They're joking, right?

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.”

Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507.

I wonder what would happen to me if I didn't pay over $120,000 in taxes. Okay so that would take me a while, it's true, but seriously. What is going on? Doesn't something seem a little out of whack? You can't make this stuff up. So one of my elected officials is George Voinovich. Get this quote from one of the pages on his website:

"Gone are the days when public officials are measured by how much they spend on a problem…public officials are now judged on whether they can work harder and smarter, and do more with less." – George V. Voinovich

I mean is he kidding? I gave his office a quick jingle and suggested that they might tweak that a bit...all things considered :)

Checking out my other Senator's website, I was noting that Sherrod Brown was supporting the "Buy American" clause of the Stimulus package. If Senator Brown (and I use that term loosely) had ever taken an econ class in college or perhaps read Applied Economics as suggested below, he might understand that the impact of that type of legislation is negative. Now, don't get me wrong. I am totally for supporting American industry. I've never owned a car made by a foreign manufacturer and never will, but having a government policy to that effect just doesn't work. History shows us that.

I don't want to get into the nitty gritty here (mainly because it is probably boring and kind of a downer in general), but it is really shocking to me that these idiots don't understand the first thing about business. And I can't even balance a checkbook :)

History has shown us so much that is wrong with what our government is about to do here. It is really hard to believe that they think we are that dumb. Maybe you should tell them we're not!

Have you contacted your Senators?

Are they seriously serious?

Okay so maybe most people I know don't have to wonder where my politics take me. But, if you have no idea and I hope if you don't, you can just read objectively...are they seriously serious? Are they seriously going to spend a trillion that they don't even have on STD prevention, Pell grants and $650 million on the converter box program for digital TV? I'm sorry, did they say this was a stimulus? A way to create jobs? Somehow lost in this conversation, have we ever known government to positively impact the economy?

Are they serious? Before you think that your voice can't make a difference, I want you to view some of the spending coming our way.

And before you think that your voice can't make a difference, read this article in the Wall Street Journal about the feeding frenzy going on in Washington.

What should be required reading before being sworn in to the U.S. Congress:

My heart just sinks for the generations to come that will have to bear this burden...and hey, I don't even have any kids. I implore you to share your views with your elected officials. Only we can make a difference. And a little song to remember from whence we came.

And then the Brain Trust that is our local government apparently has $130 million on hand for a greening project (West-bound shoreway) and $45 million for a medical mart that will never be built but one of the biggest bridges (and most important) in the city is about to fall down and no one is doing anything about it. How many people have to die on that bridge?

I ask you again, are they seriously serious?

The same song keeps playing in my head.