Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Economics- a blinding flash of the obivous

I hate to just cut and paste what someone else wrote, but Kevin D. Williamson's comment about the deficit and taxes is so spot-on that I want everyone to see it:

Every Republican tax-reform plan should be rooted in this reality: If you are going to have federal spending that is 21 percent of GDP, then you can have a.) taxes that are 21 percent of GDP; b.) deficits. There is no c. 
If, on the other hand, you have a credible program for reducing spending to 17 or 18 percent of GDP, which is where taxes have been coming in, please do share it.  
The problem with the Growth Fairy model of balancing budgets is that while economic growth would certainly reduce federal spending as a share of GDP if spending were kept constant, there is zero evidence that the government of these United States has the will or the inclination to enact serious spending controls when times are good (Uncork the champagne!) or when times are bad (Wicked austerity! We must have stimulus!). So even if we buy Jeb Bush’s happy talk about growth, or Donald Trump’s, the idea that spending is just going to magically sit there, inert, while the economy zips forward and the tax coffers fill up, is delusional.  
There are no tax cuts when the government is running deficits, only tax deferrals. 


This applies to both parties and everyone's economic plan.  

Friday, September 4, 2015

NFL Predictions 2015-2016

NFC

East:
Dallas 10-6
NY Giants 9-7
Philadelphia 9-7
Washington 3-13

North:
Green Bay 12-4
Minnesota 9-7 (Wild Card)
Detroit 7-9
Chicago 7-9

South:
Carolina 9-7
New Orleans 7-9 
Atlanta 6-10
Tampa Bay 4-12

West:
Seattle 13-3
Arizona 10-6 (Wild Card)
St. Louis 8-8
San Francisco 5-11

Playoffs:
Arizona over Carolina
Dallas over Minnesota

Seattle over Arizona
Green Bay over Dallas

Green Bay over Seattle


AFC

East:
New England 11-5
Miami 10-6 (Wild Card)
Buffalo 7-9
NY Jets 4-12

North:
Cincinnati 11-5
Baltimore 10-6 (Wild Card)
Pittsburgh 10-6
Cleveland 4-12

South:
Indianapolis 11-5
Houston 9-7
Tennessee 7-9
Jacksonville 5-11

West:
Denver 9-7
Kansas City 8-8
Oakland 6-10
San Diego 6-10

Playoffs:
Indianapolis over Miami
Baltimore over Denver

New England over Baltimore
Cincinnati over Indianapolis

Cincinnati over New England

Super Bowl: Green Bay 34, Cincinnati 20

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

They say the first decade is the hardest...

Ten years ago today, Katie White and I were married by the State of Ohio.  

Since then, we've added one more cat, been in a few shows and several dozen Improv Jams together, lost one kidney, added several nieces and nephews, burned a few bridges, slaughtered millions of pixels in online games, won e-wrestling tag team titles together, lived, fought, cried, and loved.

It hasn't always been easy- you don't share two lives together without a few ups and downs.  But we've been together through a lot, and I can't imagine what live would be like without her.

We're both private people- Katie doesn't even a facebook page, and my philosophy is never to put anything online that I don't want the whole world to see.  But I'm good with the whole world seeing this.

I love you, Katie White-Sonby

Once,
Forever,
and Always