April 10, 2011

COLUMBUS: If a man running a huge company with a board of directors treated their employees the same way the President and Congress treated theirs, they would be fired, or maybe hung. When you keep an entire workforce on pins and needles just because you can’t decide which 1% or 2% to let go, it’s no surprise if their productivity may have slipped a bit.

If the President and Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi had proposed the same budget last September (when the argument should have been decided), do you suppose the Republicans would have voted for it? If I remember correctly, it was Mr. Reid who at the time said no budget bill could get passed in the Senate because the Republicans would be against it. Well, I always admitted: I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.

The National Football League owners and players are going through the same kind of foolishness. Eventually they’ll agree on the same deal they could have signed in February.

I’m mighty glad those government employees will be back at work this week. Meanwhile Congress and the President will begin another battle, over raising the amount of money we can borrow from China. We’re $14,000,000,000,000 in the hole. That’s a huge hole and the President wants to dig it deeper. Then there’s the little issue of approving a budget for the new year, starting in October. For those of us who are dutifully submitting our income taxes this week, it’s kinda discouraging to see where some of it goes. But it sure beats having no income.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:(on income taxes)

“If your Income Taxes go to help out the less fortunate, there could be no legitimate kick against it in the world. This is becoming the richest, and the poorest Country in the world.”  WA #421, Jan. 18, 1931

“It’s increased taxes on incomes of over one hundred thousand net where the money should come from to supply work (to the unemployed).” DT #1449, March 16, 1931

“Our financial ills will never be settled till you fix it so every man will pay an income tax on what he earns, be it a farm, grocery store or municipal or government bonds.” DT #2068,  March 21, 1933

“It’s a great country but you can’t live in it for nothing.” DT #2343, Feb. 5, 1934

“Lord, the money we do spend on government.  And it’s not a bit better government that we got for one-third the money twenty years ago.” WA #483, March 27,1932

“There’s no income tax in Russia, but there’s no income. Hitler ain’t got no sales tax but he ain’t selling anything. (With) Mussolini you don’t have to pay a poll tax to vote in Italy, but nobody votes.” Radio, April 7, 1935