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There is more to the problem than just baby-boomers collecting social security. I believe the government should follow-through on the promises it has made to citizen, but also stop making the same expensive promises to future generations. I'm not naïve enough to think that change happens over night, but we have to start weaning the nation off the government's teat at some point. It may as well be now. In conjunction with restructuring social security, we can absolutely eliminate a huge portion of military spending. I'm all for defense spending when it actually goes toward defense. I am not in support of the US playing "world cop" and propping up other volatile nations. "Foreign aid" causes domestic problems.

what a crock of shit. I can't believe this "compromise" was approved... And people just do not seem to understand at all what is really happening. The (fiscally liberal) Cleveland radio host on my drive in was talking about how this was a necessary thing, "so the government can pay its bills." That makes no sense. The government still can't pay its bills - they've just agreed to amend the law to allow the nation to go further into debt. If this were your household or mine, it would be like me talking to my wife and saying, "Honey, we're at the $12,000 limit on the Visa. We can't spend any more on that card, and we're only making $50 payments each month, so the balance isn't going down. But I've worked out a solution - I'm going to ask for Visa to raise our credit limit to $15,000! We still can only afford to pay $50/month, but we have a little bit of time before we hit our new increased limit." Literally the ONLY way to fix this problem is to decrease spending and/or increase the nation's income to the point that it is greater than what we spend. It's not a hard concept...

Your first question is fundamental to not just school funding but to every shared public interest and you'll always get the same handful of opinions that make school funding debates so hard. Should only parents pay for schools, or everyone because educated citizenry benefits society at large? In Florida, there's a huge retiree population that goes there specifically for the low taxes, resulting in a chronically underfunded and low-performing school system. I have a friend who teaches there and its appalling how little money they make and how few educational resources are available. Similarly, should we all share the costs of a national highway system, or just toll the people who use it. That debate was key during Eisenhower's days when most of our public works investments were made, creating an economic powerhouse for businesses and citizenry alike. One could easily argue that subsidized minimum-level health care is no less a strategic interest to America, as are great schools.

I always wonder if there types of threads ever open any eyes? I mean we have sponsers on here that this applies to and I'm sure word of mouth gets around and other places of these types will read these post. Do they really care that they are loosing our business and taking our money elsewhere, or are they just thinking FU I don't need you? We here on OR have to represent the A typical customer for these types of places and honestly I feel their business practices are doing nothing but pushing us away. Im not naming names but there are places in the heart of C-bus that many of us have complained about the customer service or their over inflamed prices but nothing seems to ever get addressed. I don't like sending my money out of town or out of state but when it comes to saving my bottom dollar you be your ass I will. Im in no way a heavy hitter when it comes to purchasing things but in just the last 18 months I bet ive dropped $2500 in (bike)gear, tires, parts, and accessories and 98% of that was out of state or internet business because our local brick and mortar stores prices are non competitive. And I would gladly pay a little more for the local convenience but im not going to take it up the tail pipe either.

Nothing special or anything. My friend I grew up with runs a youth program at a church and in the last 4 years I've pulled floats in probably 2-3 parades a year for him

Speak with Redbarron!!

Way to go Dave!. He's making a helluva name for his new company. Im really happy for him.

You can fit 3 skinny coke whores on a harley.

Maybe, but it's also kinda fun when the scientific results make the scientists squirm.

I have a 2000 and you're more than welcome to measure it if you need it. Not trying to throw a block on anyone. I don't need the rack and hooligan volunteered first so even if you measure mine I'd like hooligan to get the rack.

My $.02: The prime indicator for student success is parental engagement. That flows from the emphasis the parent places on education. "Rich" school districts are so because the residents of such districts earn high incomes through leveraging human capital they've acquired through... wait for it... education. They know what their kids will need to succeed. Having said that, the school funding model is inconsistent with the constitution of this state, where the state government is tasked with funding a "... thorough and efficient system of common schools." It doesn't say the individual districts will fund this in in cooperation with the state. It says plainly the state is accountable solely. Not that local input isn't needed. But think of this: Ohio has about 600 districts each with a school board of maybe 5 members or so. Thats 3,000 folks in leadership who are talented people invested in quality education in their communities. What do these people end up doing? Worrying about levies, bond issues, teacher and district labor contract negotiations, awarding building contracts, etc. As Casper alluded to earlier, we should centralize that funding and effort at the state level and let those local people work on driving student achievement. Correlation is not the same as causation. The same force that drives good results in achievement testing and student success for certain districts often concurrently drives money into the districts' treasuries. This "force" comes from active parents who ascribe high value to education. Tearing down "rich" districts will not help "poor" ones.

one could argue that a motorist with a CCW permit gives police LESS cause for caution than one who doesn't. The officer immediately knows that the CCW holder has not been convicted of any crime that would disqualify him from carrying. Unless you're legitimately leading cops on a high-speed chase, I think it would be rare to have a traffic stop where the officer has a legitimate reason to be confrontational and irritated...

Well, I'm too far away but my truck isn't filthy.....and doesn't smell. Thought.....maybe Car Whore (if he's still lurking) could use some free advertising and bring out one of his many bad-ass rigs to help y'all out.

Huffy.

Got mine too! All the bitching I did about having you make me some blue ones and I ended up using the gold lol... Oh well, that's why I ordered 5 lol wanted to see which I liked best... Now to stick my other 4 at random places around the state...find some cool motorcycle spots and brand them!