Just Plain Good Reading...

Found these today and want to keep them in my stash here -- How much more common sense does one need :o)

Dear IRS,

I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost. I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing licence tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle licence registration tax, capital gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't recall but I have run out of space and money. When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest. P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Ed Barnett
Wichita Falls

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The Parable Of The Poor Plumber.

Your sink is leaking, down underneath. You've tackled it briefly with your own pump pliers, but they don't do any good. Time for some expert help.

You go to the Yellow Pages, look up "Plumbers", and pick one who is nearby, and available.

They send a guy; he works at the sink for a half hour; making lots of show; lots of tools. And he presents you with a bill "Hey, lady, it's a minimum $250 to bring the truck out, ya know; I don't set the prices."

The sink seems to work. Except - the next day, the leak is back. Worse than before.

You are not happy. You call the plumbing company; and actually have the gall to complain, and basically demand that for $250 bucks, you do deserve a sink that does not leak. They grumble, but send a guy out. Same guy.

He's not really fazed by all this- "Lady, sometimes they just take more fixing. I'll get it." And he puts in 45 minutes this time; many tools. A little cussing. Well after supper "There, lady- she's fixed." And he vanishes.

The sink, however- still leaks. And actually - the cold water faucet no longer delivers water- and it did, before he got down in there to fix it.

If you've been through an exchange like this (and who hasn't) by now, you can see the steam starting to come out of "Lady's" ears.

Once more, you chew out the plumber's dispatcher. Once more they send a guy (a different one this time!).

And...

Yeah, it's still not fixed. Leaks as badly as ever; and no cold water.

We're past the steam coming out of the ears now.

And...

Now your toilet is refusing to flush...

Here's the question; and the point:

Do you call the same plumber to come and fix your problems?

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Boy, I guarantee I don't.

And at this point, the NPR personality (whom I'd forced to listen, tête-à-tête, to this shaggy dog story) said forcefully and abruptly, "Yes. So?"

And I replied: "Why. On God's Green Earth. Would you ask an economist anything- about the current economic crisis?"

I let that sink in for about 2 seconds (a long time in her world) and continued: "They PUT us here. They say they couldn't see it coming. They don't agree on why or how it happened, and they have no ideas for how to get out of it, or where to go. WHY would you be asking them for advice - as if they had advice to give?"

Oh, she didn't buy it. Nope, in her world, economists are who you ask about the economy. Never mind that, just like in the fairy tale (ok, it's Andersen, not Grimm) - they've just proven to the entire world that they are intellectually bare stark naked.

A big part of this problem, of course, is that economists have steadily worked to make the world believe they know what they're doing. They invented their own Nobel award (Nobel did NOT give a prize in economics); and added "mathematical modeling" to their discipline.

And it all clearly does not reflect any realities- but they've left the world with the impression that there is no other source of information on this important subject; you must ask an economics professor, if you wish to discuss it. No other options exist. That, without thinking, is where the NPR person was.

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Except. There IS another discipline- which did see "all this" coming; long ago; and said so, loudly. Maybe- it would be a good idea to look to the people who predicted all this; for some understanding, and maybe some answers?

Who? Ecologists. I got news for ya- ecology is far more a science than economics- and- you notice they have the same Greek root? oikos - for house. Ecologists actually study the same thing economists do- the flow of resources; over time. Except; ecologists go out into the real world, and look to see how it actually works. Economists- live on college campuses, and make up anything they want. Reality need not intrude. Ecologists do experiments, and measure results. Economists - can't. So they just project. Leaving them open to little booboos like "see, the sun comes up in the east; and goes down in the west- OBVIOUSLY - the sun revolves around the earth."

So, Dear World. Your toilet is backed up; not working. Who you gonna call?

Actual 'Letter to the Editor' from the February 6th edition of the Wichita Falls, Texas Times Record News.