Obama's Acceptance Speech

Sorry I have not blogged for sooo long. I have been sick and trying to catch up on my reading. I am still far behind in the reading portion.

First I want to say that last nights acceptance speech was historic and congratulation goes out to Obama for making it this far. I also want to note that it is wonderful to see a black family portrayed so positively. It is very obvious that Michelle and Barak love and respect each other. It is very refreshing to see this versus the images that we usually see in the media.

That being said, I was extremely disappointed with it. Make no mistake I am not an Obama fan and did not feel that he would make any extraordinary statements. However, I felt that the moment deserved better than what Obama delivered. This speech should have been comparable to John Kennedy's 1960 acceptance speech and it was not. Obama spent at least 50% of his speech attacking Senator McCain and President Bush. He spent less than 5 minutes talking about his economic plan and the rest of the time it was pure rhetoric. The same old same old. He does not have the time that President Kennedy had when he delivered his acceptance speech. In 1960 President Kennedy accepted the Democratic nomination in June. He did not have to be specific in his speech because he had an extra 44 days to deliver his message. Last night called for specification and Obama fell flat. He did not lay out any great plan. All he talked about was government solving all our problems while we still have to take responsibility of our own actions. It did not make sense and was the same old same old from the Democrats. I was especially appalled by his lack of gratitude to Dr. King and other civil rights pioneers. His acknowledgment, at the end of his speech, of the anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech was poor and lacking in gratitude of those who came before him. Sadly the entire speech was lacking the tone necessary for such an historic moment in time.

A moment which shows how far we have come as a country.

Michael Phelps

Today we have a new American hero - Michael Phelps. His amazing 8 gold medals will surely be a record for years to come. The work ethic that he has is sorely lacking in American government today. Our politicians need to look at Michael Phelps and emulate his work ethic. If our politicians worked as hard as he did the future of our country would be endless. Instead they resort to partisan bickering. Their goals are to get as much as they can for themselves instead of working for the better good of the country. My advice to politicians think about the future of this country and it's people. If that were their goal and they worked as hard as Michael Phelps this country would prosper and continue to be the shining light of the world.

To Michael Phelps - your are inspiration and congratulations on meeting your goals. You have made all Americans proud this week.

Drill Here Drill Now Campaign

This has been one of the best things Newt Gingrich has done in a long time. It is a great campaign designed to educate people about why we need to drill for our own energy. However, there are many left wing advocate who downplay the effect that drilling will have on the market. They are wrong. I recently learned that off limits coastal areas contain 19.1 billion barrels of oil which is the equivalent of 30 years worth of Saudi imports. In addition to the oil, there is 83.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which is enough to power American homes for 17 years. The liberals would have you believe that drilling here is useless, harmful to the environment and would not put enough oil on the market to have a substantial impact on oil prices. The coastal areas are not the only places that the environmentalist and the left wing Democrat party are stopping us from drilling in. ANWR located in Alaska has been hotly debated as a place to drill for oil. On one side of the argument, the environmentalists state it would be to harmful to the environment, wildlife and would not produce enough oil to affect supplies. The other side has a very different take on this. According to www.ANWR.org, the area where drilling will occur (called the coastal plain)is on approximately 1.5 million acres within the 19 million acre ANWR wildlife preserve. Within this 1.5 million acres it is estimated to be 3-9 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The coastal plan of ANWR is expected to be the next big oil find. It has been projected that the coastal plan of ANWR is capable of producing 1.5 million barrels of oil per day for the next twenty five years or more. This would save the American economy approximately $14 billion each year. In other words it keeps that money in America to be invested either in finding alternative sources of energy or other industries. On top of that just drilling in the Coastal plains of ANWR would create 250-735K jobs and it would not harm wildlife as exhibited by oil production in Prudhoe Bay.

I say drill here, drill now, the more oil in the market the more likely the price will come down. It is simple economics. Besides, we need oil until we can find those alternative sources of energy but we also need oil for the everyday products we use. (cars, pipes, kitchen utensils, toys, etc.)

If you do not believe the facts that are presented here just go to www.ANWR.org and to www.glennbeck.com. Also visit www.americansolutions.com to find out more about Newt Gingrich's Drill Here Drill Now campaign.

Obama's Economic Plan

Obama's economic plan is a case study in socialism and income redistribution. There are some good points in it such as requiring prompt and fair crediting of payments and prohibiting interest on fees under his Credit Card Bill of Right. However most of the rights listed would affect the bottom line of credit card companies while making consumers less responsible for their decisions.
His expansion of FMLA, encouraging states to adopt paid leave, expanding after school opportunities, protecting against caregiver discrimination and expanding flex work arrangements smacks of government control over business. There are currently numerous laws on the books that protect the employee discrimination, business are offering flex work arrangements. Kids need to be allowed to be kids and not be organized to death while adopting paid leave at the expense of taxpayers (1.5 billion) is ridiculous when most jobs already offer paid leave. On taxes he proposes a cut for working families which would eliminate taxes for 10 million families (3.2% of US pop), eliminating taxes for seniors who make less than 50K per year (8.9% pop) and simplify tax filings for the middle class by letting the IRS fill out your forms for you thereby cutting 2 billion dollars out of the tax preparer industry (resulting in lost jobs without creating jobs in a different part of the financial sector). He will provide stimulus checks of $500.00 for a single person to $1000.00 for a family at a cost of $20 billion dollars, establish a foreclosure prevention fund costing $10 billion dollars and extend/expand unemployment insurance at a cost of $10 billion dollars all while raising taxes on people who make $250k or more. Yet it has been proven through the Bush tax cuts that when taxes are cut on all segments of the population tax revenues go up. Obama's plan will surely cut tax revenues while also cutting job creation. Higher income people provide the jobs for this country. He has no plan to reduce corporate income taxes which are the second highest in the world. Furthermore, he intend to raise taxes on capital gains, dividend and regular income for those people making $200k or more. His tax increases on capital gains and dividend income could adversely affect the very people he is trying to help as most people in the middle class would also have capital gains and dividend revenue. Although he has some good points in his economic plan most is badly thought out. The impact on companies would be immense and could cause harm to industry in this country. Specifically his stance on labor and labor unions. He is a strong proponent of Employee Free Choice Act which is intentionally misleading as it would disallow secret balloting for union organization forcing people to make public their vote and thereby forcing them into a position to vote for unionization when they do not believe in it. There are plenty of laws on the books that protect workers the days of good and productive unions has long passed. Today they do nothing but protect the lazy worker and make good workers unproductive. This is only a brief synopsis of his economic plan but at the end of this plan on the Obama website he has listed his economic accomplishments in the US Senate and the Illinois State Senate: 1. Sponsor of the Stop Fraud Act, 2. Predatory Lending bill which he sponsored in IL to combat payday lenders and 3. Co-sponsor of Patriot Employer Act of 2007 which is still in committee and is actually harmful to business.
I thought that conservative talk radio was being too harsh on Obama's economic policy and not giving it a fair review. However, now that I have had a chance to review his policy, I realize that they were giving it a fair review. Just the economic policy would lead us down a dangerous path of government control over financial options/free market and it is a policy that we cannot afford.

Civil Discourse

It is infuriating to me when I encounter an individual on a blog who has to be sarcastic, rude or insulting. I have had the pleasure, over the last couple of nights, of engaging several individuals on the Politico website who have had meaningful and well thought out rebuttals to some of my posts. But there is always those few who have to be rude and hateful. I am certainly not advocating a 60's mentality of peace and love. However, a little respect goes a long way. It is one thing to advise an individual that he/she may be drinking the Kool-aid and should do a little more research. It is an entirely other situation when an individual because rude and hateful by name calling, saying hurtful things about one's family or belittles an individual by tell them they are stupid in so may words. Civil discourse is a must in polite society as well as a must when speaking about political matters. There is no need to get rude or hostile. We can all learn from each other whether we are liberals, conservative, independents, republicans democrats or libertarians.

If you thinks someone is an idiot back up your statements with facts and direct them to those facts. They may not be aware of them or have read something different which has given that individual their perspective.

Why I am Running For President per Obama

He is running for President because "America is, is no longer, uh, what it could be, what it, it once was," "And I say to myself, I don't want that future for my children." Barak Obama to a 7 year old who asked why he was running for President. This has got to be one of the most degrading answers that a presidential candidate has every given. One runs for President because they want to improve an already great country. Someone who actually cared about this country in it's present form - a republic - would want to continue the tradition of it being the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. We have a great country - we have made mistakes, we have learned from them and throughout our history we have continued to operate one of the greatest forms of government in history. What Obama wants is a USSA (United Socialist States of America) not a USA. That is the future he wants for this country - one where the government takes care of all your problems and takes all your money. As one person so eloquently put it - "We can all hope we have some change when he is done with this country!"

What Happened to America

I wrote this a couple of years ago but feel that it is still relevant today.

I am 33 years old and already asking “What Happened to America?” So much has changed in the last 20 years that it is hard to believe I am still living in a country that was founded on the great principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What would the Founding Fathers say about what has happened to their vision. They fought against tyranny, taxation without representation, and a crazed monarch who felt that the Americans should pay for all wars, and debts that England had incurred. I believe the Founding Fathers are looking down upon the new America with disgust, and sadness but hope that a new generation can look beyond the nonsense in politics and take the country back to the days of true patriotism. When it was alright to love your country, support your leaders and criticize without vicious personal attacks. And most of all to be dependent on oneself and family, not the government, in order to live, survive, prosper and grow not only as individuals but as a country.

When I was in 2nd grade I develop a love for United States history because of one teacher, Mrs. Eckert. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in all of my seven years of life. She was tall and elegant, perfectly dressed and a wonderful teacher. But that is not why I remember her. I remember her because she gave us our first dose of patriotism. How did she do that? By teaching us songs of Patriotism. I learned to sing God Bless America, America the Beautiful, It’s a Grand Old Flag, Yankee Doodle Dandy ( the one for kids and the George M. Cohan one), The Battle Hymn of the Republic and The Star Spangled Banner. My own daughter was not taught these songs in school. She only knows them from myself and country radio. Why? Are the songs so offensive because they are patriotic and use the term God? Someone please tell me why!

I never experienced prayer in school until I went to Catholic school. At Catholic school we said the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer before starting our day. What is the big deal? Now let me make it very clear, I am not an overly religious person. I believe in God and I believe Jesus was sent here for a purpose. However I don’t see how prayer hurts anyone. My husband was born in 1957 and remembers praying in school. He stated, “It was not a big deal.” There were mostly Catholics in his school but there were other denominations as well. He told me they would say a prayer and at recess the Catholics would tease the Baptists, the Baptists would tease the Catholics and someone would yell “Let’s play ball” and all was forgotten. As far as he and his friends were concerned, it was no big deal. Why is it a big deal now - can someone tell me why?

I see that Wal-Mart is going to encourage the use of “Merry Christmas”. Why was it banned in the first place? Christians don’t have a right to celebrate the holiday? But every other religion has the right to celebrate their specials days. Beyond Christians many people celebrate Christmas because they enjoy being around friends and family. They enjoy the spirit of the holiday. Some non-religious people even say Merry Christmas to each other. When did putting up a Christmas tree infer the government was promoting a specific religion? Isn’t the Christmas tree really a pagan symbol, therefore has nothing to do with the Christian religion? Where is the ACLU when the National Christmas Tree is lit every year. By their definition the National Christmas Tree is promoting a specific religion. I don’t think so, but the question still remains: Why is being Christian and celebrating specific holidays so wrong? Especially in a country that has no national religion and was founded on the basis of religious freedom.

Which leads me to my next question. Why is saying “One Nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance so bad? I mean the majority of people in this country don’t have a problem with it. So why should a minority of people be allowed to tell us what can and can’t be done? Doesn’t Allah, translated to English mean God. I thought I was being crazy. But I asked a co-worker who was Muslim what Allah translated to English meant and she said God. My husband who studied the Koran and Muslim religion, prior to going to Iraq in 1990-91 said the same thing. I even asked a man from Jordan. You know he said an amazing thing to me: “ It meant God.”

Why did we turn from a republic to a quasi-socialist government. Did the Great Depression suddenly make people realize that self sufficiency was not the answer and only government could take care of us. Why is there a Great Society and why do Democrats feel government intrusion is the only answer? Why do welfare recipients get money but don’t have to do anything for it? Why is there an Earned Income Credit for those who barely earn any income but not for those who earn a solid middle class income.

Why do the Democrats say the Bush tax cuts only help the rich? I guess my family must be among the rich, even though our income is well below $100,000 per year. I received a tax cut. Even though it was not thousands of dollars, it still was enough for me to say “wow” and go spend it. Why is it that Democrats will let the current tax cuts like the Child Tax Credit expire, but say they want to cut taxes on the middle class. Isn’t that raising taxes? In 2010 if those tax reduction are not made permanent, my taxes will go up by $1,000.00. Doesn’t sound like they want to cut taxes. Silly me, I thought the Democrats were for the middle class.

Why does there have to be a show called “Made in America”? What happened to cause America to stop making things? I know I would pay more for items that were made in this country. I have met countless other people who say the same thing. So why aren’t more things made in this country? Is it because corporations are so greedy, they would ship jobs overseas to avoid paying higher wages. (The Democrats and Unions would say this) I really don’t think that is the case - I believe higher taxes and out of control wages are the cause of the demise of the American product.

I also believe that the culture of “You have to have a College Education” has contributed to the decline of the American product. Since when does everyone one need to go to college to succeed. Wasn’t our country built on tradesman, artisans, carpenters and other types of labor? How can Americans still be artisans, tradesman, carpenters and other laborers when the use of hands and thinking without a computer is not encouraged? What happened to education in this country? Since when is alright to teach to the slowest child instead of to the average child? Why has the high school diploma been devalued? Why is it that every idiot can get in to college instead of making it a true haven for our best and brightest? Countless times, I would sit in a college class and the whole class would be slowed down because one person just didn’t get it. I met many people who would have better benefited from on the job training or going to a trade school rather than traditional college. Now a Bachelor’s degree is really no good and you have to have a Masters Degree or Doctorate to advance in your chosen career with any speed. Since when did having a degree mean you had any common sense. In the Insurance industry, to be a claims adjuster, you have to have a college degree because it shows you can think analytically. Please! What you need is common sense and the ability to ask questions. There are many jobs listed in the Help Wanted Ads that require a college degree, but in reality a little on the job training would go a long way. I am not saying college is not important. On the contrary I believe that the more you know the better off you will be. However, there are many other avenues of learning.

This brings me to the serious problem of partisan politics. For example, the newly elected Democratic majority in the Congress say they want bipartisanship; that they will reach out and work with the Republicans. They know what the American people want and it is change. No more polarization in politics. Come on - lets get real. They will try to suppress any type of Republican legislation, they really don’t care what the American people want (less taxes, tough illegal immigration laws, etc.) and they are not going to work with this President. What happened to “No Taxation without Representation” Wait! This isn’t a politically correct thing to say, because it goes against the current wave of socialism sweeping our country. Without excessive taxation, how could the government run our lives as well as give us everything we need. Wait a minute, doesn’t this go against the principles our country was founded on?

What happened to serving in the military? Why did it become, for so long, disgraceful to be in the military. Why did the baby boomers - the product of one of the greatest generations in American history - decide that being in the military was so disgraceful? Why did they spit on the troops returning from Vietnam? Why did the great John Kerry disgrace himself, and the rest of the military, by calling his fellow servicemen murderers and rapists. Then throwing his medals over the fence of the White House? Why does he, and others like him, pretend to care about veterans? When in fact, had they truly cared, they would have stood up and said “Those men and women should be treated with respect even if we disagree with the mission in Vietnam. They were only doing their job.” Why is it, even today, the thought of a draft brings on great fear? In the past, one of the greatest things a man could do was serve his country. Why did it take the Gulf War for the military to be appreciated again? Was it because they won and drove Saddam out of Kuwait? Even though we lost in Vietnam, because politicians stuck their noses where they didn’t belong, didn’t the military still protect and defend us in the years between Vietnam and the Gulf War?

What happened to the family? Why is it so important for both parents to work outside of the home? Why is it disgraceful to be a stay at home mother? I ask myself that question every day because truthfully I feel like less of a woman because I stay at home. Why do I feel this way and why was my generation conditioned to believe this? Why is it that kids cannot come home from school and play outside, instead having to be involved in a plethora of extra curricular activities? Where did the sandbox go? Where did imagination go?

Speaking of kids. Who said they had to have everything the parents didn’t? Believe me, I am as guilty of this anyone else. Why is it kids have the ability to control a house, but parents are looked down upon if they use corporal punishment. Not every parent is a child abuser. I was spanked as a child and put into a corner when I was bad. I didn’t turn out to be a psychopathic killer. I’m not a degenerate and I don’t beat my kids. Social Services and the media have created this environment to a certain extent. They run stories that involve child abusers and killers making it seem as though every child is potentially a victim. When did we become a society of victims?

Which brings me to political correctness. Why is being called an American offensive. Why are we divided into white Americans, African-Americans, Latin Americans and so on. I am proud of the different ethnic backgrounds that make up my family because of immigration. But the fact is, I was born in the good old USA. Not Greece, Ireland or England, therefore I am an American not a Greek American, Irish American or English American.

Another problem with political correctness is that it ultimately causes discrimination, called Affirmative Action. We have to check a box about our gender and ethnic background. Companies are required to hire so many from each race or gender regardless of their qualifications. No wonder we have angry white, middle aged males. They are being denied jobs based on their race and gender in favor of someone else’s. But these rules are on the books because judges and lawyers state that, without them, certain groups would be disenfranchised. I understand that prior to the civil rights movement and the civil rights laws of the 1960's there was discrimination based on race and gender, however the United States Code has been amended to prevent racial and sexual discrimination. So I ask again why do we need Affirmative Action? Isn’t Affirmative Action a politically correct way of saying we don’t think you are qualified but we will put that aside because of your race and gender?

What happened to personal responsibility? If you stick a cigarette in your mouth and breath in the smoke it is not hard to figure out that what you’re doing may not be smart. Likewise eating fast food everyday or stuffing your face like your some kind of pig, going to slaughter, is equally stupid. So, why do we sue tobacco companies and fast food restaurants? Are average Americans so stupid they can’t figure out smoking and overeating is unhealthy? People make the choice to stick a cigarette or food in their mouths, so why do tobacco companies have to pay for their stupidity? Notice, I only mentioned tobacco companies as they do produce a lot of the food products on grocery store shelves. Hey, they are peddling a product and we are buying it. So, if we are making the choice to purchase it, doesn’t that mean we have to take personal responsibility for that choice?

Where did all the heroes go? Heroes like Thomas Jefferson, Audie Murphy, George Patton, John Kennedy, Douglas MacArthur, Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, Dolly Madison and so on. People who did what they thought was right and just. Why is it that overpaid actors and athletes are the new heroes. Who said they did anything special? Why did it take over two years for a Marine Corporal to receive recognition, in the media, for valor above and beyond the call of duty? As far as the media is concerned, in the coming weeks it will be yesterdays news. What Paris Hilton or Britney Spears is doing will be far more important than the young men and women actually doing something for the greater good of society.

Which brings me back to my original question: “What happened to America?”

Mexican National Executed

Last night a Mexican national was executed in Texas. This was the right thing to do as he was a murderous rapist who killed a 14 and 15 year old after a gang initiation when he was 18 years old. He claimed 4 years after he was tried and convicted that he was not granted his right to consult the Mexican consulate. There are at least 50 other cases like this in the United States. The World Court ordered that those cases should be reviewed again. The Texas case had several reviews and found that he did not ask for the service and waiting until 4 years after his conviction to bring this up was to long. The Supreme Court (thank heavens for Bush) ruled that the President and the Legislature could not interfere with the individual states thereby telling the World Court to go to the devil's home. This would be one of the best decision the Supreme Court has issued in years. This Mexican had lived in this country since he was 3 years old, learned English and was educated yet he still went the gang route - he made the choice that night to rape, torture and kill those girls, I have no sympathy for him. The family of the girls finally have some closure for that we should be grateful.

Energy and Democrats

I just read an interesting article on the Politico website; Pelosi: At-risk Dems back drilling. Only because she tells them to. It is amazing that the Democrats think the people are so stupid. Their internal polling shows that we the people view the President and the GOP as the incumbent party? Most people I know realize that the Dems are the incumbent party in Congress. They are so confident that they are going to win more seats in both the house and the Senate but that will not happen if the GOP goes thru with their threatened shut down of the government which would happen if the Senate does not the pass the budget with a vote of 60 or more.

Remember in 2006 when Pelosi and her gang stated they had a plan to bring down gas prices? In Nov 2006 the national average was a little over $2.00 per gallon (here in OH it was about $1.86) now the national average is over $4.00 (here in OH it is about $3.70) The only reason why gas has come down in the last couple of weeks is because of the President lifting the ban on oil drilling. But the Democrats have a plan - the plan is to run this country into the ground and make us a 3rd world country. But Pelosi and the Democrats just want to "save the planet."

Climate Change Denier

"A change in our climate however is taking place very sensibly. Both heats and cold are become much more moderate within the memory even of the middle-aged. Snows are less frequent and less deep. The do not often lie, below the mountains, more than one, two or three days, and very rarely a week. They are remembered to have been formerly frequent, deep, and of long continuance. The elderly inform me the earth used to be covered with snow about three months in every year. The rivers, which then seldom failed to freeze over in the course of the winter, scarcely ever do so now. This has produced an unfortunate fluctuation between heat and cold, in the spring of the year, which is very fatal to fruits."

A climate denier that the left embrace - he also favored a decentralized government. How can liberals embrace him?