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April 21, 2005     The Lone Tree Reporter
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April 21, 2005
 
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Page 2 On The Backroads I forgot to inkclude my 'for- eign' tour last week that I recently took. I visited Mexico, Lebanon and Paris. Getting to Mexico was no problem, but getting to Lebanon and Paris required some prodigious driv- ing. As I drove across the Atlantic Pond to get to Lebanon and Paris I kept having engine trou- ble. The seas were not calm and I kept getting water in my gas tank. So, I would have to park, get out with my piece of hose, walk back beside the car and suck the gas and water out of the tank. I would swallow the water and pass the gas back into the tank, get back in the car and go again. What's this? Do I see some skeptical looks on your faces? Well, of course the Mexico, Lebanon and Paris I visited were all in the State of Mis- souri. I did have to leave Iowa to do this, which is more than the wife of the banker in Alexan- dria had to do when she bragged about her 'foreign' tours to Gilead and Hebron. Those were two communities that were near Alexandria, Nebraska. Now to get back more to real- ity The passing of Ray Marner last week brought back some memories for me. One of them was how I used to try to sneak looks at the comic books on dis- play in the old Fellner and Marner Drug Store. Of course, Ray wanted us to buy the books, and I did buy quite a few of them. Another memory I have is a conversation I had with Ray in, By Ron Rife The Lone Tree Reporter ,/;!:. , .....  :-s  ,,, ,i,', ' I think, the late 1960's about the New York Stock Exchange and the Dow-Jones Average. This was during the period when Ray was Just getting into the stock brokerage business and, as I recall, the Dow was sitting somewhere in the neighbor- hood of 700. He predicted it would hit 1000. I don't recall what kind of time frame he had for that event to happen, but I think it was only in a couple of years. I told him I thought he was dreaming. Well, the Dow went on to hit 1000, 2000, and so on and is now above 10,000. I put this in as a lead-in to a very short discussion about changes in Social Security. Of course, 'private accounts', or whatever you want to call them, are not for people who are already nearing retirement. I would say that, if these accounts are actually set up, the top age to get into one should be 25. It should certainly be no higher than 30. If you set one up at that age you 35 to 40 years to watch your investment grow. Sure, there will be some times when your account total goes down. But, look at the general direction the stock market has gone in the last 35 years. The average COLUMNS has increased more than ten- fold. If you are one who does set up a private account and con- tribute, say. 5 percent of your normal Social Security contri- butions to that account, then you will have a cut in what you draw when you are 65 or 70 or whatever the age is by that time. Since we are expecting the stock market to continue to rise, maybe you should have a 10 percent discount in what you can draw out each year. There is one thing for sure about the private accounts, unless the 535 Congress Crit- ters somehow put in an amend- ment that says they control those, too. The accounts should belong to you and can't be touched by Congress: That's more than you can say about the Social Security 'Trust Fund.' The reason Con- gress is screaming about how much all of this will cost is because they have been raiding the Trust Fund for the last 70 years to pay for theirlittle pet pork projects. They have needed that money all these years to help fund such great public works as a rain forest in Coralville and thousands of other pet projects. Also, I don't care how much the Democrats rave about how there is no 'crisis' in Social Security. There is one. It's not going to be in the next 15 years, but it will be in about 25 or 30. That may seem like a long ways away, but, by the time whatever 535 clowns are on Capitol Hill in these interven- The Lone Tree Reporter, Thursday, April 21, 2005 "Foreign Tours" ing years actually get around to acting, it will be a major prob- lem. One thing I think ought to be done for sure even if nobody wants to do the private accounts. Congress needs to take the cap off how much a person can earn and then not pay into the system. Right now, those who are making the big bucks are only paying Social Security taxes on the first $90,000 of salary each year. After that, it's a free ride. I heard some politician a few weeks ago say that the cap couldn't be raised because that would hurt the working people, the common laborers, etc. Well, maybe some blue collar work- ing people on the coasts are making more than that, but I doubt if there are very many around the Midwest. How many of you remember when the cap was $4800? Some- where along the line, before I caught up with the $4800, Con- gress raised the cap to $7200. Before I caught up with that they raised it again and so on, until it reached where it is now. I don't recall anybody having a worm with a beak on it about raising it then because it would hurt the working people. It seems to me that if the cap were lifted entirely there would be enough 'new' money flowing into the coffers to make retire- ment payments for quite awhile. End of Social Security dia- tribe. Once again, I have all the answers, but nobody ever asks me about anything. -OTB- I have three short puns from Wundram for you this week. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of callouses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and with his odd diet, he suf- fered from bad breath. This made him a super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by hallito- sis. Two weevils started life together. One was an immedi- ate success; the other was a complete failure. Naturally, it became the lesser of two wee- vils. And finally, there was a per- son who sent in 10 different puns to a newspaper pun con- test with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun-in-10-did. And now, another tidbit from the 1500's. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was asign of wealth that man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." The Thought For The Week this week comes from Ben- jamin Franklin. It is: "If you • want to make a friend, let some- one do you a favor." We would like to remind our readers that the deadline for submissions is Monday noon to be considered for that week's paper. The preferred method to receive submissions is via email. Please include a contact name and phone number for all submissions as we may need to call with questions. All Letters to the Editor require a name and phone number. Office Hours Monday 8:30-5 p.m. Tuesday 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday CLOSED Thursday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Weekends By Appointment From My Little Corner... April is half over now and I am making plans for May. Last week I made two flying trips for Camp Courageous. One to Iowa City with dishtow- els and hot pads and a "Rainy Day Run" on Wednesday. Thanks to Marvin Klebe and Old Blue, we went with some of the boxes from my garage. I will wait to go again with a big load for the Omelet break- fast, April 24. After that, the next time will be .in May after the community garage sale is over. We'll try to get it all out by the first of June. I am looking forward to the breakfast. Last year, over 7,000 people came to the camp. Omelet breakfast is the last Sunday in April (spring) and pancake breakfast is the last Sunday in September (fall.) The camp gets no f'mancial support from the government so these breakfasts are their biggest moneymakers. They operate on donations only. This year the camp will be 31- years-old. They started out serving 211 in 1974 and this year they will reach nearly 5,000. Every donation, whether it be food, time, material or money, goes directly to benefit the campers. Providing a service to these campers with disabilities requires a budget of over one million dollars a year, they need all the help they can get. From My Book of Quotes: "Camp Castles in the air are all right until You try to move in{o them. God still speaks to those who take the time to listen. Protect the birds, the dove brings peace and the stork brings tax exemptions. Many people are in debt because they spend what they think their friends make. The ideal diet is expressed in four words, no more, thank you. Learn to enjoy little things, there are so many of them. Spring in the world, and all things are made new. The shell must break before the bird can fly. There's none so homely but loves a looking glass. When life gives you lemons, Courageous" By Mrs. P The Lone Tree Reporter make lemonade. No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck. I'm allergic to mornings. I believe in the sun even when it rains. Spring is a time when youth dreams and old age remembers. No canvas absorbs color like memory. Good clothes open all doors. Not all educated people are intelligent. me Tree (USPS • except , per year in Johnson and $25 per year else- I where in Ioa in the 00Sa0pe00 year con- tinental bY Greater Iowa News :: Thursday April 21 2005 The Lone Tree Reporter 117 N Devoe Street Lone Tree, IA 52755 Periodicals postage paid at Lone Tree, IA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE LONE TREE REPORTER, PO Box 13, Lone Tree, IA 52755 THE LONE TREE REPORTER An independent newspaper, and official newspaper for the City of Lone Tree, Johnson County, and the Lone Tree Community School District. Deadlines: All items are due by 12:00 p.m. Monday aRernoon for publication consideration in that week's issue. Deadlines are strictly enforced, and the Editor of the newspaper reserves the right to reject any item submitted for publication, solely at his discretion. Contact Us: Office: 31929-5207 or 319-530-7274 mobile FAX: 319-629-4203 email: ltnews@iowatelecom.net www..lonetreereporter.com Ron Slechta ............... Publisher Dave Parsons ........... Co-Publisher Melissa Heatherly ............. Editor