Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Me
Who am I? I'm a conundrum. I'm a riddle. I can't be placed in a box or put upon a shelf. I'm unique and I'm special and I'm exactly who I want to be...I am me. No one person knows all of me. Perhaps, they never will. I'm that sparkling, multi-faceted gem in the bottom of your drawer just waiting to be taken out into the sunlight, where my luster cannot be ignored. Will you discover me???? ;)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Has everyone gone nuts???
Has everyone gone nuts? I’m serious here. The new president is pushing for the largest increase in government spending since who knows when and everyone is idly sitting back and with much apathy and little grit doing nothing but complain. Wake up people! We are going to increase the national debt by untold amounts in order to expand funding for social programs and create jobs, but cut the high paying, highly technical jobs that are associated with national defense.
So, the people with some drive and ambition that actually create products that help protect and defend all of us will lose their jobs and we will create lower paying jobs and or increase government assistance??? How does this make sense? Sure, let’s just arbitrarily cut funding for the F-22 before the F-35 is even in full production. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Because everyone in the world is going to hold hands and sing kumbaya when Hillary and Obama tell them to, right? Because the political climate throughout the world is exceedingly stable and predictable and everyone loves us that we don’t really need billions to modernize our Army?
I really don’t get it. We are the people. We have the power. But, we sit on our laurels. We complain. We wallow. We lazily spew opinions. However, we never strive to let our opinions be heard. “Oh, well. There isn’t anything that I can do about it.” If I hear that one more time, I may scream. What made America the greatest nation on earth was the willingness of its people, of its very fabric, to engage their heart and soul in the process, in the collective vision, and in the identity of the country. Are we so sedentary and disconnected that we now thinks it’s acceptable to just shrug our shoulders, hang our heads, give in and admit defeat.
I, for one, just can’t do that. I have a voice and I want to use it. This is wrong. The current direction of our country is irrevocably flawed. I don’t want more government assistance; I want less. I want a welfare system that actively teaches, encourages and prepares people to be independent of the government. Do we need a safety net? Maybe, but not in its current form. Perhaps, if my tax burden wasn’t so high, I could more effectively help my friends and family that have been negatively impacted by the downturn in the economy. That’s the spirit in which the country developed and thrived; neighbor helping neighbor; community uplifting community.
I want a military that is the strongest, most efficient, most technically advanced in the world. And, I want it to be self-sufficient. I don’t want to rely on foreign powers, be they friend or foe, for key technologies or equipment. I want to know, in a time of crisis, they will have what they need and it can be supplied from home. This was the great miracle of World War II. Have we forgotten our past?
I want a less cumbersome, simpler, flatter tax system. Give me a luxury tax; give me a flat tax. Just quit giving me something that requires a rocket scientist to figure it out. I’ll gladly pay taxes for national defense, education, and technology development. These are commodities that bring prosperity to our country and its people. So many other items need to be put back into the hands of the states and of the people residing in those states. I don’t need or want the government involved in every aspect and nuance of my life.
Find your voice and use it. Call your congressmen, your senators, the media. Write a letter. Attend a rally. Do something other than sitting on the couch and whine about how horrible the economy is or direction the country is headed. It’s up to us. We have no one to blame, but ourselves.
“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handles.” ~ Winston Churchill
So, the people with some drive and ambition that actually create products that help protect and defend all of us will lose their jobs and we will create lower paying jobs and or increase government assistance??? How does this make sense? Sure, let’s just arbitrarily cut funding for the F-22 before the F-35 is even in full production. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Because everyone in the world is going to hold hands and sing kumbaya when Hillary and Obama tell them to, right? Because the political climate throughout the world is exceedingly stable and predictable and everyone loves us that we don’t really need billions to modernize our Army?
I really don’t get it. We are the people. We have the power. But, we sit on our laurels. We complain. We wallow. We lazily spew opinions. However, we never strive to let our opinions be heard. “Oh, well. There isn’t anything that I can do about it.” If I hear that one more time, I may scream. What made America the greatest nation on earth was the willingness of its people, of its very fabric, to engage their heart and soul in the process, in the collective vision, and in the identity of the country. Are we so sedentary and disconnected that we now thinks it’s acceptable to just shrug our shoulders, hang our heads, give in and admit defeat.
I, for one, just can’t do that. I have a voice and I want to use it. This is wrong. The current direction of our country is irrevocably flawed. I don’t want more government assistance; I want less. I want a welfare system that actively teaches, encourages and prepares people to be independent of the government. Do we need a safety net? Maybe, but not in its current form. Perhaps, if my tax burden wasn’t so high, I could more effectively help my friends and family that have been negatively impacted by the downturn in the economy. That’s the spirit in which the country developed and thrived; neighbor helping neighbor; community uplifting community.
I want a military that is the strongest, most efficient, most technically advanced in the world. And, I want it to be self-sufficient. I don’t want to rely on foreign powers, be they friend or foe, for key technologies or equipment. I want to know, in a time of crisis, they will have what they need and it can be supplied from home. This was the great miracle of World War II. Have we forgotten our past?
I want a less cumbersome, simpler, flatter tax system. Give me a luxury tax; give me a flat tax. Just quit giving me something that requires a rocket scientist to figure it out. I’ll gladly pay taxes for national defense, education, and technology development. These are commodities that bring prosperity to our country and its people. So many other items need to be put back into the hands of the states and of the people residing in those states. I don’t need or want the government involved in every aspect and nuance of my life.
Find your voice and use it. Call your congressmen, your senators, the media. Write a letter. Attend a rally. Do something other than sitting on the couch and whine about how horrible the economy is or direction the country is headed. It’s up to us. We have no one to blame, but ourselves.
“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handles.” ~ Winston Churchill
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