Sunday, August 15, 2010

‘Cash for Flunkers’

House Minority Leader John Boehner has suggested several names for the new stimulus bill Democrats rammed through Congress last week — none of them complimentary.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summoned lawmakers back from summer break and they voted 61 to 39 on Tuesday to approve the emergency $26 billion stimulus-type bill that Democrats said would save 300,000 jobs. President Obama immediately signed it into law.

But Democrats were in such a rush to pass the bill that on Sunday night, two days before the vote, the legislation still did not have a name.

Congress’ official website called it the “____ Act of ____,” and the Library of Congress referred to it as the “XXXXXX Act of XXXX.”

Republicans said the bill is an election-year gift to teachers and public workers unions, CNSNews reported.

“A nameless bill for a hopeless cause is a fitting metaphor for a Democratic Congress that refuses to listen to the American people and abandon its job-killing agenda,” said Boehner. The Ohio lawmaker referred to it as the “union-boss bailout” bill and offered several names for the legislation:

Save Our “Stimulus” (SOS) Act

“Recovery Summer” Bailout Act (Cash for Flunkers)

Delivering Unions a Major Boost (DUMB) Act

Helping Election Expenditures, Hurting American Workers (HEEHAW) Act

Democracy Is Strengthened by Clearly Leveraging and Optimizing Special-Interests' Effectiveness (DISCLOSE) Act

Rescuing Incumbent Democrats Is Costly (RIDIC) Act

Summertime Cash for Union Bosses Instead of Spending Cuts for Taxpayers Act

Frivolous Act of Ineffective Largesse (FAIL) Act

Naming These Things Hasn't Gotten Us Anywhere, So Why Bother Act

Boehner said, “The American people don’t want more Washington ‘stimulus’ spending — especially in the form of a political season payoff to union bosses.”


Walking In Jerusalem


Silver Spurs (On The Golden Stairs)

Monday, August 2, 2010

It appears that things ARE getting smaller (including my waistline, thankfully) and we have to pay more for it. Here is an example: The other day I was enjoying a Tootsie Roll Pop and I noticed that it was considerably smaller than what I was used to. Also there wasn’t as much Tootsie Roll inside.

Just a taste and that was all. Sticks of gum are smaller and fewer in a package; candy bars are smaller; ice cream cones are smaller. SMALLER, smaller, smaller.
This hasn’t just happened over-night. It has been slowly happening over the years. Oh well, I guess this is the coming thing. Now — don’t get me wrong — I’m not picking on only grocery items, but it seems that is the most noticeable commodity.
I don’t blame the grocery stores as they must sell what items they get — it’s the manufacturers and marketers who think that we won’t notice that things are getting shorter, smaller, not as many, and costing more. Packaging is another culprit that is trying to deceive us.
Larger or same size containers, but not as much inside like plastic jars that have an indentation on the bottom, to name one.
Here is a list of things that I noticed to be smaller and maybe you also have noticed these and other items.
• Crackers: No matter what kind of crackers you buy — they are smaller.
• Coffee: You used to be able to buy a pound (16 ounce) but now it is 11.5 ounces.
• Bar soap: Was 4.5 ounces but is now 4 ounces.
• Peanut butter: Was 18 ounces and is now 16.3 ounces.
• Toilet Paper: Rolls are shorter and not as wide. The core tube on which the paper is wound is larger, though. Woweee!
• Ice cream bars: They are smaller than they used to be.
• Cereals: Are the same price but their is less weight per box.
• Facial Tissue: A box used to have 100 sheets; now it has less.
• Pop/Soda: Comes in cases of 18, not 24, but at the same price.
• Sugar: Forever was in 5 lb bags now most are 4 lbs.
• Magazines and Newspapers: Yes, even the size of the print media is smaller.
Well, there you have it, but the more I think about that — smaller isn’t all bad. Smaller portions of food and drink, for example isn’t bad. Moderation is the key. Hey, I’m even smaller in size. I used to be 6' but now I am 5’11”
So does that make me the incredible shrinking man? I guess this is just a cranky old person that used to remember when things were larger and when you wanted a pound of coffee there was 16 ounces in the can.
They say that the “world is getting smaller” when the airplane began setting records of speed, and “good things come in small packages” was a saying years ago as was “smaller is better” (as in transistors and hearing aids and microscopic chips).
So, I guess, small is OK when you talk about those things.


Silver Spurs (On The Golden Stairs):



I Hang My Head And Cry: