the chaos at the G20 just why those rabble rousers aren't on some kind of watch list while so many everyday citizens are. While we get man handled at airports they fly around with impunity. It's because they go through the same inconveniences we do knowing full well the odds are with them.

While skimming the Drudge report today, four headlines caught my attention:

Terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base...
FBI arrests Jordanian for Dallas bomb plot...
Illinois man charged in plot to bomb Federal offices...
Men vanish after taking pictures in Philly subway station...

There have been an increasing number of headlines like these that should give us pause. It's comforting to see the FBI is on the job. I wonder, however, if some of these people haven't flown around the country from time to time whether it be on "business" or not. And if so why have they not been caught?

Is it because they blend in with the travelling public so well that they are no more suspect than any of the rest of us? They are so practiced at what they do there is never a downward glance in the face of authority or a nervous twitch? If so what is the use of putting all of us through the humiliating scrutiny of the TSA?

Of course, in the Philadelphia case, the men in question had an easy time of it because the fancy "state of the art" security camera system has yet to be activated and they don't have a clue as to when it will be up and working.

We have a new Secretary of Homeland Security. It would be nice if she would review some of these practices to determine if they are worth the expenditure. Is the TSA catching anyone? If so they need to talk with their media relations people because the word isn't getting out.

Yes, we have the right to protest, we have the right of free speech but that does not include the right to destroy and intimidate. That should apply to both sides. Does the government have the right to destroy our rights and intimidate us into allowing it?

I'm beginning to wonder if they think they do. The FBI is doing it's job for a change. How about everyone else? Hmmm, I'm wondering if not buying health insurance and being fined for it would be considered intimidation?

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

Ahh, I remember it well. I can't get the lyrics from the Guy Mitchell song out of my head - "There's a pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania..."

Pittsburgh - home of the Steelers and the Penguins. The winners. And the Pirates who' s fans are like the Cubs fans. You love the bums because they're yours.

It's a city that gets in your blood and never goes away. When my family moved there in 1945 we had those days black with smoke from the mills that you read about. Soot everywhere. Where we lived we had the additional joy of cement dust.

It was a city chock full of ethnic neighborhoods - and still is. They give the city as much of it's character as does the spectacular architecture, much of which has come since I left so many years ago. Friends often send me photo spreads to remind me of "home".

Now they will be on the world stage. The G20 is visiting. Foreign dignitaries with their entourages. What a wonderful city to showcase just what America is all about.

But wait. As I watched the news last night I saw merchants boarding up their store fronts. It's not the dignitaries they fear. It's the rabble that follows them where ever they go to protest any and everything. They usually create chaos and leave behind untold damage to property that is not their own.

I don't know what happens during the victory parades that are fairly common place with the Steelers and Penquins. I don't know if store fronts are barricaded. Not to excuse it, but if damage occurs it's from over exuberance. Pittsburgh's fans celebrating. Pittsburgh's rabble rousers.

It's rather like criticising one's mate to a friend just to vent; if the friend does anything more than listen he's/she's treading on dangerous ground. I can trash my mate or my family but don't you dare!

Boarding up store fronts and anticipating a near silent downtown. Anticipating chaos from total strangers who don't care one bit. I wonder about how awful it will be seeing swarms of police trying to maintain peace. A near police state in my home town. Just for a meeting. I wonder if it's worth it.

A huge PS. My worst fears have come true. They need to move these meetings to a ship in the middle of the ocean without televison cameras and surrounded by a well armed Navy!

Huummmmm er....

A young French student left this comment on yesterday's post:

Hello !
I'm french, I'm 17 years old, and I study English at school. And in my English book, we speak about you and your blog. I think that's very original to whrite all your thoughs in a blog, and I think you've got a quality writing. You have to go on !

It's amazing how one comment inspires me not to change what I'm doing. It is what I do when it comes to blogging.

I dedicate today's post to my young reader.

What vehicle first comes to mind when you think of humongous gas guzzlers the administration wants to get off our roads? The Hummer, right? They'd like to annihilate it, right?

Imagine my surprise when I saw this headline in this morning's Wall Street Journal - Hummer Plans Headquarters In Michigan! It made me realize someone out there thinks there is going to be a market for them. Not GM. It's one of the brands they chose to get rid of.

How about the Chinese? They're the ones buying the brand! They'll no doubt sell a lot of them in China. Probably enough to wipe out and carbon emissions savings that would have occurred here had the brand disappeared.

The game plan, however, is not to contain it in China. The plans for the U.S. include the creation of 300 jobs with people working on design, marketing, engineering and distribution. To keep it in Michigan, the state has committed $20.6 over the next ten years! Wow!

You've gotta love it! GM sells the gas guzzler to China who in turn will devote millions in research, development and distribution tactics in the U.S.. Michigan in particular because they need the jobs, want to keep the reputation of being the automotive capital of the world and offered the greatest incentives.

Now that the cash for clunkers deal has ended, the used car business is in shambles and showrooms of car dealers sit silent, the foundation for an uprising has been laid! Hummer will live to see another day! America loves it's gas guzzlers. America needs it's gas guzzlers, especially during the winter months, just to get around. Especially here in the West! Try driving a smart car over some of our back country roads. Try going anywhere in a car that needs a charge every eight hours and it takes nearly as many hours to complete. Try paying the surcharge on your electric bill for the extra electricity that will have to be generated!

In time, be assured, when all this hype has once more settled down, Hummers will peek out of garages along with honkin' big pickups, SUVs of all types bearing familiar brands. The difference will be the ownership will be foreign and the profits will go off shore.

Our emissions may go down for a time but foreign emissions will increase to offset them. Then ours will creep back up.

These attempts at sweeping change seem to have a few flaws. Are we just a little at odds with ourselves?

The Puppy Weeks

There are times it's good to visit the good old days. This would seem to be just such. As I'm saying more and more often, I'm tired of politics. Some days there is so much to comment on it's overwhelming. Today would seem to be just such.

I've been spending some free time scanning a multitude of dog photos into my computer. One day I'll burn a disc, or a series of discs, documenting the lives of all our dogs. It's fun going back and remembering; with Bacchus it's bittersweet because his leaving is still so recent.

I would suppose there are more people out there who are dog lovers who would rather watch the emergence of the life of a dog than read my opinions. It has been fun seeing what you can do with stills rather than video. Actually, while still a newbie, I'm better with the stills.

So today, in recognition of the beginning of fall, I present the beginning of Bacchus's life. The Puppy Weeks. With a Saint that's all you get. Weeks! They grow so fast. If you're inclined, take a few minutes and enjoy.