the Boomer Gear Blog

So let me get this straight; Warren Buffet has been interpreted as saying the wealthy should pay more of their “fair share” (whatever that is) of taxes. OK, but didn’t he donate most of his wealth (after death, of course) to the Bill Gate’s Pledge fund? Will that be subject to the death tax? I wonder.

Also, if Mr Buffet wanted to be taxed more, why take his stock profits as the lower 15% capital gains, then reinvest them, when he could have paid himself several billion and paid payroll tax of about 35%+? Or hey, if you’re all fired up to pay the government more, just write ‘em a gift check- they’ll figure a way to cash it. (they always do).

Obama’s a one trick pony: Give away grandiose sums and go find the money later. Well, this ain’t gonna happen this time. Why, because you’re asking the white rich guys who are millionaires to pay more of their income in taxes. Aren’t there a awful lot of rich white guys in Congress and the House? Oh, and aren’t a lot of them lawyers too, who actually can understand legal laws/documents? Good luck with that.

Why is being a millionaire a bad thing? Americans point to their millionaires  with pride as an indicator of how affluent we are as a country. And most don’t begrudge these guys , since the average guy feels that these millionaire “earned it”. FYI, the world’s richest guy is Carlos Slim – a Mexican!

Take Donald Trump. Rich, yes. Controversial? at times. Perceived as smart? definitely. Would anyone know of him if he wasn’t a multi-millionaire? probably not. Americans celebrate their millionaires, because we know if those guys are making money, we will too.

Also, the government decides that now’s the time to frig with Medicare, after we Boomers start to use it after paying in all this time. Why now, all of a sudden? You know, the government accountants aren’t dumb, and they see the so-called “gray-tsunami” of 77million Boomers on the retirement horizon. After robbing Social Security accounts for years for other budget items, they know the day of unfunded benefits reckoning is upon them.  It really is a Ponzi scheme, where you take in money from the payers to pay off the retirees – except there won’t be enough income to pay out us Boomers when we reach a “critical mass” of retirees. So, hey, just cut the promised payouts. Mexico, here I come!

MSN had an an interesting article on once iconic brands of our Boomer youth that are now gone. They list the top ten, but there are many more – any that you remember?

10 brand names gone but not forgotten – iconic brands – MSN Money

Ahh, spring is in the air. The sun is out, the breezes are warm….but wait, something’s missing – where are the kids? Well they’re not outside.

I read an article in USA today by Liz Szabo, the headline of which proclaimed: “The great outdoors are just that for kids” where she goes on to identify that in just one generation, kids have stopped spending most of their playtime outdoors. Pediatrician Harvey Karp is quoted as saying “It’s the end of thousands of years of normal childhood” . He’s not exaggerating.

I see ads on TV urging kids to “take an hour to play” An hour? How about all of your non-school time?

My Dad blamed the “idiot box” (ie: TV) every time he saw me laying about inside. My Mom would say, Get Out, it’s a beautiful day out there, and I have cleaning to do and you’re underfoot”

If I proclaimed that there was nothing to do, I was told that was my problem, and how she wished she had “nothing to do” She’d say (and I can hear her voice now) “I don’t care what you say, go find something to do. Ride your bike, play ball, call for a friend, whatever, just get lost and come home when the streetlights come on.”  We were allowed to come in to eat lunch or if severely injured, of course, but in between, it was all up to us to occupy our time). And belive me that meant all the time, summer or winter, and it can get damn cold in New England in winter!

Granted, kids today have a lot more “idiot boxes” to entrance them to stay inside, between computers, texting, video games, etc, but any kid under the age of 12 should be turned outside to get some exercise, both physical and mental – the mental part being that of dreaming up something to occupy their time. My kids would say” I’m bored” Really, I’d reply, well, good, now go figure out something to do so you won’t be. What, can’t think of something….well, I have a few things for you to do….That usually sent ‘em scurrying like cockroaches!

Anyway, point being today that the overblown “stranger danger” pap from the media has parents scared shitless to let their kids out of their sight. Doesn’t matter that 78% of abductions are by family members, parents are still overreacting today. There were just as many weirdos out there when we we kids, but we traveled in pairs or groups, and were told if anyone bothered us we were to go up to the first house we came to and bang on the door for help. Of course many more Moms were home then to actually answer the door. In fact, they Mom network had reports going home of any misdeeds long before we got home (Mrs Johnson said she saw you boys throwing rocks at the old factory windows….Busted!) There were a thousand “Mom-eyes” watching our every move – maybe that’s what’s missing. In all my kid-dom, I was never bothered by a molester – Gary the local bully, yes, molester, no.

We played ball, tag, rode bikes, fished, skimmed rocks, climbed trees, built snow/tree forts, went sledding and all that other typical stuff. We skinned our knees, occasionally got stitches, and sometimes got in trouble for getting into the neighbors garden or pool on hot summer days, but we survived – and thrived!

Every generation complains how “soft” the new generation is becoming – and it’s true. But really, kids today are becoming slugs, fatsos, and unimaginative as they expect to be entertained by their gizmos. Should we really need the First Lady setting the reduction of childhood obesity as a priority? Here’s my Mom’s plan – Get Out! Go Do Something! You’re not staying inside all day! You kids are driving me nuts underfoot!

File under: Odd photos. Do you have any??

I can’t be 100% sure, but Grandma (center of photo) appears to be flipping us off. A long day with all the screaming kids took it’s toll, I guess

Over at the Boomer oriented website, Aging Hipsters www.aginghipsters.com ,there is a great posting that is so relevent for these economic times and we Boomers who live in them. Read it here. As my Dad would say “Ain’t that the truth!”

Unfortunately, it may become true as time goes on.