Later, they made the Cutlass Supreme and Cutlass Ciera into old folks' cars. This whole thing about Olds being for old folks did not hit until the 1980s.

But! The Cutlass Calais International was extremely sporty, even in the late 1980s. Dig my old ride (from Wikipedia):

"The International Series was available as... a 2-door... and featured exclusive options for the Calais range including lower front and rear facias, lower rocker extensions, and quad-tipped sport exhaust. Changes inside include thickly bolstered sport seats which feature driver-side power controls and were available in cloth with leather accents or full leather. The International Series came standard with power locks and windows with driver's side auto-down, a multifunction Driver Information Center in the center console, full gauges, cruise control, and the uplevel FE3 sport suspension. The standard engine for the International was the new-for 90 Quad 4 H.O..."

With a Quad-Four engine. International Series with a stick-shift, white with a grey interior and colorful flags on the logo... A beautiful car! We bought it new, giving up our old Mustang (the tiny middle-era "Mustang").

That was a wonderful sporty car. We were young and hip then, and even extremely hip young black guys in Detroit liked that car. I wish I still had it.

Every city, every American town used to have its own banks. Take medium size Grand Rapids, Michigan: We used to have three "big" local banks, but now we have none. Now we have Chase and Fifth Third, originally from New York and Cincinnati, as far as I know.

Can we go back to those days?

Or is it a simile?

But I live in a different USA. I wish I had $7,000. And if I had to pay that much for any bill right now, I would have to skip town.

To heck with these saviors-of-the-American-way-of-life phoney tax cheats. Appoint me to the cabinet. I work harder, and I do not owe any taxes. I would do a better job at HHS. Many of you, other Salon readers, probably are more qualified for this job than Ms. Sebelius.

How can we apply, Barack? Dump this woman. No big deal. She is just about the tenth or dozenth tax cheat in your appointments. It's not some new shock.

We have all these political hotshots who don't pay their taxes. Most of Barack's apointees, masters of the universe, have withdrawn because they have not even paid their taxes.

We folks from Detroit and the auto industry... we hard-working smart people... Now we are moving out and getting jobs in your benighted southern parts of the country.

We will teach you how to work hard, and get things done. And, pretty soon, we will vote crazy governors and senators out of office. Be afraid Gov. Sanford and Sen. Corker and ilk. We are on our way.

We let "Conservatives" and "Christians" spout this sort of nonsense, because they claim it's political speech or religious speech. But it's just jibberish.

We need to say, "Baloney. Shut up. Sit down." Let us say that. Let us figure out a way to make rationality a requirement for public discourse.

If Ms. Sebelius had a legitimate disagreement with the IRS, she could make hay. Everybody hates the IRS. Everybody would be on her side.

Instead, you say that she decided to donate taxes? Baloney. She must have had a guilty conscience.

I do not want cabinet members who are too timid or too feeble-minded to deal with IRS instructions. I do not not want people who claim they are are too stupid to figure out tax provisions as high government officials.

And I particularly do not want tax cheaters who hide behind fake stupidity.

Do not make up your own language. Use words that mean what they means. Fascist and Communist are political adjectives. Either can be evil.

Because I have done my taxes right, since I grew up, even when I wished I could chisel.

You should do your own taxes, just because you will know what is going on. Get help when you have questions, but do your own.

If somebody in the IRS questioned me, I would have a great answer, because I have done my own taxes, including busines stuff, rental stuff, amortization, and more. I would not just roll over, and make mewing sounds, and pay $7K plus penalties. I might pay, if they convinced me, but I would have a legitimate argument.

And so, I am very skeptical of somebody who acts as if it's all so terribly complicated. Do you want somebody who gets overwhelmed by IRS instructions to be a high government official? NO! (I hope.) So... Do you want some chiseler, who hides behind fake stupidity, to be a cabinet secretary? No, I hope.

You know what, though? As a younger man, the whole process intimidated me. In about 1972, during college, I did not even file a return to get a $100 refund because the process intimidated me. (And $100 then was worth about $1,000 now.)

But Gov. Sebelius is a grown-up, supposed to be somebody in charge. She does not impress me.

Yes. We need to use correct words. You cannot just say everybody bad is fascist. Communists are as bad as fascists, but they are different.

D.Joe, it's like accusing Dock Cheney of of selling dope at Woodstock. Do not call the Chinese government fascist. Call them evil if you wish, but write right or do not write.

You guys, there is actual information here, not just right-wing hanger-on snark. The US Dollar is in good shape now, compared with where it went during the G.W. Bush years.

Here is a www reference. This is the European Union web site:

http://www.ecb.int/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-usd.en.html

I will put this reference into my signature here. I hope you ranting crazy right wingers can understand this graph and this info.