I got this email, today. . .

and since I'm up to my eyeballs in revamping the house, I'm just going to post this, and hope that you'll copy it, and send it on to your friends:

     
        
  
         " This  should be on the front page of every  newspaper.
                       

Charley Reese's Final  column!
  A  very interesting column.. COMPLETELY  NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the  end.

Charley Reese's final column for the  Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist  for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS  LAST COLUMN.

Be sure to read the Tax List  at the end.

This is about as clear and  easy to understand as it can be. The article  below is completely neutral, 
neither anti-republican  or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter  for the Orlando Sentinel, 
has  hit the nail directly on the head, defining  clearly who it is that in the final analysis 
must  assume responsibility for the judgments made  that impact each one of us every day. 
It's  a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth  remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000  People
-By Charlie  Reese

Politicians are the only people  in the world who create problems and then  campaign against them.

Have you ever  wondered, if both the Democrats and the  Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have  deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all  the politicians are against inflation and high  taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high  taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal  budget. The President does.

You and I  don't have the Constitutional authority to vote  on appropriations. The House of Representatives  does.

You and I don't write the tax code,  Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal  policy, Congress does.

You and I don't  control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve  Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435  congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme  Court justices equates to 545 human beings out  of the 300 million are directly, legally,  morally, and individually responsible for the  domestic problems that plague this  country.

I excluded the members of the  Federal Reserve Board because that problem was  created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress  delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a  sound currency to a federally chartered, but  private, central bank.

I excluded all the  special interests and lobbyists for a sound  reason. They have no legal authority. They have  no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman,  or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I  don't care if they offer a politician $1 million  dollars in cash. The politician has the power to  accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist  promises, it is the legislator's responsibility  to determine how he votes.

Those 545  human beings spend much of their energy  convincing you that what they did is not their  fault. They cooperate in this common con  regardless of party.

What separates a  politician from a normal human being is an  excessive amount of gall. No normal human being  would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up  and criticized the President for creating  deficits. The President can only propose a  budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept  it.

The Constitution, which is the  supreme law of the land, gives sole  responsibility to the House of Representatives  for originating and approving appropriations and  taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John  Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party.  He and fellow House members, not the President,  can approve any budget they want. If the  President vetoes it, they can pass it over his  veto if they agree to.

It seems  inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million  cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted --  by present facts -- of incompetence and  irresponsibility. I can't think of a single  domestic problem that is not traceable directly  to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the  plain truth that 545 people exercise the power  of the federal government, then it must follow  that what exists is what they want to  exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's  because they want it unfair.

If the  budget is in the red, it's because they want it  in the red.

If the Army & Marines are  in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want  them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...

If they  do not receive social security but are on an  elite retirement plan not available to the  people, it's because they want it that  way.

There are no insoluble government  problems.

Do not let these 545 people  shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire  and whose jobs they can abolish; 
to  lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can  reject; to regulators, 
to  whom they give the power to regulate and from  whom they can take this power. 
Above  all, do not let them con you into the belief  that there exists disembodied mystical forces  like
"the  economy," "inflation," or "politics" that  prevent them from
doing  what they take an oath to do.

Those 545  people, and they alone, are  responsible.

They, and they alone, have  the power.

They, and they alone, should  be held accountable by the people who are their  bosses.

Provided the voters have the  gumption to manage their own  employees...

We should vote all of them  out of office and clean up their  mess!

Charlie  Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando  Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with  this article now that you have read it... is up  to you.
This might be funny if it weren't  so true.
Be sure to read all the way  to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax  his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he's  fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his  mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the  rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He  works for
peanuts anyway!

Tax his  cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax  his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his  shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his  dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his  drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to  think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his  beers,
If he cries
Tax his  tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his  gas,
Find other ways
To tax his  ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him  know
That you won't be done
Till he has no  dough.

When he screams and  hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him  till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his  coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod  in
Which he's laid...

Put these  words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to  my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not  relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance  tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building  Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette  Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License  Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income  Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax  (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License  Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax  (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross  Receipts Tax
Hunting License  Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS  Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of  tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage  License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property  Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate  Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security  Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle  Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income  Tax
State Unemployment Tax  (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise  Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee  Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local  Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage  Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and  Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and  Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge  Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License  Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales  Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well  Permit Tax
Workers Compensation  Tax


STILL THINK THIS IS  FUNNY?
Not one of  these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our  nation was the most prosperous in the  world.
We had absolutely no national debt,  had the largest middle class in the world, and  Mom stayed home to raise the  kids.

What in the heck  happened? Can you spell  'politicians?'

I hope this  goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU  can help it get there!!!

GO AHEAD. . . BE  AN AMERICAN"


L8r!

It's been awhile. . .

since I last posted, and I thought that I'd be able to get back to the posting every couple of weeks, but I've been swamped with work.  I thought I had 4 "little" projects lined up for the summer, but that changed when my refrigerator died about 3 weeks ago.  I tore out the door trim, the baseboards, and the wall switch, so I could get it out of the little alcove in which it resided, and moved it out onto the back porch.  I bought a new one, 2" smaller in width, so I never have to repeat this process, but delivery date is scheduled for September 1st, so I can get everything done first.  Since I had had to do all that work, I proceeded to rip up the rest of the trim in the kitchen and both bathrooms, in order to lay down a new slate floor, and at the urging of several friends, I decided to include under-floor heat, which added a whole new set of complexities to the project.

I have almost completed laying down the hardybacker underlayment for the slate, but, because the guys who assembled the old refrigerator cut the tube that delivers  the condensation to the little "pan" under the fridge about 6" too short, the water dripped on the floor, and I have a rotten spot, about 14" long, and 6" wide. Luckily, whoever laid the floor put tar paper under it, there's no rot in the subfloor.  I've dug out the rottten stuff, and have a heat lamp baking the dampness out of the rest of the wood.  In a week or so, I'll touch base with a friend, and find out what kind of plastic hardner/filler to pour in there, to bring it back up to level, and then I can lay the last piece of hardybacker.



Now, since some of you may not realize the logistics of getting materials down to the house, check out this picture of the stairs that things have to come down to get to my house:

This picture was taken back in '96, just after my house was hit by a landslide, but these are the 200 stairs that have to be negotiated to get to The Beach!

A friend and I had intended to lay the slate floor ourselves, but because: 1. my house is a trapezoid instead of a rectangle;  2. the fact that after the heating coils go down over the hardybacker, a self-leveling mix has to be poured over those, and the slate laid within 48 hours, and  3. my tolerance for frustration is somewhat limited at this time, I have decided to contract out the remainder of this project, and the arrangements with the craftsmen have already been made.

Geez, all that leaves me to do is repaint or wallpaper the kitchen and bath, repaint and replace the baseboards and door trim, rebuild part of my bulkhead and rebuild the remainder of the deck, which I started a few years ago.  Don't want to rush into anything, don't'cha know?

At this point, I have pretty well stuck my head in the sand, and am ignoring all the political crap that is being thrown at us, so it's up to you guys to keep an eye on the political "crooks and clowns" while I get this stuff done!

Back to work for this "kid"!  More later. . .