Hey Al Gore, its 31 degrees in South Florida this morning. Thanks for the much needed warning on that warming trend! So for many years the blog avoided any political discussion whatsoever due to the polarizing effects it had on a few readers. The effects produced a unanimous vote by the Dish writers to avoid all sensitive topics, particularly those of the political species. That ban has since been lifted and so I'm going to take the plunge and hope my words do not offend. Personally, I've always felt politics is a science, and just like a hard science it examines problems and searches for solutions...emotions are merely an obstacle to the necessary objectivity. In other words the "nicest" idea is probably not the most realistic idea...its likely the opposite: fantasy. Lets look at the stimulus package. A stimulus, by any definition would be an instant boosting effect, think of the body's reaction to stimulants like caffeine or cocaine. Unfortunately, the US economy will not experience any new employment from infrastructure improvement for at least 2-3 years, therefore this is not a economic stimulant, just a future work project. The economy will not feel the effects of redecorating the commerce department, just a few DC interior designers will. Increased spending for community get out the vote campaigns...we saw how cost efficient those worked this year. Birth control pills? Pelosi sees this helping the economy, I don't. But lets move on to the meat of this cheeseburger deluxe: the tax credits. $500 for individuals and $1000 for couples...whether or not you paid any. Fair? Not really, but I'd gladly look past it if I thought it would have a strong enough effect on consumer spending that businesses would need to increase production and work force numbers. It's not enough money to spark investment in the ailing stock market. Not enough to help someone purchase a home (from the suffering builders) or a vehicle (from the struggling Big 3), not enough to really do anything more than pay a bill or two. This stimulus package is a massive deficit spending bill disguised as an economic rescue bill. Its a few hundred dollars to keep you distracted, everyone is happy to get something free...but lets be honest, its impossible for it to help the recession. It merely funds a collection of new programs that couldn't get passed otherwise. Oh yeah, speaking of deficit spending, this will bring our grand total in rescue packages to over 3 trillion. So we borrow a trillion dollars, when we know less will be coming in the next fiscal year to pay it back? What is the lesson we are teaching our children? Simple economics would show as the debt rises so do the payments and percentage of the federal budget towards them...this occurs as your federal tax receipts are plummeting. The potential risk is catastrophic. Its like taking a pay cut and then mortgaging a monstrous new home 1000 times more than you can afford. Its irresponsible. Government needs to do what every person does when they get a pay cut, eliminate every bit of unneccesary spending until you can afford it again. A real economic rescue bill? Slash the federal budget to the bone, and then slash the corporate and income taxes at least 10% across the board. As the money that rightfully belongs to taxpayers floods back in amounts that will make a difference (I don't know about you, but I'm broke and I had to pay in the 5 digits), people will spend again. We have to be realistic: jobs are created by businesses and people with enough money to open them, not government. Businesses need capital and investment to expand. Its the ONLY way. I just wanted to get this off my chest before we all celebrated about our $500.00 welfare check, because in the end we will be paying it back....with a lotta friggin interest. Well, enough about this, I gotta decide which bill I'm gonna pay with mine...maybe I should send a Thank You note to Harry Reid.

This is why we all hate Al Gore: it's snowing again. And the temps are in the teens. And it's going to get colder later today.

And all the stupid and expensive anti-global-warming laws are still on the books!

No wonder the economy is in the toilet. Which reminds me: I still have some paperwork to collect before I can get my taxes figured out. This is going to suck. And next year's only promises to be worse!

Anyway, I gotta go outside in a little while and clear the snow off the car. Every year people ask me if I'm finally going to open my wallet and buy the obligatory snow-blower. The answer is still no.

Well, Da Chimpz are awake. I must feed them. And maybe get myself another cup of coffee.

Heh. I guess I was right to skip the game last night -- I probably would've thrown a brick through the TV screen.

Can any entertainment company thrive when it can't stop its own staff from actively insulting half the population? (The productive half that actually pays taxes!)

And speaking of entertainment, here's the latest Fark post with the "Florida" tag: yep, it's those pesky calls from police and firefight charities. Turns out, the telemarketers keep most of the money. Surprised? Don't be. We get those calls too, but fortunately they tend to come in on the phone line that we never answer. Because I can't imagine the practice in Ohio is any different from Florida.

Took a muscle relaxer pill last night and then sprawled myself out to watch some TV -- next thing I knew it was morning. Yikes. Lower back has been nagging lately. Probably shouldn't have scraped/shoveled ice yesterday -- but temps did reach 41 and I wanted to not repeat my mistake of the last thaw-refreeze. So today's Chimp Shuttle should make it to and from school with no difficult.

So anyway, I fell asleep before Family Guy last night. Made it through an(other) unfunny Simpsons, though. Feh.

Anyway, it's time to get dressed and drink more coffee.

If they want people to watch football, why would they air the game on NBC? Even before the networks went openly Bolshevik I rarely watched them; these days they get the leper treatment. Right now Da Chimpz are outside where it's really friggin cold. They wanted to go out earlier but I stopped them -- it was only 8 degrees. Now it's a little better, but not by much.

I drove around just now shopping at various places -- included the most gigantic Giant Beagle I've shopped in over in Middleburg Heights. Big-ass super-duper-market. Bought some meat to make tomorrow's meatballs. And the wine to wash them down. Yum.

Oh, and let's hear it for the working class in the Sunshine State. Yes, here's a man who is attacked by a gator an dragged under water -- but he fights off the varmint and the... gets back to work! Just goes to show you: outside D.C. the work ethic is still alive and well. And strange (well, it is Florida).

Got some big time snow falling around here. They say it will last all day. School is closed; from downstairs I can hear the sounds of Wii. I have read through the morning news blogs. Many people are furious at the looming theft of taxpayer money. Many will try to go Geithner. Others will go Galt. As I watch the snow dumping down I am reminded we've already gone Gore.

Giggity.

Yes, there will be more snow tonight. And yes, I did go outside yesterday and free the Jeep from the Gore-glacier that is slowly advancing down the buckled blacktop of my driveway. So the car is driveable. For now.

The school did its annual breakfast for parents this morning. We watched Da Chimpz eat their french-toast sticks while choking down some of the cafeteria coffee. Nice to have a chance to say hello to some of the teachers and staff and parents. I didn't go to the "Night at the Races" on Saturday night but I think I'll be sure to hit it next year.

Yeah, that Jeep has been good us over the years. In four-wheel drive it can hop through just about anything.

But not the ice that has caked onto our driveway in the last few days. I went out early this morning to clear the windshield and warm it up; came out a few minutes later with Cookie and Mojo and got it into gear.

Nothing.

The wheels spun and the ice offered no purchase. I did some quick work with the ice-pick but it was pointless: after almost a month of snowfall and a thaw-refreeze at the end of last week there is just too much ice to clear.

So we walked to school today in the bitter cold. Da Chimpz were afraid we'd get there late, but it appears they got through the doors in time. I walked back and sneered at our permafrost driveway as I keyed into the house.

I still like the old Jeep though. Would never buy another one, though, considering the company's contempt for us taxpayers... us very cold taxpayers.

Which reminds me: I gotta get my tax materials together. It's getting to be time for the annual hosing.

To paraphrase the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher: "That's the problem with Democrats -- eventually they run out of other people's money." Then I'm reminded that these days they simply print more.

Well, this is what you get when you make home loans an entitlement. It's not unique: college loans have also been an entitlement for years -- a huge, unsustainable bubble has inflated there as well. It'll pop too, someday.

These crashes are just harbingers of the entitlement crisis yet to come -- they know the crash is coming just as well as they know their policies today will only make it worse. They don't care. They want money today. Other people's money.

Madoff may have been a crook, but at least his victims were willing participants! Then again, I got a quick look at yesterday's Plain Dealer (no, I did not and would not buy a copy) and it was clear they there are plenty of willing victims out there for this grand scam. And many of them seem to be on the paper's staff.

Today it's back to work. In a little while Da Chimpz will wake up and get themselves ready for school. We saw their classrooms at yesterday's open house.

I should call Steve later today. See if he's annoyed too.

UPDATE: It appears others are noticing this phenomenon as well. Heh. Let us all link arms and sing for Dear Leader.

I'm feeling pretty handy today -- I fixed my ailing stereo system and Berea-Rose can once again thump to the bass beat of obscure techno.

Yeah, I've had some positive experiences with Philips equipment. When they fixed my flat screen TV last summer I had good things to say about not only that but the Philips home theater I got when we first moved out here.

Well, since then the sound on that home theater has gotten bad: a buzzing crackle when they system is powered on. It took longer and longer for it to fade and then I noticed the subwoofer was dead. Some online research showed that this is a common problem for anyone operating the HTS-3450. The crackling would only get longer and eventually the whole thing would die.

So I disassembled the faulty system and put it in a box, expecting its next stop would be the curbside. Then I read a thread that included a fix -- open the guts and replace a couple of failed capacitors. At first I scoffed: there was no way I'd be soldering parts onto a circuit board. But then I got adventurous. Saw another blog confirming the fix. I got the components at Radio Shack and today I got a cheap-o soldering iron at Home Depot. I got everything spread out in the basement, opened the case, unplugged the board, made some of the ugliest solders ev-ah, then plugged it all back in and closed it up. Got upstairs and tested it.

And my revitalized subwoofer said: yes, there will be rock; yes, there will be roll.

(Though I see one more recent comment on that thread that reports that the fix is only temporary... which would suck mightily, as I am now glorying my supposed avoidance of having to shell out several Franklins to replace the thing -- and I'd like to keep avoiding that.)

Anyway, it's the little victories in life that count. And to complete today's adventure without having to involve the local fire department was definitely a triumph.