Thursday, February 26, 2015

The sweet smell of vindication

It doesn't happen very often, at least for me, but when it does, why not enjoy it? In last week's rant I talked about the possibility of Montgomery County, PA following in the footsteps of Montgomery County, Maryland...about 10 years ago. The vindication came when I read a report by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia that talks about doing the exact same thing!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Not all Muslims are terrorists, but are all terrorists Muslim?

This week’s rant is about President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Obama told the audience that we should make sure to not get on our high horse about the violence taking place in the name of Islam because Christians are also guilty of the same sins. Of course, he had to reach back nearly a millenium to the crusades to make his analogy. He did try to bring his analogy a little closer to our time in history by referencing slavery and Jim Crow laws, but I’m not sure either was linked to Christianity. There has been national outrage over Obama’s remarks at the breakfast, and perhaps rightfully so, but in my opinion, his remarks are right in line with other remarks he has made about terrorists over the years. He doesn’t seem to want to link terrorism to Islam. Think about that for a minute. Can you think of any act of terrorism carried out in recent memory that wasn’t done in the name of Islam, radical though it may be. And I’m not by any stretch of the imagination trying to say that all Muslims are terrorists, but it sure is starting to seem like all terrorists are Muslim.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Where would you spend your money if it wasn't going to property taxes?

Long headline, I know, but that's the gist of this week's rant. What’s your biggest bill every month? For most of us, it’s going to most likely be the amount of money you pay toward your mortgage, or your rent. Unless of course you’re driving around in a Lamborghini, then you probably have a higher car payment than I have a mortgage payment. But let’s just go with your mortgage payment. Now, depending on what you paid for your home, and how long you’ve owned your home, there’s a chance the amount of taxes you’re paying each fall may just exceed the amount you’re paying each month for the actual house. I was talking with someone who lives in a nice house, not a McMansion by any stretch, but a nice house, and I was shocked to learn they were paying $8,000 a year in school district property taxes. That works out to, oddly enough, $666 a month. I’m not saying the devil is at work here, but I will say the devil is certainly in the details. Imagine you have an extra $666 a month in disposable income. The first thing I would do is try squirrel away about half of it, but I’d almost guarantee I’d be spending the other half.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Which piece of the puzzle is Norristown missing?

That's probably a loaded question, but it needs to be asked. There are a lot of good things happening in Norristown right now, and there is momentum for revitalization, but it certainly hasn't kicked into gear just yet. So what's missing? In this week's rant I look at what I believe just might be the missing piece.