Pork Bill

The news media keeps refering to the $800 billion stimulus bill, but they are repeating a lie. This bill is all pork, all big government spending, with no economic stimulus features. The $800 billion is primarily a payoff to the most loyal Democrat voters: labor unions, welfare-recipients, ACORN, teachers, universities, etc. For example, the current House version doubles the annual budget for the National Park Service ($2 billion is raised to $4 billion)! The tax cuts in this bill are not reductions in tax rates, but one-time payments to low-income families (another loyal Democrat consituency). The bill will cause the Treasury to write checks this fall (or increase the tax refund check) in the amount of 6.2% of their family income, making it a refund of their FICA payment for 2009.

To stimulate the economy, a stimulus bill should include capital gains tax cuts, immediate business tax deductions for capital investments made in 2009, reduced tax rates for all tax brackets, reductions in the minimum wage, and other incentives for small businesses to hire new employees. After all, small businesses typically account for well over half of new hires during economic recoveries.

We've Got Basic Cable

As a friend of mine said, "Welcome to the 1980's". :)

It took three visits by Comcast to get the internet working at the same time as the cable TV, but we succeeded. The last guy tested the individual cables we installed in 1985 and found a bad one that was leaking 40-100 MHz electrical noise into the cable network. I connected the antenna to that cable, so we will still have access to some digital channels after Feb. 17 (4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 22, 33, 45, 51).
Also, he changed out some splitters to improve the signal quality at the main TV. So, we're good. We get analog channels 2-24, 26-30, 75-78, and 99.

Dextrolanophobia

Have I blogged about this topic before? It has long been a problem here is western Washington. Empty right lanes on freeways, that is. You see, the liberals in western Washington apparently loathe anything right-wing, including driving in the right lane of the freeways. I have coined the term dextrolanophobia (dextro as in right, lano as in lane, and phobia as in fear) to describe this apparent fear of driving in the right lane. Every day, the right lane is almost empty on the crowded freeways as all the centrists and leftists crowd to the center and left lanes.

So I pass them on the right. It might be illegal, but the sign says "Keep right except to pass" and not "No passing on the right." In Europe, they enforce that "Keep right except to pass" law, and the motorways have all the slow moving vehicles in the outside lane, allowing the middle lanes to drive at their own speed.

About "W"

Being a Republican president is a thankless job.

He even got a few boo's today from the crowd.