Yet Again....

Yet again...I will, apparently, talk to myself.

Yet again, they are at it again. The newspapers are trumpeting Congress's override of a Bush veto, of a "popular" water bill. Well, they wonder why they (newspapers) lose readership. Why don't these people examine the whole story? The Army Corps of Engineers asked Congress for $5 Billion for a project. The House considered and came up with $13 Billion. Not to be outdone, the Senate found $14 Billion. The conference committee "compromised," fixing the final amount at $23 Billion!!!! There's a compromise, all right--one side says $13 Bill, the other $14 Bill, and we meet in the middle, $23 Bill!!!! There were 19 earmarks in the conference bill, adding to the cost. The Army Corps of Engineers asked for $5 Billion. Remember folks, it's easy to spend other people's money. Oh, I forgot, Governor Jenny just scolded us, "They (voters/taxpayers) have to get over it, thinking it's their money." Silly us.

Shame on the media. Shame on Congress. But is anyone really surprised? Of course not. The real shame lies with us--we'll just sit and take it, paying more and more taxes to greedy and thoughtless people.

And, of course, the price of gas is headed to new highs, some say over $4 a gallon in Calif. I ran past a station today listed at $3.23 per. Pelosi and Clinton are calling on Bush to release some of the national strategic reserves to lower the price (by creating more supply). But, two things, neither of which has apparently dawned on our illustrious leaders. One, what good is depleting our strategic reserves going to do--for two or three weeks????? Silly. Silly. Silly. Two, the federal excise on gasoline is 19 cents/gallon. Michigan's gasoline tax is 19 cents/gallon. In Michigan, gasoline buyers also pay a penny per for some "environmental cost." And, to top it off, we also pay the 6% sales tax, not only on the gasoline price, but also on the gasoline taxes! So, right now, we are paying taxes of upwards of 45 cents a gallon. Is it really stupid of me to ask why the taxes aren't lowered, you know, to ease taxpayers burdens?

I suppose that that guy in the Free Press guest column last week might have been right. We should feel "privileged" to pay more taxes, to share our good fortune--to what? A bloated government? School districts that spend on boondoggle after boondoggle?

The good fight is being lost because nobody cares....