Stephen L. Goldstein, The Sun-Sentinel

March 29, 2009

Stephen L. Goldstein
The Sun-Sentinel
200 East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

RE: Florida’s economy and how everybody giving everybody a big hug will make us better people except for those rich people who still eat out. Some comments on your gravity defying column this morning.

My dear Professor,

I left you alone for a while because I did not want to intrude on the bliss you must have enjoyed basking in the “Yes, we can” euphoria of hope and change.

Sunday’s column is one of your classics.

Facts are irrelevant.
Logic is discarded.
Feelings are substituted for ideas.

Just like the old days.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no sense in being a half-assed modern American Liberal. If you are going to eat the lotus blossom take big bites. Quaff deeply of the “balloon juice” so that you can better enjoy your “rainbow stew”.

You mention the 36 billion dollars already spent in Iraq.

Perhaps you’ve forgotten but more than 3/4ths of Congress voted for this country to go to war in 2003. If you say that Congress was misled or lied to that is a prima facie case for those members to be removed from office. They should be flogged on the way out the door.

It may have escaped your attention but how was the war financed?

Did Varth Cheney slip in at night and steal 36 billion dollars when nobody was looking? Tall about hanging chads and the like but how did he get those members to vote for it every year?

Candidate Bambi hinted that American troops would be out of Iraq before he finished his Inaugural Address. What happened?






Now he wants to up the ante in Afghanistan. Is he channeling Lyndon Johnson?

How is he going to pay for Afghanistan?

Bake sales? Car Washes? 50/50s?

Doesn’t Congress have to appropriate the funds? Aren’t both Houses of Congress controlled by the Democrats? How is he going to do that?

Maybe he’ll do it Chicago style. White envelopes stuffed with cash have always worked in Cook County. That’s where he’s from, isn’t he? I bet his wife would be proud to help him.

You then say

“It’s a misleading mantra that raising taxes is always catastrophic.”

I agree with you.

Just because something has always been “catastrophic” doesn’t mean that it will always be catastrophic. Just because throwing gasoline has always been “catastrophic” doesn’t mean that the next time you throw the can - How are you fixed for volunteers? – it won’t be “catastrophic”. A prudent man would place his wagers accordingly but I did say that there was no sense in being a “half-assed”, didn’t I?

Look at the War on Poverty, America’s longest and costliest war.

Just because we’ve been at it since 1964 doesn’t mean that the corner won’t be turned soon. All we need there is a well thought out and brilliantly executed surge. As soon as it works we’ll all be farting through silk. I think raising the minimum wage to $18.65 an hour and getting rid of WAL*MART would be a good start. If doing away with the secret ballot at union elections is a good idea why do we need to have a secret ballot every time we pick our leaders? And to show that we mean business on social issues, let’s legalize 4th and 5th trimester abortions.

You say that a $10 tax on all Floridians would raise $183 million dollars. I always knew that you were a wiz at math. You told us that a $100 tax on Floridians would raise, you know what I’m saying, 10 times as much. I didn’t even check the math. Did Weasel Geithner help you with the math?

How much more would we have if the Obama appointees, layabouts all, had paid all of their taxes? How about any of their taxes?

Meanwhile, I’m still on the hunt for a “shovel ready” project.

Send up a flare if you find one.