When is half of a tank of gas like a Cadillac?

For whatever reason, politicians love to spend most of their time on economics and finance. This is humorous to me since virtually all politicians are not trained in economics, finance, or even business. Politicians are lawyers - they draft and interpret legislation. Yet they constantly argue about dollars since (sadly) this is the universal language that motivates people to pay attention.

Listening to politicians talk about economics and finance is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Whenever I hear about promises of fixing this or changing that, there are never specifics. The current debate about the $700 billion bailout of failing financial firms is a good example. President Bush wants blanket approval for the money without identifying specific uses of the money.

Even worse, when candidates complain about each other, they often confuse voters through a simple strategy of deception and outright lies. As an example, I have heard John McCain say that Barack Obama will raise taxes for families and I wanted to see if it was true. Of course, FactCheck.org has already said that McCain is spreading lies about Obama raising taxes. But I wanted to dig deeper. So I reviewed the non-partisan Tax Policy Center analysis of both candidates' tax plans. In their analysis, they show the impact of each of the candidate's plans to after-tax income, organized by income level (see page 41 of their analysis). You can click on the graph here to get a better view.


One of the things that instantly struck me was that McCain's plan only proposes tax cuts - for everyone. In principle, it sounds real nice. In fact, why not make special promises in order to help get elected? - promise everything to everyone. However, let me point out that balancing the budget is infinitely harder when you cut everyone's taxes (see info on the $400 billion federal budget deficit).

Of course, one way to pay for a tax cut is to reduce spending and it used to be that Republicans were deficit hawks. But over the last 25 years, Republican presidents have done just the opposite - increase spending. As a result, take a look at this graph that shows the budget deficit over time. The picture shows that while Republicans lived in the White House, the deficit ballooned.

Obama actually offsets some of his tax cuts with increased taxes on the rich. In order to increase after-tax income of low income workers, Obama's plan reduces after-tax income of the top 20% of wage earners. This helps pay for (at lease some of) the income increases on lower wage earners.

The deficit is one thing, but let's look deeper into how the tax cuts proposed by McCain vary across income levels. The graph illustrates how after-tax income changes under the two candidates' tax plan. Looking at McCain's plan, it looks like tax cuts increase as income increases. At first glance, this made sense to me. After all, richer people make more money, pay more in taxes and therefore, their tax cuts will be higher. Of course, this would be true on an absolute dollar value. But looking at the graph again...I realized that the graph is showing PERCENTAGE CHANGE in after-tax income and I had to do a double take. McCain's tax strategy actually gives raises to people based on income - the higher your current income the higher the percentage increase in your after-tax income under the proposed tax plan. It's like giving you a 3% raise, giving your boss a 10% raise, and giving her boss a 40% raise!

Let me try to put this into perspective. The lowest quintile means the income level of the poorest 20% of all households. According the Congressional Budget Office, the income level at the 20th percentile is $15,300. Now look at the graph...under the McCain plan, the after-tax income of these households will go up 0.2%, or a whopping $30.60. For the middle quintile, the after-tax income of individuals will go up 1.0%, or an increase of $502, from $50,200 to 50,702.

Now look at people who make a lot of money. Under the McCain plan, the top 1% of earners get an increase of 3.8%. That's not a typo - that says 3.8%. McCain is actually proposing to give low earners a raise of 0.2% and to give rich people almost TWENTY TIMES that raise. I can't even believe that this is politically viable - to literally legislate more disperse incomes. According to the CBO, people in the top 1% of earners make at least $1,071,500. Therefore, an increase of 3.8% means ADDITIONAL after-tax income of $40,717.

In other words, the bottom 60% of earners in this country get (at most) an extra $500 while those at the top increase their after-tax income by over $41,000!

Here are alternate ways to interpret the McCain tax plan:

• According to the proposed McCain tax cut, the INCREASE in after-tax income for the richest 1% of the population is more money than half of the country's workers actually make in a year.
• The bottom 20% of earners get a whopping $30 thanks to McCain, which gets them about 7.5 gallons of gas - a little more than half a tank in most cars. In contrast, the richest 1% get a pay raise of $41,000, which is the price of a brand new Cadillac DTS. Those struggling get extra half of a tank of gas while top earners get another luxury car.
  

I understand the argument that people who make more money should get larger dollar tax cuts. In terms of politics, I believe there are only two extremes in proposing tax cuts:

1. Perhaps the fairest tax cut would suggest that everyone get the same percentage increase in after-tax income.
   
2. Redistribution of income would give bigger tax cuts to the poor and middle class than to the wealth on a percentage basis. Of course, even with this tax cut, most of the dollars would benefit the rich, but that's "fair" since they pay the most in taxes.

But the McCain plan specifically calls for larger PERCENTAGE raises in income for the wealthy.

My employee benefits professor taught us that it is likely that 80% of employee benefit decisions are made due to "self interest of the decision maker". John McCain is easily in the top 20% of all earners and his wife is easily in the top 1%. Is his tax cut really in the interest of the country and the economy or is it practice employee benefits 101?

The story sounds eerily familiar... your company just gave everyone a bonus. Congratulations! You were awarded a half of a tank of gas while the CEO just got a new Caddy.

A tough course under tough conditions

On Saturday, September 13th, I completed the Wo-Zha-Wa half marathon in the Wisconsin Dells in a time of 2:02:55 (a 9:23 pace). Just looking at the time alone, I normally would have been slightly disappointed with the time. However, there were a number of factors that contributed to less than optimal performance.

First, the course conditions were difficult. If you follow the link of the previous posting on this run, you can see the elevation changes, which were significant. The hills were the steepest I've run - ever (remember I live in the flatlands of central Illinois). The course was beautiful, however. It ran through the backroads of the Dells and there's just something about the Wisconsin country that is much more attractive than Illinois. Dairy farmers seem to do better than Illinois bean/corn farmers as the barns are newer and nicer.

The second challenge was that it rained a good portion of the race. While the forecast seemed ominous, it didn't rain the entire time and even when it was raining, it wasn't a downpour.

The third challenge was simply how I felt - it was one of those days that I just didn't feel like running. In fact, based on what they were forecasting (heavy morning rains with thunder), I was actually hoping the race would be canceled. Or, if it was going to be raining heavily, I would have skipped out. When the weather seemed reasonable, I suppose I was a bit disappointed that I had to run (or at least I had fewer excuses to NOT run). At about the 3-mile mark, I could tell - I just wasn't into it. I was actually thinking I'd just turn around and call it a day. But then I realized that I had trained for the event and I'd just fight through it and give it my best.

In addition, race organization was poor. There weren't that many water stops - about once every three miles. Most races it's about every 1.5-2 miles. Plus, usually there are volunteers helping out at those stations, smiling and cheering you on. Not at the Dells - here, they set up unattended tables with water cups. Worse than that, one of the stops actually ran out of water which meant you had to go about an hour with no water. That is just unacceptable.

I felt I did do the best I could, but based on the above, it was certainly a challenging race for me.

A whopping 50 people completed the half marathon that day. On the country roads, you surely didn't have to worry about being crowded by the other participants. As I predicted, I came in dead last in my division (male 35-39). Of course, there were only four others in my division. Overall, I placed 30th out of 50 runners and 27th out of 35 men. Hey, don't make fun...this did appear to be a pretty fast group of runners. Based on the weather, it's also likely that only the diehards showed up.

Overall, the run was not an "event" and this made it much less fun. Unlike the Indy mini-marathon or Bloomington's Lake Run, there was absolutely NO crowd support (did the town even know there was a race?), there was no after race hoopla, etc. I know the weather had a bit to do with it, but come on. Didn't anyone want to celebrate completing the race?

I'll try to convince Ter to go to Vegas in December or to Memphis to make up for this poor experience.

But we did have fun at the Dells... more on this later.

Wisconsin Dells Half Marathon

I'll be running my only half marathon this year at the Wisconsin Dells. Based on last year's results for this race, I would have finished dead last in my age division. But this is a small race, so there really aren't too many in each division. I'm most concerned with potential hills on the course combined with the possibility of warm weather. Regardless of what happens, I know there will be a hot tub waiting for me at the Wilderness Resort. That will soothe my aching muscles! Plus, I know my kids will be having a good time at the Dells.

Our 20th reunion

Last Saturday, Ter and I went to our 20th high school reunion. I have to admit, I had virtually no desire to go since so many of the people that I would have like to have gone, did not actually go. Most of the people I knew were going were Ter's friends, who were going alone.

But we both had a really good time. I can remember our 10th. After we left the big shindig, we got to the car and both looked at each other: "are you going to drive - because I have no business driving."

While I didn't think the 20th was going to be as hard on my liver, I'm very glad that they wound up planning the party right next to a hotel. Many people hung out afterward at the bar next door, which made for a very late, but very fun night. Despite the fact that I haven't seen virtually any of the people (except Ter) over the last 10 years, we all had a good time. While there was a little uncertainty as to whether or not we'd go to the picnic the next day, my headache told me that it would have been a bad idea.

Cheers to the Reavis High School class of 1988!

Fore!

My wife is not only extremely beautiful and the funnest person to hang around with, but she is also the most generous. Check out the new driver she gave me recently - the Nike Sumo Sasquatch 5000.

There is virtually no way I'd ever spend a reasonable amount of money on golf - I'm just not good enough, plus I'm just too damn cheap. Which is why this was a great gift and a tremendous surprise.

Golf technology and me usually are not mentioned in the same sentence, but now, unlike most of my clothes, I'm ultra-modern on the golf course with this thing. It's actually the 2008 year model despite the fact that I usually pride myself on being a cuppa too-tree generations behind in golf tech.

I'll be excited to try it out later this week. Right now, my handicap index is 18.8 - let's see if this thing makes any difference.

A new cooking toy

I had some very good ribs on the 4th of July in someone's backyard and I got intrigued about smokers. After doing some research, I decided to take the plunge and get a propane smoker at Menards.

No doubt real BBQ purists will argue that propane is not "official" BBQ since my heat source is not wood or charcoal. However, back in school, I had tried a charcoal smoker and it was just way too much work for me. The biggest problem with all wood/charcoal smokers is maintaining a consistent temperature for a long time. The propane smoker seemed to provide a simpler strategy toward maintaining the "low and slow" technique needed for a good 'cue.

Two attempts so far have been good. Not extraordinary, but give it time, I'm just learning. My first attempt was a pork shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches. It was my first lesson at trying to time BBQ - which clearly is a mistake. You see, a pork shoulder takes about 10-12 hours to cook on a smoker and even that is an estimate. (By the way, now you know why I don't want to tend a charcoal fire for 12 hours - propane is much closer to "set it and forget it".) It's pretty hard to time dinner with BBQ. In fact, the kids were screaming for food before the meat was officially ready. It was still very, very good though.

My second attempt was a pork loin which, in my opinion, just isn't perfectly suited for the smoker. Don't get me wrong, it was very good. But it was kind of like a smoke flavored, oven-baked pork roast. Good eats, but for whatever reason, it just seems like BBQ shouldn't be eaten with a knife and a fork.

After searching the web for some help on using the smoker and while searching for recipes, the real find has been this thing that seems to be affectionately known as a "fatty". A fatty started out as simply taking a chub of breakfast sausage and putting it in the smoker to sit along side the other meat in the smoker. Since a pound of sausage doesn't take that long to cook, my guess is that it started out as a snack for impatient parties waiting on their main dish to finish smoking.

Fatties have become significantly more involved and there appears to be an endless variety of ideas. During my two uses of the smoker, I've tried two fatties. The first was of the breakfast variety, filled with eggs, cheese, and vegetables. The second was a pizza fatty, with mozzarella, italian sausage seasoning, sun dried tomatoes, and onions. (The pictures shown are from the useful web site www.smokingmeatforums.com)

Over the coming weeks, I hope to try smoking a turkey which will likely be my warmup for the holiday season. Of course, Anna is going to be forcing me to have some ribs soon too. I guess practice makes perfect.

Sow-sigh-uh-chicago

Some claim that after uh cuppa too-tree beerz, my sowside accent startz to come out a bit. To help udders understand me, check out da following translation guide. (I got this from http://dominantreality.blogspot.com)

1. Grachki (grach'-key): Chicagoese for "garage key" as in, "Yo, Theresa, waja do wit da grachki? How my supposta cut da grass if I don't git intada grach?"

2. Sammich: Chicagoese for sandwich. When made with sausage, it's a sassage sammich; when made with shredded beef, it's an Italian Beef sammich, a local delicacy consisting of piles of spicy meat in a perilously soggy bun.

3. Da: This article is a key part of Chicago speech, as in "Da Bears" or "Da Mare" -- the latter denoting Richard M. Daley, or Richie, as he's often called.

4. Jewels: Not family heirlooms or a tender body reg ion, but a popular name for one of the region's dominant grocer y store chains. "I'm goin' to the Jewels to pick up some sassage."

5. Field's: M arshall Field, a prominent Chicago department store (unfortunately, it's a thing of the past.) Also Carson Pirie Scott, another major department store chain, is simply called " Carson's."

6. Tree: The number between two and four. "We were lucky dat we only got tree inches of snow da udder night."

7. Over by dere: Translates to "over by there," a way of emphasizing a site presumed familiar to the listener. As in, "I got the sassage at
the Jewels down on Kedzie, over by dere."

8. Kaminski Park : The mispronounced name of the ballpark where the Chicago White Sox (da Sox) play baseball. Comiskey Park was renamed U.S. Cellular Field (da Cell).

9. Frunchroom: As in, "Get outta da frunchroom wit dose muddy shoes." It's not the "parlor." It's not the "living room." In the land of the bungalow, it's the "frunchroom," a named derived, linguists believe, from "front room."

10. Use : Not the verb, but the plural pronoun 'you!' "Where use goin'?"

11. Downtown: Anywhere near The Lake, south of The Zoo (Lincoln Park Zoo) and north of Soldier Field.

12. The Lake : Lake Michigan . (What other lake is there?) It's often used by local weathermen, "cooler by The Lake."

14. Braht: Short for Bratwurst. "Gimme a braht wit kraut."

15. Goes: Past or present tense of the verb "say." For example, "Den he goes, 'I like dis place'!"

16. Guys: Used when addressing two or more people, regardless of each individual's gender.

17. Pop: A soft drink. Don't say "soda" in this town. "Do ya wanna canna pop?"

18. Sliders: Nickname for hamburgers from White Castle , a popular Midwestern burger chain. "Dose sliders I had last night gave me da runs."

19. The Taste: The Taste of Chicago Festival, a huge extravaganza in Grant Park featuring samples of Chicagoland cuisine which takes place each year around the Fourth of July holiday.

20. "Jeetyet?": Translates to, "Did you eat yet?"

21. Winter and Construction: Punch line to the joke, "What are the two seasons in Chicago?"

22. Cuppa Too-Tree: is Chicagoese for "a couple, two, three" which really means "a few." For example, "Hey Mike, dere any beerz left in da cooler over by dere?" "Yeh, a cuppa too-tree."

23. 588-2300: Everyone in Chicago knows this commercial jingle and the carpet company yo u'll get if you call that number -- Empire!

24. Junk Dror: You will usually find the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen filled to the brim with miscellaneous, but very important, junk.

25. Southern Illinois : Anything south of I-80. This is where Smothers' is from....

26. Expressways: The Interstates in the imm ediate Chicagoland area are usually known just by their 'name' and not their Interstate number: the Dan Ryan ("da Ryan"), the Stevenson, the Kennedy (da "Kennedy"), the Eisenhower (da "Ike"), and the Edens (just "Edens" but Da Edens" is acceptable).

27. Gym Shoes: The rest of the country may refer to them as sneakers or running shoes but Chicagoans wil l always call them gym shoes!


This is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Chicago...

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Chicago.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Chicago.

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Chicago.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Chicago.

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of I-80 for the weekend, you live in Chicago.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Chicago.

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you live in Chicago.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Chicago.

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in Chicago.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Chicago.

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in Chicago.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Chicago.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and; road construction, you live in Chicago .

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in Chicago .

If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in Chicago.

Allie has glasses

It appears that Allie will have her father's eyesight...
She was excited about her glasses - hopefully because she can see a lot better. But it was pretty clear (pun intended) that she would need glasses since she had squinted all of the time.

Amazingly, they say that if her eyes are reasonably worse next year, they suggest that she get contacts since it may slow down the myopia process.

No wonder the US has mortgage problems

The huge mortgage bailout currently being debated will essentially help banks who make foolish decisions. However, the attached story is likely the most amazingly loose credit guidelines I've ever heard of. Banks appear to give their money away too easily and this story proves it.

Can I handle the pressure?

I've resisted putting my training runs on my blog since I wasn't sure I could handle the pressure. However, it appears that I am running a half marathon in September and that I'd better be sure to be adequately. Therefore, I suppose I could use the added pressure of outside forces to keep me honest in training. My most recent 5 runs will be updated as I enter them into my online log.

---

FMB Review

Just prior to the 4th of July, we went to Ft. Myers Beach. It was our first beach vacation with the kids and I think we will do it again. FMB is a pretty laid back community and it was the kind of place that you could wear your bathing suit everywhere.

Here are some pictures (if you click it twice, you should be taken to a site to get a bit larger pics):


Our typical day was hanging out at the pool from late morning to dinner time - we couldn't pull the kids away! Once in a while we'd try to convince them to go to the beach - after all, when are they going to really be able to see that? But most of the time it was around the pool. Ter and I would sample some of the pool bar drinks (our favorite is the Miami Vice - half strawberry daiquiri, half pina colada). Some days they had kids' activities around the pool which Allie mostly participated in. Anna was just happy hanging out in the pool (which probably contributed to the swimmer's ear she got upon returning to Bloomington). After spending most of the day at the pool, we'd got to the Times Square section of the island, which is kind of their downtown. There they had shops, restaurants, and lots of people.

Anna did get sick the first day, but laid around the first day and felt much better by night time. While Ter and Anna were in the room together, I competed in the Diamondhead's drink making contest. Basically, three contestants had seven ingredients to concoct their own drink recipe. The very cheap ingredients were vodka, rum, peach schnapps, melon liqueur, pineapple juice, orange juice, and cranberry juice. My drink was a variation of the classic fuzzy navel, which I called the fuzzy pineapple. My WINNING recipe was:

• Fill tall glass with ice
• Put in one shot of vodka and one shot of peach schnapps
  
• Fill with pineapple juice
• Top with splash of cranberry juice
  

The weather was actually pretty perfect. First, it wasn't nearly as hot as I expected it to be. Yes, there were a few times when you'd be sweating while just sitting down. But if you dipped your feet in the pool, you'd cool off instantly. Plus, there really was only like an hour or two during the day that it was really THAT hot - the breeze off the gulf made it perfect. Yes, it did rain just about everyday, but it was literally exactly when we wanted it to rain. One day it rained when we got back to our hotel after calling it a night and two other days it rained during dinner. The last day we decided to do some night swimming and the weather decided to hold off for us - the only day it didn't rain at night.

FMB is on a pretty narrow island (Estero Island) and if we decide to do it again next year, we might look into renting a house. Anywhere on the island would be less than a half mile to the beach and there are beach access roads literally every block. Since the kids were not that interested in the beach, it might be nice to have your own house.

Allie as amateur photographer

Here is Allie asking Anna pose for a number of pictures. Apparently, Allie said "be happy", "be sad", etc. and Anna just posed for the pics. We had no idea they were taking these pictures until we loaded them into the computer.

I think we have some artists here...Which is more talented? The artist or the subject?

It's here! It's here!

Yes - Rock Band has finally come out for Wii. I apparently was the first customer (loser) to go to Walmart on Sunday morning since I had to ask the employee where it was. The conversation went something like this:

• Walmart employee: How may I help you sir?
• Me: WHERE THE &^%#* IS ROCK BAND YOU *&(#ING *%&HOLE?
• Walmart employee: Sir, it' s right in front of you. Do you need Playstation or XBox?
• Me: YOU DUMB &*(#_ !!! IT CAME OUT ON WII TODAY - WHERE THE #$%% IS IT?
• Walmart employee: Are you sure it came out on Wii today?
• Me: ARE YOU @#%^&ING KIDDING ME???!!! DO I $^&#ING LOOK LIKE I'M SURE? DO YOU ACTUALLY !@#^KING THINK I'M WRONG??!!?? YOU !@#%^$ING DUMB!@#%!!! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM??!!
  
• Walmart employee: I'll have to check in our storage.

I just could not believe that they weren't ready for the onslaught of people who were going to get it (i.e., me...)

Anyway, the drums are a huge thumbs up, but it takes a little getting used to the new guitar (vs. guitar hero). After all, GH's guitar is modeled after a Les Paul and RB's is a Fender (a stratocaster, as well). What I am impressed with is the sheer number of songs on RB. I've gotten through the first 4 "acts" and this is only 20 of the 63 songs - haven't even seen Allie's favorite song ("Are you gonna be my girl" by Jet).

The kids love it and it is significantly easier to "pass" a song on RB when compared to GH. Anna prefers the drums, though she cannot hold a beat .... at all. She just bangs on the colors that she sees on the screen in virtually no particular order and yet still somehow manages about 60% - 70% of the notes. Allie wants the crowds attention on vocals - though she does censor herself when there are bad words in songs (I suppose I got a few months before she starts talking like her mom). At the end of the song she screams "thank you, Bloomington" and takes a bow.

Yes - we're a sad group, but we really rock now...

Changing the face of Wisconsin Dells

How does a lake disappear? I will be interested in visiting the Wisconsin Dells to see how some of the restaurants that overlooked the lake can deal with this. I can't even fathom it.

Anna's 5th birthday party

Anna celebrated her 5th birthday in style with a "tea party". Ter found a woman who has a tea party for girls which included: stuffing their own horse, making a t-shirt for the horse, decorating a picture frame, dressing up, and having a tea party. Clearly Ter wasn't the person who decorated our living room. If you want slightly bigger pics, you can visit them here. I also have the original full size pictures if anyone wants a copy of any of the pictures.

Some old pictures

Slowly I'm working my way through a bunch of old photos.

Here's the kids being goofy when trying to make a Christmas card in 2006. They made this face all the time when they were trying to make you laugh.

Here we can see how I've really polluted my kids' minds. We already know that Anna is addicted to Guitar Hero (she's only one song away from becoming a Guitar Hero on easy). Now we see that she's starting to work out the odds in Hold 'Em. I'm trying to get her to take kids money before her competitors even realize the actual value of money.

Lastly, here's Allie and Ben, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Note that Allie does not appear to be pushing him off. In fact, while she'll try to deny it, I think that that is a smile on her face - don't you?

The countdown continues

We are just 3.5 weeks away from Rock Band! Our family is still arguing a bit over which roles to play - me on the drums, Anna on guitar, Allie singing, and we'll put Ter in the audience.

I aspire to be like this guy on the drums (or is that really me?):

Ridge run results

Today I ran the "Ridge Run" in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago. The run felt pretty warm - and we haven't had much humidity yet in the spring. The start of the race was VERY humid along Longwood with virtually no wind (it's at the bottom of a hill). The neighborhood really welcomed the runners however, lots of people out on the street, even passing out water and having their sprinklers near the street (thank goodness!) Based on the heat, I really don't think I could have done much better at 53:25 (8:36/mile pace). I placed 294th out of a total of 917 runners. Within my division, a respectable 23rd out of 57 runners.

The night before, the kids and Aunt Amy went to the Original Rainbow Cone. After Anna dropped hers in the parking lot, both kids ate only the orange sherbet and threw out the other delicious flavors.

Burbank, Illinois

Author John McNally has started a blog about my hometown of Burbank, Illinois. He graduated a couple years earlier than me, so a few of the posts weren't totally familiar to me (I don't remember Korvette's). Nonetheless, several posting reminded me of things I totally forgot about. And I didn't know that my old grammar school (Tobin) had been leveled.

Ridge run on Memorial Day