07 Oct 08 Bailout for Wall Street= My Bailing from McCain Support
It is clear from the wall street bailout, that Mcain does not have the sound judgement needed to be President, or even a Senator for that matter. It is clear that he is in the pocket of lobbyists, and that he is no Maverick. The problem is that there are many who went along with the pressure including Obama. I have researched the issue in depth because I have been told by the politicians that if we really understood the issue we would know why this is so important. What I found is that although this is one solution, that has a moderate chance of success, there were many other possible solutions with a proven track record, that although a little tougher on Wall Streets Executives, could help and likely solve the problems we face. I also found that the Credit Crunch only had to do with very large loans to very large compnaies. All of the talk that this would effect car loans, college loans and even small business loans was not ever going to be effected. Just a little lie from politicians to make it more palatable. I honestly can say that the politicians probably believed what they were saying. They were just repeating the script given to them by the hundreds of Wall Street lobbyists.
30 Nov 07 What happened to Common Sense in the Democratic Party?
I was teaching a Citizenship in the Community merit badge for the local Boy Scouts, and had a student make a statement in a presentation that really got me thinking. When addressing the question What do you like about your community, he responded, “the people in our community live by the words that Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’”. As I contemplated the challenges our country has faced, how could this attitude have influenced the situation. When Katrina hit, would it have been different if the people looked for ways to help rather than sitting and waiting for the government to step in? Would the Education system be different if rather than complaining about the failed system, we volunteered our time to help make our schools better? Would our National Dept be any lower, if our legislators didn’t feel that the only way to win elections is by promising handouts.
As I look at the slate of Democratic Presidential candidates I can not see any link between there promises, and these powerful words be President Kennedy. They are simply creating a huge list of unsustainable programs without asking the people demanding the services to step up and take some responsibility. In reality it is far more than the Democratic Party, the Republican Party to has gotten into the habit of carelessly throwing money at problems. Thus under Republican control we have run up the National Dept to record levels. Maybe it is time to quit asking what our goverment can do for us. The more the government gives, the worse our lives will become.
03 Oct 07 Raising the national dept cap, What a Shame!
While recently reviewing my states senators’ votes, I found that they have both voted to increase the statutory limit on our national dept from 9 trillion to 9.8 trillion dollars. Although 800 billion dollars may not seem like much to our congress, it is a significant amount of money. At some point, it is essential for individuals to live within their means. The same should be true of the government.
Our congress spends little time or effort in looking to cut spending. The federal government provides services that go far beyond its constitutional mandate, and even beyond what any reasonable person would expect. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew at what rates we are taxed, or saw the size of our government. The sad thing is that even in the face of unprecedented spending, the issue that will define the 2008 campaign will be a health care package that will raise taxes even more and increase our dept.
When will we realize it is time to cut back? When will our congress be willing to cut programs and reduce budgets to our federal agencies? We can blame the politicians, but in reality, the problem is with the people. We as a society are expecting the government to provide more for us. We expect the government to fund our schools, build our roads, support the arts, provide health benefits, take care of the poor, bail us out from failures, help us recover from disasters, and protect our freedoms. Granted the government should play a role in some of these areas, but we as a society need to look first to ourselves, then to our families, and then to the community to help us overcome our problems or challenges. Until we are willing to solve a few of our own problems, rather than looking for solutions from the government this ridiculous trend of spending will continue.
