Politicians should be changed like diapers – plus a joke.

Frog_01-1

Our politicians today are a privileged group of self-serving individuals that would not hesitate to sell anyone down the river to get what they want.

One of the problems we have today is the fact that the two political parties have polarized themselves so far to the two extremes of ideology (liberal and conservative) that they have become ineffective and basically in need of being replaced by people who believe in the goals of our original government; to serve the people, and not just themselves.

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Its a NEW YEAR, I wonder if our NEW Politicians will do better?

Water Turtle

Water Turtle

It has been a disgusting past year from my perspective when I look at the Idiots in Congress.

One news show cited that Congress, the whole gaggle of strutting fools that they are have an approval rating with the American public of Less than 17%!

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I Was Just Thinking! How big must your Cajones be?

IWas Just Thinkin' - IRS Agents, FBI Agents

That’s right Exactly How Big must your cajones be for you to run for political office?

I’m just wondering, you understand. I am not interested in the job myself. But these people have gotten themselves voted into such plush jobs that for them to use their perks must take a pretty large set. Continue reading

JOKE – Abbott and Costello do Unemployment

Pic by Don Bobbitt
 
So how can over 873,000 people come off the unemployment rolls when there were only a little over 114,000 jobs created? 
Below is a transcript of a conversation between two eminent economists discussing this very question! 


COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in  America . 

ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 7.8%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.

COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.

ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 14.7% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 7.8%.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?

ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.

COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, the White House said you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the  unemployed.You  have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who  look for work.  It wouldn’t be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if   you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment roles that would count as less
unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down.
Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for
work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down.
That’s how they get it to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%. The resident  doesn’t want you to read about 14.7% unemployment.

COSTELLO:
That would be tough on those Democrats running for reelection.
ABBOTT:
Absolutely.
COSTELLO:
Wait, I got a question for you.
That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number? 

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a  job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of  the two is to have people stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like an Economist.

COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like Congress

I was Just Thinkin’ – PORK BARREL Issues

This little article includes my rant about the stupidity of Congress and their continuing inability ro agree to resolve issues.
It is my opinion, mine only, and I do this, for no other reason than to lower my blood pressure.
This is not an effort to change the minds (really?) of those that we have put in charge of our lives and our futures.
In case you have been living in the same hole in the ground that Punxsutawney Phil calls home, here is a little news bite that I just witnessed.
First, you must be aware that the Income tax reduction that was put in place several years ago, by the Bush administration, has ended.
Just to give you some perspective on this tax reduction, if it is not renewed, the typical person that has an income of $50,000, will see a tax increase, of approximately $1000 for the year.
So,let’s keep it simple with the math.
Just divide that $1000 by 12 and you get $83.33 per month that you will not have, personally, to pay bills, buy food, or whatever you needs may be.
$1000 divided by 12 months equals $83.33
Now, why my rant?
Well, as the story unfolded on the TV show, it turns out that the show stopper is another example of “Stupid Is as Stupid Does” by Congress, or so it seems to me.
This time it seems that with both parties holding up approval of an extension to the tax break is actually both the Elephants and the Donkeys.
I call them by their animal names because it helps me understand the obvious lack of “Potty Training” on their part.
Why Potty Training?
Using this phrase help me explain why the members of the two parties are constantly walking around PISSING on each other rather than resolving the issues that are critical to pulling our economy back up by its bootstraps.
What is the Issue this time?
This time the Elephants say they are ready to approve the tax exemption but the Donkeys are the problem.
Why are the Donkeys a problem?
You will love this!
According to the Elephants, the Donkeys/Elephants, (who know which is the original culprit here) had attached one of those Pork Barrell issues to the Bill for the approval of the tax reduction extension.
And what was this oh-so-important issue?
Why it’s the approval for that Keystone Oil Pipeline from Alaska through Canada and into and across part of the US to Texas.
And what is the issue with this giant, lobbyist-driven Boondoggle?
Why, don’t you understand? The Donkeys, yes the Donkeys, are refusing to approve the Bill due to ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.
Environmental Issues? What environmental issues you might say?
Well, they don’t really have a handle on that, at the moment, you see.
We NEED TO STUDY the POSSIBLE environmental impact of such a project as this one.
They haven’t found an endangered animal, not even a Snail.
They haven’t found any seismic situations that might cause a broken oil line.
They haven’t even found a site whose beauty might be sullied by such a pipeline.
Nope! They just want to study everything, just in case there is an issue that pops up that needs management.
And, the Bill has now affected the economy through; Federal worker reductions, reduced Medicare payments, and EPA standards on Boiler emissions, just to name a few of the little Boogers that they have attached to the underside of the bill that was supposed to help us, the middle-class Americans just get a decent tax break.
The Bill is HR 3630.
This is why i have these rants.
Our representatives in Congress, even when they have a clear and clean-cut issue that can help everyone in the middle class of America next year, just have to screw things up.
This, when they need to help us all with a continued tax reduction during this critical time for our country.
But, no, they play their petty games and do this to us all..
Now, I don’t want to make any plant, animal, or anything else extinct. I don’t want to endanger the environment, in any way.
But, when you intentionally attach such a volatile project onto one that we, the whole country needs approved, you are really telling us, the public, one thing.
CONGRESS REALLY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND!
They don’t understand the true needs of the people.
They don’t understand the state of our economic problems,
They don’t understand how PISSED, we, the public, are with them.
END of RANT!

——————————————-

 

Just Thinkin’ #5, the Fiscal Cliff, AGAIN!

I was Just thinking, again!

I know, but it is’s a bad Habit that I just can’t shake.

I glanced up at the News on TV. You know that canned stuff putout to entertain us, but at the same time to not upset us too much?

Well, it looks like even the media is fed up with our elected officials in Washinston.

You see, someone, I don’tknow who, but someone, showed them where even they would be paying more taxes starting on Jan.1 if our Senators and Representatives do not get off of teir pompous Ass’ and come to some kind of agreement for our government to have a budget to operate on.

Yep, The Fools are all standing there, in front of the cameras, pointing their manicured fingers at each other, like pouting children.

You and Me? Well, we get to sit here and watch in wonder at our supposed leaders refuse to lead!

Like I said; Just thinkin!

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt

 

A Seniors View of His Medical Insurance Future

Ryan-pic by DonkeyHotey via flickr

It seems that we Seniors are eating too much Chicken at the political picnic!

And, if history is any lesson on how corporations and governments operate, I and the rest of us Boomers, are in serious trouble.

I figure that once the younger people of America get put on “Coupons” for their future insurance,
I assume we older ones with be the next ones who get the shaft. 

It would be a natural and obvious next step for the government as Medicare costs go up, if for no other reason than that there will be less people on Medicare and thus the shared costs will be less. This in itself would drive our Congress to give we remaining participants our own “Coupons”. And applaud themselves for doing it.

Here is the thing about COUPONS that we should all remember.
1- let’s say that Congress approves and issues a Coupon for $150 per month for you to go out and buy insurance yourself with independent insurance companies.
2- Everyone goes out and purchases insurance coverage for $140 per month at first.
3- Then, 3 years later inflation has made the insurance companies charge $170 per month.

Where do the “Coupon”  holders then stand?
Well, they write a check for the difference themselves, every month, until Congress meets and approves an increase in the value of a COUPON.
4- So, after another year, they place a bill before congress for a COUPON increase $170, right?
5- Well, If you assume there are 50-Million people on Medicare that’s $20 times 50-million or over 1-Billion dollars would be added to the National debt.
6- So with this kind of potential increase to the debt, there will be a lot of fighting over whether an increase will be approved at all.
7- And if it is approved then they will, in all probability, add provisions to cut the coverage available and thus reduce that awful 1-Billion dollar future debt.

This is my scenario analysis and as we Boomers and Seniors die off, our combined influence and leverage in congress will slowly decline until we are an insignificant force to be dealt with, at the worst times in our lives, when we are in our eighties or older.

And, if my scenario is correct, by the time Congress did anything to raise the coverage and implement the change, the insurance companies will probably have raised their rates to $180.

See the problem?

So,get ready to be put on the perpetual CATCH-UP Wheel of shrinking Medical Care.
Bamboo_01Don

 

JUST THINKIN’ #4 Political Conventions

We’re all just Sheep to the Politicians

I was just Thinkin’ about this flood of Jaded Journalistic interest thrust on the TWO Party Political Conventions.

I live in Florida, near Tampa, and the RNC was essentially a week of self-congratulatory BS.

And, the tight Bastards didn’t even spend very much money at the local establishments. It seems that everyone attending were tightly controlled when not at the convention site itself.

Otherwise, they were transported to pre-reserved parties and such where the glad-handing was tightly managed and the drive for more contributions approached the High-pressure level.

On the other hand, the Journalists, and I use that term loosely, any more, now that they admit to their being whores to the purchasers of the most commercial time. spent their time sitting, in full makeup, repeating the same tired statements until you fall asleep.

The best thing that I can say about the RNC in Tampa, is; THE DAMNED THING IS OVER and NOW the STREETS WILL BE REOPENED for the PUBLIC to USE!

Sitting here, watching the windup for the DNC I will tell you that the Best thing I can say about the DNC in Charlotte is; THE DNC is in CHARLOTTE and NOT IN TAMPA!

Sure, OK, there may be someone who delivers the speech of the Century, but honestly?  I doubt hearing anything of substance,only more ADs that both parties admit are based on LIES!

Am I JADED?

Well my question is; What ever happened to “Liberal Republicans” and “Conservative Democrats”?

Is there a large Gulag out there in Middle America that they were all taken to and imprisoned so as to not get in the way of the evangelistic extremists?

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt

Just THINKIN’ #3 Politicians and Lying

I was watching the news this morning and I was a little distressed by the fact that they were showing an ad by one politician WHO WAS RUNNING FOR A JUDGESHIP POSITION.

She was listing the, what she calls, numerous instances where her opponent has had legal problems and been in court defending himself.

So, I was Just THINKING,
Is this true or is it a part of the world of our election process where anyone can put out an ad that says pretty much anything about their opponents?

What happened to telling the TRUTH in Election ads?
1- About yourself. and
2- About your opponent.

When did it become OK to control elections by having more money to deluge the public with your ads, than your opponent?

I am not a proponent of new laws that regulate our world today. God knows that we have too many of those now. But, I really do think that we need some kind of regulation/penalty system that will allow the public to hear the TRUTH and not to tell lies!

All I want is a simple rule; 
If you say it, it had better be the Truth, or you are in trouble!

How do we do this, I don’t know, but I dontt want to keep finding out these things about our local politicians just because it is a slow news day and the media decides to pick up on a political ad for filler..

Nuff Said!!

DON BOBBITT

Just THINKIN -#1 All of that campaign money

I WAS JUST THINKING #1

Seeing as the two Idiots that are running for President have actually said NOTHING of substance about what their actual proposals for making things better for the US, I was thinking.

Why don’t they just keep talking (about nothing) and take all of the NEGATIVE AD money (Billions????) and donate it to the government to help pay for what they have already screwed up both publicly and privately in their past or existing jobs?

You know, we could maybe run a tally sheet and the one who collects the most from their PAC (meaning special interest) groups, could get a medal or something. Maybe we could even let the biggest donor carry the briefcase of someone in government so they can have their picture taken?

If we are going to be  a country that runs on bribes, let’s stop wasting the bribes on ADs and put it into a government fund to reduce our debt?

JUST THINKIN’

Bamboo_01
DON BOBBITT

Political News – I hate it when I am drowning in it and I become afraid when I hear nothing.

The daily Political News is a YIN-YANG thing to me.
I complain when I am inundated with it throughout the day, as with the latest PRIMARY reporting.

But, If I get a few hours into the day, and some idiot in Washington hasn’t come out with yet another stupid statement, well, then I get scared.
You see, in my opinion, a silent Politician is doing one of two things, as far as I am concerned.

ONE, they are off on some boondoggle that is paid for by either our taxes, or by some lobbyist group, that wants to take advantage of the American public in some way.

TWO, They are somewhere, working together on their own plans for either re-election, or changing this great country of ours into either a police state or a socialist catastrophe.

OK, OK, I am being pretty pessimistic.

But, at this moment, I am working on my taxes and when I see how badly I am being taxed, as a retiree, with a small but dwindling savings, I need to attack something.

Sad to say, after I am stripped of what little I have, who is left to pay for everyone on the dole?
Look Out, People, quiet Politicians are dangerous Politicians.

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt

Who are they? Anyway!

I’m sitting here, on my PC, looking sadly at my finances.
At the same time, I have the TV on with the parades of politicians being interviewed, as is typical in a Sunday morning.

Everyone has a plan for me,but none of them asked me what I wanted!
I think that is at the core of our problems in this country today.

The politicians keep forming into their little groups with canned opinions, hoping to be believed by you and I. But, we have too much scar tissue from their predecessors to trust pretty much anyone wearing a suit today.

We have watched our savings get tanked by irrational in-fighting in Congress, and then after the damage is done, you look and guess what?

I didn’t read or hear the first apology from either party or their splinter groups.

Nope, they just sat back, in that special fat-cat mode that they are so good at, and they  continue to blame each other.

You really have to just sit back and laugh at this Sunday morning Circus.

The clowns are brought out with their credentials on their sleeves by the Circus Masters, and asked the same mundane and safe questions.

So, who do we blame for the passive and pointless answers that they get back?

I don’t know, this dance goes on and on, without any real answers of any substance, put before the people.

I really think that after spending my mornings 4 hours of channel changing and listening to the supposed “experts” I have not only wasted my time, but even the electricity burned by having the TV on has been a waste.

But, I keep watching and listening to them, just like I watch my savings melt like a popsicle on a hot summer day.

You see, I keep holding on to the thought that we are better than what I see and hear, and that there is hope for all of us in this great country of ours.

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt

Minor Adjustments to my SS and Medicare?

I watched our president on TV today. And I tried to listen to the whole thing.

Really! I Tried! I tried very hard!

But, everyone, it seems, is off and running for Office or Reelection, and he is no exception.
He went On, and On, and On.

The republicans beat him up! He beats them up! They beat him up! He beats them up again!

Anyway, he did drop one of his little Bombs on us while speaking that I caught.

He, the democratic “defender of the Faith, and the Little Man”  said that his proposal for the Budget now includes some minor adjustments to Social Security and Medicare!

Well, There you have it. some Minor changes!

I gues that it’s now Ok for both parties to make either Some minor adjustments as the great defender said,  or as Perry let slip, disband the whole thing.

Are these really our choices today?

What we once paid for, and had stolen over the 70’s and 80’s by Congress, is now definitely up for grabs.

The only question is; Just how much will be taken away from us, not if it will be taken away.

But, How much?

Here is my question, though.

When did our generation of over-achievers, just give up and bend over like we are doing now!

When did we turn into such weaklings?

When did it become unacceptable to stand up and speak your mind and demand that what is yours must stay yours?

I am truly confused!

Was there something put into the shots I had to take when they removed the Not-Yet-Cancerous growth on my head?

Was there something added to the pills that I, and so many of us, have to take daily to keep my transplanted Kidney alive?

Was there something on the needle that sucks out my blood for testing quarterly in order to check for other more deadly diseases that I am susceptible to with the drugs that I take daily?

Was there something in the Pills that I have to take for the attacks of Gout that I get, almost weekly, due to the side effects of my anti-rejection drugs?

Was there something in the Pills I have to take for High Cholesterol that is a side effect of my anti-rejection drugs?

I don’t know!
Perhaps that is as good a reason as any for so many of us becoming a complacent “walk all over me” personality. The added pains and costs of treating them as you get older, certainly aren’t paid for by Medicare. Medicare pays for most of the cost of the generics and cheap pills.

When you get down with a serious illness, you quickly find that the are those pills that were expertly placed into the “other level” of drugs. The ones that cost $1, $2 or even $5 each!

And then you fall into the famous “Doughnut hole” What a well-designed way to screw the elderly. I can hear them now, as they designed the payment system.

“Let’s pay a little something to the elderly for their cheap pills, but, if they are really sick, and need real medication, lets put a window on what medicare will pay.

Let’s make the window so they can be seriously Ill and at the same time have to worry where they will get the money to buy the pills that might keep them alive.

And then, if they are well off enough to pay for their drugs and stay alive then, once they have destroyed what little savings they have, lets, turn the coverage back on, and help them with some more Medicare payments.”

You  just gotta love the people that we elected, that do this to their constituency. The same constituency that gives them, in return, lifetime coverage after they are elected. Lifetime coverage with no minimums, no maximums, no limits.

And we just sit here and listen, shake our heads and take our afternoon naps!

Well, Sorry people!

While I still have enough savings to pay for my portion of the added cost of my drugs, I will stay alive, and I will try to fight against such people as those that I see on TV now, as they walk that crooked path to the next election, with their skilled, forked-tongue statements of nonsense and lies.

Who cares about me? I do!

Who cares about US? We had better get together and start, and I mean Start Now!

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt

Thanks for all the Fish!

A Sunset on the planet called Earth before it was destroyed.

I don’t know if you are my age or not, but back in the Sixties, there was a great, camp, book that everyone, who considered themselves Cool, had to read. It was originally a radio show, but quickly turned into a book called “The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy”.

Even though it was a purely comedic work, I, along with so many others my age, read it, related to so much from it, and had many discussions on it’s “hidden” meanings, how it applied to our world then, and even more. It was a Camp hit of that time.

And, if you haven’t read it, it is still entertaining, even today.

Because I had read it so many times, and it was so entrenched into my mind, throughout my adult life, I would, occasionally, throw out one of the many ambiguous quotes from the book, in meetings, and such, just to see how many people caught what I had said.

Often, my comments would be met with laughs or at least a smile, and a few times, even a few responding comments, that only a fellow 60’s “Hippie” type person would understand.

Of course, over time, as we aged, and our working peers became younger, the responses and finally even the smiles disappeared, all to be replaced with questioning looks.

But, I really didn’t care, and with my particular and often peculiar personality (or so I have been told), I continued, at the appropriate moment, of course, to sling one of my generational lines into conversations, Just for the Hell of it usually.
Anyway, one of my favorites was. “Good Bye and thanks for the Fish!”

I won’t go into a lot of details about it here.

Leave MY Fish Alone!

Suffice it to say that it was a critical line from one of the most important characters in the book, and from the story itself, it was an important statement to all of the people of Earth.

If you don’t understand, but I have piqued your interest, then read the book.

If you were able to pull the statement from the cobwebs of your mind, and are sitting there, smiling, then maybe there is hope for us Retirees, yet.

Hope that we can wake up and see the changes being wrought in our world, and try to stop or at least change it for the better and for us as Baby Boomers, before it is too late.

You, and I, need to recognize the two-faced guys for who they are and we need to burst from our lethargic positions, remove their crowns and reject the insanity that we have allowed them to spout.

And, if nothing else, we need to see that our own, personal, “Boomer” insanity is made a higher priority in the order of the cosmos that we presently live in.

We can find the great computer “Deep Thought” quite easily. I mean, it’s just sitting there, in plain sight, so that is no longer the problem.

With access and a little control over Deep Thought, we, the Seniors of the world, can band together and present a unified front to the wicked Mouse distorted chaos that reigns as truth, in government, and especially, in DC, today.

I have found MY Towel!

As long as we make sure that we have our towels with us, we can march together, even if only via email and phone calls, and scare the President of the Galaxy into a new consideration of the real “Question”.

That is, once we have explained to him and his fellow Mice in Washington that even though the answer is 42, he needs to understand the real question, and not some nonsensical financial suppositions that are touted by mere power hungry Congressmen.

So, Retirees, Seniors, Baby Boomers, old Hippies, and all of the concerned people of the world, lets unite, and pose the real and honest great question to the Cosmos.

We need to ask them; “Why are you eating All of Our Fish?”.

IF we can get them to leave out Fish alone, then maybe we can find a way to grow our Fish, and have not only, enough for ourselves, but maybe, if we use our towels of truth effectively, we can even generate more to share with others like the X-Gens, and Y-Gens, etc.

But, we do need to move now, and tell them; “You can Keep Your Thanks, and we will Keep our Fish!”
Along with; “And, if you don’t listen to us, we will have your own, personal little secret planet of corruption and self-involvement ……….. destroyed!” We know who to call, and the price is relatively cheap, considering all else in the Cosmos!

As an aged, silver haired Boomer, who has found his towel in my old attic chest that I call memories, I am now awake to these happenings, and you need to join me as I say;

I want my Fish left alone!?

Bamboo_01

Don Bobbitt