Seven Steps to Becoming A One-Income Family (With Apologies to Autumn Giusti and Fox News)

September 8, 2010 · Posted in (Gene)tic Rantings, America, Blog, Society, politics · Comment 

I was perusing the news on the Internet this morning when I saw this headline: Seven Steps to Becoming a One-Income Family. I immediately understood the intended gist of the article. It was meant to help couples figure out how to trim expenses and whatnot in order to get their budget to a one-income accommodation point.

The title struck me a little differently, however; and I decided to use it myself and take it in another direction entirely.

So, with apologies to Ms. Autumn Giusti, here is my own version of Seven Steps to Becoming a One-Income Family:

  1. Buy into that age-old load of crap that the Democratic party is for “the little guy,” and the Republicans only care about the rich. (Truth be told, both parties lie down with wealthy donors and have their ears bent by the rich and powerful far more than by Joe Plumber or any other Average Joe.) Still, the Republican party is generally business-friendly, and that is good for business.
  2. Join the millions chanting stuff about the “change we need” while cheering wildly as international superstar, bestselling author, and political sensation B.O.  takes the stage.
  3. Vote a straight Democrat ticket, even if the candidate is that proverbial Yellow Dog…or, at least, vote for Barack Obama.
  4. Watch while your Hero subsidizes Big Business, “stabilizes” financial institutions that deserve to fail, socializes medicine, and becomes America’s largest auto manufacturer.
  5. See the fear in your boss’s eyes when he realizes you will soon cost him more in taxes and mandatory insurance provisions than you are worth.
  6. Get your pink slip.
  7. Stand in line with the millions of other unemployed Americans who sold the American way and the American Dream for the promise of a Big Brother who would look out for you and never let you fall.

Congratulations! You are now a one-income family. Vote the same way in 2012 and you might even get to be a no-income family.

Wonder how that article will read?

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Stuck Like Congress, or Stuck in Philly With a Wandering Mind

February 26, 2010 · Posted in (Gene)ric Ramblings, (Gene)tic Rantings, Blog, Society, Travel, politics · 1 Comment 

Larry, Moe, and Curly

Here I am, stuck in Philadelphia…literally. Another Nor’Easter has blown in with a vengeance, and I am a shut-in at the Homestead Suites.

Stuck. One might see the way recent weather has brought much of the Northeast, including Washington DC, to a grinding halt as a metaphor for our government. So many decry the gridlock, the inability to get anything done, the lack of a consensus as such a terrible, awful thing.

I don’t. I rather appreciate the fact that there is more than one side of the aisle in the American government. I am glad there are divergent opinions, incessant argumentation, varying philosophies on how things ought to be—and how they ought to be done. Why should our government be in harmony on issues about which Americans are not in harmony? Do they not represent us? Is that not what we sent them to Capitol Hill to do?

If you want government that is in lock-step, in one accord, in unison, like a well-oiled machine with a singular focus, you might move to Iran or North Korea.  There seems to be little argument inside the hallowed halls of those regimes…and woe be to the ones who would argue outside them.

Stuck. A seven-and-one-half hour summit on health care only served to show how far apart the Republicans and Democrats are on health care reform. The conservatives won’t jump on the let’s-make-Uncle-Sam bigger than ever bandwagon and sign off on Obama Care, and the Democrats won’t be told no, public opinion be damned.

Nancy Pelosi says, “Some Americans don’t have time for us to start over.”

Pelosi, the House leader and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader both advocate ramming the health care bill through by using the nifty reconciliation maneuver they used to whine about when they were in the minority.

Time is of the essence. We must act now. No time to waste.

When you get a sales call and the person on the other end of the line is telling you there is no time to think about it, this is a limited time offer, you must act right this very minute or be forever lost, what do you do? I hang up the phone…unless they tick me off, then I use a few choice words, tell them never to call me again, and then hang up the phone. (And my choice of choice words is none of your business.)

This is how the multi-billion dollar bailout was added to the taxpayer’s tab. And this is how Reid and Pelosi, snake oil salesmen that they are, want to add a few thousand people to your insurance premium. (Not to mention making you an outlaw if you don’t have insurance coverage.)

Stuck. That is what we are. Stuck with Barrack Obama for a couple more years. Stuck with a likely one-term president who, when he sees the writing on the wall, will have an even more pronounced scorched-earth approach than he currently does. Then, we will be stuck with big-government laws and policies that will take an act of congress to undo, which means we may just be…

Stuck…

I am. Somewhere between Philly and the cheese steak I am craving.

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Sarah Palin and the Advancement of Political Correctness and Gotcha Politics

February 10, 2010 · Posted in (Gene)tic Rantings, Blog, politics · 2 Comments 

Say it isn’t so, Sarah. Please tell me you are not turning the Political Correctness cannon on the party that created it. I know that Rahm Emanuel’s use of the term “f—ing retarded” was insensitive, calloused, and hurtful to many, but was it really worth calling for his job? Must we continue to play this never-ending game of “Gotcha”?

Before any of my readers— especially any with disabled children— get up in arms, let me clarify and qualify my stance here. I am not saying the word “retarded” is not a hurtful word to many. I am not saying that its careless use shouldn’t be culled from our every day language. I am simply saying that the man did not mean anything by it when he said it. He didn’t mean to offend the disabled or the people who love them.

He meant, in fact, to point out that some of the very people who helped elect Obama— namely, the extreme left— were thinking of running attack ads against the moderate members of their own party, and that was “not a very good idea.” He simply chose to use a little stronger, more unfortunate, wording.

I, too, am the parent of a disabled person. (I cannot say “disabled child,” because she sometimes reads this and she will call for me to be fired if I do.) Through the years, I have watched the evolution of the proper treatment of the disabled. It has been slow and painful, but significant strides have been made.

My daughter might be surprised to know that when she was very young and needed a surgery that cost in excess of $150,000, the bulk of the tab was picked up by a state service called California Crippled Children’s Services. I doubt they still call the agency that, if it still exists. The term “crippled” has such negative connotations and is no longer apropos.

There are not many benefits of being disabled (I use this word “disabled” cautiously, because it is probably nearing its end too), but one of them is prime parking space. For that, we used to have a “Handicap Sticker” and park in “handicap” spots. But we cannot do that anymore, because the word “handicap” is now only acceptable in places like Las Vegas, where they handicap horse races, boxing matches, and such.

Back to the subject at hand. For the record, I am no fan of Rahm Emanuel. Most who know me know how I feel about the Obama administration in general. I just don’t think an insensitive remark made in the context of calling out his party’s own constituents is worth an opponent calling for his head on a platter. Go ahead and say how you feel about what he said, why you were offended by it, why it hurts people you care about. Just don’t use it to your political advantage or as a reason to send him to the unemployment line.

Perhaps I feel the way I do because I am who I am. When I was a kid, a good many of the whuppings I got were in response to what my Mom termed my “smart mouth.” I tended to think of things to say and say them without thinking them all the way through first. Consequently, I often offended the sensibilities of adults who thought it best if punk kids like me were seen and not heard.

Not much has changed over the years. You know, every family has that uncle who comes to the Christmas dinner and the whole family holds its collective breath every time he opens his chops to speak. What will he say now? Who will he offend? Well…I am that uncle. A former friend once told me that I had no filter between my brain and tongue.

I think maybe that no-filter thing is part of the reason he is a former friend.

At any rate, I think Sarah Palin, if she has presidential aspirations, missed a golden opportunity to appear presidential. She could have admonished Rahm Emanuel, but admitted that we are all prone to being insensitive and unthinking at times and this should be a lesson and reminder to us all. She could have taken the high road. She could have resisted the easy target.

But she didn’t.She took careful aim and fired a shot right at the man’s head…just like a Democrat will do to her the next time she says something that can in any way be taken as an offense to someone.

Okay, I am getting those looks from the family again. Time for me to be seen and not heard. I apologize to all I have offended by not being sufficiently offended by stupid remarks from a political hack.

(Sorry to all the parents of stupid kids for using the word “stupid” in that last sentence.)

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