A Time of Butterflies and Sunflowers

Summer in central Virginia.

The Hooker Hookup Repudiation

I had just driven to the grocery store, parked my Jeep, and was walking away from it when I saw them: two hookers walking through the parking lot. One was white and one was light-skinned African-American. They were young - maybe in their early twenties. They were both very pretty. And they were both most definitely smokin' hot. How did I know for sure they were hookers, you might wonder. Partly their attire: both had tight white halter tops, very short shorts, and high heels. One was wearing what I call "stripper shoes" - those shoes with ultra-thick soles and very tall heels that Hollywood celebs tend to wear nowadays.

Still not convinced they were hookers? Ok, get this: As they strolled past, about 10 feet from me, the girl closest to me – the one wearing the stripper shoes – turned her head in my direction, smiled brightly, and said "Hello!" to me. I returned her hello, then turned and walked toward the store. Her hello had clinched it for me.

You see, I'm long past the age where women even notice I exist, much less smile and say hello. Unless, of course, there's money to be made by doing so. I guess working girls have to constantly be on the lookout for customers. But I wasn’t there to buy hot sex. To be sure, I was there to buy something hot – but in the store’s deli, not in the parking lot.

Why ObamaCare

America’s Founding Fathers, in the Declaration of Independence, stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Let’s think about that. The Founding Fathers said all Americans have “certain unalienable Rights” – rights that cannot be taken away from the individual – and that one of these Rights is Life.

What does it mean that our country’s founding document states that We the People have a Right to Life? It can only mean we have a right to access those things that sustain life, and that we cannot be denied access to those things that sustain life. Let’s take an example: municipal water. I have a right to buy water from the city. I don’t have a right to steal it, but I have a right to buy it. Why? Because I need water to sustain my life. Access to water is my right. Access means that I have the same right to it as everyone else. I have the same right to buy water that you have.

But suppose your municipal water system was sold to private enterprise, and suppose the corporation running the water system decided to maximize profit by selling water only to the highest bidders. Furthermore, suppose they had the power to cut off your water at any time for any reason, or for no reason at all. How does that sound to you?

Suppose a significant number of people in your city were actually dying because they were denied the right to buy water. Suppose they had the money to buy water but the corporation running the water system said to them, “We don’t want your money. We’re not going to sell you water.” How does that sound to you? Is that the kind of water system you want for your city?

Well, until now, that’s the kind of healthcare system we’ve had in America. When I tried to buy health insurance a few years ago, every company turned me down. I was healthy, but I couldn’t buy health insurance. One insurance agent told me, “I can’t write you a policy. You’re too old.” (Too old to buy insurance, but too young for Medicare.)

How would you like to be told you can’t buy water because you’re too old? Just as water is essential for life, healthcare, at times, is also essential for life. Without health insurance, access to healthcare becomes very restricted. People in America die every day because they can’t access our healthcare system – either because they can’t afford health insurance, or because they can afford it but are not allowed to buy it.

Almost every first-world country provides access to health care to all of its citizens. That’s because almost every country recognizes that its citizens have an unalienable Right to Life. Only in America have people, until now, just mouthed the words.

Tomato Update II

My tomato plant-in-a-bucket experiment has been fruitful, as it were.

Here is Tom-the-tomato-plant when he was a mere seedling in a 5 gallon bucket:

Two months later:

And here are Tom’s first two tomatoes sitting on my cutting board. They’re not quite ripe but I decided to pick them before blackbirds started pecking them.

The Height/Weight Botheration

I looked at one of those height/weight charts that one can easily find on the Web, and I was dismayed to discover that I am almost 5 inches too short for my weight. Dismayed because at my age there is virtually no chance that I’ll be able to add 5 inches to my height. I’m destined to always be too short for my weight. Sigh.

But at least I have company. Millions of Americans are too short for their weight. Some blame sugary soft drinks. Those soft drinks must be stunting our growth; that could explain why so many of us are too short for our weight. That’s unfortunate, as being too short for one’s weight is known to contribute to diabetes, heart disease, and even some cancers. But as I have no control over my height, I’m not going to worry about it.

Big Spender

I see so much misinformation in what passes for news media in this country that I prefer not to get my opinions from the talking heads on TV. Rather, I prefer to form my own opinions based on facts, not fables. Much has been spoken and written in conservative media about Obama’s “reckless spending.” I decided to look at the actual numbers and try to find the truth. I asked the question: how does government spending under Obama compare with government spending under past presidents? I looked at every fiscal year since Reagan took office.

Keep in mind that only Congress can authorize spending. The President can propose a budget to Congress, but it’s really a wish list; Congress can reject it, modify it, or pass it. Usually, many changes are made to a budget before it passes.

Budgets are a slippery topic. The U.S. has two kinds of expenditures: on-budget and off-budget. Items that are off-budget are funded through supplemental appropriations. For example, George W. Bush did not include the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in his budgets. Those operations were funded off-budget. When Barack Obama came into office he chose to include the cost of those military operations in his budgets. That boosted the size of his budgets by hundreds of billions of dollars, even if the government had otherwise spent exactly the same amount of money as in the previous year.

For the table on this page, I’ve chosen to use Total Outlays, which includes on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

I need to explain the term fiscal year. The government’s fiscal year currently begins on October 1 and runs through September 30. The fiscal year is named after the year in which the budget ends. So, for example, Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, sworn into office in 1981, and sent his first budget to Congress for the fiscal year beginning in October, 1981, which was FY 1982. Reagan’s final budget was sent to Congress in 1988 for the next fiscal year, FY 1989.

I have seen “news” articles attributing the FY 2009 budget to Barack Obama. This is incorrect. The FY 2009 budget had been funding government for almost 4 months before Obama was sworn into office. Obama’s first budget was for FY 2010, and his last budget will be for either FY 2013 or (if he is re-elected) FY 2017.

Numbers for the following table are from the Office of Management and Budget and specifically Table 1.1—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-): 1789–2017. Last updated Aug 9, 2016 using data from Table 1.1—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-): 1789–2021.

Fiscal Year	Total Outlays (billions)	Previous Year (billions)	Difference (billions)	Percent Change (from previous year)
Ronald Reagan
1982	745.7	678.2	67.5	9.95%
1983	808.3	745.7	62.6	8.40%
1984	851.8	808.3	43.5	5.37%
1985	946.3	851.8	94.5	11.10%
1986	990.3	946.3	44.0	4.65%
1987	1004.0	990.3	13.7	1.38%
1988	1064.4	1004.0	60.4	6.02%
1989	1143.7	1064.4	79.3	7.45%
Average annual growth during Reagan terms				8.58%
G. H. W. Bush
1990	1253.0	1143.7	109.3	9.55%
1991	1324.2	1253.0	71.2	5.68%
1992	1381.5	1324.2	57.3	4.33%
1993	1409.4	1381.5	27.9	2.02%
Average annual growth during  Bush term				5.80%
Bill Clinton
1994	1461.8	1409.4	52.4	3.72%
1995	1515.7	1461.8	53.9	3.69%
1996	1560.5	1515.7	44.8	2.95%
1997	1601.1	1560.5	40.6	2.60%
1998	1652.5	1601.1	51.4	3.21%
1999	1701.8	1652.5	49.3	2.99%
2000	1789.0	1701.8	87.2	5.12%
2001	1862.8	1789.0	73.8	4.13%
Average annual growth during Clinton terms				4.02%
G. W. Bush
2002	2010.9	1862.8	148.1	7.95%
2003	2159.9	2010.9	149.0	7.41%
2004	2292.8	2159.9	132.9	6.16%
2005	2472.0	2292.8	179.2	7.81%
2006	2655.1	2472.0	283.1	7.41%
2007	2728.7	2655.1	73.6	2.77%
2008	2982.5	2728.7	253.8	9.30%
2009	3517.7	2982.5	535.2	17.94%
Average annual growth during  Bush terms				11.10%
Barack Obama
2010	3456.2	3517.7	– 61.5	– 1.75%
2011	3603.1	3456.2	146.9	4.25%
2012	3537.0	3603.1	-66.1	-1.83%
2013	3454.6	3537.0	-82.4	-2.32%
2014	3506.1	3454.6	51.5	1.49%
2015	3688.3	3506.1	182.2	5.20%
2016	3951.3*	3688.3	263.0*	7.13%*
2017	4147.2*	3951.3*	195.9*	4.96%*
Average annual growth during Obama terms				2.24%**

(* estimated; the fiscal year is not yet over.)
(** The last two years, 2016 & 2017, are estimated. The first six years of Obama's terms produced an average annual deficit of 0.81%.)

I have a final comment about the FY 2009 budget. The budget George Bush sent to Congress included a $400 billion deficit. However, Congress added more than $400 billion dollars of spending to the budget, and the economy tanked, resulting in tax receipts being $600 billion less than expected. These events resulted in a $1.4 trillion deficit. Without this massive FY 2009 deficit, Bush's average annual spending would have been 8.59%, almost identical to Reagan's 8.58%.

America’s Budget

See if you can guess who I’m talking about:

One of this president’s campaign talking points was the size of the federal budget. He said it was too large and if he was elected he would get it under control. People believed him and they voted him into office. However, the budget continued to grow, and when he left office the national debt was almost 3 times as large as when he took office.

If you guessed Ronald Reagan, you are correct.

It’s not unexpected that the budget grows larger each year, for a number of reasons. Every year we’re a bigger country – our population grows. More people means more poor people, more sick people, more retirees, and more mandated spending to take care of those people. In fact, only 37% of the budget is discretionary spending. Fully 63% of the budget is mandated spending (such as Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the debt). There are federal programs to assist cities and states with their financial burdens, and more people means those programs will spend more. On top of that, inflation erodes the value of the dollar, so the government has to spend more dollars each year just to stay even with the previous year.

From 1980 to 2009, budget outlays grew from $590.9 billion to $3517.6 billion. That is an average increase of 6.6% per year.

Let’s talk about fiscal years. What is a fiscal year? From Wikipedia:

“The federal government's fiscal year currently begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 of the next calendar year. The fiscal year corresponds to the calendar year in which it ends; thus, fiscal year 2009 would begin on October 1, 2008 and end September 30, 2009.”

What this means is that the last Bush budget was the FY 2009 budget, which was enacted in 2008 and funded government from October, 2008, through September, 2009. Obama’s first budget was the FY 2010 budget, which funded government from October, 2009, until September, 2010.

It’s important to note that only Congress has the power to authorize spending. The President sends a budget to Congress, but it’s really a wish list. Congress can reject it, modify it, or pass it. Usually, many changes are made to a budget before it passes Congress.

Keeping that fact in mind, here are the total outlays (on-budget plus off-budget).

	Expenditure (billions)	Previous Year (billions)	Difference (billions)	Percentage Change (from the previous year)
FY 2010	3,721	3,518	+ 203	+ 5.77%
FY 2011	3,360	3,721	– 361	– 9.70%
FY 2012	3,796	3,360	+ 436	+ 12.98%
FY 2013	3,803*	3,796	+ 7	+ 0.18%
4 year average	3,668	3,599	+ 71	+ 2.3%

(* FY 2013 has been requested but not yet enacted.)

In FY 2010, Obama requested $3.552 trillion, but Congress enacted $3.721 trillion. Congress ordered more spending than Obama requested.

In FY2012, Obama requested $3.729 trillion, but Congress enacted $3.796 trillion. Once again, Congress ordered more spending than Obama requested.

If Obama can restrain Congress from packing his FY 2013 budget full of pork, and if, after four years, government spending has increased by an average rate of only 2.3% per year, it will mean that under Obama, the rate of government’s spending increases has been a third of the historical rate of spending increases since 1980.

Not bad for a “big spender”.

Reference: Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables
Table 1.1—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-): 1789–2017

Tomato Update

My first experiment with growing a tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket is going well. The tomato plant is growing like a weed. Here it is on April 29:

And here it is on May 17, only 18 days later:

It already has a little tomato:

More Random Thoughts

Observation…

George Bush invaded Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction.
Cost:  $4 trillion, thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of civilian lives.
Result: weapons of mass destruction are not found.

Barack Obama invaded Pakistan looking for Osama bin Laden who, unlike Saddam Hussein, actually executed an attack that killed thousands of Americans.
Cost:  One helicopter lost. No American casualties.
Result: A terrorist leader is killed, and Obama is ridiculed in emails which make him out to be a fool.

This is an example of cognitive dissonance, in which people try to hold conflicting cognitions (ideas, beliefs, opinions) simultaneously. On the one hand, conservatives assert that Obama is incompetent and can do nothing right. On the other hand, Obama gets credit for eliminating America’s most wanted terrorist. This conflict between belief and reality causes discomfort. The discomfort can be lessened in two ways: by belittling Obama’s contribution to the military operation and/or by reducing the importance of eliminating bin Laden. Both techniques have been employed since the raid on bin Laden’s compound, with the result that conservatives are once again comfortable with believing that Obama is incompetent and can do nothing right.

Bullies…

I still remember what a quadratic equation looks like from my high school algebra days. On the other hand, Mitt Romney claims he can’t recall pinning a classmate to the ground and cutting off the boy’s hair with scissors. Mitt says even if he did do it, it was just high jinks. After 50 years, Mitt Romney hasn’t grown enough to own the bad behavior of his youth.

Dog Flipping…

It’s a growing trend. You go to a dog breeder and buy a dog with a promise to give the dog a good home. Then you immediately sell the dog and pocket the profit. It’s like house-flipping but with a scared, trusting animal hoping to get a decent human master.

Citizenship…

A growing number of wealthy Americans are renouncing their citizenship in order to cut their tax bill. Among the latest to do this is Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook. He is going to live in Singapore which has no capital gains tax. So much for loyalty to the land that made it possible for him to become a billionaire.

Almost May

It’s April 29. I haven’t blogged since March 19. There hasn’t been much to write about. There have been things I could have written about, but all of it was too deep, too weighty. A blog post can’t be a chapter in a book. So I waited for something suitable to come along to write about. And nothing came along.

Athalia the Azalea in front of my house bloomed … as did the pink phlox beside my house and around the back steps, despite my mowing it to the ground several times every summer. The phlox, that is … not the azalea. I don’t think the azalea would stand being mowed to the ground even once.

George the Bush sprouted white blossoms. George stands at the far end of my back yard next to an alley that runs the length of my city block. I cut George to the ground a couple years ago, but the root refused to die and it sprouts stems and flowers in the spring. George is a shadow of his old self, though. He’s much easier to mow around now, and I don’t have to take the hedge trimmer to him any longer.  He’s George the Bush, Jr.

 

Dandelions are hard at work destroying my grass … what little remains. My lawn is mostly weeds now: a lot of clover, but henbit and chickweed, too. I put down grass seed in spots where the weeds had died and left bare dirt. I don’t have good luck with planting grass, so I’m not expecting much in the way of results.

 

I planted a tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket. I call it Tom (the tomato plant … not the bucket). It’s an experiment. I’ve grown tomatoes before but never in a container. Here’s a picture of Tom at home in his tomato bucket. Formerly it was a paint bucket but it’s been re-purposed. I drilled holes in the bottom so excess water will run out.

Tom already has a yellow flower on his little stem!

If you look closely you can see a couple more buds ready to open.

Today was 68° (F) and sunny so I went outside and performed some maintenance on a rosebush, cutting away the grass growing up inside it. In the process I accidentally cut off a rose stem, so I put it into a little blue vase. Now it sits cheerfully on my living room fireplace mantle.

In other news: I cut down two trees growing beside my garage. Had them cut down, actually. It was interesting to watch. I also took down the white dogwood standing beside my garage. It had been dying for years and the trunk was hollow with rot.

So, not much to write about this month after all. Living in the Heights is a lot like living at Lake Wobegon, except that Garrison Keillor usually finds a way to make the stories there almost interesting. Almost.