None of the Above

It is looking like another Sophie's Choice this election year.

To which I propose the following:

IF, and only if, the choice 'None of the Above' garners more than 50% of the vote, then:

• The candidates above are barred from ever running for President again
• Each state's future Democratic and Republican Primaries are opened up to all-comers
• Caucuses become a relic of the past
• Matching Federal Campaign Funds that are leftover go to the Chicago Cubs so we can get that over with already
• Each state chooses a contestant during the next month who could qualify (born U.S. citizen, >35 yrs old, not already on Social Security); Puerto Rico can play when they get out of debt; given the Marion Berry fiasco, Wash DC gets a Pass
• A RISK® Tournament is held - top three move on

From there it's simple - We hold a 3-Day Election Run-off in December on PBS to determine the next president

• There is an Interview/Problem-Solving Competition with three respected pundits from the left, right and PBS (Mark Shields and Judy Woodruff are not allowed due to time constraints on asking questions)
• If your answer to the question, "What would you do if you're president?" has the phrase 'World Peace' or 'Feed the Poor' in it, you're out 
• There is a Speech Competition wherein each candidate must convince as many of the TV audience as possible to drive in the right lane except when passing
• There is an Evening Wear Competition, 'cuz ya gotta look presidential

Then we all vote online via the ACA website.

April Short Shots

I think this pretty much speaks for itself:

(or two)

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Tax Time!

All the guidance says you should seek to grow and diversify your savings.  Unless, of course, you are content earning a whopping 0.04% interest on a 9-mth CD at BofA (minimum balance just $5000 - aren't they sweet?).  So the spousal unit and I have an international mutual fund that happens to pay some foreign tax.

During this year's TurboTax festivities, we somehow got lost deep in the weeds right away:

And that's the simple TurboTax version of just one question in our increasingly arcane U.S. Federal Tax Code (6500 pages and growing).

Proposed new U.S. Federal:  Personal Tax Card

FEATURES OF NOTE

• Starts Fresh - politicians don't have the intestinal fortitude to withstand the lobbying/electioneering pressure that would ensue if the current tax code were reformed; the weeds are rampant and the whole yard needs to be turned over to fresh dirt.  Then we can start adding a select few worthy deductions back in.
• No Loops, No Holes - just a socialistic dependents calculation to raise the floor
• Everybody Pays Something - that way, rich or poor, you are invested in your government (and have an inherent right to kvetch) 
• Built-in Annual Survey Tool
• ACA - the Administration told us it wasn't a tax, so it's not on here... 

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Motivating the students:

And, really, isn't that what it's all about?
Teaching the kids new things and getting their grades up?

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Solving a Problem that Doesn't Exist

What's with all the new "bathroom bills"?

Since when was it against the law for someone to go in the "wrong" bathroom?

"Gender be damned, we've got a bathroom emergency.  Come on sister!"

Or maybe she's just meeting a friend...

I think we could all use a little less government in the bathroom as well as the bedroom.

Binford 6600 More Power Windmill

Here's an idea

We've got windmill or wind turbine farms being put up in numerous places on land and sea.  They are big and take up space, but when it's windy they make a fair amount of green energy.

Wind turbines spinning up gobs of energy

But when it's not windy, they're just large surface area sculptures not contributing anything.

Much like Chris Christie

However, we also have another form of green energy available that happens to be mountable to a wing or blade:

The Solar Impulse aircraft

So, we mount acres of the latest solar cells that are smooth enough for wings like these:

To HUGE wind turbine blades like these:

And program the turbine to orient the blades and face the sun on calm-ish days to provide that much more energy for all the space they're taking up (wish we could do the same for Christie).

Heck, given their height and some Frankensteinian technical know-how, there's another source of energy we could tap into...

 

Two Republican Birds, One Democratic Stone

Don't Wait for the Election, Give Judge Garland a Chance

Not unlike when Obama dared them to shut down the government, the president has laid out another primrose path for Republicans in this election year.  You don't have to be from a red planet to see that...

President Obama has them right where he wants them:  Backs up against a wall of their own making.  Immediately following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared there'd* be no hearings nor would a vote be held for an Obama-appointed replacement - Republicans would hunker down and wait for the election.  They had enough problems just trying to field a viable presidential candidate.

Then that crafty president offered up and extolled the virtues of the most mild-mannered, qualified and reasonable of choices, Judge Merrick Garland.  A middle-of-the-political-road candidate nowhere near the leftist-activist nightmare Republican Judiciary members were envisioning, and...surprise, surprise...a white male (that's how you know when Obama is just playing with his food). 

• If the Republicans relent and come out of their shell, they'll have gone back on their word - this will likely dismay and fracture the hard right GOP voters desperately needed to win the presidential election.  This is particularly true if the much reviled "true conservative" Cruz is the brokered nominee.  

• If the Republicans hold fast, they give the Democrats great campaign fodder for the general electorate, who can plainly see what an appealing and almost non-partisan choice Merrick Garland clearly is.  Meanwhile, the GOP's own voter enthusiasm wanes on this issue since the end result could well be a Hillary Clinton payback choice for all her über-progressive supporters, (or whatever libel-loving lawyer Trump would pick). 

That's quite a pickle

Here's the solution I'd propose

1. First, hold out until the Democratic Convention, where the Dems will work themselves up into a lather saying Garland-is-God's-gift-to-jurisprudence (well, they won't actually use the word "God," Heaven forbid, but whatever the Progressive politically correct equivalent is this week) 
2. Then ease off a bit, agreeing to hold only meetings with all Republican Senators to get to know him, as a courtesy  
3. Finally, announce the Republicans will agree to discuss this and take action at the brokered Republican Convention in August 

Then:

Declare Merrick Garland to be the Republican Nominee for President 

No broken promises, no backing down
No Trump
No Cruz
Just a well-liked, Democratically-endorsed, alternative to Hillary

And then live with it.  We could do so much worse.


* there'd = there would - it's a lovely contraction; I'm re-introducing it