Saturday, January 5, 2013

Post-election vernacular: Can you say 'fiscal cliff'?



It’s always something in this country. It seems we can’t catch a break.

Instead of celebrating in the news that William and Kate are expecting a new addition to the royal family, we Americans have to worry about something that has been dubbed the “fiscal cliff.” Give me a break.

I was hoping in the aftermath of the election, that Republicans and Democrats would come together and start solving this nation’s problems the way things used to get solved back in the days of, well, Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill.

Not to be.

I contend that most of the American people don’t understand what the fiscal cliff is, nor do they much care, although they probably ought to.

A little more than half of American voters supported President Obama’s bid for re-election while a little less than half didn’t. It’s unclear how many people actually hate him, but I think there is a lot who do. Seriously, I see people grit their teeth when they talk about Obama and it’s not just a mild dislike. It’s hate. It’s kind of the way hippies used to feel about Richard Nixon in the early ’60s and ’70s.

In Dover, there’s a homeowner who has placed a white, plastic chair on his curbstrip ala Clint Eastwood at the GOP convention. A sign next to the chair urges voters to “Fire Obama!” The homeowner’s pickup truck declares that “Obama S----.”

This is just down the street from a couple of larger-than-life blow-up Santas and reindeer. At least some people have moved on from the election.

Anyway, I think if we fall off the fiscal cliff both parties will rush to the rescue and claim victories on both ends of the spectrum. We’ll get some tax increases on the rich and some tax breaks for the middle class while addressing the budget deficit in the meantime. We’ll avert recession in the nick of time.

And we’ll wonder why the politicians couldn’t figure this out a month ago.

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As a followup to last week’s commentary, three parochial schools – Cincinnati Moeller, Toledo Central Catholic and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary -- in Divisions I, II and III won state football championships over public schools.

Public schools earned championships in the three smaller divisions.

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Question of the week: Why is it we can safely bank online, buy goods and services online, apply for Social Security online and buy prescription drugs online, but we can’t vote online?

Why hasn’t someone figured out how to do that? It doesn’t seem to me to be that difficult a problem. I mean we went to the moon, didn’t we?

And forcing people to cast an early vote at the Tuscarawas County Courthouse is rather silly when one takes into account that there is absolutely nowhere to park and which requires a sheriff deputy to be on duty to shoo away people who might stick their cars where they don’t belong.

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If you need evidence that the evening network news programs are dinosaurs, just watch their commercials. They are nearly all ads aimed at older Americans who have all sorts of health issues who could have even more issues if they don’t read the small print on the drugs they are being urged to buy.

Read more from Dick Farrell at TuscBargainHunter.com.




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