A Clean Sweep

As more dreck oozes out of the monumental cluster-fuck known as the Obama Healthcare Bill, I am again stunned by the "work" of our fine elected representatives in the House and Senate. 

You might recall that the bill weighed in at a staggering 2,000+ pages.  Did anyone know everything that was in the bill?  Of course not.  We were reassured that we would deal with individual problems associated with this legislation as they arose.

So here are just a couple of things that have come to light:

• A 3.6% tax on the capital gains in the sale of your residence.  Assume you sell your home and have a $200,000 gain.  Suddenly, Obama-Care is the receipient of $7,200!
• A requirement for all businesses to file 1099s on all vendors where the company has spent $600 during the business year.

Absurd!  Staples, Starbuck's, Von's, Time Warner, AT&T, San Diego Gas & Electric, Barnes & Nobel, Amazon, a number of cigar stores...I figure that I will have issue about 50 1099s.  For what purpose?  Will Staples, on the receiving end of millions of these forms, need to hire an army of people to process them...and again, to be perfectly redundant, for what purpose.

So, I have a new political outlook.  My voting pattern will be simple.  If you're currently in, you're out.  Republican, Democract, Independent, it doesn't matter.  Whether or not I like you, your views, or even know you personally, you are O-U-T.  That's the only message the electorate can send that will truly resonate in Washington.  Let's give them a dose of what this economy is really all about.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if 468 numb-nuts were suddenly unemployed on November 3rd?  (That's all 435 members of the House and the 33 or so Senators standing for re-election.)

When I share this view to friends in my rare political discussions I always get push back.  Always in the manner of "Well, what about Mr. X?  He's a good ___________ (fill-in-the-blank) and has always had our interests in mind."  Frankly, I don't care if Mr. X did have our best interests, and not his own, in mind.  OUT! No exceptions.  All means all.

Another argument is that then Congress would be filled with neophytes.  So what?  Can they do a worse job than the Moron Tabernacle Choir in there now?  Is there a single statesman in government, at any level?  (Maybe Robert Gates, maybe Hillary Clinton.) 

No, we would all be well served by being well served by someone else.

Cheers!

Today marks the fourth week of our return from Scotland, and the fourth Friday where we will NOT be heading off to Jelly Hill to see our old friends and make new ones.  Tonight we'll have a nice dinner and watch one of the Netflix movies.  Lynn put it best, "In Scotland we actually had a social life!"

When we returned we sat down and created a list of our favorite phrases or words that we heard bandied about.  In no particular order:

• "Do it, do it, do it!" 
• "Shockin'!"
• "Fantastic!"
• "Sorted."  (One of my personal faves, with many applications, and incredibly versatile when it comes to agreement on any number of issues.)
• "Do we have a problem, friend?" (Delivered in a perfect American accent, this phrase was a favorite of Tom's Yank boss in the 1970s)
• "Pardon us, but we seem to be having a domestic."
• "Massive."
• "Stupid, stupid, girl."  (See earlier post about the Great Race.)
• "At's a load of shite." 
• "Brilliant." (Wonderful.)
• "Dead brilliant." (More wonderful.)
• "Pure, dead brilliant." (Most wonderful.)
• "Wee."
• "For fuck's sake!"
• "Oh, aye."
• "I'm going mental."
• "Cheers."

What has become a permanent fixture in my vocabulary has been "Cheers."  Like "Aloha" it works equally well as a greeting or in taking one's leave.  It is so much better than saying goodbye, and imparts more than a simple "Thank you."  I even added it to my online signature.

"For fuck's sake!" isn't bad either.  And, as F-bombs go, this one is more expressive and less offensive than most.

Lynn and I have both been "Oh, aye"-ing each other to the most serious and mundane of questions.  But an "aye" seems to carry more import than a simple yes.

In any case...

Cheers!