Friday Fish Wrap: September 24, 2010

Today is my husband’s 79th birthday, or as it’s known around here … 19 years since the airlines and the FAA decided he was too old to be in command of a passenger airliner. Ha! That’s in reference to the archaic ‘Age 60’ rule that was still in force then, which said that a pilot couldn’t possibly be competent to command an airliner even a day after his 60th birthday - so sayonara, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. The good news for younger pilots - the Age 60 Rule was changed in 2007. You can now fly until age 65 - all still contingent on maintaining a FAA First Class Medical Certificate, of course.

Sheesh.

This is Mr. Maven today, riding 15 miles on his bike.

Ain’t he cute? What a guy.

Oh, on a ride the other day, I saw a Sand Hill Crane out in the Damonte Ranch wetlands.

The following is from alert reader, Peg. It’s very good indeed.

‘Benevolent Mischief’ by Chase Jarvis

Let’s take a look at John Boehner’s ‘Pledge to America’, since it’s been big news, having been beamed into John’s tinfoil helmet from the dusty archives of the mothership out beyond the solar system.

Right off the top, I asked myself the following:

“Permanently stop all tax increases” - uh, is he referring to letting the expensive Bush tax cuts expire on the richest 2% of Americans? Not actually at tax increase, John. It’s more like a savings when it comes to the deficit. A $700 billion savings.

“Allow small business owners to take a tax deduction equal to 20% of their business income” - what constitutes a ‘small business owner’ on Boehner’s planet? Is it gross receipts under $1 million? Under $10 million? Just what is it? Oh, I know - it’s businesses with gross receipts over $50 million annually. Now that’s your local Mom and Pop pizza parlor, isn’t it?

“Hold weekly votes on spending cuts”  Jeeze Louise, it seems like Congress can’t get anything done as it is and John wants to tie it up even worse with votes on every nickle and dime ‘spending cut’? That’s too precious to be believed.

“Prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion” - Oh, he must mean like it actually is already.

FactCheck.org has this to say about it (here’s the ClifNotes version. A far more detailed analysis can be seen here.):

The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims:

• It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. So far this year government employment has declined slightly, while private sector employment has increased by 763,000 jobs.
• It says that “jobless claims continue to soar,” when in fact they are down eight percent from their worst levels.
• It repeats a bogus assertion that the Internal Revenue Service may need to expand by 16,500 positions, an inflated estimate based on false assumptions and guesswork.
• It claims the stimulus bill is costing $1 trillion, considerably more than the $814 billion, 10-year price tag currently estimated by nonpartisan congressional budget experts.
• It says Obama’s tax proposals would raise taxes on “roughly half the small business income in America,” an exaggeration. Much of the income the GOP is counting actually comes from big businesses making over $50 million a year.

For details on these and other examples please read on to the Analysis section.

And the Democratic Senatorial Committee has this handy dandy comparison chart. As your action item for the weekend, I suggest you cut this out and paste where the GOP ‘true believers’ can see it.

WHEN REPUBLICANS “PLEDGE” TO…	THEY REALLY MEAN THEY WILL:
“Permanently Stop All Job-Killing Tax Hikes.”	Re-open tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping American jobs overseas which Democrats closed.[i] Give deficit-exploding handouts to CEOs who ship American jobs overseas.[ii] Hold middle-class tax cuts hostage to giveaways for CEOS and special interests.[iii]
“Rein in the Red Tape Factory in Washington, DC”	Let Wall Street off the hook for gambling away Americans’ savings.[iv] Let mine companies off the hook when mines collapse.[v] Let food producers off the hook when contaminated food kills innocent Americans.[vi]
“Give Small Businesses a Tax Deduction.”	Pretend Wall Street bankers and partners in law firms represent small businesses, and hand them giant, deficit-exploding tax giveaways.[vii] Vote against relief for real small businesses.[viii] Put small business’ interests behind the interests of Wall Street and companies that ship American jobs overseas.[ix]
“Repeal The Job Killing Health Care Law And Put In Place Real Reform”	Let insurance companies go back to denying children coverage due to pre-existing conditions.[x] Let insurance companies go back to imposing lifetime limits.[xi] Push millions of Medicare beneficiaries back into the “doughnut hole.”[xii] Take away tax breaks that help small businesses pay for health care.[xiii]
“Our Plan Stands On The Principles Of Smaller, More Accountable Government; Economic Freedom; Lower Taxes.”	Read Rep. Boehner’s lips: “We are not going to be any different than what we’ve been.”[xiv] Despite their rhetoric, Republicans will take us back to Bush-era policies of giving huge handouts to CEOs and the very wealthy while the middle class suffers – the same policies that drove us into a recession and cost 8 million Americans their jobs.[xv]

Senator Harry Reid’s spokesman released this today:

Washington, DC – Jim Manley, spokesman for Nevada Senator Harry Reid, released the following statement today after Republicans blocked legislation to discourage companies from sending American jobs overseas:
 
“Someone should start keeping a count of how many different ways Republicans will try to justify protecting CEOs who send American jobs overseas. The facts speak for themselves. Republicans have a long and distinguished track record of protecting multimillionaire CEOs who offshore American jobs at the expense of the middle class, and clearly they want to keep on with more of the same policies that cost 8 million Americans their jobs. But don’t take it from me, Representative Boehner said it best yesterday when he admitted, ‘we are not going to be any different than what we’ve been.’”

The bottom line here is that Boehner’s diversionary ‘Pledge’ is just a warmed over version of Newt Gringrich’s long ago discredited ‘Contract With America’. Here’s what Mother Jones had to say then about the Contract:

“The House Republicans’ Contract with America is like miniature golf. Each tenet of the 10-item contract has its own hole, and the entire course is a fun, popular, and largely diversionary exercise meant to satisfy middle-class sensibilities. While I write, the Republicans are near the beginning of the course. By the time you read this, they could be as far along as hole seven or eight.

But the contract is no more an agenda for governing America in a new way than playing miniature golf is a way to play real golf: Instead, it diverts attention from the Republicans’ real agenda.”

Wouldn’t it be cool if the Republicans ever came up with anything original? Once again, they are basing their program on  fantastical spending cuts without ever taking ownership of what get cuts, how much it get cuts, how it bends the deficit upwards and worst of all,  who gets hurt in the process.

Oh, and here’s what economist Paul Krugman had to say about the ‘Pledge’:

On Thursday, House Republicans released their “Pledge to America,” supposedly outlining their policy agenda. In essence, what they say is, “Deficits are a terrible thing. Let’s make them much bigger.” The document repeatedly condemns federal debt — 16 times, by my count. But the main substantive policy proposal is to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, which independent estimates say would add about $3.7 trillion to the debt over the next decade — about $700 billion more than the Obama administration’s tax proposals.

We swung by Klaich Animal Hospital today to pick up more meds for little old Asta, my 19-1/2 year old Jack Russell Terrier. Mark Klaich is amazed. You just don’t see many dogs this age and still in this good of shape. Her lab tests indicate …. nothing. She’s fine except being deaf … really old and frail … crotchety … snarly … incontinent. We’re now trying some estrogen to see if that will help the incontinence. The bottom line here is that we’re playing it day by day. It’s all theoretical at this point. Nick Klaich told me that he’s never seen a Jack Russell this old.

Here’s a neat tidbit: Nick Klaich and new family was the first owner and occupant of this house we’ve lived in for 20 years now. Yes, Reno is still kinda a small town in some ways.

I got a boatload of housework done this week. How? Why? I’ve got company coming from out of town. It’s a great way to ‘find the time’ to get all those nagging jobs done like hosing the bird poop off the patio, polishing all the wood furniture and such.

I’m hoping our houseguest doesn’t notice all the gardening that needs to be done for the fall.

I finally got around to picking up my new skis over at Bobo’s today. I got a pair of the Dynastar Exclusive Active’s in a 158 cm. It’s a woman’s all mountain ski with a wider waist (74 mm) and a 14 turn radius. This ski will give me the flexibility that I’ve been missing on my old Rossignol’s to explore more terrain - especially trees and powder on those rare days we get any here in the Sierra’s. Plus, there’s some added stability through crud and a higher speeds.

 

I demo’d a similar pair last winter and loved them. They turned on a damn dime. They’ll also push my center of gravity a bit more forward, compensating for my small frame. I’m sooo looking forward to using them. The Rossi’s are still a great all round ski, and will become my ‘rock’ skis.

Don’t be alarmed if there isn’t a Monday Musings blog post. I’ll be winging my way down to Houston for a couple of days. Should be back by Tuesday night.

So have a great weekend and enjoy the full moon - which should be in full swing tonight - and the really warm fall days that we have here in Reno. I could live a lot of other places but Northern Nevada in the autumn is so great - why would I?

Sit. I’ll let myself out.

-maven

P.S. - I’ve decided it’s time to focus on the two activities (cycling and skiing) I truly love and so have decided to sell my entire Kayak outfit. It’s a great - and cost effective - way to start kayaking.

See the listing on Craigslist Reno