I walk these quiet empty streets like a post-apocalyptic omega man surrounded by quiet and empty stores and houses. Past the fast food joints still not busy even at dinnertime and car washes not busy on a beautiful Saturday morning. I fell into some money this week and thought I'd celebrate by going down to the sport's bar about a mile from the garage and watching some college football.
I told my son where I was going and he screwed up his face and asked, "What sports bar?"
"The one next to the Mexican restaurant in the shopping center behind the bank." Admittedly, I don't get out much but I was somewhat surprised to find both the sports bar and the Mexican restaurant gone. Just empty store fronts now making the entire shopping center uniform in its emptiness. I still remember my last visit during the SEC championship last year the waitress was very nice but she seemed very young. I wonder where she's working now? What of the manager and the cooks and waitresses at the Mexican restaurant next door?
President Obama may seek a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit. That's good news; the staff at the Mexican restaurant and the sports bar will be back at work before their ninety-nine weeks of unemployment is up. Of course, when you make most of your money from tips and your hourly wage is a barbaric $2.13 an hour unemployment is kind of a joke. The research and development tax credit will cost the treasury around $7.5 billion dollars per year and it helps American industry to offset the cost of developing new products before they outsource their production to Asia.
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