pinions of buddy don: whut ever happend to states rites n small gummint

my daddy died back in 1996, witch it hurt lack the devil, but i caint hep but thank he wooda been suffrin lookin at whut his publican party has dun to thar cherished idees. he bleeved the gummint should be small, that educayshun n life issues should be deecided by the states. i reckon he wuz turnin over in his grave whenever mr bush gut the fedrul gummint to override the florida gummint in the 2000 vote count fiasco.

now cums news that even them publicans is a'gone have trouble swallerin. turns out mr bushs medicare drug benefit, witch i splained how bad thatn wuz in a post last march name of how to git publicans to vote fer runaway borryin, turns out twill cost even more than the $521 billions they wuznt willin to add mitt they knew twood cost whenever thay wuz makin them congressmen vote on it.

in todays papers cums news that twill be a lil over double that! ye kin read bout it on the frunt page of the washington post in a story by ceci connelly n mike allen name of Medicare Drug Benefit May Cost $1.2 Trillion; Estimate Dwarfs Bush's Original Price Tag:

The White House released budget figures yesterday indicating that the new Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost more than $1.2 trillion in the coming decade, a much higher price tag than President Bush suggested when he narrowly won passage of the law in late 2003.

thars yer crisis, josephine!

but that aint the hole thang. seems lack them publicans, witch they wuz the ones that wonted a balanced budget amendment jes ten years ago, seems lack now they wonta grow the largest n most intrusive fedrul gummint ever! ye kin read bout that progress on that goal in a articull by jim vandehei name of Blueprint Calls for Bigger, More Powerful Government; Some Conservatives Express Concern at Agenda:

President Bush's second-term agenda would expand not only the size of the federal government but also its influence over the lives of millions of Americans by imposing new national restrictions on high schools, court cases and marriages.

In a clear break from Republican campaigns of the 1990s to downsize government and devolve power to the states, Bush is fostering what amounts to an era of new federalism in which the national government shapes, not shrinks, programs and institutions to comport with various conservative ideals, according to Republicans inside and outside the White House.

my poor daddy! i hope he aint readin the washington post. turns out them publicans dont stand fer much moren winnin, even ifn it means they trash thar own ideals.

but thay is sum good news. innnovayshuns in retirement, ye mite could say, whar old folks is gittin to wurk a hole lot longer, even ifn they caint git the same good jobs as befor. ye kin read all bout it in a articull name of Retirement Turns Into a Rest Stop as Benefits Dwindle:

Employers had better get used to seeing older people's résumés.

As numerous companies across the country withdraw retiree medical and dental benefits while others switch to less generous retirement plans, many aging workers who had expected to ease comfortably out of the labor force in their 50's and early 60's are discovering that they do not have the financial resources to support themselves in retirement. As a result, a lot more of them are returning to work.

Since the mid-1990's, older people have become the fastest-growing portion of the work force. The Labor Department projects that workers over 55 will make up 19.1 percent of the labor force by 2012, up from 14.3 percent in 2002.

Until recently, most economists said that older people were being lured back into the labor force largely because of opportunities growing out of the vibrant economy of the 1990's. But these days, they say, many such Americans are being drawn to work out of necessity rather than choice.

rest easy, daddy. we lack to wurk!