When big corporations pay their fair share of the taxes they owe, this conversation might be settled.The lawyers and politicos have made a tidy bed for themselves and YOU my friend are paying, NOT them. Can you say 'off shore accounts'???

Some years back, I had to purchase a replacement motor for a laboratory 'Nutator'..a gadget which rotates much like your wrist. I called two of the largest lab and med equipment suppliers and one wanted $115 and the other $135.
Unhappy with their prices, I finally located the motor manufacturer and asked if I might buy one from them. The manager said wait a minute. He shortly came back to the phone and said" I can send you six, that's all I have'. How much? I asked.' I'll send them to you free as we only get $1.35 each for them'. !!!
And you wonder why the cost of medical treatment has skyrocketed. Capitalism is one thing..f*cking the public is another.

With the urging of lawyers without scruples, the notion that one is not responsible for one's own actions has made the former rich and others even more irresponsible. A sorry state of affairs.

Very nice gesture on the part of the restaurant worker. It reminds me of a joke from way back during the Korean War:
The guy enters the public restroom and approaches a urinal. Another guy comes up to the one next to him with his hands in his pockets. He looks at the first guy and asks him if he would help him out. The guy complies and asks' Korea?'
No, gonorrhea'

A multi-use tool. The hook has nothing to do with tires. Changed plenty of them, no hook ever needed.
How about a tool for say a waving machine: where small adjustments are made? That hook is the real mystery. Hope someone finds the answer.
Thanks for the challenge!

In the old days, the 1940's, produce was sold in open lots and still more or less is, at least in my neck of the woods. The hardware business is another story. Where you would scoop out the amount of nails, bolts, nuts etc has been largely replaced with little hard plastic containers. They raise the cost about 25 to 30 percent and leave you with two exciting experiences: how to open the package without maiming yourself and then what to do with the completely unusable container afterward.
On another aspect of this issue: we kids made pretty good candy money by picking up bottles along the roads. Five cents per big bottle in 1950 is today's equivalent of about a buck!!

Does anyone remember the Hubbell space telescope fiasco? One bunch of engineers used metric while another used SAE. You and I paid for that, by the way.

Dear bgl,
I read your health reference, thank you. However, if you read down towards the bottom, you will see that my quoted figures are very close, indeed.

I live in a rural area. Driving down the road at the speed limit with no car in sight and along comes someone who settles in about twenty feet behind me. Now there are two cars bumper to bumper, with no other cars in sight.What kind of moron thinks this is appropriate? Safe? Courteous?
I'll go take my meds now and resist any further comment.

The PROBLEM dear readers is the habit of giving a driver's license to anyone with a pulse. Some countries take driving seriously enough to require that the driver take a two or three day course. Some require that the driver also take an EMT course.
But then again, maybe we should eliminate licensing altogether. Let the bodies fall where they may. By the way, our national auto death rate has remained at about 40K for years, despite a rise in registrations. You know how many die per year in the USA from Hospital medical ERRORS??? Between 400 and 500 thousand each year. As I text this at 80 MPH, some SOB is tailgating me!!! Joke

I drive a 1931 Ford Model A. If I for one second, take my eyes off of the road, I'll be in trouble. Of course I usually cruse at a heady 35 to 45 mph and the brakes aren't what the new cars have. After nearly 40,000 miles, I still have had no issues. I don't want any issues because a simple fender bender could be my demise.
Today's cars let some drivers think that they are invincible [ idiots] and when they crash, it often involves innocent others. I think that if these numbskulls were forced to drive Model As, our streets would soon be clear of these morons. Just a thought.

Jerryc41 said it all.
Furthermore, 30% of $50,000 is a hell of a lot more invasive than 38% of some fat cat 'making' $5 million.
Put another way, a way perhaps outside of numbers and more in to the world of justice, Warren Buffet admitted to paying less in taxes than his secretary. I suspect that he was talking about the amount in dollars, not in percentages.
Your numbers may be spot on, I am not a CPA and would not challenge them.
Your numbers may be the only thing that can be justified, but certainly not justifiable.

Thanks Bunko.T. Your's is the kind of input which allows for a better understanding of our situation.

Rich, special interest groups have invaded and conquered our Congress. Banking laws completely favor the money lenders. The highest income citizens of our country do not pay their fair share in taxes. Taxes are needed to pay for the services, protection and well-being of us. These people have batteries of lawyers whose only task is find loop-holes in the laws and create them where there are none. Your standard of living has been in decline since the early Seventies. We give the oil giants special compensation because their product falls under the clever term 'depletion allowance'.
Dear reader, you are victim of an elaborate array of laws which do not benefit you.They benefit big business and now that we have a global economy which seeks out the unfortunate, underfed, and especially underpaid to do the work for pennies that our country's workers did for a decent wage, our hopes for improvement are at risk. Medical costs have doubled in less that a decade, making health care even less available to the swelling ranks of those whose incomes are being diminished or worse.
If you have read this far, I apologize for this rant. If you would positively add to it so that a better understanding might be gained , go for it. Thanks.

Chaco Canyon Indian ruins has water and electricity. You will need to bring your own food. The road leading in is unpaved and has long stretches of washboard surface.
The ruins are spectacular. The sky is still one of the darkest. Enjoy.