Every profession is a conspiracy against the laity
George Bernard Shaw
Tweet of the Day
This doesn't stand the smell test. When spending taxpayer money becomes politically popular/bipartisan, it's WRONG! #ForeverGIBill— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 13, 2017
Let's limit unpaid-for spending by limiting the use of American forces for purely defensive reasons only. #ForeverGIBill— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 13, 2017
Putting up with the same annoying habits, stupid jokes, and predictable actions until death sets you free. #DescribeLoveBadly— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Free fallin' off the roof #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
The search is over... They must be dead by now #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
My heart will go on... in another body. #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Trump just laid another brick in the Wall #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Born free, but now I have to pay taxes and do what bureaucrats tell me to do #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Your application is....INCOMPLETE #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Walking in Memphis with a twisted ankle and blisters on my toes #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
From a Distance, you watch your home burn to the ground #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Every breath you take, every step you make, I will be stalking you. #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Do you know the way to San Jose? My spouse is driving and won't admit that we're lost. #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
President Trump, I'm Pat Robertson, and I'll say a little prayer for you. #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
I started a joke and promptly got booed off the stage. #MakeASongSerious— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) July 14, 2017
Game of Thrones, Libertarian Edition
The Opportunity For Interns
Illinois Parasite
Okay, I'm going on a rant here. Let's first point out that most of us pay 12.2% of our income in social security taxes.(plus another 2.9% in Medicare). Technically speaking, employers pay half of that, but in reality the employer pays us compensation, benefits of which are a part. There are nuances, e.g., Social Security tax is capped in the lower $100K's, not for Medicare. If you look at IL, the median pension is over $52,000. (Now Illinois for its education system does not participate in the social security system, but let's point out that the maximum benefit for retiring at the full retirement age (just past 66) is roughly $32K--and one isn't even eligible by the late 50's when this teacher starts her retirement. $52K is 5.2% of $1M. Most long-term teachers will essentially get $1M+ pension plans in early retirement. Illinois pension funds are just unbelievably underfunded. 15 years ago, retirement costs may have been 6% of the budget; you have some entities now facing around 25% of their budget. Pension is not a "taking" from teachers. What happened is past legislators unconscionably transferred their fair costs to future taxpayers. Not only that--but many teachers who leave the state before minimum vesting get nothing towards their own retirement. I personally have not had vested employer contributions because of vesting schedules (of course, one is always vested in his own contributions/investment gains). I've built up a reasonable retirement nest egg over the years, but it's grown mostly due to prudent investments.
Social Conservatism and Blacks
Entrepreneurship
Do Airlines Charge Too Much?
I will say some of the pricing is weird. For instance, while I lived in Arizona, I found a round trip to San Antonio was costing about what it had cost to fly to much further northern Florida (roughly around $600), although my former supervisor, who also has family in the area, did say that he found a Phoenix RT for roughly half that.Choose Life
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists
Neil Diamond, "Pretty Amazing Grace". We close the Neil Diamond retrospective with one of my all-time favorite Diamond hits, one I've personally sung dozens of times, although it only barely touched the A/C charts.
