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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Writer's Life 12/19 - Deliveries

Yesterday talk radio host Mark Simone updated the sexual harassment tally: 97, one female. It would be interesting to see how each voted in 2017, or even if any did. The greater majority seem to be leftists. Several congressman have expressed regret for saying Al Franken should resign. Will others show remorse for having denounced Bill Clinton decades after the facts? They are a sad, curious lot.

The House of Representatives has delivered on the tax bill. It is now up to the Senate. The most important elements are on the business side, the reduction of the corporate rate from 37 to 21%, and the repatriation of money kept overseas, which will see a levy of 10%. Unfortunately, as John Crudele points out in his business column in today's NY Post, there is no accompanying mandate on how that money should be spent. Even if there were, he contends, the companies would find a way around it and use the money to enrich themselves and shareholders, as has been the case in the past. As for politicians crying about the loss of the deduction of state and city taxes - too bad. Tax your constituents at a fair rate. Will the plan stimulate an economy that already seems to be rising? I don't know, although tax reduction has always worked in the past. Trouble is, the swamp, once the revenue begins poring in, has always increased spending and paid only lip service to the deficit. President Trump has rallied the economy virtually on his own, through executive orders and personal appeals - with almost zero help from the establishment, Republicans and Democrats. Despite missteps and inane tweets, he appears to be doing a fantastic job, delivering on his promises.

No team deserved a beat down more than the Seattle Seahawks. Many of their players have behaved despicably for years, and coach Pete Carroll does nothing to stop it. Too bad classy, great QB Russell Wilson is stuck with that franchise. Kudos to the Rams for delivering the comeuppance, although I suspect they have some miscreants as well.



I haven't been able to work my usual book nook this week, as parking has been unavailable. Part of the problem stems from space occupied by a dumpster on one side and a trailer on the other, which eats up at least four spots. The guy who owns the trailer is in a sort of bind, waiting for closure on the sale of his co-op. I no longer do long back and forths with the crates and boxes. For the past four days I've set up shot in front of a Chase bank, an area that gets a lot of sun, which is vital during the cold months. My thanks to the gentleman who bought five works of non-fiction, including a paperback copy of the New Testament; to the woman who purchased two paperback thrillers; and to the one who after a long search found a book in Russian to her liking. The highlight of the day was the delivery by local super Mayor Mike of a box filled with vinyl albums, perhaps 50 or so. Almost half are geared toward Jewish culture. The others include Sinatra, Elvis, Paul Anka, Herb Alpert, the Doors, Gene Pitney, Dionne Warwick, and several country artists. Trouble is, most of the sales of them have come at my regular nook. Here's a pic of my partner in crime, taken with a camera my second oldest niece gave me for Christmas. Thanks, Tanya:


Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc





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