A NOTE OF APPRECIATION

I read that the federal deficit is $482 billion dollars. As a footnote to that story, one will find
that the Iraq-Afghanistan war cost is not included. Add at least 150 billion. Note also that he housing bailout is to cost ( conservatively ) 300 billion. This begins to sound like a real deficit
of almost 1 TRILLION bucks.

Our wonderful congress continues adding additional and expensive programs. For example:
World wide aid for aids ; billions ( but very little for heart disease and cancer ). Thank you, congress. We thank you for all the porky earmarks which accompany each legislative bill. Thanks again , congress, for being so generous with our and our grandchildren's money. We also admire your generous offer to bail out the real estate borrowers and lenders. How great for you to be taking a one month vacation while not doing anything about the energy crisis. Lastly, our appreciation for the unfunded expenses forced onto our evil corporations. They seem to be making obscene profits, a situation which can easily be corrected by more taxes and regulations.

Anf finally, my thanks go also to the President for using his veto power so sparingly and allowing the congressional garbage to become law.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Mother nature can be cruel. Think of the poor farmers here in south Texas. The cotton and sorghum crops had barely survived for a month without a drop of rain. Harvest time came
accompanied by 5 or more inches of rain. Adios crops for this year. So guess what.
The price of food and clothing will go up. Surprise , Surprise .

Back to congress bashing. It seems they are about to take off for their summer vacation. Almost nothing good was accomplished but they did pass some lousy stuff, mostly new spending ideas. Gasoline price still hovers about $4.00 a gallon.
I do blame our Democrats for blocking any useful legislation but they had help from the Republicans. Isn't it too bad that we don't have term limitations on some of the old, professional politicians. Three of four terms in the house and one or two in the senate should be enough. Somehow, 95% of the incumbents seem to get re-elected no matter how lousy they are.

There are moments when being a parent can be nerve wracking. One of the worst times is when the children get their first car. Off they go, fresh out of driver training with their new license, fearless, daring, and completely inexperienced.
Most of them survive and some even become good drivers but it takes time and usually a few accidents for this to happen.

Isn't it too bad that our US auto companies are in such trouble. They finally have started making excellent and attractive vehicles, equal in quality to all other auto companies. Now they are losing their shirts due to excessive labor concessions from way back when they were more prosperous. They have the product right but may very well go bankrupt