SPRING?

All this talk about its being spring brought back some memories.  When my son was about 3 or 4, he heard on the radio or TV that spring had begun.  It was a year very similar to this one.

He was convinced that since it was spring, he should stop wearing his winter clothes and begged me to get out his "spring" clothes.  He was very fussy about his appearance and wouldn't budge - he wanted his spring clothes.  I remembered my mother's solution to a stubborn child so I gave in.  The house was warm enough for short sleeves, so I really didn't see the harm.

After a day or two, he relented and went back to the long sleeve shirts and comfort.

My mother's solution?  When my brother was about 3 years old, all he wanted to eat was Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup - for every meal.   She gave in to him.  He had that soup for breakfast, lunch and supper for two days.  At last, he asked if he could please have something besides chicken noodle soup.  Problem solved.

One of the things to remember when dealing with children is to pick your battles.  As long as what they are pushing for won't hurt them and doesn't contradict your core beliefs, why not let them have what they want.  Put your foot down when they get really outlandish ideas.

'Tis a Puzzlement

There are a few rhings about our government's spending that I don't understand.

When the president was campaigning back in 2008, he called our $9 trillion debt "irresponsible" and "unpatriotic".  Now, under his leadership, our debt is now $16 trillion and he does not feel it is an immediate problem.   I know that if my personal debt had almst doubled in 4 years, I'd be very upset and looking for ways to cut my expenses.

That brings me to my next problem - government spending.  According to the powers that be, there is not enough money to cover the cost of tuition for members of our armed forces, but there is enough money to send to Pakistan.

While the cost to the taxpayers for food stamps has risen, we have people in our embassy in Mexico to inform immigrants to our country of the advantages of food stamps.  In the past, potential immigrants were required to be sponsored or show proof that they would be able to support themselves.

While the White House tours have fbeen cancelled, the president's organization, Organizing for Action, will, for a $500,000 donation give access to meetings with the president.

This president believes the wealthy should pay their fair share.  Maybe the government should be more fair in the way it spends our taxpayer money.  The money should be spent on our people, not sent to a country as a bribe for their friendship.

I would like to have the opportunity to go over our budget with a fine-tooth comb and cut the waste.

Presidential Tantrum

Earlier this week president Obama decided to cancel White House tours because of the sequester cuts.  Of course, he didn't cancel the restaurant dinner with republicans, even though there is a chef at the White House.  And, the secret service personnel who conduct these tours are still on the payroll.  Where's the saving?

He seems to forget that the White House is OUR house.  It is not his to use as a political tool to get his way.  These tours were only cancelled because he wanted to annoy the people and get them to blame the republicans for their inconvenience.

Yesterday, Eric Bolling during the broadcast of his program The Five on Fox News pledged to cover the cost of these tours for one week.  Later, Sean Hannity also pledged to take a week.  Newt Gingrich also said he would raise money for these tours.

We haven't yet heard from Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or any of the Hollywood millionnaires.  I wonder why.

Will the president change his mind, or will he keep trying to punish us citizens just to get his way?

Sequester

Remember all the gloom and doom we heard from the president and his spokespeople?  There were going to be all kinds of delays at the airports, all kinds of terrible things would happen because of the cut in the increase in spending.

I just heard and saw a report from LaGuardia Airport in New York.  There are no lines, or cancellations, except for one flight.  That was a flight either to or from Minneapolis (I don't remember which).  That cancellation is probably due to the storm out there today.

The reporter mentioned that Janet Napolitano claimed this morning thagt there were delays in Chicago and Los Angeles.  The reporter checked with both airports and they weren't aware of any delays in their jurisdiction.

Just another example of the honesty and forthrightness of the president.  Of course, if he was being honest last week about the terrible consequences, then he's just incompetent.

Men Have It Made

At least in senior communities they are.

There's a small group of single people in my community who have decided to get together every two weeks for dinner or socializing at someone's home.

Of course, women out number the men.  In our group, there are 12 women and four men.  This week, our group was much smaller.  At dinner on Thursday, we had two men and eight women.  They were the envy of all the male diners in the restaurant.

Last night we went to a comedy show and our group was smaller.  There were eight women and one man.  He certainly got some envious stares from the male diners.

The odds are certainly in their favor.