Monday, February 9, 2015

Barker's Newsbites: Monday, February 9, 2015


Well, kids... no school today. You see... there's a bit of icy rain and snow mix falling... UPON UPSTATE NEW YORK... IN EARLY FEBRUARY...

(*PUTTING THE MUZZLE OF THE PISTOL INTO MY MOUTH*)

Again... let me ask ya... do you think they close school in... um... Switzerland... every time it snows? 

Moscow? 

Montreal?

(*SIGH*)

Anyway... domino effect... when school is delayed/cancelled my gym cancels morning classes (and sometimes evening classes as well)!

(*GNASHING MY TEETH*)

Listen... folks... here's the rule of thumb: If I feel comfortable taking "Hank" (my rear-wheel drive HEMI-powered Dodge Charger) out... then those friggin' buses should be out there driving the kids to school!

Or... better yet... let's do away with school bus service. Let the parents (and the market) figure out how to get the kids to school! 

WHY are the schools in "the transportation business?" Hell! Why are the schools in "the food service business?!"

Imagine no school buses. Does anyone actually believe this would put an end to public schooling?! No! Parents would help parents. Private services would pop up (no doubt at lower prices when all is said and done) and instead of kids being ferried (or rather often NOT ferried) to school in buses that can't handle inclement weather, four-when drive vehicles and vehicles with snow tires would fill the gap!

Anyway... rant off...


4 comments:

Kim said...

In Abu Dhabi buses don't run in rain or fog. Perhaps you are on to something with buses not being the best mode of transportation for school.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/02/09/measles-outbreak-spreads-to-three-more-states-121-people-now-affected/

The measles outbreak spread to three more states and Washington D.C. last week...

* FOLKS... OBAMA IMMIGRATION POLICIES AND DISRESPECT FOR THE RULE OF LAW ARE TO BLAME...

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

William R. Barker said...

http://nypost.com/2015/02/08/wall-streets-no-lose-view-of-2016/

The early voting is in, and Wall Street loves what it sees and hears from its anointed 2016 front-runners — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush (with Chris Christie as a fallback).

* FOLKS... LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS... IF THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH DOESN'T TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW...

(*SIGH*) (*THROWING MY HANDS UP IN THE AIR*)

Both parties’ front-runners are tied tight to the Wall Street establishment.

For all Hillary’s lefty posturing of late (“Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs”), she counts Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein and Black­rock head Larry Fink among her top backers.

Jeb is known for education and other reforms as Florida’s governor, but he’s spent much of his time since working with the money men — first as a Lehman Bros. special adviser, then jumping ship to Barclays Capital until he began exploring a presidential run.

* TWO SCUMBAGS...

And Christie has some pretty close friends among the banking glitterati himself — from hedge-fund honcho Steve Cohen, whose firm was indicted in 2013 over insider-trading allegations, to . . . Mrs. Christie, a bond-market executive for a hedge fund.

* GEEZUS CHRIST... (THREE... MAKE THAT FOUR... SCUMBAGS.)

The main thing is: Whenever Wall Street sees a “no-lose situation,” the rest of America is looking at a no-win one.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/medicare-and-social-security-costs-out-of-sight-out-of-mind-1423503413?mod=WSJ_hppMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

Here are two words that seem to be slipping from the Washington vernacular: entitlement reform.

* BUT... BUT... BUT... WHAT OF THE "REPUBLICAN" TAKE-OVER OF THE HOUSE IN 2010... THE "REPUBLICAN" TAKE-OVER OF THE SENATE IN 2014...?

(*SPITTING ON THE FLOOR*)

There was a time, not so long ago, when both parties were at least paying lip service to the idea that the giant Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs — their long-term solvency in peril, their contributions to long-term deficit and debt daunting — needed to be adjusted before they either broke the bank or failed future retirees.

Now a combination of factors has blunted the reform drive.

Declining short-term deficits...

* THE "PATIENT" IS BLEEDING OUT... THUS.. "DIMINISHING FLOW."

(*SMIRK*)

...the salve of slower increases in health costs...


* EVEN AS WE GET LESS FOR WHAT WE PAY YEAR AFTER YEAR...

...the sheer failure of repeated attempts to find bipartisan common ground on changes, traditional Democratic reluctance and the growing dependence of Republicans on senior citizens’ votes all reduce Washington’s interest in tackling this toughest of problems.

* RINOs. THAT'S THE PROBLEM. THAT THE DEMOCRATS WILL ACT IRRESPONSIBLY IS A GIVEN.

In coming weeks we’ll see what Republicans intend to do, when the new GOP majorities in the House and Senate try to compose a budget of their own. In recent years, when the party didn’t have the burden of full control, Rep. Paul Ryan...

* A SCUMBAG. A POSER. A FAKE, PHONY, FRAUD.

...then chairman of the House Budget Committee, composed budgets that proposed to take on the long-term Medicare cost problem by transforming its current fee-for-service model into what it presumed would be a more cost-efficient premium-support model, in which the government would provide a payment to senior citizens to buy their own insurance plan.

* ANYONE BELIEVE RYAN (AND BOEHNER AND MCCONNELL) WILL PUSH THAT PLAN NOW THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY IN A POSITION TO GET LEGISLATION PASSED...? (ANYONE...??? ANYONE AT ALL...???)

* AND AS FOR THE DEMOCRATS..

Some Democrats actually instead are pushing to increase Social Security benefits.

(*HEADACHE*)

Meanwhile, here’s the long-term picture, as seen in the projections contained in a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office:

Social Security will rise in cost by 77% over the next decade, and Medicare by 89%, under current policies.

Meantime, the federal government’s bill for paying interest on the accumulating national debt will more than triple.