(Editor’s Note: This was a post on an internet site I frequent. I found it to be an interesting explanation of the position of a small businessman on one of the problems with the national health insurance plan(s) being tossed about. The writer goes by the name of “Spike.”)

I (would like to relate) something my dad said this (past) weekend at our Father's Day dinner.

My dad built and owns a small engineering company with about 20 employees. Right now the company pays for health insurance to the tune of about $800 per month per employee. The company pays the employee's premium in full. Not a bad deal at all, really, for the employee.

Right now the company gets to deduct that expense from income. They don't pay taxes on that money. However, if the proposed tax on these benefits goes through, the company will not be able to count that $16K per month as a business expense. That's $192K per year the company will have to pay taxes on. That's about $67K per year in taxes.

$67K in taxes on a small business. That's probably equivalent to the salaries for two employees, or 10% of the entire payroll. Since this is a service company, payroll is its major expense.

(Editor’s Note: There’s been a pretty healthy argument on a website I visit between screwy, allegedly outraged Republicans who insist they believe Dave Letterman used Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter as the target of a sexual joke, and more clear-thinking Republicans and Democrats who said, no, it was just a terrible joke, an inappropriate joke, that was misunderstood.

One of the contributors posted a link to a column by Shannyn Moore, writng on the Huffington Post website. It kind of settled the argument.

This is the link to the column where it originally appeared.)

And this is Ms. Moore’s column:

TOP 10 REASONS SARAH PALIN'S `OUTRAGE' IS MISPLACED AND A LITTLE LATE:

10) Last September, a skit in Saturday Night Live suggested incest in the Palin family. "What about the husband?" asked a mock Times reporter. "You know he's doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It's Alaska!" No outrage. Sarah Palin appeared on the show one month later in late October.


9) Days after the announcement of Bristol's pregnancy, Conan O'Brien joked, "It's true, John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said, 'We should never have introduced her to John Edwards.'" Where was the outrage? Was Conan promoting infidelity with an underage girl?


8 ) From two different Tonight Shows: "Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. Oh, boy, you thought John Edwards was in trouble before, now he's really done it!" AND..."All the Republicans are heaping praise on Governor Palin. Fred Thompson said, as an actor, he could see them making a movie about Sarah Palin and her family. Didn't they already make that movie? I think it was called 'Knocked Up!'"--Jay Leno

 To the Editor:

 I've wanted to speak out on this but fear if I do it in The News or make it too public I might have some government agency knocking on my door … or at least put me on some kind of list to keep an eye on me.

I find myself more than angry when hearing what a kind, caring, wonderful man, father, husband and doctor (George Tiller) was....when it’s been revealed that he literally will plunge a knife into the skull of a baby as it attempts to enter the world. And that's just one of the ways he takes the life of a viable human being. I have to question that.

He might have looked good on the outside, no.. I'm not speaking of his looks ... in my opinion he was as ugly on the outside as I figure he looks on the inside. I, for years, saw Tiller as a black-hearted, money-grabbing person that evidently has no conscious. I think he has put a black spot on our state as women come from great distances to get his services. And yes I know what that says about them, but I'm talking about Tiller right now. lol

Now I'm not trying to make a statement on abortion, pro or con , although I have my beliefs … in my thinking it’s up to an individual’s beliefs and value system that will dictate to their heart what is right for them. But here's the truth about me: I see it all as murder.

I do however consider him a mass murderer … and you know what? Don't think I'm alone. In my not so humble opinion, I call the man who shot him a hero. And in my thinking it happening in a church might be a statement of its own.

I know....murder is illegal (and) two wrongs don't make a right, but it seems to me that sometimes somebody has just got to step up and do something about such a blatant horrifying thing that's being done to the most precious and helpless beings. If Tiller had been killing adults this man would be receiving the death penalty instead of glory.

Well that's my rant, had to get it off my chest somewhere and this is the safest place I could think of to cleanse myself. I'm sure I will catch a lot of flack, hence the nickname.

Just for the record, I'm a law-abiding patriot but sometimes we get things wrong and we need to make them right. Sad thing is, the right-to-life people are treated as scum when they … in my eyes … are warriors.

Afraid of the Blowback

Hutchinson