Share the What?

I keep hearing the phrase Spread the Wealth this past year. Kinda makes ya think.

The very poor may think it sounds great, because they envision fantastic riches they've never before experienced. And, hey, it'll cost them nothing, not work, not education, not effort, not time. Just a sort of magic where everything they've ever wanted simply drops into their laps.

Does it work that way? Nope.

Think about this - the people preaching Share The Wealth are usually very rich politicians. Do they want to share their wealth? No. If they did, they'd be giving their millions away. Do they? No, they want you to share your limited wealth, but keep their hot little fists tightly clenched around their excessive wealth. No, their wealth isn't for sharing. Uh uh.

No, Sharing the Wealth will not apply to them or their rich friends. So what wealth are we sharing? The very limited wealth of the beleagered middle and the moderately well-off classes. Beleagered? Yes, they are already sharing their wealth through a miriad of programs requiring huge percentages of their earnings, sharing to the point of near-bankruptcy.

So, Sharing the Wealth would not affect the really wealthy, but would bring down the middle class without appreciably bringing up the lower class. It'd create mostly poverty in America. Povery with no chance to climb out because anything earned would be "shared."

America would be left with two classes - the peons and the elite. Guess who wins? Guess who rules? And yes, I use rules instead of governs deliberately.

So the most honest way to express ths idea is not Share the Wealth.

It is Share the Poverty.

A Hand Up sounds a whole lot better to me, but that's common sense and common sense is out of favor these days.

OofDah!

Health Care Reform

I am so confused. Early in the debate about health care, rising costs were cited as the main reason for attempting this massive change. But most people seemed to realize the government does nothing more efficiently and cheaper than private business.

And when people wondered why we should pay MORE for health care, the focus seemed to change to covering the uncovered. So we have this monstrous law to cover a few million. The largest number I've heard in connection with the uncovered is 32 million.

So to cover these 32 million, the rest of us will now pay higher premiums and more taxes. This will cost huge amounts, huge!

Of course, the government says it will not, but who believes that? Everything the government does costs more than they expected - why should this project be different? And what are they counting?

We need to hire 16.5 thousand new IRS jobs? How much will that cost over several years? And how much fun will that be? How many dollars per giggle?

How many more clerks, processers, and other paper pushers will be needed in government? And since it is government, you gotta count how many are needed and then double it. How much will that cost? They, too, will be paid by taxpayers.

So here's my real question - why are we doing all this to cover 32 million people? Where's the common sense in that?

Why not take 32 million and just buy health insurance for the 32 million uncovered? It should be enough to cover them for their lifetimes. Got 'em covered; saved billions. Common sense.

OofDah!

Difficult people

Today I spoke with a colleague. Poor thing!

My job has been extremely stressful recently and the fussing landed me in the hospital just before Christmas. I've made some basic changes at work that have helped, but dealing with hostile people is diffcult.

The problems began because some people were demanding that I perform a job-related act that would have been illegal under the circumstances. They didn't care - I should do as they wanted. From there the fuss escaladed to false accusations levied at me and at others, immature behavior, false accusations, reports to authorities, loud voices at board meetings. Oh, yeah, a real joy!

Well, today when I spoke with my colleague, I discovered the craziness in my life is trumped by the lunacy in hers. Unlike me, she did not end up in a hospital (yet), but she lost 15 pounds in a month because of stress caused by dealing with similar experiences to mine, with an added little bonus - death threats!

Say it with feeling! OOOOFDAAAH!

What is happening in this country? Congress is corrupt, lies in DC are rampant, votes are for sale, statesmanship is sold out for personal gain -- behavior is abominable at the capitol - and it all seems to filter down to the loonies in our home towns.

Do we really want to foster a me-society where everyone seems to think things should be their way even if it means someone else gets hurt? Or do we want decent role models in our seat of government to encourage honest, sane behavior and responsibility?

Venlig hilsen!

My Clunker

I need a different vehicle; I drive an old clunker.

You see, I felt I couldn't responsibly take advantage of the government clunker program. The reason I drive an old car and have never had a brand, spankin' new one is simply I cannot afford the payments on a new car. I have other priorities, like a house and an appetite.

The clunker program didn't make sense to me. OffDah! Seems to me you have three kinds of car owners - those who can afford car payments so have fairly new cars, those who cannot afford car payments so drive older cars, and those who cannot afford car payments but buy a new car anyway. The last group are irresponsible, in over their heads, can't make their house payment or buy health insurance or groceries - and expect someone else to pick up the tab.

So the clunker program was good for a couple of things - it helped people who could afford a new car anyway (if they could afford a new car, they didn't need a subsidy) and it helped people who will not be able to meet the payments.

And it was bad for a couple of reasons, it took away older cars some responsible people need because they can't afford payments on a new car, and it raised the prices of the remaining older cars.

Now the responsible people cannot afford a different used car, not only because the prices are too high but because they have to pay more taxes to subsidize the irresponsible who cannot meet house payments, buy their own health insurance, or buy groceries without the help of food stamps because they're making new-car payments.

Should government be promoting irresponsibility and pushing the cost onto the responsible?

Should government be punishing the responsible?

OofDah!

What is OofDah?

OofDah is a sacred Norwegian word. Neh, it's a Norwegian-American slang word.

Norwegian-American. Is there such a thing? Neh, we of Norwegian descent love our country and simply call ourselves American. No split allegiance. No claims for special treatment because we came from another country. Real Americans taking on the responsiblity of real citizenship.

OofDah, it's that simple. And we don't understand the claims to hyphenated-American. How can you be somewhat-American? Either you are a citizen or not.

Why be hyphenated? OofDah, that's not American to me. Drop the hyphen and become an American, plain and simple! I'm an American of Norwegian descent, definitely NOT a Norwegian-American.

So back to OofDah. What does it mean? Well, it is a very versatile word and so useful in any situation! Let me demonstrate. If I drop something, I say OofDah; if I almost drop something but catch it in time, I say OofDah; if make it over a puddle, I say OofDah; if I splash into it, I say OofDah; if someone does something stupid, I say OofDah; if someone excels at something, I say OofDah.

Handy little unhyphenated word, isn't it? OofDah, it is almost sacred.

Venlig hilsen!