We apparently have yet another record-high number of US residents getting food stamps – somewhere around 47 million.
Remember – free groceries are a SNAP. For more and more people every day, it looks like.
And it also looks like it’s worth close to $80 billion a year for the foreseeable future, too. That’s what it’s gonna cost the US taxpayer.
According to Bloomberg.com, battery-manufacturer A123 Systems, Inc., has filed for bankruptcy.
Under one of its “green” initiatives to encourage the use of electric vehicles, the US government gave A123 Systems a grant of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars – $249.1 million, to be precise – in 2009 to build a US factory. (Thankfully, A123 systems appears to have “only” managed to burn through about $129M of the grant before going belly-up; the rest is apparently still in the US Treasury.) They also got $125M in Michigan state tax credits to build the factory.
The factory opened in 2010, in Michigan. But the firm couldn’t seem to make a suitable product. Costs of recalling batteries it supplied to electric-car maker Fiskar seem to have nailed the company’s finances badly enough to force bankruptcy.
I don’t exactly think this is what Steve Miller was thinking about in 1976 when he wrote “Take the Money and Run.” But maybe it’s apropos as a theme song for the current administration’s “green” policies.
I’ve written previously (here, here, and here) about recent issues with the US Secret Service. Well, it looks like they’re in the news again.
There’s an old Vietnamese proverb that “A house leaks from the roof.” And in one of my earlier articles, I wrote
It’s beginning to look like there might well be a leadership problem at the Secret Service. A serious leadership problem.
I hate to say it, but it looks now like that’s indeed the case.
The DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has conducted an investigation of the recent incidents of US Secret Service agent misbehavior in Columbia. During that investigation, they appear to have uncovered evidence of serious wrongdoing – by the Director of the US Secret Service himself.
That DHS OIG investigation reportedly concludes that there is evidence that the Director may have lied in his testimony to Congress concerning those recent Secret Service incidents in Columbia. It also reportedly concludes that the Director may have manipulated a report requested by Congress related to the matter. Such conduct would constitute obstruction of justice, and possibly perjury.
The matter is reportedly being referred to DoJ for further action. The Director of the US Secret Service has also apparently retained private counsel regarding the matter.
However, if I recall correctly that’s the same DoJ whose current head recently appears to have done essentially the same thing – e.g., gave false or misleading testimony and/or written statements to Congress regarding “Fast and Furious”. Fast and Furious left people dead. This new incident only caused a little bad publicity.
So I’m guessing we probably shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for anything significant to happen on this new matter this year.
The last few articles I’ve written were pretty serious. Not this one.
Every soldier I ever knew loves a great “gotcha” – a situation when they really “got” someone who truly deserved it. Could be a buddy, could be a superior, could be someone in another unit. Hell, sometimes it’s a civilian or foreign national. But “getting” someone who richly deserves it – in a humorous way that doesn’t cause permanent injury or damage – is a true pleasure.
And it’s especially fun when the “gotcha” is apropos – that is, when you can hoist them on their own petard, so to speak.
So I’m soliciting such stories. Here are the ground rules:
1. If anyone got seriously hurt or got their career ended . . . um, no. Probably not really appropriate.
2. If you committed a significant crime in getting even. . . again, probably not appropriate. And remember: some crimes have REALLY long statutes of limitations.
3. The intent is humor. If the story isn’t funny, it’s probably not apropos.
I’ll kick things off. This story still makes me chuckle, even after 30 years. It’s a true, first-person account – though after 30 years, I might be slightly off on a minor detail or two. And no jackasses were permanently harmed while being taught a lesson. (smile)
This happened many years ago, in a faraway country. It is not a parable. It is a true story. Although it’s always worth remembering, a recent event IMO makes remembering it now vice on its anniversary apropos.
A Tall Man
It had been a long day already. The tall man was tired.
He’d been flying for hours already, providing support for his fellow soldiers. They were catching hell from the enemy.
The tall man was no longer a youngster. In less than a week, he’d turn 38.
This wasn’t the first time he’d been to war. In fact, this was the tall man’s third war.
As a youngster, he’d quit school at 17 to serve in World War II. He served in the Navy, on a fleet oiler – supporting strikes against Luzon and Formosa, and operations at Iwo Jima, and at Okinawa. He’d survived. He’d seen Tokyo Bay after the surrender.
Then he came home and was discharged. He finished high school. He married his girl.
But as a boy, he’d always wanted to be a soldier. So he joined the Army after he finished high school.
The tall man had something special. By late in the Korean War, he’d become a First Sergeant. He saw more action, this time at Pork Chop Hill. He survived again, receiving a battlefield commission afterwards.
The commission opened another door for the tall man – or so he thought. Another of his boyhood ambitions was to be a pilot. As an officer he could apply to go to flight school. He applied.
The Army closed that door quickly, though; they turned him down. He truly was a tall man. At 6-foot-4, they said he was “too tall” for pilot duty.
But a couple of years later, the door opened again. Regulations had changed, and the tall man was no longer “too tall”. (The nickname had already stuck, however, and would follow him for the rest of his career.) He reapplied for flight school. This time he was accepted. He passed and became a pilot.
The tall man served in various dangerous assignments. He flew mapping support missions over remote locations worldwide. He made friends – one, in particular. They eventually parted ways, but would meet again.
Eventually he ended up in Vietnam. He also ended up working for an old snake – one he knew well.
For those who may have missed it: the State Department is now denying they ever blamed the Benghazi consulate attack on “Innocence of Muslims.” They now flatly claim,”That was not our conclusion.”
Well you sure could have fooled me. I could have sworn I’d seen statements from officials of the current Administration blaming the “demonstrations” on an “inflammatory film”. I guess I must have been daydreaming.
The phrase “don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining” keeps coming to mind. But maybe that’s just me.
As I wrote previously, one of the questionable programs on which the Federal government spends huge amounts of money is Unemployment Compensation (hereafter UC). As with many Federal programs, the original intent of UC was good – helping people who’ve lost their job through no fault of their own with some temporary income while they look for another job. But as is so often the case with Federal good intentions, the road they now pave appears to have forked, and to no longer be the road we ought to travel.
So let’s look at some of the details of today’s UC programs. It’s rather complex, and hopefully I can give an overview of the current mis-mash of such programs – as well as point out some of the issues with them.
I. Overview
Federal involvement in Unemployment Compensation started during Great Depression – just like food stamps and Social Security. The program was first authorized by the Social Security Act of 1935; four years later, enabling legislation – the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, or FUTA, formalized the program and completed its structure. Yeah, this is yet another “good deal for America” you can thank FDR for starting.
A detailed overview of the current US UC system is given in CRS Report RL33362, published roughly two weeks ago; much of the information in this section comes from this and the prior link.
Virtually all employment in the US is now covered by UC. The employment currently exempted is self-employment (including sole proprietorships), plus certain agricultural labor and domestic work; work for relatives; work performed by patients in hospitals; selected student interns; selected alien farmworkers; selected seasonal camp workers; and railroad workers (who have their own unemployment program). It’s estimated that 97% of workers in the US are covered under state UC programs, provided they have sufficient income and service.
We now have 4 straight years with a Federal deficit in excess of $1 trillion. The estimated deficit for FY2012, which ended on 30 September 2012, is $1.1 trillion. Official figures are expected to be released in mid-October.
The Federal government is now borrowing roughly 31 cents of each dollar it spends. That’s nearly 1 out of every 3 dollars.