A little riddle

What’s got 2 thumbs and didn’t run last night?

 

This guy, right here!

 

Yea, I was considering hitting the pavement last night, but then I decided that I wasn’t going to.  No excuses here, either.  Just didn’t feel like it.  I’ll probably run tonight, though.  Get in a quick 2.5 miler or so, then maybe follow it up with a 1 miler in the morning.  I’m slowly but surely getting my running pegs back underneath me.

 

We have a TON of blooms coming out on the blackberries, a couple of blooms on the tomatoes, a few on the peppers, and bunches of peas.  I’m very excited about the garden this spring.  Next spring I’m going to plant some corn!!  That’s right, corn.  It won’t be a ton, but it’ll be enough to feed a family of 3 for a few months, and maybe put enough away for the winter.  Oh what fun.  I’ve also identified an extra couple of spots in the front yard to add a “salad box” (a raised bed dedicated exclusively to raising salad fare for the whole year—lettuce, carrots, onions, etc.), a secret melon patch (I won’t be telling the missus about it, I’ll just sneak a few seeds into the garden), and a pseudo-landscaped patch of garden goodies right out by the street.  The last little feature will be almost completely irrigated by back yard runoff.  How freaking awesome is that?

 

Finally, I’d really appreciate it if when the dinkuses in Washington try to sell us a budget full of all the goodies and baubles that are generally included in the budget, they’d have the decency to slap an accurate price tag on it.  If you intend to sell us a $3.9 trillion dollar budget ($1.7 trillion, or 44%, of which is unfunded), set the budgeted tax rates so that an equal amount of money will be raised.  That way we, as taxpayers, can look at the services provided and the price being charged and decide if that’s a fair price for the services and either accept the price and service, or demand a lower price with the understanding that service is linked to price. 

 

Effectively, force your colleagues to either PAY for their goodies they’re handing out to their buddies, reduce the number of goodies, or publicly admit that they have no intention whatsoever of paying for the services they’re providing.

 

With all the bitching and moaning about “compensation being decoupled from performance” with regard to executive bonuses, maybe now would be the time to suggest that performance of service by the government be coupled with cost of that service. 

 

In a couple of weeks I’m going to go out and buy about $800 worth of television.  I expect to not only pay about $800 for it, but also receive about $800 worth of goods.  That’s fair.  I don’t want to pay $800 for $500 worth of television, and while I’d love to get $800 worth of television for $500, I don’t really expect that deal to be floating around, except in a unique sales environment.  There’s no reason the federal government should think the only way to sell the services it offers is to not ask us to pay the full price for those services.

 

If they’re truly valuable to the American people, we’ll be willing to pay the higher taxes that will be required to pay for them.  If they’re not, we’ll let you know about that, as well.