Time To Get Outta Here

♪Oh, the weather outside is frightful... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow♪♪

BUNK!

Here on the farm it is cold.  Damn cold.  We're home from visiting our new grandchild in Minnesota, so it is time to pack up and head south.  The only question now is what route to take.

If we cut across the top of Arizona to our destination of Hope we will shave off about 100 miles. However, no doubt it will be colder for overnight stays.

The alternative would be the south route, which is longer, but would mean at least of couple of days travel with warmer weather.

Since we are in no hurry (except to get away from the snow and cold) it seems like the south route would be best.  The plan is to leave tomorrow and either way it is time to get outta here.

P.S.  Here is our grandson up in Minnesota headed to his first doctor appointment.  We'll sure miss him.

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First Look

After driving most of the morning on snow packed roads we arrived in Minnesota this afternoon for our first look at our Christmas Eve grandson.  New grandma was a natural.

Amazing.

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Christmas Eve Gift

Christmas Eve update for my blog followers and friends.

Our daughter had our first grandchild today - a baby boy.  Looks like the grandparents part of our life starts.

We will go to Minnesota on Saturday and when we get back to the farm we'll pack up and head south for the rest of the winter.

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Our Hope

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So Long Joe

Another one of the greatest has died.

Joe Cocker  May 20, 1944 - December 22, 2014

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Too Big To Fail = Too Big To Tax

A recent Newsweek article described how the Wall Street Banks are paying for the fines they received resulting from their “illegal” activities that lead to the 2008 crash.  The banks who were fined by the feds are able to deduct 100% of the fines from their taxes. Newsweek found that the total cost of settlement with the six largest banks was $143.2 billion. At least $44.1 billion of that is tax deductible. 

Bank of America received $12 billion in deductibles out of its $16.6 billion settlement deal. JP Morgan Chase is allowed to deduct $7 billion of its $13 billion deal it struck with the Department of Justice last November. Citigroup can deduct at least $3 billion of its $7 billion deal.

And why, you wonder, are Wall Street banks allowed to do this?  The answer is because the Justice Department opted to file civil action against the banks instead of criminal charges.  That is why none of the bank scoundrels are in jail and the banks are allowed to deduct the fines from their taxes.

Bank Scoundrels

In an interview with Newsweek, Brandon Garrett, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, questions the actions of the Department of Justice.

“It is very troubling when prosecutors announce blockbuster fines that are tax-deductible and potentially misleading to the public in terms of what the bottom line punishment actually is to the company,” Garrett says. “DOJ has never given a good explanation for why it has allowed tax-deductible settlements in those cases.”

Not only did the taxpayer get hit in the Wall Street banks bailout, we are now stuck paying their fines in the form of the tax deductions they are taking.  And, as I commented a week ago, Congress has made sure that the big banks are protected by lifting risky trading restrictions in the recently passed spending bill.

Too big to fail also means too big to tax.

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What Else Is Hidden

Last Friday I commented about the plum deal the banks got in the recently passed federal $1.01 trillion spending bill at our expense.  You'll never guess what else was buried in the bill.  Right there on page 982 (Section 104) Congress gave itself a monthly car lease allowance of up to $1000.

The majority on members of Congress are millionaires, but our tax dollars are paying for these poor saps to lease a car.  Not just any car.  Why not a Mercedes?  Or a Cadillac? Or a Beemer?

Not only do we pay their salaries and benefits, we now pay for them to lease a luxury car. Kind of makes me wonder what else is hidden in the spending bill.  

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What A Damn Shame

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  One would have thought that the deaths of 20 children and 6 teachers and staff would shock Congress into passing realistic gun regulations.

A casket carrying the body of shooting victim Jessica Rekos, 6, is brought out after her funeral 

on December 18, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) 

Since Sandy Hook at least 95 school shooting incidents have taken place in 33 states across the nation, according to a new study released this week by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.  Founder of the group, Shannon Watts, said, "There's no other developed country that looks like this or that would tolerate this kind of violence among schoolchildren.  Communities all over the country live in fear of gun violence. That’s unacceptable.  We should feel secure in sending our children to school — comforted by the knowledge that they’re safe.”

Carlee Soto reacts as she learns her sister, Victoria Soto, a teacher at the Sandy Hook 

Elementary School, was one of 26 people killed in a shooting at the school. Photo: Jessica Hill

In the two years since Newtown, 45 people have been killed in school shootings, and 78 more sustained nonfatal gunshot injuries, according to the study. Of the 95 shootings identified in the report, 49 took place at K-12 schools, while 46 occurred at colleges and universities.  (International Business Times)

The guns used in the Sandy hook shooting spree were assault weapons - plain and simple.  Weapons that may have a place in the military or law enforcement, but clearly should not be unregulated for everyone else.

Congress held token hearings after Sandy Hook and blew a lot of smoke about finally doing something to end the killings and gun violence, especially against our children.  However, as usual, this do-nothing Congress, influenced by the gun lobbyists and manufacturers, sat on their hands.

Neil Heslin, father of six-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Jesse Lewis, 

holds a picture of him as he testifies during a hearing on The Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.

The fact is that nothing came from hearings in Congress and nothing ever will.  There aren’t words strong enough to describe how worthless this Congress is.  After all, not even the killing of 20 children and 6 educators persuaded Congress to act.   What a damn shame.

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What Are My Chances?

Big business control over Congress is alive and well.  At the final hour Congress passed the massive spending bill, including special favors to banks.  Never mind that the taxpayers will once again be on the hook. Score another one for the bank lobbyists.

The spending bill included a Republican rider that watered down restrictions contained in the Dodd-Frank financial regulations on derivatives trading that uses insured deposits subsidized by taxpayers.  In a word - bailout.  So, banks will once again be able to gamble taxpayer insured funds on risky investments.  If they win, the payoff is big - to them.  If they lose, the bailout is big - to us, the taxpayer.

Banks have lobbied against the restrictions on derivatives, claiming they need the freedom to hedge risks for clients who want to lock in prices for oil and other volatile commodities by using these instruments.

In opposing that portion of the spending bill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). said, "The House of Representatives is about to show us the worst of government for the rich and powerful. The House is about to vote on a budget deal, a deal negotiated behind closed doors that slips in a provision that would let derivatives traders on Wall Street gamble with taxpayer money and get bailed out by the government when their risky bets threaten to blow up our financial system."

Thanks for sticking up for us Elizabeth.  I’m still waiting for someone to go to jail from the last bank bailout.  I’m also still waiting to win the powerball lottery.  What are my chances on either?

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My Days Are Numbered

Well, that’s just great.  Some doctor has come up with a physical test to determine how much longer you can expect to live.

Participants are instructed to get in comfortable clothes and be barefoot for the test. Stand still in an upward position to start. Next, without using your arms to brace yourself, lower yourself to the ground and sit in the cross-legged position. Then, also without using your arms for assistance, stand back up.

In a study published in the European Journal of Cardiology, people who scored less than eight points on the test were twice as likely to die within the next six years compared to those who scored higher. Those who scored a three or less on the test were five times more likely to die within the next six years than those with a score of eight or higher.

Naturally, the fitness guru’s have glommed onto it to drum up business.

Don't’ get me wrong...  I’m definitely not against being fit and I have tons of room for improvement.  However, with bad knees, being over weight and just plain older, I can hardly get up off the floor, much less go down and then up again without using my arms.  

So, according to this “test” my days are numbered.  Geez... I sure hope they are wrong.

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