Month: October 2013

Do you remember when one of our first astronauts was asked what he was thinking just before liftoff? He said, “I was thinking, ‘Every part of this rocket was supplied by the low bidder.’”

Well, even though it has already cost over $600 Billion, every component of the Healthcare.gov website was provided by the low bidder. Last week a half dozen of those low bidders were grilled by Congress. All of ‘em had the same answer for the early failures, “It’s not my fault.” And nobody seemed to know exactly who is in charge. They cashed their checks, but don’t remember who signed ‘em.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, gets her turn this week to give us the lowdown on who’s to blame. She’s finding out that compared to the Affordable Healthcare Act, it was a lot easier to run Kansas. She probably wishes the man she works for would trade in his inspirational cheerleading outfit. He’s standing on the sidelines prodding the crowd to yell their encouragement to the team, “Go Health! Go Health! Go Health!” Sebelius could say, “Mr. President, please put down the pom poms, grab a helmet, get out there and lead this team down the field. We’re already in the second half, and we’re behind 49-0.”

Peace has returned to Washington, temporarily, and Congress is working on the farm bill. Years ago, the farm bill was “relief for the farmer.” Now, they have been arguing for two years, not so much on farm relief, but rather food relief which accounts for about 80%. Some folks say the farmer don’t need any relief, give it all to anyone who says they’re hungry. Nobody can argue against feeding hungry children, but we might want to throw a few crumbs to the farmers. I suggested one time that the farmers move to town for a year. If they do, the number one healthcare problem won’t be a website; it’ll be famishment.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“I have always claimed that the farmer will get no relief by legislation, for there is more people eating than there is raising, so he is a minority before he starts.” DT #570, May 29, 1928

“Tax relief, farm relief… none of these have been settled, but they are getting them in shape for consideration at the next session of Congress with the hope that those needing relief will perhaps have conveniently died in the meantime.” DT #557, May 9, 1928

“Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.” DT #841, Apr. 7, 1929

“(President) Coolidge isn’t keeping the great American people in suspense on that farming bill purposely. It takes time to feel out the whole country and see which side has the most votes.” DT #180, Feb. 24, 1927

Do you remember when one of our first astronauts was asked what he was thinking just before liftoff? He said, “I was thinking, ‘Every part of this rocket was supplied by the low bidder.’”

Well, even though it has already cost over $600 Billion, every component of the Healthcare.gov website was provided by the low bidder. Last week a half dozen of those low bidders were grilled by Congress. All of ‘em had the same answer for the early failures, “It’s not my fault.” And nobody seemed to know exactly who is in charge. They cashed their checks, but don’t remember who signed ‘em.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, gets her turn this week to give us the lowdown on who’s to blame. She’s finding out that compared to the Affordable Healthcare Act, it was a lot easier to run Kansas. She probably wishes the man she works for would trade in his inspirational cheerleading outfit. He’s standing on the sidelines prodding the crowd to yell their encouragement to the team, “Go Health! Go Health! Go Health!” Sebelius could say, “Mr. President, please put down the pom poms, grab a helmet, get out there and lead this team down the field. We’re already in the second half, and we’re behind 49-0.”

Peace has returned to Washington, temporarily, and Congress is working on the farm bill. Years ago, the farm bill was “relief for the farmer.” Now, they have been arguing for two years, not so much on farm relief, but rather food relief which accounts for about 80%. Some folks say the farmer don’t need any relief, give it all to anyone who says they’re hungry. Nobody can argue against feeding hungry children, but we might want to throw a few crumbs to the farmers. I suggested one time that the farmers move to town for a year. If they do, the number one healthcare problem won’t be a website; it’ll be famishment.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“I have always claimed that the farmer will get no relief by legislation, for there is more people eating than there is raising, so he is a minority before he starts.” DT #570, May 29, 1928

“Tax relief, farm relief… none of these have been settled, but they are getting them in shape for consideration at the next session of Congress with the hope that those needing relief will perhaps have conveniently died in the meantime.” DT #557, May 9, 1928

“Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.” DT #841, Apr. 7, 1929

“(President) Coolidge isn’t keeping the great American people in suspense on that farming bill purposely. It takes time to feel out the whole country and see which side has the most votes.” DT #180, Feb. 24, 1927

COLUMBUS: The 16-Day War in Washington ended. Like a lot of recent wars, including the War on Terror, nobody won, and it’s not really over. And it cost a lot of money. Democrats say the shutdown cost $24 Billion. Republicans say their goal was to save a Trillion.

Both parties are gearing up to do it all over again in 3 months. They’re digging in, firmly entrenched. Do you think they might agree to “meet in the middle?” Not a chance. Not a chance.

President Obama says he wants immigration reform and a farm bill. Of course his version of the farm bill has more than 80% of the money going to food stamps, not farmers. Having 46 million folks poor enough to collect food stamps is not enough; he wants to continue rewarding federal employees who round up more of ‘em. And by immigration reform he means to let the millions who sneaked in from Mexico become voting citizens. Of course the debt ceiling will have to be raised again. And again. And again.

Senator Coburn said, “We just raised the debt limit… that’s like saying we’re going to raise the legal limit for blood alcohol thinking we’re going to control drunk driving.”

Here’s an interesting fact related to Social Security. Half the people working today expect to work well past age 65. But our elected officials in Washington say, “No, let ‘em retire; no need to increase the retirement age.”

Would you like to read a good book? “Will Rogers: I Never Met a Farmer I Didn’t Like” is now available. Go to http://www.willrogerstoday.com. One click takes you to Amazon. Or, if you want 3 or more, send me an email: for a good deal.

Here’s what 3 folks who know a little about Will and agriculture said about the book:

“This is a superb collection of Will Rogers’ many words of agriculturally-related wit and wisdom,” stated Steve Gragert, Director of the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry, Will’s great-granddaughter, adds, “Being married to a farmer I truly appreciate the quotes and stories in this book. These inspirational words are just as true today as they were when Will Rogers said them himself.”

“You can’t help but smile as you read through Will Rogers’ wise cracks woven with wisdom. It is the perfect gift for all of us with deep roots in agriculture,” Charlene Finck, Farm Journal Editor.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“You know a man with a message is a whole lot harder to listen to than any other species of speaker.” WA #28, June 24, 1923

“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

“Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.” DT #841, Apr. 7, 1929

COLUMBUS: Does anyone understand what’s going on in Washington? A week ago I thought common horse sense would prevail. But common horse sense done rode out of town.

The “negotiations” began with President Obama announcing that he would not negotiate. He said, “You want to cut expenses and make changes to the Obamacare law, but there will be no changes to that law, except the dozen I made myself.”

It reminds me of a person wanting to sell an old car for $100. A man, let’s call him John, offers $90. The owner, we’ll call him Harry, says, “No way.” After reassessing his financial situation, John raises his offer to $95. Harry says “No.” Days pass. John calls, “Ok, $99.” Harry remains adamant, “$100!” More days go by. Finally, John offers $99.50. Harry replies, “It’s $102 or no deal.” Well, that’s Washington today.

Did you hear this? The Washington Redskins are to change their name, due to the negative associations. From now on, they will be known as the Maryland Redskins. (Thanks to Ron Culberson for sending me that line, written by Dan Stewart.)

Our veterans gathered in Washington today. These guys don’t like the federal government telling them to stay out of their war memorials. They took barriers away from the memorials and hauled them up the street to surround the White House instead. That’s a start. Next they should haul another batch up Capitol Hill and corral all 535 Senators and Congressmen.

The Defense Dept. announced the shutdown prevented them from paying death benefits to the families of five who died in Afghanistan. Terrible decision. I’m sure the official in charge wanted to pay ‘em, but he asked a lawyer to interpret the law. Big mistake. Here’s something I wrote in 1935. “Every time a lawyer writes something, he is not writing for posterity, he is writing so that endless others of his craft can make a living out of trying to figure out what he said… One level-headed smart man could interpret every law there is.”

Did you hear about the disastrous blizzard that hit western South Dakota last week? A cold rain followed by three feet of snow and 70 mph wind resulted in the horrible death of thousands of cattle (and sheep). If you didn’t know, it’s because big newspapers and television practically ignored it. Imagine the difference if somehow 50,000 cats and dogs had died in a natural disaster; it would have been on the news constantly for days.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“What makes it hard for (Congress) is every time a bill comes up they have a million things to decide that have nothing to do with the merit of the bill… The principal thing is of course: What will this do for me personally back home? Politics, and self-preservation, must come first, never mind the majority of the people of the U.S.” WA #78, June 8, 1924

#774 Oct. 6, 2013

COLUMBUS: The Federal government has partially shut down. Has it affected you?

You had better say “YES!” If you don’t, the President will find a few other things to close. The World War II Memorial, which like the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, is open air with no gates, no doors, and no way of closing. But they installed temporary barriers anyway.

They shut down Mount Rushmore, but people could still see it from a nearby road. So they blocked off part of that road. I guess if you want to see it, you have to rent a helicopter.

Did you know the beautiful state of Utah is almost three-quarter owned by the federal government? To keep us from seeing it, they may block every entrance to the state.

Hope no one in Washington remembers the Interstate Highway System is 90 percent Federal. Blocking those roads would sure get our attention.

Good thing all the farmers haven’t shut down. If they stopped milking the cows and feeding the pigs and chickens for a day it would cause more havoc than any shutdown Obama can dream up.

It’s not all the Democrats fault. The conservative Republicans insist on reduced spending whether it’s for health insurance, food stamps or federal salaries. They want to shut down part of the government, just not the part Democrats are willing to let go.

How about this idea. Invite President Obama and his Cabinet to the Capitol for a joint session of Congress, kinda like they do for the State of the Union speech. Then block all the exits. Don’t let anybody out until they agree on something.

Once they get this government shutdown behind them, they’ve got the debt ceiling to argue over. President Obama figures he needs to borrow an extra Trillion dollars to get through the next election, and if he don’t get it by next week, the Treasury Secretary will stop our interest payments to China. Oddly, there’s plenty of revenue coming in to pay the interest, and there’s no need to default and cause panic on Wall Street. But the President has seen his middle class folks living in pain the last five years, and he wants the big stockholders to suffer along with ‘em. The President of any business that’s pinched for cash would prioritize where to spend, and where to delay payment. But not this President. His priority is to inflict as much pain as possible… on Republicans.

Too bad the scare from Washington isn’t just an early Halloween prank.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“The Government never has been accused of being a business man.” WA #158, Dec. 20, 1925

“Prosperity this Winter is going to be enjoyed by everybody that is fortunate enough to get into the poor farm.” DT #1031, Nov. 14, 1929