Author: Jack
I retired in 2008 and so I have more time now to devote to several of my interests The blog here is mainly for my interests in some current events but may have the occasional rant on other subjects. I have also decided to keep my genealogy posts and book reviews here instead of 2 additional blogs (and so simplify my life a little).

The deadbeat caucus

The deadbeat caucus

Posted on by Jack

There is a group in the House of Representatives that does not want to pay the debts the federal government has borrowed to pay for past spending. An appropriate name would seem to be the deadbeat caucus. The group consists of 217 Republicans who voted for H. R. 2811. 4 Republicans voted against this bill and 1 did not vote. All Democrats voting opposed the bill.

I think if you owe a valid debt, you should pay it. I think most would agree. Those who refuse to pay the debt or want to make re-payment subject to conditions not in the loan are deadbeats’

I think there are valid arguments about what the government should spend going forward but refusing to re-pay loans already made unless you get your way for future spending negotiations is the wrong way to go about it.

The credit of the United States is at stake in this debt ceiling stand-off. If the deadbeat caucus has their way there will be catastrophic consequences. Reember this is not about future spending but about payinf debts we owe.

The bill does a bunch of other things which you may of may not agree with so it is definitely worth learning about it.

“Standing in the Shadows“ by Peter Robinson

“Standing in the Shadows“ by Peter Robinson

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Dr. Robinson starts us off with a murder in 1980 and then moves on to another mystery in 2019 involving the DCI Banks team and a skeleton found in an archaeological dig. It seems likely to anyone who has read a few mysteries than the 2 stories will come together but the author takes his time in getting us there.
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More Life Than Money

More Life Than Money

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A good book on making sure you don’t outlive your money and estate planning. I liked this book but had a few minor quibbles with it which I will mention at the end since I don’t think they influence the quality of advice at all. The full title is More Life Than Money: How Not to Outlive Your Savings .

Since this is a bit of a mix review, I’ll start with what I liked.
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I found a good book by accident

I found a good book by accident

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It was an accident and later I thought it was a mistake. This is how I remember it. I had finished the book that I was reading on my Kindle. Since it was a Netgalley book, I figured I should review it. But I did not feel like it. I’d just put it off for a few days and look for a new book.

Truth is that I enjoy reading books more than writing reviews. So the next book I picked was The Great Money Reset. Title sounded good but when I started reading it seemed to be about stuff I was not very interested in. I thought I should write to Netgalley that this book was not what I thought and I would neither finish it nor review it. It was probably my mistake in not reading the book description completely.
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Librarian of National Intelligence

Librarian of National Intelligence

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The recent outbreak of classified documents found in in politicians’ homes makes me think we really need a Librarian of National Intelligence (LoNI). Libraries are pretty good at keeping track of their books.

I find ridiculous that our National Intelligence agencies do not keep records on what they have and who checked it out. Perhaps they do but recent history suggests otherwise.

The Electric Detective by Peter Ward.

The Electric Detective by Peter Ward.

Posted on by Jack

I’ll start with 2 things I found surprising. BTW, the book is The Electric Detective by Peter Ward.

Surprise #1 was the book was available on Netgalley. I’d like to thank Netgalley and the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency for a chance to read and review it after publication. I normally get Advanced Readers there but for some reason this was still available several months after publication.
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Should we tax the rich more?

Should we tax the rich more?

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Was Elizabeth Warren right? Is the “tax the rich” wing of the Democratic party on to something important? Or on the other hand, maybe the Republicans who generally want to cut taxes on the rich are right. It is certainly an issue many have strong feelings about.

Many of the rich and powerful are meeting in Davos at the World Economic Forum this week. I just read an article on CNBC.com about a large group of millionaires who are urging the Davos participants to tax the rich and help ordinary people.
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Not paying bills is not a conservative thing

Not paying bills is not a conservative thing

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A few months ago I wrote about several things Republicans were doing that did not seem conservative to me, yet many of these Republicans claim to be conservative or even very or extremely conservative.

My list of not conservative things included:

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A good day for tax cheats

A good day for tax cheats

Posted on by Jack

Do you cheat on your taxes? Let the other guy pay more to make up for your savings. It turned out someone finally got wise to your cheating ways. A few months ago the government add some funds for the IRS for increasing tax compliance and improving service.

Make the tax system less subject to cheating. Fairer most would think and also raise billions of dollars rather than run up the deficit.

Monday the Republicans in the House voted to cut that funding, It was a good day for tax cheats (at the cost of adding billions to the deficit). fortunately for the rest of us, this seems unlikely to become law.

American Healing

American Healing

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This is an optimistic book.  And that will stay with me. It is also a realistic book and that will also stay with me.   The full title is Never Forget Our People Were Always Free: A Parable of American Healing by Benjamin Todd Jealous.

The title make sense but to explain takes a while.  So I’ll just skip that part and hope you are curious enough to get the book.I thank Netgalley for allowing me to read it before publication. The book will be released January 10.

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Midnight Speaker

Midnight Speaker

Posted on by Jack

The House Republicans have been trying to elect a Speaker for the past few days. After 13 failures to elect Kevin McCarthy the House Republicans voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. By the time you figure in nominating speeches and a roll call vote it may be midnight or so until we know the outcome. Maybe even later if there are issues or multiple ballots.

So who will be the midnight Speaker if we have one?

Sherlock Holmes: a short Christmas story

Sherlock Holmes: a short Christmas story

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The full title is “The Case of the Disappearing Beaune: A Sherlock Holmes Christmas Story” by J. Lawrence Matthews. Beaune is a French wine (I had to look it up). It is pronounced like bone and that leads to a few jokes. I found this to be a good short story and one very suitable for Christmas.
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