My favorite quote so far from Herman Cain

There were a lot of things to comment on from last night's Western republican debate.  But this was my favorite moment:


Anderson Cooper asked the question, “How do you explain the Occupy Wall Street movement happening across the country? And how does it relate with your message?”  Herman Cain, I’ve got to ask you, you said, — two weeks ago, you said, “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job, and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”  That was two weeks ago. The movement has grown. Do you still say that?   (APPLAUSE)
CAIN: Yes, I do still say that. And here’s why. (APPLAUSE)
CAIN: I still stand by my statement, and here’s why.

They might be frustrated with Wall Street and the bankers, but they’re directing their anger at the wrong place. Wall Street didn’t put in failed economic policies. Wall Street didn’t spend a trillion dollars that didn’t do any good. Wall Street isn’t going around the country trying to sell another $450 billion. They ought to be over in front of the White House taking out their frustration.

GO HERMAN!!!!!!!

A closer look at a Wall Street "Fat Cat"

One refrain we keep hearing from the protesters trying to occupy Wall Street and other places is that corporate CEOs make too much money.

These Wall Street "fat cats" just sit around in their plush offices - they should pay their fair share.

It's so wrong that these guys get these huge executive salaries and bonuses while the rest of us don't even have jobs.

Really? I think that these protesters may be barking up the wrong tree.

Here's some information I dug up about one of those Wall Street "fat cats" - Jeffrey Immelt, President and CEO of General Electric Corporation (better known to us as GE).

Jeffrey Immelt's salary in 2010 was $3.3 million, and he received an executive bonus of $4 million.

In 2010, Jeffrey Immelt's jobs included:

• CEO of GE
• Trustee at Dartmouth College
• Director of the Robin Hood Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping people obtain the dream of home ownership
• Director of NBCUniversal Media
• Trustee of the Ronald Reagan Foundation
• Director, Catalyst, Inc.

It appears that Mr. Immelt owns two homes; one in New Canaan, Connecticut and an apartment in New York City.

Mr. Immelt earned a degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Now, let's take a look at another famous person. His name is Johnny Depp, a high-school dropout.

2010 income (estimated): $75 million

In 2010, Mr. Depp's jobs included making 2 films:

• Alice in Wonderland
• The Tourist

His charitable efforts included donating a pair of underwear to be auctioned off for the Helen and Douglas House (the underwear sold for $3,000). He also donated a headband that he wore in one of his Pirates of the Caribbean movies to be sold at auction. In early 2010, he played guitar on a single to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. It looks like Mr. Depp supports several different charities.

Johnny Depp owns the following properties, and possibly more that are unknown:

• Mansion in Somerset, England
• An unnamed island in the Bahamas
• Mansion in West Hollywood
• Penthouse in Los Angeles
• Home in the South of France
• Home in Hawaii
• Palazzo in Venice, Italy

Oh yes, one other thing. The company that Jeffrey Immelt runs employed 287,000 people in 2010.

So remind me again, why are we picking on corporate CEOs and presidents here?

Dusting off the blog . . .

I'm dusting off my poor neglected blog. The Wall Street occupants and the Republican primary process are giving me plenty of stuff to yak about!

But before I go into a new rant, if you read back two posts to my entry about airport security, you'll see my comment about 95% of people not having to go through body scanners at airports.

I TAKE THAT BACK. Things have changed in the past year. More people than ever are going through the airport body scanners for no apparent reason. It seems to be luck of the draw these days, unfortunately. So I was wrong, and I admit it. You probably will have to go through a full body scanner at some point if you travel.

More to come, once I can get my thoughts into a coherent form!