Friday March 4, 2011

March 4 in my youth was the day that newly elected presidents took the oath of office. More importantly, March 4 was my mother's birthday. Today Mother would have been 104. I remember one of Mother's birthdays during WWII when my dad was working in Chicago for the US Army. They would not let dad come home so he sent Mom a very big package. All the presents were wrapped in the Sunday comics. I can't remember the presents but I sure remember the enjoyment I got looking at the funnies. Today I was going through some Hughes family photos when I came across a college photo of Mother. The resemblance between Mother and Debbie is amazing. I always call my sister on Mother's birthday. Today was no exception.

It was suppose to rain all day today so I took the C2 to the MAC. After the MAC I headed to the Kava House for my daily coffee. I read the WSJ and DFP. Most of the serious stories were about local, state and federal budget problems. Some very tough decisions have to be made and I am not sure that our politicians have the nerve to make these decisions. For example in Michigan public pensions are not subject to Michigan's income tax. I get a small public pension and I approve of the proposed tax. I know some GR employees who retired after 30 years who get 100% of their working salary. They paid the state income tax while working but now are exempt. That means they are making more money now than when working. Social Security is also exempt and the Gov proposes to keep the SS exemption. I wrote my senator and representative about my feelings on the proposed tax. My representative, Brandon Dillon, wrote back and said that he is not going to place this big burden (4% tax) on the back of us poor seniors. I strongly disagree with Representative Dillon. The majority of states tax pensions and Michigan bite the bullet if it wants to balance the budget. As a point of interest, Mr. Dillon was on Steve's little league team.

When I got home from the Kava House I had a quick lunch and then ran some banking errands. After the errand Nancy and I got in the Taurus and headed to the Home and Garden Show downtown. We spent about 2 hours looking around. We had dinner tonight at Great Lakes Shipping. We got home in time for the national news. We watched TV and read the GRP until 2100 and then headed to bed.