Something To Think About Archive

Stephen Covey believed that “Seeking to understand takes consideration; seeking to be understood takes courage

It’s been noted that when you let go of your attachment to being right, suddenly your mind is more open without being hamstrung by your prior judgements.

Donald Trump’s proposal to replace the income tax with much higher tariffs to protect domestic businesses sounds like a great idea until you remember the impact Smoot-Hawley Tariff had on the economy in the 1930’s squashing free trade and worsening the Great Depression. And, while we are no fan of the current byzantine tax code that puts the vast majority of the burden squarely on 20% of all taxpayers, you have to note that tariffs raise the price of all goods dramatically shifting the proportionate tax burden to lower income households.

Concert pianist and actor Oscar Levant once observed that if you “Strip the phoney tinsel off Hollywood, you’ll find the real tinsel underneath.”

Coach Wooden said: “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

In an essay titled “Nearing 90” editor William Maxwell wrote: “I have liked remembering almost as much as I have living.”

Amelia Earhart believed that “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.”

Aldous Huxley wrote: “The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.”

We’re confused. Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning Tik Tok in 2020. That order was overturned by the courts. Joe Biden recently signed a bipartisan law requiring the sale of Tik Tok by its Chinese owner in six months or it will be banned in the U.S. Both actions were taken because of fears that the Chinese government is using it for data mining purposes with ill intent. So, then, why do both the Biden and Trump campaigns continue to use Tik Tok? It’s puzzling.

“You don’t want to continue to do one thing and only one thing.” Says actress Lucy Liu. “You want to keep challenging yourself and if you do well at it, great, if you fall on your face, you tried.”

There are two things that many folks hate: the way things are, and change.

Ronald Regan- ‘Man is not free unless government is limited.’

Joe Biden’s recent claim that inflation was over 9% when he took office is simply not true. It was 1.4% the day he took office and then soared to over 9% and under the administration’s green policy electricity prices since January 2021 have soared 29.4% about 50% percent more than overall inflation. And the average price of gasoline nationally was less than $2.50. In May it was $3.61 and in California it was a whopping $5.27/gallon.

It’s been said we can do nothing in the past, we can do nothing in the future, we have only the immediate now. Now is the time to make it count.

According to Coach John Wooden ‘it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.’

One thought driven home is better than three left on base.

Norman Vincent Peale — ‘Enthusiasm spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.’

Don’t just stand there, make it happen – Lee Iacocca

Franklin Rosevelt’s political advisor Harry Hopkins summed up his party’s reason for being, he said, “We will spend and spend and tax and tax and elect and elect.” And the result today? We’d say that Biden hit the mark with the resulting massive deficits enhanced by the Covid pandemic and subsequent spending and now his desire to eliminate the tax cuts of four years ago when he claimed that he wanted to be “Today’s version of FDR.”

The phrase “It has always been done that way” has been called the most damaging in the language.