Before I start, I want to ensure you that since I am at least 75% Ruthenian and/or Slovak I have the proper standing to use the term “Hunky.” I really never considered the label as derogatory and I always took some pride in calling myself a Hunky.
The homelands of my ancestors have changed names so many times, I often hesitate when answering a question about my nationality. I guess in today’s PC world I would be a Slovak-American, but an American none the less. I got a shot of native homeland pride recently when I read an article about one of the home countries, Slovakia.
I was somewhat surprised to read that General Motors is planning to sell stock sometime in the near future a little over a year from its “bankruptcy.” I used the parenthesis around bankruptcy because what the Obama Administration did for General Motors was not a typical bankruptcy. Investors were not protected or given preference as was their right;
As my two eldest children prepare to go back to college life our house we again begin looking at ways to pay for our portion of the bill. We have been fortunate because the schools that they chose (both are private schools) have been very generous with scholarships, grants, and work-study jobs. There still is, however, a significant portion of the bill that we have to pay in some way.
So why does the average American accept economic policies that are bound to bankrupt this country? Logic tells us in our personal lives tells us that if we spend way more than we make we incur debt. Anyone who has ever had a loan or a credit card balance knows that there are interest charges on that debt which must be paid on a monthly basis. When we still keep spending beyond our means our debt increases and so does our monthly payments which a greater percentage of goes to pay the interest on the debt.
Part of my morning drive took me along a country road that would along a stream. Homes were scattered along the road in pockets and shaded by rather large sycamore trees. One drive home this spring as I approached this curvy stretch I heard a very loud blowing sound. I had been traveling this way for months and had never noticed it before and wondered if it had always been there and I never noticed it because my car windows had been shut during the winter commutes.
Around television ratings weeks investigative reporters pull out their eye-raising stories that are typically about government waste and abuse. They often use “gotcha” tactics to surprise government workers who are not really working. A favorite is the story about some item that you or I could buy at the local Home Depot for under ten dollars, but our government has paid hundreds or even thousands for. I, like many have asked why the government pays so much for stuff and even more for any work that it wants performed.
Our local paper had a Mother’s Day feature with words of advice that well known Pittsburghers shared from their mothers. One was the old standard about always wearing clean underwear. God forbid if you were in a serious accident with less than bright, white briefs
Relax I am not for open borders allowing a bunch of people to overtax our economy. I am thinking about a forced immigration policy where we can go and drag a person back to our side of the border. We would overly compensate 
the individual for their inconvenience and allow familial visits or suggest that they bring their family with them. We could even substitute a similar person.
Somewhat lost in all of the ballyhoo over health care was a provision snuck in late in the process. Did the Democrats add some language to provide some relief to doctors against excessive lawsuits? Maybe they snuck in an allowance for insurance companies to be allowed to sell health care insurance across state lines and spread the risk? How about a provision to allow more use of health savings accounts that accumulate throughout your lifetime? What about loosening requirements for insurance plans to cover everything from addadicktomies, to botox injections (sorry Ms. Pelosi), to counselling when someone is mean to you? I know they added a provision to make health insurance more portable?
Blowback on windmills was the headline that caught my eye in the “letters” section of Pittsburgh’s Tribune Review. The letter was from Sarah Howell, the vice president, public affairs, for the American Wind Energy Association. Ms. Howell’s response to the original article titled The Windmill Sham was understandable given her position advocating windmills.
The original editorial piece was critical of the number of jobs created by government subsidies of the alternative energy industry. The author made the mistake of siting actual data from the Spanish government showing that the actual cost of each new job was around $333,333.00. Of course the response from the wind folks touted how many jobs were created because of government support/subsidy of the industry.
