All Things in Moderation

Bits & Piece (Friday Night Open Mic)

Gotta a migraine. This is gonna be short.

Dec. 3rd was the 19th Anniversary of the first cell phone text message.

The floor is yours.

— KW

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10 Responses

1. 

   MsJS, on December 16, 2011 at 10:59 pm said:

   Dec. 3, 2011 was also:–The 1st anniversary of the launch of the Nissan Leaf–The 23rd anniversary of Barry Sanders' Heisman Trophy win–The 27th anniversary of the Bhopal, India poisoning by Union Carbide–The 40th anniversary of Nixon commuting Hoffa's jail sentence–The 44th anniversary of the first human heart transplant–The 47th anniversary of a sit-in at UC-Berkeley involving hundreds of arrests–The 50th anniversary of the Beatles meeting their future manager, Brian EpsteinNow try and text all that!

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2. 

   Mark in Austin, on December 16, 2011 at 11:02 pm said:

   Whatever you do for a migraine, do it and feel better, Kevin.

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3. 

   MsJS, on December 16, 2011 at 11:47 pm said:

   We'll be especially quiet, Kevin. Feel better soon.

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4. 

   Mark in Austin, on December 17, 2011 at 2:40 am said:

   Rick Perry has done something his opponents have been hoping he’d do for years: retire. But it’s not what the governor’s detractors had in mind.Perry officially retired in January so he could start collecting his lucrative pension benefits early, but he still gets to collect his salary — and has in turn dramatically boosted his take-home pay.Perry makes a $150,000 annual gross salary as Texas governor. Now, thanks to his early retirement, Perry, 61, gets a monthly retirement annuity of $7,698 before taxes, or $6,588 net. That raises his gross annual salary to more than $240,000.On a swing through Cherokee, Iowa, Perry was asked why the Employee Retirement System should be paying his retirement while he's still collecting a salary."That’s been in place for decades. … I don’t find that to be out of the ordinary,” Perry said. "ERS called me and said, 'Listen, you're eligible to access your retirement now with your military time and your time and service, and I think you would be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned.'” Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan said the governor's early collection of his pension benefits is "consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules."But the disclosure is sure to spark criticism of Perry, who has called for sweeping changes to Social Security for average workers and has railed against special "perks" that members of Congress get."Perry was legally able to begin collecting the employee class annuity under the 'rule of 80.' The combination of his U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded 80 years and qualifies him for the annuity under Texas Government Code 813.503 as amended in 1991," Sullivan said. "Perry continues to pay into the Employees Retirement System with a 6.5 percent withholding from his state salary."Perry will get credit for any subsequent years he works as Texas governor, so he'll receive a higher pension benefit if he serves out the remaining three years of his term as Texas governor, officials said. Perry is allowed to retire in two different systems — the "employee class" from which he is retired now, and the "elected class" system he will take retirement from when he leaves office."The annuity will be recalculated at retirement and the amount will depend on when he retires from the elected class," Sullivan said. Perry also is eligible for Social Security benefits and lifetime, state-provided health care.The early-retirement maneuver came to light Friday in new ethics disclosures from the Federal Election Commission, which requires all candidates running for federal office to provide details about how they make their money.Perry’s presidential campaign had sought two successive delays of the personal financial disclosure filing but had to turn them in by 5 p.m. Thursday.In his 2010 book Fed Up!, and out on the campaign trail, entitlement programs and government-mandated health care are among Perry's favorite targets.“I do advocate totally rethinking the safety net, personal security programs completely,” Perry said in a November 2010 interview. “Why is the government collecting your tax money for retirement and health care programs? That’s not a stated constitutional role.”In his most ambitious policy prescription so far as a presidential candidate, Perry proposed a partial privatization of Social Security for future retirees, changes that would not affect the federal benefits he will receive. – Texas Tribune

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5. 

   Mr. Troll McWingnut, on December 17, 2011 at 3:42 am said:

   GOP sources claim that Obama is caving on Keystone pipeline and Millionaire's tax for a two month extension on the payroll tax cut.A 2 month extension.

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6. 

   jnc4p, on December 17, 2011 at 3:43 am said:

   "Perry officially retired in January so he could start collecting his lucrative pension benefits early, but he still gets to collect his salary — and has in turn dramatically boosted his take-home pay."I believe this qualifies as the "double dipping" which Republicans often (rightfully) denounce when other public employees do so. Seems like an excellent line of attack for the other candidates in the next debate.

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7. 

   ScottC, on December 17, 2011 at 4:20 am said:

   Mark:Do you think Perry is being hypocritical, as the Texas Tribune seems to be implying?

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8. 

   Mark in Austin, on December 17, 2011 at 5:21 am said:

   No, Scott. If it is lawful, he can choose to do it without judgment from me. I think it is amusing that our governor who has been a lackwit in office for ten years will remain in office while being designated a "retired state employee".Remember that I define hypocrisy narrowly. I am the one who did not think Bachmann taking farm subsidies had anything to do with the word. I did see your point about Buffett arguing that paying more taxes was a "moral" imperative, but on the whole, I do not think high earners who would not volunteer to pay the Treasury can be called hypocritical for simply supporting higher taxes. Umm, My wife and I would support raising the brackets that include us, but we will not volunteer contribs to Treasury. Of course, we do not, either of us, think it is a moral issue, just a fiscal one.

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9. 

   ScottC, on December 17, 2011 at 12:16 pm said:

   Mark: I think it is amusing that our governor who has been a lackwit in office for ten years will remain in office while being designated a "retired state employee".That does strike me as a bit bizarre. I don't know who thought it was a good and reasonable idea to allow active employees to designate themselves "retired" so they can draw a pension at the same time as getting salary.

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10. 

    Fairlington Blade, on December 18, 2011 at 11:16 pm said:

    Obama didn't cave on Keystone. There is a required two month time frame for a decision. The administration will reject the permit on the grounds that insufficient time to consider alternatives. Republicans will get their talking point. Here's a betting question. How badly will ~7000 jobs over two years be inflated? My guess is it'll be half a million by the time of the Republican convention. Of course, we all know that multipliers are fictional. Or maybe that's just when it comes to guvmint jobs.BB

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