Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
Public Sector Employee Compensation
Public sector employee pay and benefit packages are front-of-mind these days as virtually all governmental bodies cope with the economy and the accompanying tax revenue shortfalls that so often appear in these situations. The Washington Examiner published a chart today depicting the changes in federal worker’s compensation from 2005 to 2010.
Hank Has Left The Building
Hank Raymonds passed away today at the age of 86 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was, I’m sure, involved with Marquette basketball right up to the time that he couldn’t physically be involved.
Deck the Halls
If you have animals or simply enjoy them, this You Tube feature is worth watching. Click here.
Hostage Takers?
I have tired greatly of the mainstream media making every possible effort to convince us that the Republicans wanted to ‘cut’ taxes and cause all kinds of bad things to happen to deserving people; they lost sight of the fact that the Democrats actually wanted to raise taxes since the change they espoused would’ve removed the tax reductions in place for nearly a decade.
Is WikiLeaks a Big Deal?
The WikiLeaks case has made all the headlines for the past week and promises to continue to be heard and read about for weeks to come. The whole thing has raised a lot of questions as we view the nature of the information being revealed, and as we recognize from where this information came originally.
Political Paybacks 101
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) received very large donations from the casino operators and casino employees in Las Vegas as he fought to retain his seat in the U. S. Senate. If anyone thought this was done simply out of the goodness of their hearts, we have the answer to clarify that little detail.
Stay Tuned for Weather-mania...
Weather-mania is once again alive and well in our area in contemplation of the major system pointed in our general direction.
ObamaCare Takes a Hit
A Federal judge today made his decision about the requirement in PPACA (ObamaCare) that stipulates we citizens either buy coverage or face a fine for not having purchased coverage. He found that clause to be unconstitutional. This language was inserted so that insurers wouldn’t be hit with people buying coverage after being diagnosed with a disease. You may’ve heard this equated to someone deciding to buy homeowners coverage after discovering the house was on fire. Such activities would make the cost of ObamaCare unsustainable from an insurance company perspective. The Federal judge found it was wrong to penalize people for not engaging in commerce.
Here We Go Again
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is threatening to hold the Senate in session after the Christmas holidays and until the very last day it can convene (January 4th) in order to pass several pieces of legislation. Whether that is just a threat or is actually what he’ll do remains to be seen; he has demonstrated the ability, from his old boxing days, to duck and weave with the best of them.
Political Arrogance
Political arrogance is on display in both Washington, D.C. and in Madison, WI. The lame duck sessions in both cities have helped, once again, to demonstrate that we have problems in our political world.
Have You Ever Dreaded Seeing a Dentist?
I have had a history of not liking to see my dentist; if you are anything like me, you know how dreaded one of those visits can be. By postponing necessary visits, I just made the later visit the more harrowing and the more expensive because the issues had grown while I delayed. My issues stemmed from a few less than good experiences as a kid when those old belt-driven drills spun at about 400RPM and when the pain deadening shot was almost as bad as the drilling.
Through the Eyes of a Child
Christmas is fast approaching. I attended the children’s Christmas program at our church yesterday afternoon and was reminded of the great joy and anticipation those youngsters have as the big day approaches.
Joy and Sadness; Sadness and Joy...
Joy and sadness. Sadness and joy. Those mixed themes continue to course through my mind as this most joyous of holidays approaches.
Joining the Military Appears Quite Difficult
Could you pass the knowledge-based entrance exam for the military? Recent studies show that between 16% and 20% of the people who took this test in Wisconsin failed the test.
What If?
What if the Christmas Story is true?
Cal Thomas wrote under that banner in today's Washington Examiner. If you'd like to read that story, click here.
Rein-In The Regulators
We are governed in a stealthy manner by an ‘alphabet soup’ of government agencies, bureaus, commissions and departments. These units of government have rule-making powers and use those powers to regulate off the radar screen in large part. For a lengthy list, click here.
Intellectual Dishonesty
This is the definition for intellectual dishonesty found on Wikipedia:
What Cuts Would You Make?
Trickle down from state to counties, cities, villages, towns and schools could be significant given the economic situation that exists.
Energy Costs Increasing...
The headline in the JournalSentinel yesterday told us “Business energy bills will increase by 13%”. Reading further, we learned that residential bills were ONLY going to increase by 5%. This is caused, according to that story, by the ending of credits from the sale of the Point Beach nuclear facility.
