Alumni Sandstorm ~ 12/21/14 ~ WINTER SOLSTICE - SHORTEST DAY
4 days till Christmas
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4 Bombers sent stuff:
Ed WOOD ('62), Frank WHITESIDE ('63)
Lori SIMPSON ('70), Mike FRANCO ('70)
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BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Kent HAMRICK ('53)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Joanne ROLPH ('59)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Susan WARD (65)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Clint KELLY ('66)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Duane LEE ('67)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Jon ANDERSON ('71)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Jeff OSBORN ('82)
12/21 CINNAMON BEAR - Listen to "The Bad Dolls" Today
http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/cinnamonbear.htm
BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar
Click the event you want to know more about.
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>>From: Ed WOOD ('62)
Re: Gas taxes - TANSTAAFL
Robert Heinlein (1907-1988) was once one of my favorite authors.
His novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress introduced the TANSTAAFL
acronym to me, although Heinlein can’t be credited with its
creation. TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch)
is common sense, but as all we know, common sense is less
common than it once was. Regardless of what kind of taxes (fees,
user-charges, etc.) are used to pay for roads and similar
infrastructure investments, it is truism that they must be paid
for. They don’t just happen.
-Ed WOOD ('62) ~ Morrison, CO
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>>From: Frank WHITESIDE ('63)
Re: Gas Prices
To: Pete BEAULIEU ('62)
You are quite right in stating that gasoline taxes do not add to
the national debt. I realize they go to the "Highway Trust Fund"
(the term "trust" is used loosely, as I find little to trust
about the federal government or the insane way they handle the
federal budget). The fund was supposed to go broke already, but
like every other fund, tax money was transferred from other funds
to keep it going. This is the way the government seems to run
everything. Although they claim that the "debt" is over 18
trillion, this does not include "unfunded liabilities" for
Social Security, Medicare and other "entitlements". I have seen
estimates everywhere from $63 trillion to over $120 trillion,
depending what is included and who is doing the mathematics.
The truth is that we really have no clue, which makes it even
scarier.
Insomuch as it is the consumer that bites the bullet any time
that taxes are raised, semantically speaking, the real "debt"
falls on the individual taxpayers/consumers. Every penny that
comes out of our pockets adds to individual personal debt on your
family and may lead to personal deficit spending. If we ran our
personal budgets like the feds (and some states), we would have
been living on the streets long ago. Only the federal government
can go on a spending rampage and continue printing money at an
unprecedented rate. We learned nothing from the experiences of
Germany after WW1 when people had to haul their currency in
wheelbarrows to buy simple everyday goods. Other countries have
gone through similar experiences. Russia and Iran and others are
going through such crises right now because of the price of oil
and sanctions.
I have always followed the "Kiss Rule" (as one professor I had
once called it... "Keep it simple, stupid!"). My wife and I never
made large salaries when we were working, but we always spent far
less than we brought in... lived well within our means, dividing
our desires into "wants" and "needs". I have been retired for
15 years and my wife about 11. I have always used the old
"Ben Franklin" chart to make decisions. Divide a paper into two
categories... pros and cons and then list the items under each
one. This always made it really easy to make financial (and all)
decisions.
Sorry, I didn't mean to digress from the "gas prices" topic at
hand, but all of these things go into the personal survival of
individual families and our country. I have no faith in the
way our tax money is handled by government. With China and
other countries breathing down our necks at every moment, our
politicians need to do whatever is necessary to get our country
back to #1 and regain the respect we once knew.
I'd like to know what anybody will think about the financial
situation of our country at the present time. Is there anyone out
there who is NOT concerned about our country or our financial
condition? If not, you should be!! This is not a political
rhetorical question. We need some answers regardless of your
political views. Your kids and grand kids will reap the results
of the direction in which our country is headed.
-Frank WHITESIDE ('63)
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>>From: Lori SIMPSON Hogan ('70)
Re: Greg ALLEY's ('73) post on 12-18-14
And Mr. Ernie Curtis was the nice gentleman who handed out all
the equipment to keep us busy and out of trouble when we weren't
swimming at the Big Pool on those long hot summer days. Good
memories..
-Lori SIMPSON Hogan ('70)
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>>From: Mike FRANCO ('70)
Hmmmm so are we going political here?
-Mike FRANCO ('70)
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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