today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today… “Huge pensions for retired government workers can be found from small municipalities to national governments on both sides of the Atlantic. There is a reason. For elected officials, pensions are virtually the ideal thing to spend money on, politically speaking. Many kinds of spending of the taxpayers’ money win votes from the recipients. But raising taxes to pay for this spending loses votes from the taxpayers. Pensions offer a way out of this dilemma for politicians. Creating pensions that offer generous retirement benefits wins votes in the present by promising spending in the future. Promises cost nothing in the short run — and elections are held in the short run, long before the pensions are due.” – Thomas Sowell, “Guns and Pensions” – Jewish World Review

• Be careful – it’s a bit icy out there this morning.

• Desperation or “dumass act”: “Police charge man who allegedly stole donation jar for charity that supports troops.” – York Daily Record

• Paul Krugman column revisits Simpson/Bowles recommendation in “Sequester of fools” – The New York Times

• And he may be right. take a look at the backgrounds of Erskine Simpson and Alan Simpson and the other directors of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. These folks largely have been elected “public servants” or served in “hogs at the trough” roles for long periods of their lives. They had every opportunity to fix the budget long before it got to the condition they say is: “It’s no secret that America’s finances are a mess.” These clowns built the mess; now they want to “fix” it by attacking America’s vulnerable populations. They got theirs and now they’re going to get yours so they can keep getting theirs.

• “he borough of Middletown provides power to its residents and it has a history of overcharging for electricity.” – WGAL-TV

• Heard about the new MOBILE PMT? FOX43‘s gone mobile … kind of a google earthmobile or a non-airborne drone.