Sisyphus Understands

Every once in a while, I think I have misjudged our elected representatives. Then they go and do something massively boneheaded, and I am reassured that my initial assessment was correct.

Who in their right mind thinks that spending $800 billion of the taxpayers' money is a good way to get this country back on its feet financially? OK, I'll give you the tax cuts (more about that later), but the spending is ridiculous!

Infrastructure spending? Granted, we do need it - the reports on our bridges and highways tells us that much. But is the stimulus bill the right place for it? These projects will generate jobs, certainly, but the way this thing is structured, they will all be temporary (once the work is done, you don't need the workers anymore, after all). So two or three years down the road, bam! Unemployment shoots back up. And infrastructure projects doesn't even begin to address the unemployment issues we have on the white collar side, unless you seriously expect out of work investment bankers to be swinging shovels? Might be entertaining, at least until the first heart attack, but I don't think so.

And of course, there's the pork. Heck, with all of the pork, you'd think they were having a barbecue on the Hill. Can we say social engineering? To be honest, I don't disagree with all of the proposed spending - I think getting health records automated is a good idea, one that will help doctors provide better care. But it is not going to stimulate the economy, and should be debated in a separate bill.

So what about those tax cuts? I've been hearing the various congress critters talking about a $500 tax credit. At first, I thought, "$500 a month - great!" But then they went on to explain that it really means $500 a year. I have news for all of you in Congress - I don't know what planet you're on, or when the last time you actually had to live on the economy was, but $500 a year is nothing. I paid the federal government $12,000 out of my paycheck in 2008. So you're going to cut that back to $11,500? Gee thanks!

To put it in perspective for you, $500 is equal to my utility bill for one month, or one fifth of my mortgage payment, or one quarter of my property taxes. So as far as a stimulus, it falls pretty short of the mark.

So what should we do? Everyone seems to agree that we need to do something, so here's my suggestions:

1) CUT TAXES. An across the board 50% tax cut for everyone. Let people keep their money so they can pay off their debts (aren't those what got us into this in the first place?), and have more cash available to pump back into the economy - the list of purchases I've been deferring is about as long as my arm. Cut the corporate tax rate to 11% - make us competitive with the rest of the world, and you might see less outsourcing and relocations - and isn't bringing jobs back to the U.S. the point?

2) CUT SPENDING. Hey, when my income goes down, the first thing I do is try to economize on my expenses. So why is the government borrowing money that my kids and grandkids will have to pay back, so that they can keep spending like drunken sailors? Nobody likes to cut programs, but at some point you have to bite the bullet and stop the bleeding.

3) REWRITE THE BUDGET RULES. Currently, the rules allow Congress to count things like the Social Security trust fund, projected future tax revenues, and a bunch of other things as income for the government in the current fiscal year. This is insane. If you take the Social Security money out of the picture (which will happen as soon as the boomers retire and Social Security is no longer taking in more money than it pays out), the national debt is approximately $56 TRILLION! Let's have some truth in our accounting, instead of hiding the costs of these programs through slight of hand. After all, the first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem...

4) REWRITE THE TAX CODE. How about we have a tax code that your average PhD can understand, never mind the poor guy who only has a B.S in engineering. On top of that, eliminate federal tax withholding. The biggest problem we have with people understanding the tax burden on our citizens (especially among liberals) is that it is mostly invisible. Because the money gets taken out of the paycheck automatically, most of us never think about that withholding - all we look at is our take home pay. Come April, whatever rebate we get seems like a gift from the government, which is exactly how they want it. In reality, that rebate is your own money, which you have lent (interest free) to the government for a year. Eliminate the withholding, so that come April every person ends up writing a check to the government, and I guarantee that you'll hear a LOT more talk about the tax burden on our population. Writing a check for several thousand dollars will do that.

So there's my plan to stimulate the economy. What do you think?

That's about all I can say after the last four episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

There are some who have expressed other opinions about the show, in particular my late friend Andy who used to call it "Battlestar Neurotica," but I really think this season has demonstrated what excellent writers and actors Ron Moore has put together for this show. The first two episodes after the hiatus, "Sometimes a Great Notion" and "A Disquiet Follows My Soul," were very dark and depressing - and rightly so. In these two episodes, we see the aftermath of the fleet's discovery that Earth isn't what they had hoped and dreamed. Imagine the sense of devastation, to be the only surviving members of a civilization, to have lived for four years in the hope of finding a new home where they could start again, only to have those dreams shattered completely. Hell, even the Cylons were depressed about it!

After that, the latest two episodes were almost inevitable. "The Oath" and "Blood on the Scales" show us the logical outcome of previous events. Where the other episodes brought the fleet through denial and depression, now that turns to anger, with people seeking someone to blame and lashing out at those they feel are responsible for the betrayal of their trust.

Let me say, it has been a long time since a television show could get me so emotionally engaged as the two mutiny episodes did. So many things that happened in those two hours resonated very deeply, that I literally was exhausted after watching each of them. From the moment events started to snowball, I was on the edge of my seat almost tense enough to scream. When Gaeta took the CIC, I could feel Adama's anger in my bones - as an officer, to see another, especially someone trusted and respected, betray their oath is absolutely unconscionable, no mater how pure they think their motives are. And as a father, watching Helo try to protect his family, I wanted to jump through the screen and start smashing goons with my fists. And let's not forget Adama and Tigh making their stand at the airlock. Its true, they could have left on the Raptor - there was plenty of time. But on the other hand, there is no way Adama could have left - Galactica is his ship, and to abandon her would mean abandoning the people still loyal to him, almost as admission of guilt to the conspirators, and would have made any hope of retaking the ship nearly impossible. On a deeper level, Adama's anger at what was happening would not permit him to leave either, no more than I would let someone drive me from my home.

So here's a few thoughts about this story arc so far, broken down by the characters:

Cally - so when did she become a slut? And with Hot Dog? Talk about not knowing somebody, I guess. But still - Hot Dog???

Dualla - the writers always throw me for a loop. After her return from Earth, I was afraid that she would do something stupid, but then she seemed to pull it together, even giving Lee a pep talk! And then - blam! I almost fell out of my seat at that, I so did not see it coming. I love D's character, but I can understand why they decided to kill her off - the depths of the despair the fleet was feeling at that point is something most of us can only imagine. To see it so affect someone as close to us as D really drives it home.

Baltar - the man keeps confusing me, really. Having rewatched previous episodes now, I have to say that I think his religious convictions in this season really came from the heart, but the discovery of Earth has given him quite a crisis of faith, so much so that he defaulted to his old "take care of myself" routine in "The Oath." And yet, even as he was justifying saving his own skin, and trying to get off Galactica, he didn't go the path I thought he would. When he picked up the phone in the airlock, I was sure he was going to sell out Roslin for his own safety. But instead, he makes an appeal to Gaeta's better nature, tries to convince him to end the rebellion. Go figure. And later, about the base ship, could it be that Gaius is suddenly developing a conscience? It certainly seems that way, especially at the end, where he seems to be consoling Gaeta as he awaits execution. Hell of a time to grow up, though - could have used that a couple seasons ago!

Lee - ever since Lee decided to go into politics, I've been on the fence about him. It was nice to see him back in action, where he belongs. Also nice to see him mess with Starbuck, puling something she might have ("Would have been funny if you'd thought of it.").

Gaeta - this one's complex. Throughout "The Oath," I had an irresistible urge to reach through the screen and strangle him. Not only did he betray his commander and his shipmates, he then waffles and can't seem to bring himself to fully commit to the path he's chosen! But fast forward to "Blood on the Scales," and suddenly we see a very conflicted Gaeta, who is no longer so sure he has picked the right side. By the end, I was actually feeling sorry for him (although only a little).

Roslin - what can I say. Don't piss her off!

So here's my predictions for what's coming:

1) The planet they found is not Earth. I'm fairly confident in this one - I live on Earth (most days), and I'm pretty sure I'm not a Cylon, so this seems a safe bet.

2) Anders is going to die. My guess is that after being shot, he's probably barely alive in sickbay, and Ellen's return will bring out the fact that the final five can resurrect, so Kara will let him die in order for him to return again.

3) Galactica isn't going to be making many more jumps. I mean, when the ship starts to crack, for frak's sake, you just have to go easy on it...

4) We're going to find out that the reason the final five went to the colonies, and started this whole genocidal cycle, is because the destruction of their world 2,000 years ago was done by the colonists, or possibly the mysterious Lords of Kobol.

Am I right? We'll have to wait and see.

OK, I'm sure you've seen every crackpot theory out there, but trust me, mine's better.

You know how the Flight 815 survivors on the island are ping-ponging through time, but the Others aren't, right? Obviously there is something different about the two groups that has caused one to become dislocated. We also have the fact that Ben has been told that if he can't get the Oceanic Six back to the Island in 70 hours, it will be disastrous.

So why would it be so bad for them not to return? We already know that Daniel Faraday has told us that the past can't be changed (except apparently in Desmond's case). We've also never been very clear on the origins of the Others. Put those two together for a second - what if the Flight 815 survivors are the ancestors of the Others?

Think about it - if they survivors manage to stop their movement through time, there's nothing to say that they'll be in the present when they do it. Let's say they wind up somewhere in the distant past, settle down, and start breeding Others. Now we have a situation in the present, where six of the people who are supposed to be in the past are missing from the Island - paradox! If that's the case, causality could literally come unraveled, which I think would qualify as a bad thing for all involved.

Neat, huh?

Because what says "I love you" more than a 6 foot tall stuffed ape? The mind boggles...