Racin'
Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
First things, first:
I made the trip up to the Accord Speedway last Friday night for their “King of the Catskills” event. I don’t think there was an empty seat in the place. I pulled in at 5:00, and I was parked in the second row, but close to the ticket booth. There was already quite a line for tickets, but it was moving. I was fortunate to get to sit where we normally sit. It was quite a show, and some pretty good names didn’t make the 100 lapper, either. There were a few gentlemen seated behind me, and while the heat races were going on, one happened to make mention that with the crowd on hand, he figures the 50/50 would be around $1,000.00. Later on, I asked him if he had seen the only 50/50 girl, and he knew where I was heading. The 50/50 came out to $318.00. Even I was rather surprised at that figure. Maybe more tickets might have been sold if there were more than just one-person selling tickets? My thoughts, of course.
Some of my thoughts – part 1:
I caught some of the Nationwide
race from
I was really surprised to see that Accord got their whole show in at Saturday. I was tempted to go, but with our grandson racing a Kart at OVRP’s Dirt Oval, that’s where I ended up. Yeah, after all the heats and a feature or two, the skies opened up at OVRP. I was somewhat surprised to see some of the Karts still sporting the www.openwheelracers.com stickers that I had made up some two years ago – or is it more than two years?
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – He’s not having all that good of a year, is he? Somehow, at this moment, I can’t recall how many years his contract with Hendrick is for, but I have to wonder, if his performances stay the same, will he be let go?
While watching the Cup race this past Sunday, when they had completed 177 laps, out of 400, the announcers were telling us just how the point standings were, AT THAT TIME. Isn’t that kind of wasteful information?
I didn’t get to see the accident that Joey Logano had, but some places (people) on the internet said he “flipped” 7 times. Actually, he was in a roll over that was for 7 times. To me, a “flip” is when you go end over end. A “roll over” is when your car rolls over, from side to top to side to bottom etc etc. Am I correct on this?
This coming weekend, for the Cup race at
Some of my thoughts – part 2:
Name change: OVRP’s “Novemberfest” is now being called “Octoberfest”.
There’s quite a lot being said about this event on the 4 Cycle Karting Forum. If you’re thinking of going to compete, I have put up info as far as lodging goes. As long as “Mother Nature” behaves, this event goes off on October 23rd, 24th and 25th.
Check it out, here: http://karting.4cycle.com/showthread.php?t=278300
This past Monday I made a trip down to the Orange County Fair Speedway to pick up our tickets for Eastern States Weekend – October 16th, 17th and 18th. I tried to get our normal seats in the half covered stands – like row “K” or “L”, but those seats were already taken. However, I lucked out and was able to get tickets for row “O”, which is two rows from the top. So if you’re going to ESW, we’ll be sitting in seats 44, 45, 46 & 47. Stop by and visit. I sure wish they had an escalator, though! That’s way up at the top, with seat 44 being on the aisle. Just go up the second stairway. As for general admission seats, I see they now go up to row “J”.
Something else – I made mention that I hadn’t seen any notice out about lap sponsors for the ESW weekend. Well, I was told that Whitey Memmelaar had them all sold, already. That’s good news!
Rumor department:
Here are a couple of things I heard over this past weekend:
1. No indoor racing in the arena at OCFS this coming winter.
2. Slingshots racing at Accord on Saturdays in 2010. Hmmm, might that mean a change from their “Wednesday Night Madness” shows from Wednesday to Saturday?
Again, the above are in the “Rumor” section. Time will tell if they’re true or not.
Going
back, in time:
On
October 1st, in:
1950
Tony Bettenhausen
won the AAA sanctioned Springfield 100 on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Illinois State
Fairgrounds in Springfield,
Tommy
Hinnershitz won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car race at the Trenton International
Speedway, Trenton, NJ.
Bill Mackey won the AAA
Sprint Car race at the Dayton Speedway, Dayton, OH
1954
Al Herman
won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds, Reading, PA.
1955
Roy Graham won the ARDC
Midget race at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds,
Tommy Hinnershitz won
the AAA Eastern Sprint Car race at the Allentown Fairgrounds,
1960
Danny Jones won the CRA
Sprint Car race over Colby Scroggin, Russ Long, Jack Austin and Bob Pratt at
the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.
Al Keller won the ARDC
Midget race at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds,
Bobby Hersh won the
Super Modified race at the Lincoln Speedway, Hanover,PA.
1961
Gene Brown won the CRA
Sprint Car race at the Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix,AZ.
Len Duncan
won the ARDC Midget race at the Nazareth Raceway, Nazareth, PA.
A.J. Foyt won the Hut
Hundred USAC Midget race over Arnie Knepper and Roger McCluskey at the
Dick Tobias won the
Super Modified race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA. Johnny Mackison was second followed
by Johnny Dubendorf, Moe Harden and Dizzy Dean.
1965
Jerry Weld
won the Sprint Car race at the Topeka Fairgrounds, Topeka, KS.
1966
Bruce Walkup won the CRA
Sprint Car race at the Whiteman Stadium, Pacoima,CA.
Billy Vukovich won the
USAC Midget race at the Kearney Bowl, Fresno,CA.
1967
Richard Petty won his
tenth straight NASCAR Grand National stockcar race, at
A.J. Foyt won the USAC
sanctioned Golden State 100 on the 1
Ray Tilley won the Super
Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA. Gus Linder was second followed by
Mitch Smith, Ted Wise and Buddy Cochran.
1971
Jimmy Caruthers won the
USAC Midget race over Danny Caruthers, Dave Strickland, Danny O'Neill and Billy
Renshaw at the San Jose Speedway, San Jose,CA.
1972
Jan Opperman won the
ARDC Midget race over Leigh Earnshaw, Jerry Stover, Billy Hughes and Duke
Pavlick at the Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville,PA.
1978
A.J. Foyt won the USAC
sanctioned Daily Empress Indy Silverstone on the 2.932 Mile Road Course
Silverstone Circuit in
Cale
Yarborough won the NASCAR Winston Cup Wilkes 400 over Darrell Waltrip at
the North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, NC.
1991
Richard Petty announced
that he will retire after the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
Coming
up:
Ok,
it’s over a month away, but on Sunday, November 8th, the annual
Lobitz Movie Party/EMMR Auction will be held in
You
can call Lynn Paxton for information on this at: 717-432-8188.
The number I’ve found for the Lobitz Catering Hall is: 570-455-2037.
If you plan on attending, get there early – at least before noon. And, if you have something you’d like to
contribute for the auction, all the better!
Note: I’ll continue to post this item throughout
the month of October.
Breaking
news:
Well, the Penske/Saturn deal is all finished, and it’s a no-go. Check it out, here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_bi_ge/us_saturn_penske
Racing
on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Actual live racing on TV:
Thursday,
October 1st:
5:00
PM to 7:00 PM on SPEED – ARCA Re/Max race from
Saturday,
October 3rd:
3:30
PM to 6:30 PM on ESPN2 – Nationwide race from
8:00
PM to 11:00 PM on SPEED – WoO Sprint Cars from Williams Grove
10:30
PM to 12:30 AM on ESPN2 – NHRA qualifying from
Sunday,
October 4th:
12:30
AM to 3:00 AM on SPEED – FIA Formula One from
2:00
PM to 6:00 PM on ABC – Cup race from
3:00
PM to 4:00 PM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike race # 1 from Magny-Cours,
4:00
PM to 5:00 PM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike race # 2 from Magny-Cours,
5:00
PM to 6:00 PM on SPEED – FIM 250 World Championship
from
6:00
PM to 7:00 PM on SPEED – FIM MotoGP World Championship from
7:00
PM to 10:00 PM on ESPN2 – NHRA Eliminations from
Also:
Sunday,
October 4th:
9:00
PM to 10:00 PM on SPEED – Wind Tunnel – Guest host is Robin Miller and he’ll be
interviewing A.J. Foyt.
Monday,
October 5th:
9:00
AM to 10:00 AM on SPEED -
a repeat of Sunday nights Wind Tunnel.
Note: The weather forecast for here in the east,
for Saturday, as of Wednesday, isn’t all that good, so that Williams Grove WoO
show might have a problem, weather wise.
Other
forums/message boards and websites:
From
the Track Forum - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Robbie
Gordon would love to run the Indy 500 and the World 600 on the same day, but
unless there are some starting time changes made, it might not happen. There have been rumors of an earlier starting
time for the 500, and if so, look for Robbie to give it a real big look into
and possibly doing “the double”. Check
out this thread about it: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128919
From
Jayski - http://www.jayski.com/
Goodyear to test
larger tire:
Goodyear will test a new larger NASCAR tire on October 6th at Richmond
International Raceway. The 17-inch tire - which is an inch-and-a-half wider and
higher - will provide a larger contact patch on the track and is expected to
offer better handling and more grip. "The longitudinal grip improves the
forward and back motion while the lateral grip helps with cornering," said
Greg Stucker, Goodyear Director of Race Tire Sales. "We'll be looking at
what performance gains it gives us and what it allows us to do. Roush Fenway
Racing is providing the car and driver for the test. Stucker said the car had
to be modified for the test. Goodyear will also test a car using the current
15-inch tire to use as a baseline to compare the two tires. Goodyear will also
return for further testing at Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 2. Stucker
hopes to entice at least 20 to 25 cars to offer the full feel of the draft.(Fox
Sports)(9-28-2009)
Note: Bigger tires will mean bigger cut-outs for
those bigger tires, maybe? I wonder what
kind of modifications had to be made, and at what cost?
Mears uncertain
of 2010: UPDATE: With the announcement this week that Jack Daniels will not continue as
a sponsor for the #07 Chevy, Casey Mears finds himself in a predicament for
2010. "I don't know what we're doing yet," Mears said. "I do
know that Richard (Childress, team owner) is working hard to secure sponsorship
for the fourth team." According to team sources, several potential
sponsors toured the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, N.C. this week.
Possible driver/sponsor combinations for the fourth team could include a deal with
Hall of Fame Racing/Ask.com or Paul Menard with the Menards brand. Another name
that continues to be mentioned is Bobby Labonte. Childress admitted on Friday
that there has been interest from sponsors, but would not elaborate on
specifics. Mears signed a three-year deal last August that locked him in for
2009. The final two seasons were contingent on performance and Mears said that
he is "just short" on the stipulations.(FoxSports)(9-26-2009)
UPDATE: Richard Childress Racing
hasn't picked up the option on Casey Mears' contract and likely won't unless a
sponsor is found to keep four cars in the organization. And even that's not a
given. "If we don't have the funding to do it, I don't want to hold him
back from getting another ride," team owner Richard Childress said Friday
at Dover International Speedway. Mears signed a one-year deal, with an option
for a second, to drive the#07 with Jack Daniel's as the sponsor. Jack Daniel's
announced earlier in the week it will not return in 2010. Childress said the
goal is to remain a four-car organization, noting a personal responsibility for
keeping as many RCR employees as possible under tough economic times. If
potential suitors aren't interested in Mears, who is 20th in points, sources
said the organization may be forced to turn to another driver. "It all
depends on sponsorship," Childress said. "Casey has done a good job.
It's just unfortunate circumstances around Jack Daniel's
to have to leave the sport."(ESPN.com)(9-27-2009)
Note: Somehow, I have the feeling that Casey will
not be alone with this problem next year and in years to come.
NASCAR
considering more 2-day weekends: NASCAR is exploring the possibility of more two-day
weekends for 2010 in an effort to help organizations save money. Robin
Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, said such scenarios
typically are considered every year, but with tough economic times there is
more support from organizations than in the past. Pemberton didn't know what
the savings would be, but it has been estimated that it costs $300,000 to
$600,000 per car for an average three-day weekend. Cutting a small portion of
that would result in millions for some organization over the course of a
36-race season. Pemberton said the response from organizations and fans over
cutting the
Note: Yes, I can definitely see this
happening. “Back in the day” they used
to do everything in one day – practice, qualifying and the race itself – well,
with Indy cars, that is.
Points, as they
were and as they are:
Listed below are
the 2009 point standings for Cup, with points without the chase first, and with
the chase, second.
UNOFFICIAL Sprint Cup
CLASSIC - the OLD
way - Driver Points Standings
[after Dover, race 28 of 36]:
pos, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #14-Tony Stewart, 4070
2) #24-Jeff Gordon, 3895 -175
3) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 3894 -176
4) #11-Denny Hamlin, 3763 -307
5) #5-Mark Martin, 3651 -419
6) #2-Kurt Busch, 3637 -433
7) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 3586 -484
8) #39-Ryan Newman, 3562 -508
9) #99-Carl Edwards, 3527 -543
10) #16-Greg Biffle, 3511 -559
11) #9-Kasey Kahne, 3471 -599
12) #83-Brian Vickers, 3442 -628
13) #17-Matt Kenseth, 3424 -646
14) #18-Kyle Busch, 3395 -675
15) #33-Clint Bowyer, 3311 -759
16)#00-David Reutimann, 3275 -795
(9-27-2009)
UNOFFICIAL Sprint Cup
CHASE Standings
[after Dover, Chase race 2 of 10; Season race 28 of 36]:
pos, car#, driver, points, behind, [wins], race finish
1) #5-Mark Martin [5 wins], 5400, finished 2nd at Dover
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson [4 wins], 5390, -10, 1st
3) #42-Juan Montoya 5335, -65, 4th
4) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 5325, -75, 5th
5) #14-Tony Stewart [3 wins] 5294, -106, 9th
6) #11-Denny Hamlin [2 wins], 5292, -108, 22nd
7) #39-Ryan Newman 5290, -110, 10th
8) #24-Jeff Gordon 5278, -122, 6th
9) #16-Greg Biffle 5262, -138, 13th
10) #83-Brian Vickers [1 wins], 5249, -151, 18th
11) #99-Carl Edwards 5247, -153, 11th
12) #9-Kasey Kahne [2 wins], 5211, -189, 8th
(9-27-2009)
Note: I was never one for this “Chase” deal. As you can see above, Stewart HAD an even
bigger point lead, then, POOF!
NASCAR.com: http://www.nascar.com/
Are you a big fan of NASCAR? Do you like looking at statistics? If so, check some out, here:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2009/data/stats/season_mile_leaders.html
Dirt
Track Digest’s forum: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php
An announcement was made last week about the WoO Sprint
Cars running on the mile at
http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/
Tracks:
OCFS
- http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/
From their website:
Upcoming Race Info: Saturday, October 3rd - Practice from 12noon-6pm |
Pit Admission $25 | Grandstands FREE
As for information on Eastern States Weekend, just going to the link
above, will lead you right to it.
Note: As of 12:00 PM on Wednesday, the forecast
shows “Mother Nature” doing her normal weekend funny business, as you can see,
here, for the
Friday: Few showers. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 50s.
Saturday: Showers
possible. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 50s.
Well, if it
should rain and cause problems on Saturday, at least the fans that might be in
the stands won’t get hurt, financially.
I’d love to see the track have some kind of announcement in the local
papers on this, since it’s free in the grandstands. I imagine the drive-in would be closed,
however.
From their website:
Bethel
Motor Madness is here!
Saturday
will have Double Features for all classes
Sunday
will have have 35 lap features for all classes
Come see
14 feature races on Saturday night for just $5!
Gates
open at 1pm, Hot Laps at 3pm and Racing at 5pm both days.
Note: This weekend is the last scheduled racing for
Accord
- http://www.accordspeedway.com/
Things are quiet at the “Big A” this coming weekend. That’s probably a good thing, since the weather forecast for Friday and Saturday isn’t all that good.
OVRP’s
Dirt Oval - http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/
The
Dirt Oval is still having regular point races on October 3rd, 10th
and 17th.
Info on “Octoberfest”, October 23rd, 24th and 25th, which was “Novembefest” in years past, can be found, if you go here:
http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/Octoberfest.html
OVRP’s
road course: http://www.ovrp.com/ovrp/pages/home.asp
From their website:
Thursday, October 1st
& Friday, October 2nd
Practice Karts and Super
Moto
plus Instruction
Noon-6pm
Contact Tim for Instruction appointment
Saturday, October 3rd
Open Practice
10:00am-3:00pm
Karts and Super Moto
Sunday, October 4th
OVRP Race Series
Gates open at 8:30am
Practice starts at 10:00am
Former
OVRP Dirt Oval runners:
At
At
Accord last Friday, Danny Creeden was 3rd in his heat and 25th
in the 100 lap feature. Mike Ruggiero
was 9th in his heat and 8th in the consi, and was a DNQ
for the feature. Greg Hastie won his
heat and finished 6th in the feature. Jamie Yannone was 4th in his heat
and 12th in the feature.
Clinton Mills, without “Sail Panels” was 5th in his heat, 2nd
in his consi, and 14th in the feature. Anthony Perrego was 9th in his
heat and 10th in his consi and was a DNQ. Lex Burritt was 7th in his heat
and 14th in his consi, and also was a DNQ. Anthony Perrego also ran a Slingshot on
Friday night, and he was 3rd in the feature. Charlie Lawrence was 5th and Emily
VanInwegen was 11th.
At
Accord last Saturday, in the CRSA 305 Sprint Cars, Anthony Brennan was 2nd
in his heat and 2nd in the feature.
John Lodini was 6th in his heat and 9th in the
feature. Billy VanInwegen was 6th
in his heat and 12th in the feature.
Chuck Alessi was 7th in his heat and 21st in the
feature. Danny Hennessey was 7th
in his heat, but is not shown as being in the feature, although his car 3 (19H)
is shown, with a different driver.
In
the Spec Sportsman class, Kyle Rohner was 3rd in his heat and 6th
in the feature. Bobby Hassenmayer was 5th
in his heat and 10th in the feature.
Jason Roe had a 6th in his heat and a 15th in the
feature. Anthony Perrego won his heat
and placed 19th in the feature.
In
the Sportsman class, Mike Ruggiero won his heat and also won the feature. Brian Krummel won his heat and was 2nd
in the feature. Rich Coons had a 2nd
in his heat and a 13th in the feature. Anthony Perrego had a 7th in his
heat and a 17th in the feature.
Keith Leonard was 7th in his heat and 20th in the
feature.
At
Rolling Wheels, Michael Storms was 11th in the feature. No, nothing new to report as far as any more
info about all the 4* race teams cars, parts, etc, being stolen a week ago,
while up in Quebec. Michael was in a
Billy Decker back up # 91 at the Wheels.
At
Roger
Coss ventured down south to Lanier Speedway for the Legends races and was 8th
and 9th in the double features down there.
Johnny
Guarino ended up 13th in points at New Egypt.
From
what I know, the Excell 600 Modified point season is over and Brad Szulewski
ended up in third place, point wise.
Hope
I didn’t miss anyone!
Other racin’ stuff:
I had a brief conversation the other day with one of the best drivers at OCFS, and I asked him if he had heard anything about the tire situation for ESW. Well, it looks like the tires to be used for ESW will be the OCFS American Racer tires. Good? Bad? Hey, maybe it doesn’t matter, since if you were going there to race, you’d be getting tires anyway. But what if you’re a DIRTcar regular and have been using Hoosier tires all season, and now you have to change? Will it, or does it, make a big difference? Heck, I’ve read that some drivers were having a difficult time dialing in their chassis with the American Racer tires. Might that hold true for some off the invaders?
Family members in racing:
This past Sunday, our 600 Micro Sprint was sold. If
you recall, in a previous column, or two, I made mention of us going Sprint Car
racing. Well, it now looks like it will
be with a dirt Sportsman car instead of a Sprint Car. Hey, you got one for sale?
Last Saturday, Brett ran in the 4 Cycle Light
class at OVRP, in a Clark McCollum Kart, renumbered to 19, in memory for his
grandmother who passed away on the 19th of September, and was
scheduled to start 6th in the feature, prior to it getting rained
out, so he’s credited with a 6th place finish.
More
racin’ stuff:
From last weeks column, form the “Jayski” section:
“Montoya blows
off interview, in trouble?: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya may be in trouble with
NASCAR certainly with its PR operations -- after an incident in which he
blew off a pre-planned satellite interview with a major California Fox
affiliate, Sacramento's KTXL. Montoya and NASCAR both are now on that station's
D-list. And
Well, this came out
the other day, which I also found on Jayski:
UPDATE: Juan Pablo Montoya
addressed the issue Friday at
EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED LAST THURSDAY WITH THE TV HOOKUP TO
"Yeah, it was simple. It was a deal we did with NASCAR from four to five
and I told them this was the last interview and it was five minutes until five
o'clock and I finished the interview and they plugged somebody else without
telling them I was done and that was it. NASCAR made an honest mistake and it
was a misunderstanding. That was it."
DO YOU THINK THE VIDEO THING KIND OF PORTRAYED YOU WRONG BECAUSE YOU'RE VERY
GOOD TO THE MEDIA HERE AND THE VIDEOS WERE SENT AROUND THE WORLD OF YOU, DOES
THAT BOTHER YOU?
"Not really. It really doesn't. NASCAR knows what happened. I know what
happened. The team knows what happened. I don't care. If they like me good, if they don't. I can't help that everybody here likes
me, can I? Come on. Like they say crap happens I guess."(General Motors
PR)(9-26-2009)
The
History of the Sport:
At times, we’ve lost drivers while they were
competing on the speedways. Here, below,
is just a small, partial list of those that have perished while doing what they
loved to do – alphabetically, with a list of last names
with the letters “U” and “V”, this week.
I imagine that you might recognize some of the names listed. Later on, in future columns, I’ll continue
my way through the alphabet. If you
click on the names, below, you’ll go right to the Motorsports Memorial website
and info on that particular driver.
Jerry Unser, Larue Ulshafer, Iñigo Uria, Tojiro Ukiya, Roy Valentine, Del Valentine, David Van De Bogart,
Allen Van Guilder, Woody Van Order, John Van Stean, Bob VanAernam, Tom Vance, Tom VanKoughnett,
Steven Varga, Achille Varzi, Terry Vaughn, Gene "Gino" Vecchio, Earl Veeder, Mike Vella, Mark Verbofsky,
Doug Vermeer, Archie Vickers, Gilles Villeneuve, Emilio Villoresi, Hank Vincent, Rob Vincent, John Vogel,
Don Vogler*, Rich Vogler*, Gert Vorster, Lowell Voss, Bill Vukovich** and Billy Vukovich III**
*Don Vogler was the father of Rich Vogler
** Bill Vukovich was the grandfather of
Billy Vukovich, III.
Video
time:
Do you recall the movie “The Big Wheel”? It was made in 1949 and had Mickey Rooney as the lead actor, and it was about a race driver following in his late fathers footsteps, from Midgets up to the Indy 500. Well, the complete movie is now on You Tube, and here’s a link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_OFRxh5D2Q
Other (non racing)
news:
So you, being a good
neighbor, volunteer to watch some of your neighbors kids prior to the school
bus coming to pick them up for school, since their parents had to leave to go
to work. Might nice of
you, for sure. But
maybe not in
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_re_us/us_baby_sitter_backlash_mich
You’re gonna love this
– Congress awards themselves more spending monies:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090930/pl_politico/27732
Do you own a gun? If so, this should interest you:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_guns
Here are some recent letters to the editor of
my local paper, the Middletown Times Herald-Record, below. Might your particular area have similar
thoughts?
If
only the politicians in
First,
tackle getting rid of the fraud in Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of
billions each year. Second, they should pass tort reform that would lower the
staggering malpractice bills that are passed on to the patients and begin by
ignoring the lawyers lobbying the Congress and Senate. Third, make insurance
companies and government eliminate all the needless paperwork.
Fourth,
allow buying health insurance across state lines. When this is done and they
can prove they have conquered the fraud in
After
they resolve the insurance problems, they should have a substantial savings
that could be passed on to assist the uninsured. This would also make insurance
more affordable for all those already insured and those who can then afford to
buy insurance.
If
the Democrats who are in power would stop all the frivolous pork spending and
reach across party lines, this could be accomplished in a sane and sensible
manner. It would also keep Medicare and Social Security from going broke. I
don't think it is asking too much of our representatives to work for we the
people, instead of working for campaign funds and votes.
A
letter writer writes, "The rule of law must be re-established." I
agree. However, she should begin with the request for the investigation of the
current
Next,
she should ask for an investigation of the many illegal and unethical practices
of the
Then
begin an investigation of the current Congress' tax cheats and funding of
special interests. The letter writer's selective indignation is another example
of the tiring mantra and attempts to dodge responsibility for breaking the rule
of law by the far left and mainstream media.
It is about time that the Times Herald-Record became a serious newspaper of journalistic integrity and not another mouthpiece for far-left spin doctors.
To the Orange County
Association of Realtors who met with John Hall: The most important issue that
John refuses to accept is how HR 3200 is to be funded.
The Congressional
Budget Office projects that it will force the uninsured to pay on average more
than 15 percent of their income for coverage. If they don't want the coverage,
they will face fines that will approach the same level as their premiums.
For example, an
individual earning $32,400 a year will have to pay $4,100 in premiums before
getting any subsidy. With deductible and co-pays, the average annual payout is
$5,600 a year, 17.3 percent of earnings. A family of four making $80,000 a year
will have to pay $10,500 in premiums alone! With deductible and co-pays, up to
$15,000 or just under 20 percent of your income!
What Hall won't tell
you is that this bill is designed to force healthy people who don't have or
want health insurance to buy it anyway, in order to raise the money to
subsidize those who need it. This program taxes the core middle class.
Closing with these:
F16 vs. C-130
A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed
by.
The jet jockey decided to show off.
The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a
barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he
broke the sound barrier.
The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that?
The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!'
The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back
on and said: 'What did you think of that?'
Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?'
The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back,
took a leak, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon
roll.'
And, in another
e-mail I got this:
Let me get this
straight.
We're going to pass a health care plan
written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it,
passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it,
signed by a president that also hasn't read it, and who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,
overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and
financed by a country that's nearly broke.
What possibly could go wrong?
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and guide them safely around the
tracks!
Drive safe!
As usual, you can reach me at: ygordad@yahoo.com