Investigator Neil Gussman writes from an American military base in Iraq:
Earlier I had an argument that would only happen here, at least in my life. I was walking out the latrine near our motor pool and an old sergeant in third platoon was walking in. I said hello and he launched into the latest government ripoff.
“Sergeant Gussman, your buddy [Pennsylvania state governor] Ed Rendell just raised my taxes 16% in Pennsylvania.” He stopped at the urinal and began to multitask. I was glad to be near the door. “That means he’s taking 16 dollars out of every hundred I make. What do you think of that?”
I exited fearing he would lose concentration and some problem would ensue. When he came outside I said, “Take it easy Sergeant (Arch Conservative) a 16% tax increase on a 2.65% tax is an increase of about 40 CENTS per hundred dollars.”
He sputtered, “CNN said 16% and that means $16 per hundred.” Then he calmed down and blamed CNN for misleading him.
He is still upset at Ed Rendell and at CNN and I suppose at me for ruining his perfectly good attack on “those damned Liberals.”