Life's Inanities and Ironies

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 ...

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...