So there I was, sitting at the Love's truck stop with nothing to do. The football games were mildly entertaining but my connection speed was not quite fast enough to allow for a smooth broadcast of any given game. I closed down the windows from the video streams and tried to find something else to keep me occupied. Then I got a phone call. Not the obligatory midnight Happy New Year phone calls, this one was much earlier. A friend of mine who lives outside Toledo called to ask where I was and what were my plans for the night. Sonofabitch. I picked up this damn load about five miles from her house. I could have gone out for the night with her and her (rather amusing) friends to welcome in the new year. Yeah, I'm dumb. It never occurred to me. Instead I spent the night in Indiana, reading about the day's news and weeping for the sorry state of the collective American intellect. Oh well. Such is life.
Today took me across the rest of Indiana and into Illinois. I thought about driving a little further but there is really no point in doing so. I might as well leave myself a little bit of driving for each of the next four days. I've parked in Effingham for the night to watch the second half of the Rose Bowl and then the Orange Bowl. I was pretty sure that USC got hosed by the BCS process before today. Now I'm a little more convinced.
I thought your cousin lives in Arkansas?
ReplyDeleteI probably know what you're talking about, but I have no relatives in Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteSounds like that 01/20/2009 date scares you a bit. I dont know what to think. Hopefully it wont get to much worse...We have alot of past bubbles that we are now paying for. Perhaps there is no such thing as steady she goes. Its either feast or famine. To much feast makes for longer famines. We are all guilty of wanting it all now instead of thinking about the long haul. As a longhaul guy you ought to understand the nessesity of patience. I say what should happen is that every American that is a home owner should be able to do a one time refinance at 1% interest for 30 year fixed. That would knock of in most cases many hundreds of dollars a month on mortgage payments. That money could be saved or spent in the malls. It would give the banks and mortage co's. something to do. It would act as a nice stimulus for the economy for the people that really need it. Not just the wall street cronies.....
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty safe bet that my views on monetary policy differ with yours (and probably most of the country's) since I firmly believe higher interest rates, not lower, are part of the answer. I won't bore you with that drivel though. We all have our theories. I know from conversations with UAW members back home that I'm just a right-wing hatemonger and yet somehow I manage to live with myself.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of Jan. 20th though, I think you've got me all wrong. I'm not scared. I'm excited. My job will pay more, my health insurance will be cheaper, wacko terrorists will stop wanting me dead, houses will never lose value again, college will be free, the unemployed will all start building bridges and roads, schools will have more (and better qualified) teachers, cars will emit rainbows instead of carbon dioxide, and best of all... evil rich dudes will pay for it all (since 95% of us will get a tax cut).
I used to think that we should be skeptical of people who promise the moon and stars when we know that they could never deliver 1/10th of it. Not now though. I've seen the error of my ways. I am pumped up for the hopenchange!
http://www.nationaljournal.com/campaigns/2008/wh08/promises_obama.htm
WOW, At least you can pump out some sarcastic and strongly worded view points. I have know idea what it all means. Have never had a clue..But I do get a little uptight when I hear "trickle down" economic policies. I think this country is way beyond the "Trickle down effect". Perhaps back during the 20, 30 40. and 50"s it was needed. Kind of like an adolescent child needing an allowance from their parents.. But America is past her adolescent stage. Trickle down economic policies kill what this country has always been about...The Middle Class....I dont give two hoots in hell for the poor or the supper rich. The last time I checked those two groups made up about 12% of the population. Hardly a majority concern. I used to be all for total deregulation untill it became obvious that this country was in the total control of large corporations. That just gives them a liscense to steal. Which is what they have been doing....I'm glad you are happy doing what your doing.It sounds like your good at it.....I tell you what wait untill you are 40. Get a wife and a couple kids then try and go start your own business. Then get back to me on healthcare costs...As long as you are in the spiders web you don't have these concerns. It's all good....
ReplyDeleteSarcastic? Yeah. Guilty as charged. I'm pretty sure I failed to make my point though. You and I could go back and forth on the merits of various socioeconomic paradigms on my blog comments here until we were blue in the face. I suspect that neither of us would change our minds. I'm in the minority and, as I've noted on numerous occasions, I won't lose any sleep over it.
ReplyDeleteThe original wisecrack a couple of days ago was directed at the people (specifically a radio DJ) who think that one man, having never accomplished anything, will walk into Washington and change the world. I only listed a select few of the promises in my previous comment, as I'm sure you're aware. I may be the wet behind the ears sucker with no responsibilities in this conversation, but I know enough to say that this stuff is Fantasyland talk. We spent thirty years getting fat and complacent in this country and we got what we deserved. Whether it was tax cuts on the right or handouts on the left, the politicians kept buying our votes and we kept writing the IOU's. No one man, even the new messiah, can change that.
When the time comes to pay the piper, I think you've touched on the biggest problem - there simply aren't that many rich people. Once we've demonized them and taken their money, we're still gonna be around $10 trillion in the hole (with the $50 trillion tsunami from Medicare and SSI on the horizon).
I tend to stay away from political debate on here for obvious reasons. I make my occasional wisecrack because that's just my nature, but people are going to believe what they're going to believe. Maybe we really will add 40 million people to our health insurance system and it won't cost us any more money in the process. If so I'll be glad to say that I was wrong, but I don't think I'm out of line to wonder, "How, exactly?"
Actually I enjoy your point of view very much. I dont get upset or consider this a blood preasure raising argument. I do believe your the type of guy that makes this country a good one. A guy who does his job, dosent expect hand outs and dosent complain alot. I to am not ready to bow down to the coming messiahs feet. Unfortunatly I am an idealist. I do believe we have the ability to make the world an awsome place.(without going into a definition on awsome). I do believe that our founding fathers had a strong propensity for idealism themselves. What is America if not an idealistic state of mind. We work hard and pay an awfull lot of taxes all to see that money packaged and rubber stamped of to very Questionable places. If someone will actually use some of that money for infastructure or healthcare or SS or medicare instead of allowing the AIG boys to fly of to Cali for massages and Bl**jobs then me personnally has to lean in the idealist direction.........Have a good day..Keep up the good posts.....over and out.....
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