I am always surprised when I am out and about and someone recognizes me as a person who writes letters to this forum. How DO they know?

In any case, the response I get is pretty much positive, so I shall persist.

I had to send this letter today because of a response I got to a comment on the internet. I had mentioned that there were more than 275 bipartisan bills that had passed the House of Representatives and were now in limbo on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk.

One of these concerns a new national minimum wage. This brought a reply from a man that did not want to see a raise in the minimum wage, as he did not want his taxes to go up. What? What is heaven’s name is he talking about? I replied to him that he did not have the slightest understanding of the way the economy works. What else could I say?

Can you imagine, this man believes that if YOU — or anyone, for that matter — gets a raise, the American taxpayers cover that amount? That would only be the case if the person receiving the raise actually worked for the government and then that raise would be part of the budgeted cost of running the government and not a direct increase in anyone’s taxes.

I have run businesses. Many of you have as well. When you gave an employee a raise in pay, did Uncle Sam step in and cover that raise? Of course not! It came out of your cost of doing business, as it should have. I am past the point of trying to figure a way to explain things to people like that. I just do not think you will penetrate whatever filter they have had in place for their entire life.

This is especially troubling in these days of the “Google machine.” In the old days — no, I am not going to say “in my day,” though I probably should — you needed to go to the library and wade through encyclopedias and reference files. It also helped to stay awake in school.

But today, you just stop a child and ask them to put your question in the “Google machine” and find out the truth. You can even check to see if that is actually true on that same computer. Amazing, huh?

Well that’s enough for now. You either got it or you cannot. But before I go, remember that there is a lot of nonsense on some of the internet sites, dressed up to catch your eye. Just your eye, mind you –if it caught your brain, you would not forward it. Maybe it is best to forward nothing. There is a lot of stuff out there being paid for in rubles. Think your own thoughts and forward those.

Happy New Year! P.S., if you cannot figure out that toy train set Santa brought you, give me a holler.