My heart goes out to the people of the great nation of Japan. They have suffered a terrible blow to their infrastructure, to their people, to their lifestyle. A natural disaster of this proportion is bound to have an longlasting impact. I truly feel them, as I do for the citizens of Haiti, and other countries devastated by such disasters.
But. (There's always a "but".)
As the e-mail that's appeared in my in-box, time and again, over the past months points out, there are a lot of people in the United States of AMERICA who need help. Not to recover from natural disasters, but just to get by. We have seniors, the unemployed, and others on fixed incomes who can barely make it from one check to the next. I say "fixed" income, but that's not exactly true. The "withholdings" from the checks continue to go up, and...unlike the "checks" for our congressmen and senators...the cost-of-living increases ain't happening. The "fixed" income actually goes down. If you haven't noticed, the cost of gasoline, milk, corn...just about everything you need to survive...is anything but "fixed".
I'm sure you are aware that your representatives have approved, for themselves, pay increases. Again. I still can't understand why it's ok for the EMPLOYEE to give himself a raise. I always thought it was the EMPLOYER who did that. At least, that's the way it always was for me. And, those raises were based, in part, on how well I performed, as well as how well I maintained my department's budget. If I had performed as poorly as our representatives, and had consistently and routinely, without shame, spent more than my budget allowed, I would not have expected a raise. Of course, if I had been able to give myself a raise, regardless of my performance, I would have been a rich man. But, the company would have been broke. Much like our country is. Fourteen-trillion dollars broke. That's $14,000,000,000,000
broke. Hard to keep track of the zeroes. And, I could have missed a few.
I've been on a tangent, but it is related to the natural disasters all over the globe. This country is broke. We cannot, and are not, taking care of ourselves. We cannot, and should not, be the great saviour of the world. Charity begins at home. When we have eliminated hunger, reduced/eliminated unemployment, taken care of health care (with a workable plan, not the obamacareless plan), when our kids are safe in their homes, when gangs are put out of business, when the drug dealers don't control our streets...then, and ONLY then, should we take on the job of being the great saviour.
Yes, I believe in helping our good friends in Japan and in Haiti and in Chile. I also believe in helping my neighbors when they need my assistance. But, I don't think I'll be mowing their lawn if ours is a foot high. I really don't think my wife would approve.
A final tidbit. And, it's a bit harsh to point out. And, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. From today's edition of the Jacksonville (NC) Daily News:
Gas prices have been driven up by recent unrest in the Middle East. But many market speculators are calling for costs to take a dip along with Japan’s oil demand in the wake of the island nation’s earthquake and tsunami last week.
The earthquake that rocked Japan may actually cause the price of gasoline to drop.
Wow. (without an exclamation mark)
But. (There's always a "but".)
As the e-mail that's appeared in my in-box, time and again, over the past months points out, there are a lot of people in the United States of AMERICA who need help. Not to recover from natural disasters, but just to get by. We have seniors, the unemployed, and others on fixed incomes who can barely make it from one check to the next. I say "fixed" income, but that's not exactly true. The "withholdings" from the checks continue to go up, and...unlike the "checks" for our congressmen and senators...the cost-of-living increases ain't happening. The "fixed" income actually goes down. If you haven't noticed, the cost of gasoline, milk, corn...just about everything you need to survive...is anything but "fixed".
I'm sure you are aware that your representatives have approved, for themselves, pay increases. Again. I still can't understand why it's ok for the EMPLOYEE to give himself a raise. I always thought it was the EMPLOYER who did that. At least, that's the way it always was for me. And, those raises were based, in part, on how well I performed, as well as how well I maintained my department's budget. If I had performed as poorly as our representatives, and had consistently and routinely, without shame, spent more than my budget allowed, I would not have expected a raise. Of course, if I had been able to give myself a raise, regardless of my performance, I would have been a rich man. But, the company would have been broke. Much like our country is. Fourteen-trillion dollars broke. That's $14,000,000,000,000
broke. Hard to keep track of the zeroes. And, I could have missed a few.
I've been on a tangent, but it is related to the natural disasters all over the globe. This country is broke. We cannot, and are not, taking care of ourselves. We cannot, and should not, be the great saviour of the world. Charity begins at home. When we have eliminated hunger, reduced/eliminated unemployment, taken care of health care (with a workable plan, not the obamacareless plan), when our kids are safe in their homes, when gangs are put out of business, when the drug dealers don't control our streets...then, and ONLY then, should we take on the job of being the great saviour.
Yes, I believe in helping our good friends in Japan and in Haiti and in Chile. I also believe in helping my neighbors when they need my assistance. But, I don't think I'll be mowing their lawn if ours is a foot high. I really don't think my wife would approve.
A final tidbit. And, it's a bit harsh to point out. And, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. From today's edition of the Jacksonville (NC) Daily News:
Gas prices have been driven up by recent unrest in the Middle East. But many market speculators are calling for costs to take a dip along with Japan’s oil demand in the wake of the island nation’s earthquake and tsunami last week.
The earthquake that rocked Japan may actually cause the price of gasoline to drop.
Wow. (without an exclamation mark)
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