Mr. Toy's Mental Notes

Judging by their reaction to every mass shooting in the last twenty years, it is evident that gun rights activists aren't willing to lift a finger to help curb the violence. Quite the contrary, they go to great lengths to explain through twisted logic why common-sense gun regulations “won't solve the problem.” Their unwillingness to even try suggests that they're content to let the carnage continue in order to maintain their unfettered access to firearms. Besides, they tell us, the real problem is the government. A heavily armed citizenry is absolutely necessary to protect us from government tyranny, they say, implying that random gun violence is an acceptable price to pay to keep the government off of our backs.   Meanwhile, the more sensible among us cry at the latest news, and we live in fear wondering if we, our families, or our friends will be among the next victims. We watch helplessly as every attempt to solve the problem is thwarted by politicians boug...

Trumpty Dumpty's infrastructure plan is a fraud, and here's why. For most of our lives road and highway projects have been funded 80% from federal money and 20% from state money. Trump's "plan" reverses that formula so that the feds only put up 20% and the states must pay 80%. In Trump's fantasy land, states will have to find four times as much money in their highway construction budgets before being eligible to receive any federal highway funds. Fat chance of that happening without massive state tax increases.