Monday, December 8, 2014

A Birthday Letter to My Twins


My Dear Wesley and Taylor:

Tomorrow you turn 21.  A very happy birthday to you both. 



21? I must have blinked somewhere along the way – and now can say unequivocally that we have been through so much together. We have a history spanning decades now, and this makes my head spin. How about you two? Does it trip you out to be full-on adults now?

You have both proven to be such blessings – and it’s impossible to think about my life without you in it.

I am a twin and you are twins. This in itself is amazing. We are part of a club, and are all too aware of what the bond means. You have taught me things only you could teach me, and without even realizing it perhaps. How to be a father – your dad. About patience, about joy – the thrill of seeing you grow and mature. The precious memories of your beyond-cute moments and milestones.



And now you are embarking on adulthood. I am sure I fell short in so many ways, broke promises and let you down. For this I am truly sorry.

But from Day One I have loved you. And you know this. Forever and Always. I am so very proud of you two, and eternally grateful that you decided to look down from heaven and say, “We’ll take that one. He needs help."

Happy birthday, my loves.


Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Buffett Rule

This content does not belong to me - but I am sharing it here:










The Buffet Rule


Salary of retired US Presidents . . . . . . . . . .. . $180,000 FOR LIFE

Salary of House/Senate members . . . . . . . . $174,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of Speaker of the House . . . . . . . . . . $223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders . . . . . . . . $193,400 FOR LIFE
Average Salary of a teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $40,065
Average Salary of a deployed Soldier . . . . . .. . $38,000
Warren Buffet, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.
Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.
Congressional Reform Act of 2014
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/14. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!