DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.

metro

L 61 -Pe4 7,

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Complete latc en and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture
design and installations including granite, wood and other materials.

Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989

Play Golf 365 &
Library Sports Pu

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Indoor Golf and Laser Hunting Si

• B-day parties, bachelors, corporate or just a night out
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• Lessons available by a PGA professional. Forming
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• Gift cards available for the holidays
• $40.00 per hour for room up to 5 players... bring your
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PLAY GOLF

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Any One Hour Golf or
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Now Offering 20% off for Seniors 55 years and older

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Not good with any other offer.
One coupon zrlislpf person 1/30/13

Hours :
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2013 Mercedes-Benz C300 4MATIC®
Sport Sedan

$36

tit 2:00 a.m.

tors

• Over 80 world renowned Golf courses
to choose, in one of 4 private suites,
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• Each room is equipped with a 42" TV
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• Laser hunting simulator with many
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9010

AF1

1800200

Mercedes-Benz

Ino* 30 Month Lease

$4163 due at lease signing

V DEl ER5

5570 Monroe St •Toledo, OH

www.vindevers.com

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RICK ZERNER
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'Available only to qualified customers through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services at participating dealers through December 31, 2012. Not everyone will qualify. Excludes title,
taxes, registration license fees. Cash due at signing includes 1st month's payment of $360. 25,000 mi./yr. allowed, with $.25/mi. thereafter. No security deposit required. Must
take delivery of vehicle by December 31, 2012. See dealer for complete details. Subject to credit approval. ©2012 Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers.

1766190

28

December 13 • 2012

L

et's go back to 1865. If you
haven't seen Lincoln, then
you're missing out on a
real treat. The movie tells the his-
tory and political drama among
President Lincoln, his key advis-
ers, the Democrats and Republican
House members in passing the 13th
Amendment to abolish
slavery.
Like most Americans, I
knew of the Emancipation
Proclamation, Lincoln's
abolishment of slavery
and the Civil War. The
movie, however, details the
legal and political issues
so acutely intertwined in
the process. Lincoln self-
proclaimed his authority
to free the slaves with the
Emancipation Proclamation as inherent
in his War Powers. Lincoln, however,
understood once the Civil War ended,
the proclamation would lack legal
authority to abolish slavery because
such an issue was properly reserved to
the states. There was only one solution
— pass the constitutional amendment
before the Civil War was over.
With the war ending, President
Lincoln faced a "cliff" — requiring
passage of the 13th Amendment prior
to concluding the war and the south-
ern states' return to Congress. Such is
the setting of the movie, and it details
the political arm-twisting and manipu-
lation needed in a four-month window
of time to persuade a few Democrats
to side with the Republican-controlled
House to gain the needed two-thirds
vote for passage of the amendment.
Now turn to 2012.
Congress is facing its own "fiscal
cliff," as named by Ben Bernanke. We
are now in month 16 following the
Aug. 2, 2011, passage of the Budget
Control Act of 2011. Under this act,
the automatic spending cuts kick in on
Jan. 2, 2013. The automatic spending
cuts, coupled with expiration of the
Bush-era tax cuts and the payroll tax
cut adopted and continued since 2010,

aqTrggg2
Are You
Kidding
Me?

will cause the economy to go over the
cliff and free fall to another recession.
The clock is ticking, and the rhetoric
is almost too much to bear. In 1865,
Lincoln's task was to gain approval of
two-thirds of the House representa-
tives in order to forever abolish slav-
ery. This was an issue of "right and
wrong:' The future of our
republic and human rights
were at stake, as well as the
"economics" attached to
elimination of slave labor.
These issues were big
— really big — issues
and Lincoln addressed
and resolved them in four
months!
When you listen to the
media hype and catch a few
interviews of our elected
officials discussing today's "fiscal cliff
issue," you hear that they are facing a
daunting task of catastrophic dimen-
sion. A tax hike will "stifle investment:'
Others stating, "I will not abandon
the pledge against tax increases that I
signed. I am not a traitor:'
Without addressing the merits of how
to solve our current $16 trillion deficit
— whether via tax increase, spending
cuts or a rational combination of both
— I have only a couple of things to say
to each and every member of Congress:
You must address this issue in the next
month. You were given 17 months, and
you're down to a few weeks. Are you
kidding me? Do you think you are so
important and this is such a difficult,
unsolvable problem? If so, invest $10
and go watch Lincoln. If Lincoln could
gain passage of the 13th Amendment in
four months — you damn well better
solve this financial cliff now — or get
out of Washington, go home and get a
real job.

❑

Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross

and host of The Financial Crisis Talk

Center radio program at 8:30 Saturday

mornings on WDFN 1130 AM, "The Fan."

His new book, "Dump Your Debt" is

available at Amazon.com.

