Protect Jobs in China or in the U.S.? Take a Stand!

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 2

Why does our economy continue to decline as more Americans are reduced to government-dependency every day? Please take two minutes to watch our vice-president Joe Biden try to defend the US free-trade policies of recent years (including the Trans-Pacific Partnership which is currently being fast-tracked through Congress) and see Pat Buchanan destroy them:

Biden, his boss President Obama, and Harry Reid claim to be motivated by the dream of a “New World Order”, a “level playing field”, and “the success of those with whom we compete”. Sadly, many Republicans including house speaker John Boehner are rolling over as well.

Could it be that these Washington, DC elites are owned by the incredibly wealthy business tycoons and their lobbyists who have profited greatly by shipping 55% of our manufacturing jobs overseas?

In his upcoming state of the union speech President Obama is expected to decry income inequality, while out of the other side of his mouth he promotes free trade. The two are incompatible. Free trade clearly creates income inequality by creating enormous corporate profits without domestic employment.

Isn’t it about time our leaders take a stand for American jobs and families?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Now stand in the place where you work.
Now face west. [toward China!]
Think about the place where you live,
Wonder why you haven’t before!

STAND – R.E.M.

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Side note for Montanans: Rep. Steve Daines (R) and Sen. Max Baucus (D) have supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership; Sen. Jon Tester (D) appears to support the treaty, but has demanded protections for the US timber industry.

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Rubio Threatens ObamaCare Bailouts – Health Insurers Freak Out

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Tom Balek Standard 2

photo courtesy of Gaebler.com Have you wondered why the big health insurance companies have not put up a fight against the federal government takeover of their industry? By outward appearance it would seem that Obama, Reid and Pelosi are hell-bent on putting the health insurance guys out of business. Shouldn’t they be screaming bloody murder?

The ObamaCare concept is, at best, a house of cards. I contend it is a predictable “train wreck,” certain to happen. It is based on the premise that healthy young people will suddenly trip over themselves running to buy insurance plans that they don’t want, don’t need, don’t understand, and can’t afford, in order to subsidize coverage for the sick and elderly. The further assumption is that fear of a tiny tax penalty some time in the distant future will scare the youngsters into compliance today – kids who, if they report taxes at all, just hand their W2s to H&R Block once a year, and then turn right back to their Facebook pages.

Early indications are that the young are staying away from ObamaCare in droves. Many older citizens who had individual insurance have lost or dropped their policies. Most transactions on the ObamaCare exchanges are actually signups for free Medicaid, not affordable insurance. And since it didn’t occur to the ObamaCare planners to release hospitals from the requirement to provide emergency care to anybody who shows up at the door, guess what? The “poor” are still going to the ER, largely because they don’t know any better.

The demographic assumptions that established the viability of ObamaCare have already been blown to smithereens.

It would appear ObamaCare is pushing the insurance companies (and self-insured employers) toward financial armageddon. They are now loaded with mandates and reporting requirements, forced to assume high-risk clients and pre-existing conditions, faced with the loss of profitable group insurance policies and struggling to react to minute-by-minute rule changes well after the game started. Why haven’t the insurance guys complained?

Now we know. The whole thing was a setup.

ObamaCare stack The CBO had already projected that the federal government will pass $1 trillion of taxpayer funds through to the insurance companies. But Wait! Now we learn that buried deep in the 20,000+ pages of the ObamaCare regulations are two little gems that the administration didn’t want to see the light of day: Section 1341, the “reinsurance fund” and Section 1342, the “risk-corridor provision”.

The reinsurance fund provides the insurance companies a stop-loss at $45,000 on big claims. 80% of any claims above that amount are covered by (you guessed it) the taxpayers. The risk-corridor provision even further insulates the insurance companies from losses (up to 80%) due to changes in the demographics of ObamaCare enrollees (see above).

Thanks to Charles Krauthamer and Senator Marco Rubio these boondoggles have been revealed (don’t wait for an expose’ on MSNBC) and a push to repeal the provisions is gathering steam.

Krauthamer: First order of business for the returning Congress: The No Bailout for Insurance Companies Act of 2014. Make it one line long: “Sections 1341 and 1342 of the Affordable Care Act are hereby repealed.” End of bill. End of bailout. End of story.

Not surprisingly, the health insurance executives are freaking out.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

All that pressure got you down
Has your head been spinning all around?
Ah, freak out! (Le freak, c’est chic)
Freak out! (Le freak, c’est chic)
Freak out!

Le Freak – Chic – 1977

The gals are still lookin’ mighty freakin’ good in this 2004 Chic concert footage:

The Government Can’t Force Equal Outcomes

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

I am NOT an old fuddy-duddy.

I like new ideas and am always on the lookout for something bigger, better, or faster. But I have to admit I can’t understand why we keep trying to fix things that aren’t broken. When something is working, why can’t we just let it work?

Back in the “good old days”, a typical family would at some point want to participate in the American Dream. Mom and Dad would build their savings at a local bank or “savings and loan” for a few years until they could afford a down payment on a home. Then they would go to the bank and apply for a mortgage.

The bank would judge whether this family was a good “risk”. After all, they wanted to protect the assets of the bank’s owners and other depositors. When a family put down a significant amount of its own money, usually 20%, they could be counted on to make the payments to protect their own assets.

This simple little arrangement worked beautifully. It was a system of checks and balances – free market capitalism at its finest. Americans were encouraged to work and save, and were rewarded for that good behavior. Banks were stable, secure, and well, boring. New home construction and the manufacture of home products ensured full employment and drove our GDP to make our nation prosperous and strong. Real capital multiplied and our standard of living improved predictably, year after year. And it was eminently fair.

But then somebody decided maybe it is not so equitable for one family to own a home when another did not.

And look at us now. The government holds or guarantees over half of all home mortgages, and a good portion of those loans exceed the value of the homes or are in default. The taxpayers bailed out the banks, allowing them to maintain their exhorbitant executive salaries and bonuses while the bank tellers are on public assistance. Banks no longer make their living by holding savings (for which they paid interest) and loaning that money (for which they charged interest). They now bathe in profits by holding cash balances generated by the Federal Reserve, which buys government bonds with artificial cash. Those profits are invested in the same mortgage derivatives that caused the banking crash and bailouts in the first place. Savers get zero interest from the banks while the purchasing power of their dollars continues to dwindle. Unemployment is epidemic as government benefits now exceed entry-level wages. And the standard of living for everyone (except the bankers and those connected to the government) continues to tumble. What a disaster – all caused by the government messing up the banking business in the name of “equality”.

Now we are told that it is unfair for some to have health insurance while others don’t – a federal takeover of the medical care delivery system is required. And we are told it is unfair that some earn less money than others, so federal laws must force employers to increase their payroll expense.

When will we admit that government can not force equal outcomes for any sustained period? Every time the government tries to bend and shape the time-tested rules of the free market, the result is butt-ugly. I know it. You know it. Everybody knows it.

Kind of makes you question their motives, doesn’t it?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Bend me, shape me
Anyway you want me,
Long as you love me, it’s all right
Bend me, shape me
Anyway you want me,
You got the power to turn on the light.

Bend Me, Shape Me – the American Breed

I’m Crossing Geico Off My Christmas Card List

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 12

Geico gecko I just about fell off the couch.

While enjoying a TV football game this weekend, I was subjected to a Geico Insurance commercial featuring that cute little British (or Aussie, or Newzie, or some other “smarter than American”) gecko. To my surprise, the commercial was not about insurance.

It was a snarky little victory dance celebrating what the gecko proclaimed to be the end of the Tea Party.

In the commercial, the gecko has ordered a cup of tea at a ritzy Boston dockside restaurant, but the wind blows his tea bag into the Boston Harbor. “Oh deah . . . ” the aristocratic little amphibian laments. “I’ve dropped my tea into Boston Hah-bah. Huh, I guess this pahty’s ovah!”

For me, this was a first. I don’t recall ever seeing an American business buy expensive nationwide advertising time to make a left-handed, snarky bitch-slap at a large group of American citizens – many of whom are its own customers. What the hell? Does this company have more revenue than it wants or needs?

Apparently it does. Turns out Geico is owned by Berkshire Hathaway – aka Warren Buffett, the uber-wealthy Obama-defender who bravely “supports Obama 100%”. Buffett also strongly believes that we should all pay more taxes, while he employs an army of accountants to avoid paying his. A 2012 report in the Huffington Post said Berkshire Hathaway, the eighth-largest public company in the world at the time, admitted owing taxes all the way back to 2002.

The ownership and management of Geico has no qualms about showing its disdain for conservative Americans and, apparently, for free speech. You might recall Geico’s 2012 commercials featuring the hilarious drill-sergeant “Gunny”, portrayed by R Lee Ermey, an accomplished actor and Vietnam vet. Ermey made the mistake of speaking out against Obama’s policies and was abruptly and loudly fired by Geico.

You know, I had enough of Warren Buffett quite a while ago. And I’m getting pretty tired of that stupid little gecko too. I think it’s time to cross Buffett and Geico off my Christmas card list.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side Now you can save your lip, And pack your grip,
And leave a trail of smoke behind ya,
Who needs ya? Think about it, baby.
Who needs you!

Who Needs Ya – Steppenwolf

Canadian rocker John Kay and his band Steppenwolf had some huge hits in the late sixties. Everybody remembers “Born To Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride”. But I think this song is Steppenwolf’s best. Here’s a live look at an aging but still rockin’ John Kay in 2009.

Boehner Splits The Sheets

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 8

AP Photo - J Scott Applewhite Last week the big-government agenda of the liberal Democrats was on the ropes. The American public had finally come to realize that they had been lied to, used, abused and kicked to the curb by the arrogant ruling class. The ObamaCare power grab was exposed as an impossible and unworkable idea, poorly planned and executed, one which can only result in an epic fiscal disaster and do serious harm to American citizens. Conservatives who warned for years of the perils of big government were finally vindicated in the public eye. After all the hard work, the snarky ridicule at the hands of brainless media mouthpieces, and the worry that the American public might never hear or understand the truth, we conservatives were able to catch our collective breath. For a brief moment.

Now, just one week later, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the liberal news media, and our fearless leader himself are dancing a jig, clinking their champagne glasses, and singing with glee “the wicked witch (Tea Party) is dead”.

What happened?

In a cynical leftward lurch, Congressman Paul Ryan, at the direction of House Speaker John Boehner and Republican leadership, caved in to a Democrat budget plan that increases spending and debt and pushes any potential reductions in spending increases (no spending cuts) into the far distant future.

Boehner showed his true colors – he and his circle of entrenched insiders are more concerned about re-election than they are about the well-being of the nation and its citizens. By relinquishing ground already won – the budget sequestration of 2011 – they not only gave aid and comfort to the enemy, they waved the white flag to the big-spenders. They endorsed the Democrat fairy tale that our $17 trillion and growing debt is not a threat to our economy or the future of our kids (we can always print and borrow more money!). They crossed over to the dark side to join those who believe big government trumps private enterprise and personal freedom. Boehner has already set his liberal friends up for gun control and amnesty, coming soon to a theater near you.

They showed that they would rather maintain their personally-lucrative positions of minor influence than stand on principle against the destruction of our economy.

Boehner said of us conservatives, “they’re using our members and they’re using the American people for their own goals.”

The response by the Tea Party Patriots was powerful and succinct: “The last time we checked, we are the American people. The Tea Party Patriots all across this country are the last hope for reining in this out-of-control government and protecting our Constitution.”

OUR members? THEIR goals? The single-minded goal of the Tea Party is to make our nation stronger, safer, and more prosperous for the benefit of all.

Mr. Boehner, if any of YOUR members are opposed to OUR goal, you can all go to hell. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Mr. Boehner may have finally sealed the fate of the Republican party once and for all. While conservatives have almost universally supported Republicans with votes, campaign work, and financial resources, it appears that the GOP prefers to go on without us.

At your peril, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Feeling better now that we’re through
Feeling better ’cause I’m over you
I learned my lesson, it left a scar
Now I see how you really are!
You’re no good, you’re no good
You’re no good, baby you’re no good.

You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt

I Need ObamaCare – My Head is Exploding!

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Exploding head I think I am going to need ObamaCare. Or some kind of care. Every time I read the local newspaper, my head wants to explode.

Here’s what I read in the Charlotte Observer today (and what I am thinking in parentheses):

HEADLINE: MATTHEWS EXPLORES CAR-CHARGING STATIONS (Oh, my God, aren’t the Solyndra-type paybacks ever going to end? Are we ever going to admit that electric cars are a stupid idea in a country with more oil than we could ever use?)

The town of Matthews is exploring a partnership with an Asheville-based company to bring electric-vehicle charging stations to the community. (Partnership. That means both sides benefit, right? Let’s follow the money, I have a feeling it will be going in one direction only).

Brightfield Transportation Solutions is offering to install charging stations for free in towns. (Didn’t your dad ever tell you there’s no such thing as a free lunch?) “We’ve been looking at wanting to do this for the last couple of years, but it’s been cost prohibitive,” said Matthews spokeswoman Annette Privette Keller. (Ding! Ding! Ding! Maybe there’s a reason why it’s Cost Prohibitive! Could it be because NOBODY WANTS IT? Oh, and anybody who uses three names, one of which is “Privette”, has never ever ever cleaned her own bathroom.)

Brightfield is working with Nissan, the US Dept. of Energy, Advanced Energy, and Centralina Council of Governments. (Hmm, let’s see – the money for most of those guys comes exclusively from THE TAXPAYERS. And I’d be interested to know if Brightfield is an Obama contribution bundler. If this was a viable deal, wouldn’t they have investors chomping at the bit to get in on the ground floor?).

Matthews has been selected as one of the preferred sites because of its population demographics. (Let me guess . . . gullible, low-information, high income Obama-Zombies who have no problem taxing the hard-working people and blowing their money on something that nobody wants just because it makes them feel like they are doing something nice for Mother Earth.)

“Matthews has always worked to be PROGRESSIVE . . . and this would be another opportunity for us to be part of a MOVEMENT that we think is going to be SUSTAINABLE in the future,” said Keller. (There’s three Agenda 21 buzzwords in one sentence. Let’s just give our credit card info to the United Nations to spend on caviar, blended whiskey and dancing girls for the benevolent dictator of Outer Bendovia.)

The town has two options. In the first, the town accepts a $50,000 grant (Grant? Hey, that’s free money! It just falls out of the sky! Nobody has to pay for a grant!) and would be responsible for constructing, operating, maintaining and upgrading the station. (Ummm, wait a minute . . . ) The second option is for the town to enter a 10-year licensing agreement with Brightfield at no cost to the town. (Kinda sounds like a free lunch again . . .) The company would collect a fee, expected to be $8 for people to charge their vehicles. (Boy, my new $40,000 electric car sure is great! I can drive it for 90 miles, then I just have to take it downtown, plug it in, wait for three hours and pay eight bucks, and then it will run for another 90 miles. Sounds like fun!)

During the presentation, Keller said that staff recommended the second option. Once they’ve decided on a location, town staff will complete a GRANT APPLICATION with Brightfield. (Isn’t it swell of Brightfield to do this wonderful thing for the 262 owners of electric vehicles in Mecklenburg County, population 1 million, maybe two of whom live in Matthews. And for FREE! Well, there’s that GRANT thing . . . )

I sure hope they get that ObamaCare website working soon. My head could explode any minute.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well, I think I’m going out of my head.
Yes, I think I’m going out of my head.
Over you.
Over you!

Going Out Of My Head – Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66

Okay, there’s no explaining taste. I have always been a sucker for Sergio Mendez and his corny Brazilian/American samba/bossa/pop music. Maybe it’s the mini-skirts! If you get past the schmaltz, there’s some pretty good music in there somewhere – I think . . .

I Get Knocked Down – But I Can’t Get Up Again!

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 1

knockout-game Americans are sickened by news reports of the “Knockout Game”, in which a young black thug, or a group of thugs, sneaks up behind a non-black person and knocks him or her out with a sucker punch.

No, my reporting the fact that the perps in all of these crimes have been black does not make me a racist. Facts are facts. But most of the national media (except USA Today and Fox) is apparently afraid to make that point, referring to these chicken-bleep creeps as “wandering youths” instead of calling them out as what they are: black street thugs. Of course if a white street thug clocked a black Grandma, the media would have apoplexy.

CNN calls them “teens” and decries “youth violence.” ABC says they are “criminals” and refers to them as “kids”.

Reverend Al Sharpton (I really want to attend his service some Sunday, where is his church again?) took to the airwaves and made a half-hearted statement: “No matter who it is . . . we must denounce it.” Huh? We know who it is, Reverend! It’s on video!

Wouldn’t it be great if our “post-racial president” would get in front of a microphone, sans teleprompter, and call out the black moms and dads who raised (or failed to raise) these monsters? Their DNA is in the blood and the fists of these bad-asses – do they have any remorse? Do they feel responsible for the acts of their “children”? Is anybody accountable for anything any more? Obama was quick to excoriate George Zimmerman, at the time believing premature press reports that a white guy had attacked a poor defenseless black kid.

And is it any coincidence that these attacks take place in cities where it is illegal for any citizen to carry a gun for self-defense? You can bet that if a pedestrian witnessing an assault like this popped the perp with a .38, he would end up in the penitentiary. But if these “youths” knew it was a possibility, there might be some deterrence. A knockout game in Lansing, MI went awry when the victim shot the perp twice.

The “Knockout Game” is not new, but it is gaining in popularity. Colin Flaherty wrote a grim report about the black mobs terrorizing St. Louis with impunity in the summer of 2012. And local residents were none too pleased that their local news outlets refused to report the clearly racial motivations of the thugs.

We all hoped that the election of our nation’s first black president would finally, once and for all, end racism. Like almost everything else about life in America over the last five years, it has become worse.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I get knocked down! But I get up again.
You’re never gonna keep me down!
I get knocked down! But I get up again.
You’re never gonna keep me down!

Tubthumping – Chumbawamba

Big-Government Fails – What Did You Expect?

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 3

Duh Is anybody surprised?

We now know, irrefutably, that ObamaCare really IS a train wreck. The Affordable Care Act has instantly made health care unaffordable for millions of previously happily-insured Americans. Many have lost coverage altogether – experts now predict that another 50 to 100 million cancellations are on the way. It has ballooned the Medicaid rolls to the point where states don’t know how they will be able to manage the cost. Using CBO data, the total cost of ObamaCare has been calculated at up to $3 Trillion over ten years. And after three and a half years and $1 billion of IT work, the still-dysfunctional ObamaCare website is 40% short of completion (including the part which is supposed to deliver our subsidy payments to the insurance companies) and the personal data collected by it is not secure.

Well, what did you expect? You glassy-eyed Obama zombies, you liberal/progressive elitists, you arrogant academics, you shameless, thrill-up-the-leg media hucksters, you blind-ambition Democrat politicians, you weak-kneed RINOs who value re-election over the will and well-being of your constituents, you crocodile-tear bleeding hearts who never contribute your own money to anything – what do you say now? Did you really believe the bungling bloated bureaucracy you created and enabled, and Obama’s corrupt campaign-contributing cronies could actually pull off an undertaking of this scope?

Really? The same big-government people who gave away $4 billion dollars in tax refunds to identity thieves, including 655 refunds to one address in Lithuania? The same big-government people who left an ambassador and three brave defenders to die at the hands of radical Muslim thugs and then blamed it on a Hollywood video? The same big-government people who waste billions of dollars humiliating grandmothers in airports, but fail to follow up on Russian warnings about known terrorists?

There was a time when the U.S. government could get things done. World War II comes to mind. The Hoover Dam. The Interstate Highway System. Astronauts on the moon. Those days are gone. We have allowed our government to become corrupt, fat, lazy, and mired in irrelevant politically correct nonsense. Rudderless. Incompetent. Pathetic.

While they did little to address the impending health care problem for decades, I give credit to the 100% of DC Republicans (and a smattering of responsible Democrats) who at least voted against ObamaCare. Ted Cruz and a few brave conservatives went to the wall to try to stop it. The Tea Party took the point on patrol, battling every assault on personal freedoms, free-market capitalism, and the values that built our nation’s success. But they couldn’t stop this latest, potentially fatal attack on Lady Liberty.

If the liberal progressives do not finally admit and capitulate to the total failure of big-government socialism now, in the face of irrefutable evidence, their motives are clear.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You’ve been talking in circles
Since I’ve been able to cry
There’s never been any reason
for ever telling me why
Save my life, I’m going down for the last time!

Never Been Any Reason – Head East

MT Senate Candidate Confuses Tea Party with Taliban

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Tea-Party-Taliban John Bohlinger was once lieutenant governor of Montana – a Republican who shared quarters with Democrat governor Brian Schweitzer. Strange bedfellows?

Maybe not so much.

Bohlinger is running for Montana’s US Senate seat – as a Democrat. And his first official act as a member of the progressive party is to bash the Tea Party. Despicable, but true to form.

My knuckles were white as I wrote our response:

On Tuesday, former Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger announced his candidacy for the Montana US Senate seat in next year’s election. Today Bohlinger told Chuck Johnson, Lee Newspaper Capital Bureau Chief, that his decision to run was driven by last month’s federal government shutdown, which he blamed on the “Tea Party Taliban”. He said the Tea Party thought the shutdown was “clever” and “cute”.

It appears that Mr. Bohlinger’s campaign will consist of the same kind of inflamed rhetoric that currently paralyzes our capital. His alarming lack of understanding of both the Taliban and the Tea Party does little to qualify him as a candidate for such an important office, and insults Montanans who actually fought the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Taliban is a violent terrorist organization of religious extremists who routinely torture and murder innocent men, women and children. Women, gays, and anyone who opposes their oppressive Sharia laws have no rights under Taliban rule.

The Tea Party is made up of concerned American citizens who support the US Constitution, including its carefully designed citizens’ rights and limits on the scope of government. We are opposed to government fraud, corruption and waste, and seek fiscal accountability. We are concerned about profligate government spending, our unsustainable $17 trillion debt, and the mismanagement of our national economy, recently epitomized by the disastrous Affordable Health Care Act. We want our children and grandchildren to enjoy a standard of living at least somewhat commensurate with our own.

If asked, Mr. Bohlinger would say he supports the Constitution. He would most likely claim to oppose government waste and fraud. And he may have good intentions for his children and grandchildren.

The Montana Tea Party Coalition asks Mr. Bohlinger if that makes him a member of the Taliban, too.

Yeah, kinda makes me so mad I want to just go out and behead some women and kids.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Now it cuts like a knife
But it feels so right
It cuts like a knife
But it feels so right

Cuts Like A Knife – Bryan Adams

EBT – Our Government “Fatness” Program

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 2

EBT card This from USA Today, today:

“Food stamp benefits to 47 million Americans were cut starting Friday as a temporary boost to the federal program comes to an end without new funding from a deadlocked Congress.

Under the program, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, a family of four that gets $668 per month in benefits will find that amount cut by $36.

“It may not sound like a lot but to a person like me, it is,” says Annie Crisp, 30, a single mother of two girls in Lancaster, Ohio. “It’s not just a number.”
She says she received a little less than $550 a month in food stamps and now will receive $497. Crisp, a babysitter who brings home about $830 a month, says the food stamps help her buy her family fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.”

Let me get this straight . . . a single mom, with two girls, can’t survive on $497 a month worth of groceries?

Once again, I am forced to do the simple math exercise (remember, I went to school before Common Core).

30 days x 3 meals a day x 3 people = 270 meals a month. The two girls get “free” breakfast and lunch (actually paid by taxpayers) at their government school. There are 19 school days in November, so subtract 76 meals. That leaves 194 meals at home per month for the taxpayers to buy. $497 divided by 194 meals = $2.56 per meal.

Now if you eat most of your meals at Olive Garden, that doesn’t sound like a lot. But who eats 194 meals a month at a restaurant? These are two schoolgirls and a single mom who can pack a lunch when she babysits (I’m guessing Annie scores a few free meals while babysitting.)

My family can afford to eat anything we want. Like most Americans, we eat too much, and our profiles reflect it. Here are some typical menus at our house (my wife helped me calculate the per meal costs):

Typical breakfast: yogurt, OJ, cereal, milk = $1.50 per meal. Or 2 eggs, toast, OJ, banana, milk = $.90 per meal.

Typical lunch: ham sandwich, fruit, cookies, iced tea = $1.90 per meal. Or tuna salad w/dressing, crackers, cheese and boiled egg, iced tea = $1.95 per meal.

Typical dinner: our favorite beef goulash, with veggies, drinks and brownies for dessert = $1.58 per meal. Or pork chops, baked potato, veggies, and ice cream = $1.50 per meal.

An average meal costs my family $1.56 for each of us. We don’t consider this a “subsistence” diet at all; in fact, we really need to cut back.

Now, back to the simple math. If the Annie Crisp family ate meals like us, they would have about $194 a month left over from the taxpayers. They could easily go out to Olive Garden once a week, or eat steaks at home twice a week, or enjoy 50 items each from the dollar menu at McDonald’s and still have money to spare.

Am I missing something here?

I am not a grinch. I don’t want kids to starve, and I understand there are families in trouble through no fault of their own. But it gets harder every day to stand in line behind the 350 lb. mama in the Wal-Mart checkout line, whipping out her EBT card to pay for basket loads of junk food. And never – ever – ever saying “Thank You.”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I was travellin’ down the road feelin’ hungry and cold,
I saw a sign sayin’ food and drinks for everyone,
So naturally I thought I would take me a look inside.
I saw so much food, there was water coming from my eyes!

Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance) – Leo Sayer