Political map, Bush plan, stay young

Like the national map of voters which depicts Democrat voters and elected officials basically coming from large urban areas and Republican voters and elected officials coming from the more rural and suburban areas ... Missouri has a similar breakout.

This makes it even harder to resolve issues such as the rural-urban Missouri Department of Transportation debate when big-city media reports funding shifts based on geographic evaluation and outstate media do likewise.

The Missouri Senate now has 20 Republicans and 14 Democrats.

Of the 14 Democratic senators, six come from greater St. Louis, four come from Kansas City, one comes from Columbia and three come from districts that either abut greater St. Louis or Jackson County (Kansas City). Two of the outstate Democratic senators are entering the last two years of their term limits and reside in toss-up districts.

Republicans, on the other hand, have shown little success in the core urban areas of St. Louis and Kansas City.

GOVERNOR HOLDEN is aware of his party's voter base, and open communication will be needed to resolve the budget problems Missouri faces -- if those problems are to be successfully addressed by the leaders of both parties.

Also ... the urban and outstate media need to make every effort to report the issues with as little geographic headline spin as possible.

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Bush, the bold president: President Bush surprised many with the economic stimulus package he announced last week. It was far bolder than expected. The president, fortunately, rejected the counsels of caution. The $674 billion, 10-year Bush plan would abolish the federal income tax on dividend income, accelerate the 2001 phased-in tax rate cuts and make all of them retroactive to Jan. 1, immediately raise the per-child tax credit to $1,000 from $600 and permanently end the marriage-tax penalty. This is a bold agenda, indeed. Eliminating the dividend tax would end the double taxation of business profit, benefit the majority of senior Americans who derive income from investments, boost the stock market and increase investment. This addresses the most pressing need of our sluggish economy. The shortage of capital investments resulting from elimination of the dividend tax will allow businesses to expand, thereby creating more jobs. Under the Bush plan, 46 million married couples would receive an average tax cut of $1,716 in 2003. Thirty-four million families with children would benefit from an average cut of $1,473 this year. And six million single women with children would receive an average cut of $541. President Bush's bold, family-friendly tax plan is just what America's economy and working families need.

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Democrats' timid response: In contrast to President Bush's $674 billion plan to kick start the economy and give 92 million taxpayers immediate tax relief, the Democrats have responded with a $136 billion, one-year scheme based mostly on government spending that would do little to stimulate the economy. In the view of most Democrats, the economy is a pie that never gets any bigger. While the Dems are adept at cutting the pie into ever smaller slices, they have no idea whatsoever how to make a pie, or how to increase the size of the pie so that everyone gets a bigger piece. None of what the Democrats propose would do much to stimulate an economy the size of America's or make the pie any bigger. The Dems still do not grasp that cutting tax rates increases tax revenue by spurring economic growth. The Democratic plan simply does not give working families the permanent tax relief they need and deserve. -- Washington Update

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George Carlin's view on aging: Life is good. Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never 36 1/2. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16. And then the greatest day of your life É you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony É you become 21 ... yes! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk.

He turned, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You become 21, you turn 30, then you're pushing 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes. It's all slipping away. Before you know it, you reach 50 É and your dreams are gone.

But wait! You make it to 60. You didn't think you would. So you become 21, turn 30, push 40, reach 50 and make it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you hit 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing: You hit Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle: You hit lunch, you turn 4:30, you reach bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards: "I was just 92." Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again.

"I'm 100 and a half!"

How to stay young

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him or her.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple thing.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but not to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And always remember: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.