Yes, that was a month ago, but I must note that Pontiac's tax return came more than a week ahead of the federal tax return, a first. I always send them at the same time, and I always get the federal first, then state, and then, usually much later, Pontiac's. One time, I got a Pontiac return more than a year later.

Of course, this year, I didn't get anything back from the state. Thanks, Mr. Snyder, hope we get all those jobs with the tax breaks for businesses.

In other news, the IRS story may or may not have legs, but it seems there should be more scrutiny of those seeking tax-free status, but it should not lean towards one side of the political spectrum. This, I thought, was the one scandal that could sway many to become critical of Obama, but then the AP phone dump occurred.

That impacted media types, but I don't think Americans in general care.

Funny part is that the it seems the story that sparked the interest was reporting on the good job done by the government, something they just didn't want revealed. But making everything a secret in the name of security damages those freedoms leaders said were what Muslim extremists hated about our country.

Based on all the good news with various specific economic updates, factors that include manufacturing, housing prices and sales, home building, and, especially, auto sales, a bit of wishful thinking and downright optimism went into thoughts of an improving economic recovery.

Perhaps not so. Sure, bad news lingered, too: The trade deficit and lingering unemployment levels were strongest but also lackluster Christmas sales and slumping consumer confidence.

Now comes the big news, highly symbolic, yes, but also frightening, the economy shrunk for the first time in almost four years. A big oops, seeing how confidence so drives the markets. But with spending cuts promised to help ease the growing deficit, we as a nation must endure some lumps to pay for our past sins, or really spending. It's like a family (or a college student) with a credit card. Eventually, you got to pay, and it's never easy.

You can't have a recession, or in this case, a double dip recession without the first quarter of economic contraction. So what happens next? Taxes ticked upward, more spending cuts are promised and unemployment continues to impact the entire nation. Furthermore, and I think this was perhaps the biggest reason for the decline in what should have been an artificial boost the economy, the fourth-quarter shopping season, our leaders have shown no indication of working together to repair the economy.

The nation seemingly has a complete lack of confidence in our elected leaders, from the president to every member of the Senate and the House. And that's not improving any time soon. At least, there's not a major fight yet over immigration. Coming together to work on anything, forget the fight over gun violence, would help repair the damage they've caused.

First thing, let's be clear that New Yorkers don't care for John Rocker, the one-time Atlanta Braves closer known for his insensitivity to things like diversity and alternative lifestyles.

But the NYDailyNews.com is taking the retired pitcher, who is now an occasional columnist for a conservative blog, to task for his statements about guns and Jews under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Here's what Rocker wrote, noting as he introduced the idea that few things in life are certain, except we can all agree that one of them is: "the undeniable fact that the Holocaust would have never taken place had the Jewish citizenry of Hitler's Germany had the right to bear arms and defended themselves with those arms."

The New York Daily News also highlights the 1999 comments that started Rocker's descent into becoming a national joke and eventually a has been, his dislike of NY Met fans and concerns about public transportation in New York in general.

No matter what you think of the gun debate issue, tossing the Holocaust and the stripping away not only of gun rights but all political rights, property rights and human rights from Jewish people in Nazi Germany is not relevant here today. Not at all. Just as when people compare their mayor, their governor, their president or their boss to Hitler is so very wrong, this too is stepping way over the line in terms of taste and logic. 

Yes, I'm talking about the president's two young daughters. They're mentioned, not by name, just by the fact that he had kids, in an online video ad brought to us by the NRA.

The ad is a preemptive response to President Barack Obama's plans to try to reduce gun violence.

Many are critical of the NRA using the president's kids for political gain. Well, we'll see if there's any gain. At the most, it'll preach to the converted and it will, as most of the NRA's leadership does, likewise anger those who do not respect the NRA.

One of the critics is the Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson, who always writes with strong reason and sharp humor and says that the tactic shows the desperation of the NRA. It does reek of desperation and like I said, it will only convince the true believers.

But many of the comments I've seen have said it's wrong to bring the children of the president into the debate, to use them for political gain. Even the White House complained. Hmm. I don't think so. Presidential children are always in the news when they do something, good or bad, and he had mentioned his being a father as impacting how he feels about certain things. And it's a fair thing to point out, that the NRA wants guns in schools as protection and the presidential children have such protections.

Of course, they have that protection because there are so many nuts with access to guns, but hey, we only have 30 seconds to make up our minds.

Funny, too, that many complain about the president using Sandy Hook to look into gun control and prosecuting gun crimes. That's a pretty amazing argument, seeing how actions always cause reactions. George W. Bush didn't denounce the Taliban not consider a war with Afghanistan until after 9.11, and he wasn't politicizing anything there. He, and we, reacted. Most major changes come after something terrible, and it's not politicizing the event.

A boat sinks and dozens die, then we talk boating regulations. Hundreds get sick after food is tainted and we talk regulations and enforcement. Sometimes the reaction is too big, but when you have dozens of school shootings and thousands killed, it'll bring about a reaction. This one took a long time, and it's too bad for the gun owners that the NRA doesn't participate in the debate. They'll be left out of the decision-making process if they keep angering those in the middle.

But maybe it's just about membership dues for them.

Nonetheless, nothing wrong with their ad, except it isn't helping their cause. Their ads should reach the middle, if they want to be part of the solution and not relegated to fringe group status. 

I'm guessing it will be less close than people think. We'll know tonight. I'm expecting that the FIVE THREE EIGHT writer, Nate Silver, is right and the swing states will give Obama another four years, just as voters did in 2004, when so many hated W.

It takes a special man to be the person who gets Americans to dance and cheer a death.
And Osama bin Laden was the man, a mass murderer who spread hatred across the globe.

Images of people in the Middle East hitting the streets and cheering deaths are not uncommon to hit the TV, but that is not something you see in the U.S. We go out and cheer World Series wins, Super Bowl victories. Sometimes, I'm looking at Lansing, we go out and dance and cheer when our teams lose.

But over someone dying? That's not something we see every decade. In fact, when notorious killers are executed, even child killers, there will be protesters out, objecting to capital punishment. There may be counter-protesters, happy with the execution but not cheering death. It's political activism that got them out.

People may have been happy that Timothy McVeigh was killed, but I don't recall cheering and dancing.

When wars start, we don't rush out to cheer and dance; rather, we go inside and watch the news. When the first Gulf War started, people either ordered or stole cable to watch CNN.

We comment, complain, support, question. We cheer when our troops come home.

Osama bin Laden was just a man. But what he did, what he supported, and in some way, what he started, well, that got our attention. And we waited patiently and we rejoiced when we learned that justice had been served.

No complaints that it took so long. Minimum disbelief. No arguing about methods and overall objective. Makes that birth certificate issue seem quaint, silly and ancient.

A Fox affiliate in California had to explain an on-screen typo that declared "REPORTS: Obama bin Laden dead." As the rush to get the news out that Osama bin Laden had been killed by American forces, a few mistakes were made, several regarding the president's similar sounding first name.

The Fox40 channel in Sacramento had the mistaken phrase typed on its screen. But in apologizing, it noted that the Fox affiliate in San Diego had made a similar but verbal mistake, according to a report in blog.zap2it.com.

Some have complained that these mistakes were intentional. What do you think? Are the names close enough for the mistakes to be honest due to hasty, frantic work late at nght? Share within our comments. (And all typos will be forgiven.)

The comments came in fast and furious and they were informative, informed, sharp and pretty much on target. Two postings on our Facebook page results in about 20 comments, and two versions of the AP story on Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate brought another 20 comments.

I liked the variety of comments from the community, a real highlight to my day.

Kenya? No. It looks like it's Hawaii.
Readers were split on Wednesday's release of the president's birth certificate, a hot button topic in the cable news political arena.
Barack Obama said he hopes the "silliness" of this debate ends so he and other leaders can focus on real problems, such as jobs, the economy, and the national debt.
But others believe that the subject of Obama’s Hawaiian birth, and subsequently his nationality, are real issues. Even Donald Trump, the possible Republican candidate and NBC reality TV star, claimed victory, pronouncing his pleasure at having finally convinced the president to release the long version of his birth certificate.
Here, though, is some of what you had to say, both on our story page and on our Facebook page:
- Liz Scott Waters: "Trump is a joke."
n Maria Christina Gusmano-Tomasino: "Nothing more important going on than this silly issue? I'm embarrassed and saddened by our priorities today."
n Venus Long: "It's a shame that we can not take the word of our president and he has to show proof!"
- Mark Steven: "Obama’s Dad was born in Kenya ... so Obama is not a natural born citizen. People don't even know what the Constitution says."
- Vq Videos: "Trump is NOT part of the political establishment and doesn't give a rat's behind what the media wants to say about him, AND HE GOT IT DONE ... FINALLY someone who's willing to stand up to the "get-along" political establishment."
- Vq Videos again: "How come "Mr. Transparency" has fought this simple, trifling matter for this long in the first place? Because he and other politicians think they don't REALLY answer to anyone?"
- Melissa Behm Marra: "It's really a shame when the president has to tell the politicians to stop being so immature."
n Diana Clark Davis: "If he wasn't hiding anything he shouldn't have had a problem with it."
- Ed Fisher: "I just wonder how many presidents have been harassed regarding their birth certificates? Is it because he is bi-racial, admitting to his father being from another country? Just curious is all."
- Joan G. Berndt: "I don't know what took him so long, but the whole matter is irrelevant. Let's get the economy solved and the dollar shored up. Since his mother is a native born American, the whole debate is absurd."
- rd rge: "To me it is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard of. Why he would have waited so long? Let's just hope no more taxpayer dollars are WASTED!"
- Big Boss: "If there was no doubt, it would have taken just a few days at best to produce, not a few years. Why did it take so long to show a birth certificate if the Obama camp knew this was going to be an issue?"
- Jim: "It's just more proof that Obama is a wimp who caves to right-wing idiots and extremists at every opportunity. He needs to grow a pair and fight instead of constantly begging the GOP to stop hurting him. "
- gg10: "I would rather see Donald Trump's tax statement and see how much money he hides in overseas banks or how many of his businesses have overseas addresses."
Stephen Frye is online editor at TheOaklandPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @stevefrye or @TheOaklandPress. Email him at steve.frye@oakpress.com. He also writes this blog.