I just discovered this show. On a whim I rented the first season DVD set from Netflix.

This is the funniest, best written sitcom I've seen in years. It reminds me of "Newhart" in its heyday. It baffles me that this show got so little airplay in the US.

Any other fans out there?

(If this is a dupe I apologize. I searched high and low.)

Norm Coleman reaches out to Franken on absentee ballots

Norm Coleman sent his U.S. Senate opponent a "Dear Al" letter on Saturday, asking him to "join forces" and agree that 12,000 ballots that may have been wrongly excluded from the November election results be examined.

"If you feel that tactically you cannot join this effort," the Republican told DFLer Al Franken, "we would at least ask that your campaign does nothing to block this suit from moving forward or makes any public statements which could be construed as standing in the way of this suit moving forward."

The Franken campaign could not be reached for comment.

(more)

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/...

Mekka-lekka hi mekka hiney ho!
Mekka-lekka hi mekka chahney ho!
Mola-mekka chala mekka hola hayla hey!

Anyone else remember this?

You don't have to play it
But I hope you'll do your best
I've been listening to your show on the radio
And you seem like a friend to me



Forgot how much I love this song.

(An older woman gets pulled over for speeding. The officer approaches her car.)

Older Woman: Is there a problem, officer?

Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.

Older Woman: Oh, I see.

Officer: Can I see your license, please?

Older Woman: I don't have one.

Officer: Don't have one?

Older Woman: Lost it, four years ago for drunk driving.

Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers, please?

Older Woman: I can't do that.

Officer: Why not?

Older Woman: I stole this car.

Officer: Stole it?

Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.

Officer: You what?

Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk, if you want to see.

(The officer watches the woman as he slowly backs away to his squad car and calls for back up. Within minutes, five police cars circle the car. A police sergeant slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.)

Sergeant: Ma'am, please step out of your vehicle.

(The woman steps out of her vehicle.)

Older Woman: Is there a problem, sir?

Sergeant: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.

Older Woman: Murdered the owner?

Sergeant: Yes. Would you open the trunk of your car, please?

(The woman complies, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.)

Sergeant: Is this your car, ma'am?

Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers (she hands them to him).

Sergeant (stunned): My officer claims that you do not have a driving license.

(The woman digs into her handbag, pulls out her license, and hands it to the sergeant. He examines the license, and looks quite puzzled.)

Sergeant: Thank you, ma'am. My officer told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.

Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

Age 83. On the eve of his 45th season with the Twins - he'd been the radio voice of the Twins for all except their first season in 1961.

http://www.startribune.com/509/story/10935...

For me he was always the voice of baseball. He was how baseball is supposed to sound.

Used to take his break during the seventh inning to call his wife. She passed away a couple of years back.

Godspeed, Herb.

Enjoy.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uw03hS_EMY

Now it's back!



http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf

So because some future unknown event may cause a money crunch we should oppose the fair tax?

No. I've given you a long list of valid reasons to oppose the "fair tax". Just saying: don't be so naïve to think that the feds won't add an income tax on top of it. The current “fair tax” proposal specifically doesn’t repeal the 16th amendment.

We should keep the current system just to keep people employed in their jobs?

Not what I'm saying at all. My point is: if you think the "fair tax" will rid us of IRS bureaucrats, you’re dreaming.

I have read a lot of pro and con about the idea maybe what needs to happen is stop all these dark of the night add spending attachments(by both parties) to get the cost of Go. Down. One way to do this is if it requires spending a dime then the bill needs to stand on its own not as an attachment. I repeat BOTH parties are guilty of this.

And that’s why this’ll never be abolished in our lifetime.

The cost of goods will come down as corporations/businesses compete for the business.

Wrong for many reasons. Since raw materials will also be taxed, consumer prices of many items will go up by a much greater rate than the “fair tax” rate. The Federal Reserve Bank says that any new sales tax is going to raise prices by that amount. If the Federal Reserve accommodates it, we are going to have 30 percent inflation the year the tax is introduced. If it is not accommodated, then producer prices are going to have to fall by 30 percent, which will cause a severe recession and greatly reduce the tax yield. And with the advent of the “fair tax”, every business will turn into a tax collector. What do you think this will do to the cost of goods? And the price of foreign \goods would have no reason to drop. Have you shopped at Wal-Mart lately?

Inflation has always been and will always be an issue, a lot of people live right on the edge instead of looking to future.

So now we’ll expect them to pay extra out of pocket with each purchase? Pushing them out even more on the edge. Just because it’s already happening doesn’t mean we have to accept it.

Fair tax and retires this is an issue and I admit it,

Thanks for admitting it.

I am 61 and I still support the concept because I think it levels the playing field overall.

See my previous post. It certainly doesn’t level the playing field – it’s about as regressive a tax as you can imagine, and it double-taxes seniors particularly. Plus, how do you propose we collect the funds for Social Security? Do we continue to require businesses to collect the tax?

In addition it puts a big dent if not major hole in the lobby game. There are not exceptions no place for someone to push for a bill that favors their favorite project.

Bull. “You mean bibles get the same tax as porn? Iowa corn the same tax as French wine? Pittsburgh steel the same tax as Japanese steel? Toyotas the same tax as Chevys?” Please. Lobbyists will be wetting their pants over this opportunity.

I am not following this point about tracking your financial life. You pay the tax at the point of sale, if you pay cash there is no tracking.

That won’t last. The government wants to ensure that you’re being taxed at the correct rate, and that you’re paying every nickel. And of course, they need to be able to send your rebate check for essential items, which is what Boortz’s plan calls for. What are they going to do? Why, keep a tally of what you buy! (Boortz even suggested the use of an electronic card to track purchases.) Cash purchases will be strongly, strongly discouraged. Because buying with cash will make it easier to evade the “fair tax”, the feds will quickly conclude that buying with cash is a sure indicator of criminal activity. They already class all “large cash transactions” as “suspicious.”

Pay today with a credit card or one of the “saver cards” and someone has your spending habits.

Someone who can fine you?! Not yet, I hope.

Even under the current system we have people cheating so those of us that do not pay their part of the bill.

See above. Just because something’s already happening doesn’t mean we have to accept it.

You are adding 7% + to the proposed rate

Several studies have proven that if the “fair tax” is figured the same way all states compute sales taxes, it’ll actually be at least 30 percent. At least.

tax avoidance via these types sales goes on today,

Again: just because it’s going on now doesn’t make it okay.

ever stopped at a “sample” sale these are new goods so a tax should be collected.

So you’re agreeing with me?!

I do not see it as regressive, what it will do is cause people to understand just how much a product really coats. Right now a lot of the cost is hidden because of corporation taxes, who pays the corporate taxes? We do raise the corporate rate and see what happens to product prices. Remove corporate taxes and the competition for the unit sale will bring the prices down.

At least we agree on something. Close the corporate tax loopholes and we’d never even need the “fair tax”. Two different issues, however.

There you go again inflating the proposed rate,

See above.

will there be a bubble as it goes into effect, perhaps I really do know.

I think you meant to say you really do not know.

I think it will attract news industries to build in America.

American businesses? Doubtful. They couldn’t afford to build. Plus the tax incentives to do so would be gone. Foreign businesses? Is that what we want?

Again perhaps as we move into it but there will be a demand for new homes people will buy them because they have more money in their pocket. If you make $20.00 an hour you will get the $20.00 an hour in you check not the $15.00 to $16.00 you do now. ( those are ball park figures I did not calculate them)

If you eliminate the tax deductions for real estate, you reduce the annual return produced by the investment. The biggest reason people buy houses is that they get to deduct the mortgage interest and property taxes against other income. Bush's whole "ownership society" philosophy would go right down the toilet with the elimination of the income tax. There would also be far less incentive for businesses to build more malls, apartment buildings, etc., leading to a further depressive effect on the economy.

Come on where did you pull this from that you would need to have receipt, there is that inflated 30% again

See above.

Everyone pays the same rate; you are just pulling stuff out of thin air.

See above. Even Boortz was making special exceptions in his plan, for internet purchases and tuition.

I never said it was a perfect plan what we have now is far from perfect.

No argument here.

We need to at least get this and other suggestions for real tax reform out on the talking circuit. Right now both parties use taxes and spending our money to buy votes we need to find ways to stop it. Sit down and figure out how much money the Govt. is getting of your money, federal tax, social security, Medicare/Medicaid, sales taxes. Did I miss one oh yes property taxes and maybe more.

Some federal taxes will still be with us under the “fair tax”. You’re naïve if you think they won’t. Even Boortz slips up one time and says that the “fair tax” would "replace virtually all personal and corporate taxes." Under the current proposal, we’d still have the excise tax on gasoline and the various taxes on an airline ticket. And what about federal taxes on tobacco and alcohol? The “fair tax” will merely replace one visible tax with another, while leaving the invisible ones in place.

The "fair tax" that Neil Boortz wrote a book about? That simple fact alone should convince you that the idea is FUBAR.

More arguments against it?

We'll most likely end up with both a national sales tax and an income tax. Even if legislation requires abolition of the income tax, some “national crisis” (e.g., war on terror) will soon cause the income tax to be reinstated. And of course, bureaucracies never simply disappear. Income tax enforcers would get new life as fair tax enforcers.

The rate of the fair tax would be colossal. Its proponents admit they'll need a 23 percent tax rate to fund the current size of the federal government. However, the Brookings Institute calculates that to pay all current government expenditures while also compensating for such factors as tax evasion, the national sales tax might have to run as high as 67 percent.

Inflation will kill you. As goods become more expensive, you'll pay more in taxes or do without the things you need. As your food, clothing, vehicles, and medical care get more and more expensive, you'll pay more and more and more sales tax.

The fair tax is unfair to retirees. People who have paid 1/4 or 1/3 of their income in taxes for 40 years will now have to pay an equally high tax on all the after tax income they've managed to put aside for their retirement. Every time retirees buy anything with their lifelong savings, they'll be double taxed.

The fair tax will require a tracking of your entire financial life. How else will the government know if you're being taxed fairly? They'll then decree that it has a vital interest in knowing exactly who is buying too much unhealthy food, the “wrong” kinds or amounts of medicine, ammunition, or unapproved reading matter. Your purchases could lead to criminal investigations, denial of insurance, suspension of your drivers license, and other bureaucratic punishments.

A fair tax will create a huge black market. If people can evade a 30+ percent tax, they will. Such down home places as swap meets, farmers' markets, and garage sales will automatically become prime places for black market activity. Either the tax will eventually be extended to used items, or all such markets will be heavily regulated. And while some people keep more of their money through black-market purchases, those who play by the rules will end up paying higher taxes.

The fair tax is regressive: the poorer you are, the more you pay, proportional to your income. Sponsors of the new tax have come up with the worst possible solution for making it more “fair.” Instead of just not taxing essential items like food, health care, transportation, or clothing, they want the federal government to cut each of us a reimbursement check every month. Think of the bureaucracy! Think of the government dependence this will create!

Many industries may collapse. Just before the fair tax goes into effect, many Americans will fear that retail prices will all go up 30+ pervent to adjust for the new tax. So they'll go out in a buying frenzy. The economy will boom as Americans race out to buy cars, electronic gear, or stock up on food. Then sales will plummet. Some industries producing high-ticket items might never recover.

New homes will suddenly become 30 percent more expensive than existing ones because all new construction will be subject to the tax. Two homes could sit side-by-side – each with four bedrooms, two baths, and comparable features – and one would cost $50,000 or $100,000 more than the other, simply because it was being marketed by its builder, rather than a resident. No one would want new homes.

You'll have to have a receipt to prove you bought that can of beans, that computer, or that car “legally.” Lose your receipt and you could be required to pay that 30+ percent tax all over again – plus penalties and interest.

As it gets closer to being law, you can bet that it will get more and more complicated. What do you mean the tax is the same for bibles as it is for pornography? Are you saying that someone buying good, wholesome Iowa corn has to pay the same tax as someone who buys French wine? A poor family pays the same sales tax on baby food that a rich bachelor spends on his sports car? Voila: a thousand pages of regulations describing which custom sales tax rates apply to which items.

It's a sucky idea.