Halloween Donut Party was a Grand Success

Tonight, random people I know- starting with my parents (above) -showed up tonight to the donut party with "Kirk Chugg for President" shirts. If there is a novelty to be made, Karla Chugg can make it. Apparently many people are dissatisfied with their choices for president this election cycle. A lot of it has to do with my lack of media coverage. Not one reporter has even called me for an interview. My campaign manager (mom) has started a little late this year on the advertising but hey I just announced my candidacy a couple days ago so I think she's doing a nice job.

The donut party was a Muscular Dystrophy Association fill the boot fundraiser. We were honored to have my friend Ryan Berube here to support us. Ryan's been a hero for many people with this disease and for us who don't. Ryan's an inspiration to us all. It was awesome that he stayed the whole time.

The fire fighters had three calls to go to before coming up to the house but they got there with their sirens and all just before the donuts ran out. Thanks to my good friend Jeremiah Jones of North View Fire Department for helping us out. We were able to raise $200 dollars to give to MDA. Thanks to all our neighbors and friends for their donations and friends and family that helped put on a huge production for our little family. Carin made about 250-300 donuts. That is not an easy thing to do with two babies and a three year old. Good work to you!

After hovering over a boiling lake of oil for 2 hours, Carin says I smell like a giant donut tonight. Perhaps that is a compliment. She loves a good doNUT and I guess I've smelled worse so I'll take it.

The first near fatalitiy of the Halloween Season....

So I have to admit tonight I am pretty proud of myself. When we remodeled the house about a year ago, we bought all new appliances and made the monthly sales quotas for the wonderful people at Boyle's Appliance Center. However, our new dishwasher had some problems. Boyles sent out a nice young man that fixed our dishwasher a total of four times. At this point the dishwasher wasn't even old enough to be dirty let alone be on it's 3rd motor replacement. We may have gotten a lemon I don't know. Boyle's did a good job at servicing the sale and we will always buy our appliances there-just probably not another Amana.....I digress.

So tonight, the terrible deep and diabolical growl that would wake a bear from hibernation manifested itself once more. The first 4 visits were under warranty but after the first year we are all alone for the bill. Every time I watch these guys work on my appliances I kick myself for not having the gumption to tear the thing down myself. I think of myself as a pretty handy guy....

So, I decided that I would try to fix it myself tonight. I torn the whole thing apart, down to the motor and found our little friend the pumpkin seed. We carved our pumpkins for the party tomorrow night and apparently a couple slipped in the dishwasher. Who knew a little seed could make such a ruckus?! So here I sit, with no extra screws, plastic parts or major injuries feeling so very proud to add a project to my very short list of projects that have gone as planned with no swear words or midnight trips to Home Depot.

Announcement!!!!

My name is Kirk and I am running for President. Here's my platform.
You should vote for me if.....
1. Someone else in America makes more money than you do. We'll finally do something about that.
2. You ever want to go to college. If I am not president, you will not go.
3. You need a new car. I will give you mine.
4. You have ever paid a doctor's bill you thought was too high. My health care plan eliminates doctors (or at least the good ones).
5. You think cars should run off of love. A gallon of love is cheaper than Venezuelan Gas.
6. You think all public education needs is a few more playground balls for recess.
7. You want a Persian Rug. I know the Iranian President guy will call me and I can probably swing a deal on a whole boat of them.
8. Love San Diego weather. I will start with a big cruise on Royal Caribbean to San Diego for every American. Next, I will ask my geography advisor Bill Nye, to develop a weather pattern to bless our entire country with year round bliss.
9. You want a president who understands the economy. I am currently heavily invested in whatever department store Sarah Palin shops at and Royal Caribbean.
10. You want a president that understands what it's like to be the little guy. My feet don't even touch the floor when I sit on my lazy boy.
11. Love Green lawns. I guarantee that your lawn will be greener with less watering and fertilizer with my administration than with my opponents. Has your lawn really been that green under Bush? That's what I thought.
12. Finally want a president with Yiddish ancestry. I am 50% English, 49.5% Welsh and 0.5% Yiddish. Ja wohl!
13. Are tired of neighbors with bad looking yards. The time has come people to stand up and say, "Enough! I'm an American and I'm not going to take it anymore!" My administration will conduct a nationwide initiative to eliminate crappy-looking yards through community organizing.
14. You love coupons. If I am elected president, I will send every American a membership to the "Coupon of the Month Club for America" This should also bolster our economy with in two or three months depending on the coupon.
15. Don't think immigrants should be called "Aliens"-illegal or not. That's just racist people. Every illegal immigrant will receive a Welcome-to-America Fruit Basket and citizenship within 40-50 years.
16. Don't believe Social Security is broke. We don't need to worry about older folk! With my health care initiatives, no one will live past 67.
17. Would like terrorism defeated worldwide. (Obama's plan is similar-see link)

18. Like Corn. Nothing better than corn on the cob.

19. Would like to be an Olympian. My President's Fitness Program will make sure there are no fat people among us, making us all healthier, thus eliminating the need for Medicare.

20. If you have ever been fired or turned down for a job. There's was probably some discrimination involved somewhere. Jackie Chiles will be my Attorney General. Nothing gets past this guy.

21. Finally want a conservative liberal in the White House.

My Name is Kirk and I approve this message...because I wrote it myself.

Hey Mister! Where's my tip?

In my mind, this was the prize-winner of our ward's Halloween party for creative costume.

I am done with all the personal attacks but with Obama's obvious socialist tendencies on tax policy, I feel this is fitting. Thank you to Choopes for the contribution.

Yesterday on my way to lunch at Doe's, I passed one of the homeless guys in that area, with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." Once in Doe's my waiter had on a "Obama 08" tee shirt.
When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $3 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful.
As I got in my car, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was very mad that I gave away the money he did earn. Well, I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on, with those doing the work.

For all of you that say that Obama won't give those who do nothing a tax break, perhaps another example-All the fundraising dollars that Mr. Obama and his campaign have put in the coffers over the last two years should be equally divided between himself and Mr. McCain. McCain has been working pretty hard and he's old!

Don't Mix the Kool-Aid!

Today, New York State Governor David Patterson held a press conference with the same tone as California did about a month ago. "We are broke and we'll need federal assistance"An article about it can be found here. Since New York State derives a whopping 20% of it's revenues from Wall Street which is obviously not making the money it once was, the State find itself much like a welfare recipient told that he will have to go to work or sell the bimmer. The falling revenues have ballooned the deficit projection for the state to $12.5 Billion. So here's my question for the day....if this was your household and you found out that next year you'd be severely in debt, what would you be expected to do? Probably sell your belongings, get another job, move from your home and reduce your standard of living. And when a government faces extreme debts? We just ask for a loan, a grant or assistance from the federal government's checkbook from the Bank of China. Is it any coincidence that the first two states to publicly acknowledge their financial turmoil are irrefutably and by far the two most socialistic and big government run liberal homesteads? Eh....don't think so.

So what should these states do? Perhaps some welfare reform, perhaps some funding cuts for their ultra-liberalized education system and less government bureaucracy. I don't think New York or California deserve any more federal grants. In 2006, New York received 5.9% of the entire country's budget. ($144 Billion dollars in government assistance) What American in their right mind would let the State get away with asking for more? Trim some fat people.....

So what did we learn today?

#1.Socialism and Capitalism don't mix. You can't have it both ways. If you're going to spend the money, you'd better have it to spend before you write the check. However, there is always the US Government which has opened the door and given itself to become the "Sugar-Daddy" of the new century.

#2. If you're going to ride the liberal high tide of spending on government social programs on the backs of Wall Street investors in the good times, then you'd better think twice about denouncing the "evils of American Capitalism" in the bad at the risk of appearing to be a financially illiterate kool-aid drinker.

#3. Diversify your investments and save 10 percent of your income for a rainy day. These "ideas" have been around a while. If NY knew that 20% of it's income depended on securities who hedged that the overinflated prices of 600 sq. ft. Manhattan apartments averaging $1.67 M would continue to rise, don't you think you'd have a back-up plan if Wall Street had a period of repricing? That never happens though..I mean look at history......or not. And just because you have the money doesn't mean it needs to be spent. It rains in New York right?

This is one socio-economic policy whose merits the Manhattan liberals would have a hard time explaining. (Notice a couple of the links are to the unbiased NY Times?)

The Gipper

The Gipper and I are of a similar opinion. I wrote almost the same thing last week only he said it more eloquently 25 years ago.

“The most dangerous myth is the demagoguery that business can be made to pay a larger share, thus relieving the individual. Politicians preaching this are either deliberately dishonest, or economically illiterate, and either one should scare us. Business doesn’t pay taxes, and who better than business to make this message known? Only people pay taxes, and people pay as consumers every tax that is assessed against a business. Begin with the food and fiber raised in the farm, to the ore drilled in a mine, to the oil and gas from out of the ground, whatever it may be—through the processing, through the manufacturing, on out to the retailer’s license. If the tax cannot be included in the price of the product, no one along that line can stay in business.” —Ronald Reagan

Spaceship Obama

Check out this video of Joe Biden finally being asked some real questions by a reporter. There was al link to YouTube but this links to the local news station's website. Something about copyright-pff. After the interview, the Obama campaign refused to do any more interviews with the station citing unprofessional reporting. Does it remind you at all of a grade school bully running to tell the teacher that someone finally stood up to him and exposed his inadequacies? Don't ask me those questions...I want softball questions about Obama's next speaking engagement. This is but a little taste of what we as Americans are in for with an Obama presidency.

This is the first time in the whole campaign that I have seen a reporter actually doing his/her job. Notice how defensive he gets when asked about socialism or Marxism. The problem is that these people on Spaceship Obama don't see themselves as Marxists or Socialists. Obama has apparently figured out how to stimulate the liberal medulla oblongata causing mass delusion and willfulness to buy his socialist snake oil. I agree with the comment on an earlier post by Choopes. She said, "I guess some Americans really would rather live under communism, just as long as we disguise it as a democracy." Call it willful ignorance.

Break my System and I will Break Your Bones!

Carlee and Kory Hoopes from choopes.com and insomniacsoup.com made me aware of the Constitution party's presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin tonight. He seems like an honest guy and I wish they would give some air time to him but of course his validity is compromised by what Americans see as gospel and that is the media's opinion. I don't know if I would necessarily vote for Baldwin just because I haven't seen enough of him to know what his character and background looks like. I don't know. It's a broken system. I wish we could get someone with the same ideals it sounds like Baldwin has to run on a national republican or democrat ticket so it actually would be a possibility to become President. The way our government works with the current two party system is like a best ball four man scramble. It doesn't really matter who wins the white house because politics will continue as usual. The Republicans don't want to support a third party candidate because it takes votes from them and Democrats won't support a third party because third parties always seem to be right of center. For a democrat, there is nothing else. If conservative Americans had a brain in their head collectively, they could come up with someone like Baldwin, nominate him and put him out there as the standard of conservatism a year in advance. It happened with Reagan after Carter. But Reagan started running for President in 68 and wasn't elected until 80. It's an overused euphemism but we really do need to break up the old boys club in Washington. I laugh when I hear Sarah Palin and John McCain say they will change everything in Washington. There is so much corruption in Washington behind dirty money, they would squash Palin in a heartbeat. If they walk in there on day one and do what they said they'd do, Congress would shut down completely and render our government good for nothing for at least 4 years, McCain would be a one-termer because the country would revolt because of the inaction of government and this has historically always been pinned on the president. Yet another flaw in our country's political mores. If my life is bad, I'm blaming the president. It's happened all through our history. There needs to be a period of complete humbling in America. (Perhaps we need an Obama to screw us over so completely for 4 years that we have to come up with a massive uprising.) Until then, we can expect more of the same. Dems and Repugs will never bring the change that we all want. Third Parties are the only option right now and until we can create a system with more diversity in thought we will be stuck right where we are...waiting for the second coming to sort it all out.

Tidbit

Here's a factoid that will do you no good except maybe one day in a game of trivial pursuit. When was the last time the Republicans won the White House without Nixon or a Bush on the ticket? Give up...? 1928. If only the Grand Old Party could have convinced Jeb Bush to run, perhaps they'd have had a chance against the "chosen one".

America's Short Term Memory

I drove past the Flying J this morning and saw gas was $2.89. Who ever knew that would make anyone happy? So now that gas prices are coming down, supposedly due to the cost of oil being half as expensive as it was this summer, I hope Americans keep talking about alternatives to foreign oil. It happens every time we start into research, putting legislation together and the such when oil gets expensive, then gas prices come down and we all figure that all is well in Zion and forget about investment into alternatives.

Today, OPEC met in one of the most beautiful cities in the world (Vienna) and decided to cut oil production by 1.5 M barrels a day to slow the drop in oil prices. I guess it's okay to ride the markets if it means the price goes up but not if it goes down then huh? Their explanation during the $140/barrel days was..."Well, we can't do anything about it because the markets control the prices..not us.." Well, I'll be the first to raise my left hand and call BS on that excuse again. We pay $4.50/gallon and it's okay but when we pay less than $3.00 we are stealing huh? Check out the news story here. Arg.

Traders and OPEC know the history of American habits and oil prices as well as anyone and will continue to manipulate the price of oil and gas to protect their interests. I'd like to see the U.S. give OPEC the bird and invest in alternatives regardless of the price of oil. I just hope this time we don't forget that cheaper gas doesn't make it any safer. We'll have to end our love with the almighty dollar before that happens though. How about we take the grants we give "non-profits" like Planned Parenthood and ACORN and give some government grants to companies that invest in new forms of energy instead. Novel idea. My guess is no one in Washington has a brain left.

BTW, if oil is the same price now as it was when gas was $2.00/gallon, why are gas prices not $2.00? Just sayin'......

The Giant Checkbook in the Sky.....

For you small government folk out there, I have found a website to make your blood boil. I ran into it on accident today and decided to see how our great state of Utah is helped out by our federal government. To see the list of recipients and amounts they received through grants, and federally guaranteed loans and the such click here.

In 2006 alone, the federal government gave assistance to entities in the State of Utah totaling $10,559,308,443.

I understand the importance of federal tax dollars helping some organizations like schools, cities and veterans affairs but excuse me if I have a problem with Planned Parenthood of Utah receiving $1,281,330 of our tax dollars to run their agendas. This was not a loan to planned parenthood it was a grant to a "non-profit." Countdown to blood reaching boiling point in 2 minutes........Furthermore, why would the St. George H&R- freaking-Block need a federally guaranteed loan of $243,750? Doesn't H&R Block do well enough without the help of the taxpayer? You may be wondering why Joy-Luck Chinese restaurant is so much nicer. It may have been the $965,000 loan we gave them. You may want to take a look through the list and see the number of small businesses that our federal government gives loans/grants to.

I understand that the federal government has a responsibility to it's citizens but I can't remember where it is written that we give free money and federally guaranteed loans to private enterprise and left wing nut-jobs. Can't the private sector deal with Small Business Loans as well if not better than the government? Unless of course it was shoved into an economic rescue bill somewhere. Why is my government spending money in places like this? Why are we such a socially dependant society that subscribes to the mantra of- "I'll let someone take care of me"? Perhaps the answer lies within our own government's fiscal policies. Call it a new use for the term "trickle-down-effect".

Many fret that we may soon see a socialistic style government with Obama in office. As John McCain might put it "I have news for you my friends" we already do. Excuse me while I go read the constitution. This stuff has to be in there somewhere....doesn't it......???

Obvious lack of a life

I have no life. I find myself at the ripe old age of 27 reading National Geographic (my favorite left leaning-save the planet magazine) and watching the History channel specials on presidents. That's right my friends, I have become so incensed with the current political campaign machine that I have turned to not only the History Channel but the specials they show High School kids without commercials. I have covered all of the 20th century as of tonight and find myself as hopeless as ever for the state of our country. I am sorry for whatever affection you hold for any particular POTUS in the past or fantasy world that you've imagined where every POTUS is an upstanding principled man with impeccable character. I realize after watching this that every president in the history of our country was defined by some cause that he took upon himself to be the national champion of. Most men were not elected to office because of who they were in the eyes of Americans (with maybe the exception of Gen. Eisenhower) but from the dire circumstances created by the government of their past presidencies/congresses. Each came to office with certain goals, some egotistical and some admirable. Some were effective and some found their goals were victims to an unsettled American public.

Today, I see the thin veil of ignorance in today's political campaigning. Every POTUS was seen as, expected to be and championed as the "Messiah" and the one who would stand up for the "average American" and get us out of this mess. Call me cynical but one man at the head of a massive and corrupt government can't change the world no matter how "called" he may feel to the task. Real change has to occur with each and every American. We again revert back to the topic of "if someone else will do it for me, I'll let him" mentality.

What if each American said to him/herself....hey wake up (self) and take a look at what I am doing to solve the problems I complain all day about. Hey(self), what am I doing to give back to the making of a better country and hey (self)...am I draining on the system? and if I am...I'm going to get off my @$$ and make a difference myself instead of trying to anointing some "savior of the country" to be my big bad boyfriend whose going to show those Republicans/Democrats back in Washington a thing or two. By the way I think if the tables were reversed and the Republicans were in the lead, had an influential and historical figure, that they too would anoint him the flag-bearer of a "new day" in Washington. These ideas and tactics are not party-specific.

Now, perhaps the only thing to do is throw a History Channel Party and immerse ourselves in the 1800's for fun next.

ESPN's new High Octane, Heart-Pounding Programming!!!

Carin and I were flipping through the channels tonight and I saw Madden Nation on ESPN. Now, I have never been one for video games. I had the first Nintendo with duck hunt. The parents splurged and got the set with the orange gun and power pad. I enjoyed myself but it never encompassed my entire life as it did with other friends who have apparently fallen victim to the CAGS. (Chronic Adult Gaming Syndrome) Nothing wrong with a little serious gaming every now and then but when it encompassed your whole life to the point that you are watching other people on TV play video games, you may have the condition. If you are too lazy to actually play the video game or obsessed enough to not even watch real people playing the game, you have some serious problems my friend.

In the very little research I did on the program, I did find out that this year is season three....sorry people this is not filler programming...it's the good stuff.

Ah.... to have early direction!

I am a very lucky guy who gets to go home teaching to the coolest family on earth and in the process of blogging, get to participate in other fun activities with them. My friend Jordan is a very talented artist that uses crazy ideas to make awesome comics. When I look at his passion for drawing, I sometimes wish I had a direction that early in life and a passion for what my career would eventually be like. Although I can't really imagine myself studying insurance and investment products as a kid! Way to go Jordan. I love your comics. Check out Jordan's blog and some of his drawings at http://www.jordancomix.blogspot.com/. He's also got a pretty good political mind as well.

The American "Entitlement" Dream

So how would you define the American dream? For the last ten years, being a "homeowner" has been labeled as the epitome of the American dream. I might be wrong about his but since when did home ownership become a right of every individual in America regardless of their income and part of banking and monetary policies to be regulated by the government?

The way I understand the American dream is one's opportunity to rise to a level of personal success that the world would not have expected of nor given to you. If you look at the great "American Dream" stories, you find individuals that came to America and worked their fingers to the bone building a business, organization or just plain hard work every day of their lives to provide their children with that which they did not have. America doesn't care who you are, where you're from or how many times you've failed. Everyone has a chance to become whatever they want to be-by their own merits. THAT is what makes America great.

Again, I don't understand why owning a home is synonymous with being successful or taking part in the American Dream. And my government doesn't have any right to regulate the banking policies that require banks to lend to people with insufficient income to repay those loans. Some of the happiest, most successful families I know rent their home and live the American Dream more than the doctor on the hill with a million dollar mortgage.

Can I pay you to get me lost?

Call me crazy-Call me a party pooper-Call me sensible but what is it with corn mazes? I have never once been in a corn maze and thought to myself..."Man, I sure and glad I did this", let alone, "I sure am glad I paid money for this." I don't see the draw to be honest. Perhaps some of you could enlighten me as to why people do this. What happens when you have to pee? That's right, I don't see any porta potties in the corn maze-only at the start/end. Another reason to stay on the trail.

Haunted Houses are also on my question mark list. Carin won't go because they scare her too bad and she pees her pants (she has had three kids) but for me, being scared is all about being scared when I am not expecting it. Like when someone sneaks up on you when you're jamming on the ipod while vacuuming the house. Then I pee my pants. To pay people to try to scare me, when I know that any moment they will jump out at me with a Styrofoam chainsaw is so not scary. Yet again another wonderful use of coin.

Please join us on Halloween Night

Carin and I have wanted to do something that would make a difference outside our little bubble world in which we live so comfortably. When we moved into our house four years ago, we started a fun tradition of making homemade donuts for Halloween and having that be our treat for trick-or-treaters. We even pulled it off 8 days after the twins were born with the help of family and friends. I know....I know...it goes against everything you try to teach your kids about not accepting homemade treats or anything unwrapped. The fact was we know most everyone that comes to our house and they know how hard it is to try and get a razor blade into a hot spudnut.... We were sick of the boys and girls that looked like they had just shaved their beards or had a boob job coming to collect their "welfare candy". We also thought it would be fun for the parents to look forward to on Halloween besides kids hopped up on pure cane sugar. It has been a success but we are going to add something new this year.

We have invited the North View Fire Department to come up to the house and "fill the boot" for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I have a dear friend that I have known since childhood that suffers from the disease and we want to help in some way eradicate this nasty disease. Since we are not scientists, this is it. Plus I know the firefighters quite well...you see they visited my home quite frequently last year...a dangerous drop in blood pressure from Grandpa, a Carbon Monoxide scare from a bad water heater and me falling 10 feet off a ladder and landing on my back in the car port all within about 3 months of each other. We got acquainted quite well. Hopefully they will be able to bring up the fire truck for all the kids to see. I know there was nothing cooler than a fireman when I was a kid. We invite you to come and enjoy the evening with us with a donut and hot chocolate. We will have additional plates of donuts for sale and all the money will go to the boot. If you are coming we ask you to RSVP so that we know how many donuts to make. Last year we did around 200 and they were gone by 7:30. Email me at schatzi53@gmail.com if you can come and for directions.

The most originally costumed family will get a full plate of donuts to take home!

PS. If you don't know us personally and you are reading this...first of all that's creepy and second of all please just send your check made payable to MDA. Thanks!

Poor CEOs

From a less-than-enthusiastic polling audience-(8 Voters)

It was decided that the CEO's of Bailout/Bankrupt companies should have to sit and listen to non-stop Rosie O'Donnell as punishment. I think they deserve harsh punishment but come on people we don't need to resort to torture.

Excuse me Waiter!.....There's a Flaw in my Superhero

(McCain and Obama in their younger, superhero days before Obama decided to take the roll of Robin Hood)

One political reality that no one will talk about is Obama's tax increase on businesses that make more than $250,000. I'll be honest with you, I don't know where Obama is getting his whacked out numbers that 95% of small businesses make less than $250,000. Is he factoring in Isagenix consultants, Avon Ladies, Amway consultants and Internet spammers? Most small businesses that create jobs HAVE to make more than $250,000 to employ people, pay rent, purchase inventory and still make a living themselves. If their tax rate goes from 35% to 39% I have news for you consumer, it's not going to be paid at the corporate level because CORPORATIONS DON'T PAY TAXES! They will pass that increase in expense to do business to YOU. Ask any small business owner what will happen if their taxes go up 4%. They will tell you to expect their products and services to get more expensive. This is not a "Robin Hood" tax on the rich to give to the poor. This is a direct tax to the American people that are struggling right now. Sometimes I wonder what planet this man is from! Honestly has he ever run a business? Wake up from your rock star dreams people!

I never agreed with Obama on anything until last night during the debate when he critsized John McCain's health care policy. He was right. Carin and I have experienced this exact situation. Our health benefits through my employer went from $340/month in 2004 to $574 in 2008. I work in insurance so I looked at a personal policy that would save us over $270 a month to drop my group coverage and go to my own policy. Naturally we did. When I asked why the premiums went up so much I was told that many young families that are healthy enough to get their own insurance are and that leaves older, less healthy participants on the plan, thus increasing risk to the company and insurance premuims to everyone else. So yes, I guess I am part of the problem but for $$270 month, I don't mind. Obama pointed out that if everyone got a $5,000 check to go out and find their own insurance on the free market, there would be an exodus of younger people to persoanl plans and the same thing would happen...either making the premiums on the group plans too out of reach for older, less healthy people or forcing the employer to eliminate coverages or reduce benefits altogether because of costs.

Again, is anyone advising these people who have been in business for themselves? Perhaps they should spend more time running their ideas past the people they will affect before repeating the same crap 20 times on national television.

Reality Check

I've been thinking lately about the two men you want to be President. My thoughts have been as follows...

Right now we have a Republican Executive Branch, Democratically controlled congress and in my opinion pretty left leaning Federal and Supreme Court judges. If McCain wins, none of that really changes. If Obama wins, a lot will change.

A lot of Republican seats are up for re-election and several republican incumbents are retiring this cycle. There is a very real possibility that with the unpopularity of President Bush, the democrats could gain a super-majority in the Senate and the House. That leaves us with Democratic Executive Branch, Democratically controlled congress and leftist judges. So here's my take on what these two men's promises on policy mean to me.

If Obama wins...what he says he will do, will probably get done. This includes a higher tax on businesses, nationalized health care and a foreign policy that no one really has any idea about. His decisions will be most likely supported by congress and if the conservatives in congress don't like his ideas, well tough.

If McCain wins, he will fight an uphill battle every step of the way. He will have a congress that can most likely override his veto and his policies will be dead in the water before they even get started. There would be so much outrage and hate already for the McCain Administration that he'd have two strikes before he was even sworn in. The only way he'd be able to get anything done is to lean left to satisfy the democrats. (Great options huh?)


I'm not endorsing Obama by any stretch of the imagination but facing the reality that the Obama's plans are more likely to become reality than McCain's if elected. The last time the democrats controlled the government was Bill Clinton's first administration. He did get a lot done though...but many interns do not a good president make.

I know government employees get their share of flack but come on...this is funny.

Presidential Synopsis

If you have ever heard Brian Regan, he's one of the funniest comics I've heard. Watch this little clip and then read on.



So I got home from work today and Carin showed me a book that our daughter is reading. She's 3 and is very bright. Carin began reading the book called "The Vet". I will give you the text.

The vet got into the van. A big cat at the zoo had a bad leg. The vet had to fix the cat. The cat ran. The vet ran. Yes, Yes the cat can run. The cat ran zig zag. The vet ran zip zap. ZAM! The cat and the vet sat. Ok cat. Ok Vet. The End.

Now for the back cover...."Some children will need an explanation of what a vet is. Most will know that the big cat is a lion. This book has a degree of violence with the vet and the cat going zig, zag, and zam! It shows that when you zap somebody, both parties are apt to get hurt. Vet and the cat look at each other very tentatively with their aching legs. Finally, after a cooling-off period, they do become friends. They find that conflict can be followed by friendship and love." Awwwww.....give me a break.

Carin was laughing out loud because the bit from Brian Regan is so true.

I somehow found a way to tie this in with the presidential debate in my twisted mind.

As I watched the two candidates answer questions about their policies, I didn't feel like either one of them was being transparent or completely truthful with me..and if anyone was more truthful I regret I felt it was Obama. Now for my crazy tie-in. Wouldn't it be nice if a politician who wanted my vote laid it out nice and simple for me to interpret in my own mind instead of answering questions in a way that made me want to either reach through the screen and choke them for insulting my intelligence numerous times or make me puke with their political talk-arounds. Give me a freakin' yes or no. All the questions were asked very well. Just turn off the politician for a minute, shut up and talk to me in plain terms. The debate could have lasted 20 minutes.

By the way-if McCain is elected, someone's gotta talk to the guy about the nervous ticks and faces he pulls. It's seriously painful to watch.

1947

Some of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, a little over 60 years ago, witnesses claim that UFO with five aliens aboard, crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico . This is a well known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies and organizations. However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of April 1948, nine months after that historic day, the following people were born:

Albert A. Gore, Jr.
Hillary Rodham
John F. Kerry
William J. Clinton
Howard Dean
Nancy Pelosi
Dianne Feinstein
Charles E. Schumer
Barbara Boxer

See what happens when aliens breed with sheep?

No wonder they support the bill to help illegal aliens!

My Nightly Ramblings

How would you define conservative/liberal principles? I guess in the world in which we live, a conservative/liberal is already considered foul language. Some conservatives even say they they are the minority and a rare breed. Can I take a moment and disagree?

My guess is that we all need labels. I've written about this before with democrats, republicans and the likes always feeling like they need to belong to a party. Let me outline one thing before I continue...being a conservative is not synonymous with being a republican and being a liberal is not synonymous with being a democrat. There are plenty of both in either party.

So are conservatives a rare breed? Maybe in Berkley CA or Manhattan, NY but my instincts tell me that the majority of American believe in many conservative principles. I may be shot for this next statement but I believe that same majority believes in many liberal principles as well. Let me give an example.

I don't think that anyone would argue that a person is responsible for his or her own success in life and no one will disagree that self-reliance is a virtue worth striving for. We are all compassionate. I think the majority of Americans favor the tradition of a "traditional family." I don't think the majority of Americans want government interference in their private lives and no one wants half their paycheck sent to a fiscally irresponsible government. Everyone wants to feel safe in their own country and have a strong national defense. These would be conservative values. At the same time, I don't think that we would all turn a blind eye to someone who lost their job and needed unemployment from Social Security for a month or two until they found a job. I believe that most Americans care about how we treat the environment, that equal rights are given to every citizen to vote and be treated equally, and that government has it's checks and balances.

I think the divide comes when people draw a solid line in their own values system on topics that they are passionate about. When a economic liberal and a economic conservative meet to discuss the economic bailout packages, they forget everything good about one another and fight like dogs-inciting so much animosity between liberals and conservatives that each of us feel entitled to take a side, label ourselves a member of a party or ideology and begrudgingly "accept" one another's presence in our country-hoping that someday the other will eventually "come around" or die out.

It's not fair to label every liberal American as a jobless, baby-killing, ecoterrorist who sits and drinks latte bought with food stamps all day discussing the injustices that have beleaguered the minorities and the evils of capitalism, before burning down the local Hummer dealership.

But today it IS okay to label conservatives as self-serving, uneducated, backwards thinking, numb skulled bigots that have never given a thought to their own belief system that drag their knuckles to church so they can fill their hick heads with religious opium to hate black people and gays.


Be honest though-there are some people that fit these extremes exactly. Does that mean everyone who calls themselves a conservative or liberal condones these beliefs? NO!

Why can I not be a conservative and love black people? Why can I not be a conservative and not be narrow-minded? Why can I not be a conservative and be unbiased in my opinions? Why can I not be a conservative and have an education that means something? Why can I not be conservative and be religious?

I believe there is room for all people and their beliefs. Each of us is entitled to it and has the right to do so without coercion-so long as it doesn't interfere with other's rights to do the same or hurt another human being.

I understand that this is not how economic policies are made however, but in my idealist mind, I envision a time in America that we can stand up for a cause that neither forces us into a corner of belief nor keeps us from searching out and embracing opposing viewpoints-without feeling shamed or untrue to ourselves in the process.

But what would we call ourselves? (to be read with sarcasm) Perhaps it will just remain an ideal.

To each it is given the opportunity to decide where their beliefs are on the Economy, National Defense, Abortion, Affirmative Action, Death Penalty, education, environment, gun control, health care, immigration, UN, taxes, and welfare. In any regard, having an opinion about these things is important.

It all comes back to making a minute's effort to understand the opposition before we pass the eternal judgment of hell on each other.

Comments welcome.......

So This is why you don't always see Mickey Mouse while you're at Disney World!

If you read my recent post on ACORN and follow any news you will know that ACORN's offices in Nevada were raided by investigators on suspicion of voter fraud. Apparently the voter fraud is not centralized to Nevada. This is a voter registration from Florida, turned in by ACORN signed by none other than the world's most famous mouse. Perhaps he left Disney World for a while on June 12th to take care of his civic duties.

The joker who forged the document must have been a real intelluectual seeing that Mickey Mouse's date of birth was listed as 11/15/02. Last time I looked 5 year old mice were not eligible to vote.

This is happening in plain site, in states that usually decide elections. Remember Florida 2000?

I hope that after the election is over Mr. Obama at least gives Mickey his ears back.

Lehman Brothers Math

Here's a perfect example of being able to see the world any way you want-good or bad.

Perhaps the book keepers at Lehman brothers took a class from Pa Kettle. By the way, never underestimate the wit of someone who's older than you.

Congressional Junk Mail

Click on the letter for an expanded view.

Looks like someone had a clue what was coming back in 2006. I wonder why this letter, signed by McCain and 19 other republicans was not given credence, house floor time, nor signed by any democrats. No democrat no matter how much he agreed with this letter would have dared sign his/her name to it beside a republican's. The same would have been true of the republicans had this been a democratic party-supported letter. It is yet another illustration as to the wedge of partisan turfism that enables absolute ineptness to go on as accepted "politics as usual"-while nothing gets done about the real problems. Looks to me like these republicans that signed this letter are calling for more oversight not more deregulation as they are daily labeled the "deregulators that caused this whole mess."

The republicans don't stand there lilly white either. Writing a letter expressing concern is a good first step. How about a little follow up? By the way the letter was addressed to Republicans Bill Frist and Richard Shelby. Apparently they get a lot of junk mail on the hill and this got shredded with the rest of the junk mail from Countrywide, Chase and DiscoverCard.

Pays to be Dick

Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld Jr.(yes that IS his real name) sat before a dog and pony show hearing this week to answer questions about his company's demise.

First of all, these silly hearings by Congress are worthless. They don't accomplish anything. The person is not being tried, won't be convicted and will only be indirectly chastised by Congress through leading questions. Congressional Hearings are the equivalent of the first O.J. trial.

So after a shameful display of finger pointing and question dodging, Mr. Dick Fuld gets to go home and relax in his mansion and savor the fact that in the last five years he has paid himself almost a half a BILLION dollars. And Congress thinks this is showing the American people it's doing something about the crisis. He also said that he thought his compensation was "fair." (Express Outrage ...........................................now!)

The only solace I got from this news was a report that the Sunday after Lehman announced its bankruptcy, Mr. Fuld was working out in the company gym when Hans, the brother of Franz, came up and decked Dick. Reportedly he was knocked unconscious. Ah to have seen that.

Is it getting hot in here or is it Sarah Palin?

Breaking news!!!!!

Sarah Palin beats out Al "Global Hotness" Gore to win the Glorious Revolution "Hottest VP Nomination" poll in a landslide victory! Pretty sad for the man who invented the internet to be beat by a moose gutting no-name.

Look for another worthless poll soon.

Halloween is gonna suck this year.....

I loved this cartoon. Thanks Mom!

Dear Taxpayer

Dear Taxpayer,

I am an executive for AIG. I wanted to let you know how we are using the $85 Billion you loaned my company. The week following the loan we laid aside the worries about horrendous leadership, bad investments and deplorable management. AIG executives were sent on a luxury retreat to California to regroup before spending the $85 billion. Have you ever tried to spend that much money?

The cost for this little getaway was only $440,000, including $23,380 for spa services. Now we are actually ready to spend the rest of the money and solve this problem. The only holdup is that none of us have very good toupees. So when we get back we'll do something about that and then we will really get to work. By the way...thanks taxpayer. I am confident that you knew we would use the money wisely. Wink.Wink. Write your congressman and say thanks!

Sucker.....

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081008/D93M0K6G3.html

Who's this Dow Jones fellow and why is he always on the news?

I find all of the reporting "hoopela" surrounding the current state of our economy fascinating. It invariably reverts back to, or begins with what the "Dow" did today. If you've seen charts of it lately, it resembles a slip and slide.

So what in the world is the Dow and why is its reference so commonplace?

Here's a little history

In 1653, the Dutch settlers in new York erected a 12 foot high wood stockade to protect themselves from savage Indians and the British and their bad teeth. In 1685 a street was erected following the wall. This became Wall Street. The investment markets were born around 1790 when the US government refinanced all of it's Revolutionary War debt by issuing $80 Million in government bonds. These became the first publicly traded securities.

In the late 1880's when trading stocks for the average American was a relatively new thing and very few people in the country actually participated, it was a very central activity to the Wall Street District in New York. There was no central report on how the markets performed, on who was selling, buying or what the prices of the stocks even were at that point. Apparently they never heard of a Blackberry!

Anyway, three reporters named Edward Davis Jones, Charles Henry Dow and Charles Milford Bergstresser founded a benchmark to measure the markets performance. In the beginning, it was complied of 11 stocks. 9 Railroads and 2 industrial companies. The average stock price of each company was added and then divided by the number of stocks in the index. Any analyst cringes at the many flaws this strategy has in skewing numbers. (A magic divisors has since been added to the math to account for stock splits etc.)

The index was founded in 1884 and was published in the "Customers' Afternoon Letter" and sold on Wall Street. Market gossip along with other news of the day would accompany the index reading. The first reading of the DJIA was 40.74. Five years later in 1889, this "Customers' Afternoon Letter" developed into what is now know as the "Wall Street Journal." Ever hear of it? It is now a subsidiary of News Corporation which owns everything you read and see.

It is now compiled of 30 of the country's largest companies. GE is the only company on the original Dow Jones Industrial Average list that remains today.

The Dow, Jones & Company also helped innovate and improve upon the first magnetic "ticker tape" telling the traders on the floor what price the stocks were and what the intra-day movement was. This was eventually superceded by a mechanical ticker tape and then the ever powerful computer. This enabled those who didn't spend all day on Wall Street to know what the current prices were.

You may also recognize the name Edward D. Jones as many investment professionals work for the company that bears his name.

So is the Dow a good thing? It was when most every stock being traded was on the index and was nearly the same price. Say you have a stock worth $10 per share. It gains $1 for the day. (10%) Then, say a stock worth $100 loses $1. (-1%) These two transactions are very different yet they negate each other in the overall index totals. Many believe that because the Dow Jones Industrial Average is price-weighted that it provides a narrower view of the market and it does because it holds only 30 companies. You may get a better picture of the broader market performance from the float-adjusted market-value weighted indices like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 (which includes all domestic securities with readily available prices.

So why do we always reference the DOW if it only has 30 companies in it? Drama my friends.....it makes for exciting news-And everyone likes to know how Wal-Mart is doing. Kraft foods is the newest member of the 30. They took the place of our favorite insurance company AIG.

Hope it was an interesting read anyway.

Nicely Worded

"The [Wall Street] crisis came partly because so many households decided that it would be jolly fun to budget the way government does, hitching outlays to appetites. Beneath Americans' perfunctory disapproval of government deficits lurks an inconvenient truth: They enjoy deficits, by which they are charged less than a dollar for a dollar's worth of government.



Conservatives participate in this, even though deficits fuel government's growth by obscuring its cost. The people can emulate the government because credit has been democratized. Democratization of everything is supposedly an unquestionable good, but a blizzard of credit cards (1.5 billion of them, nine per cardholder), subsidized loans and cheap money has separated the pleasure of purchasing from the pain of paying.



Furthermore, the entitlement mentality fostered by the welfare state includes a felt entitlement to a standard of living untethered from savings. Populism flatters the people, contrasting their virtue with the alleged vices of some minority...Today, the villain is 'Wall Street greed,' which is contrasted with the supposed sobriety of 'Main Street.' When people on Main Street misbehave by, say, buying houses for more than they can afford to pay, they blame the wily knaves who made them do it."



—George Will



Someday I will articulate my ideas will such slippery skill. Speaks to the heart doesn't it? Somewhat like listening to general conference and being called to repentance? America's accepted a standard of living that was founded on false and dangerous principles. The Nation might be taught the hard way now.



Kirk

ACORN Has Grown to a Giant Oak Tree

So I have been doing some homework on ACORN. I have been hearing about it in the news and didn't even know what it was. It is an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and is the largest left wing radical group in America. They have over 150 sub-organizations with various fields they concentrate their efforts. They are a group of community organizations that use two forms of activism. One of force, civil disobedience and fear tactics to get their messages out. Second, an inside approach where they control a situation through legislation and bullying tactics. The group makes no effort to conceal that they are a radical socialist party. ACORN turns in thousands upon thousands of new voter registrations each week throughout the country. Massive task forces must be employed to review these application due to a track record of voter fraud. ACORN is currently being investigated in as many as 12 states for voter fraud. Naturally the majority of them democratic.

ACORN is the modern successor of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO)that sought to remove eligibility restrictions for welfare, thus flooding the welfare rolls and requiring a massive government rehaul of the entire welfare system for our "socially unjust capitalist society." Their efforts did nothing but destroy the inner cities and create a culture of dependency.

Now you may be thinking, this kind of sounds like the bailout problem that now requires the government to intervene. Well, there's a bit more to the story than this.

Under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)passed under the ACORN supported Clinton administration, banks are required to make a certain number of sub-prime loans to certain ethnic and low-income groups. If the banks want to expand or merge, they are required to show that they have met these requirements. So the banks comply and the housing bubble begins to build. The banks begin making plenty of money and ACORN no longer has to threaten lawsuits to push these lending practices. You know the rest of the story now.

Now I am not one for believing in and loosing a lot of sleep over conspiracy theories but this is not a coincidence. In the bailout bill as it was voted on the first time, those Congresspeople close to ACORN included a loophole to allow them to give the first 20% of any profits made to organizations such as ACORN. Before the taxpayer! Many house republicans recognized this bamboozle and voted against it. It was removed in the second version of the bill because of public outcry.

A side note now. Apparently, Obama has close ties to ACORN. He has trained staffers for them during his community organizer days, argued for them as a lawyer in major cases and while serving on the board of directors of two foundations, funneled millions of dollars to ACORN.

When all this bailout started being talked about, I find it funny that Obama remained so quiet and unopinionated. Perhaps because he knew of these connections and how ACORN stood to potentially profit from the bill passing.

So the organization that helped cause this massive financial meltdown is now sitting in the corner watching their plans for the meltdown of capitalism as we know it unfold. I think now our eyes are open and we can see what has happened and it's too late to fix this in a rational way. France, Germany, Russia and now Al Queda are all watching this happen and claiming this is a result of our corrupt capitalist society. Perhaps the problem with our capitalist society is we allow the government intervention that allows groups like ACORN to exert their influence on private enterprise and legislators that taint the system with failed policies. I categorically reject the stance Obama takes on this mess. He claims it is the Bush administration's failed policies. In 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 both Greenspan and the Republican treasury secretary warned of the impending crisis if action was not taken to reform lending practices of Fannie and Freddie. Each time, democrats voted no along party lines on reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you need proof check the congressional record.

I apologize for the lengthy post.

Mormon Profiteering

I love watching conference and the specials between the sessions. It does however make me wonder if the marketers that run the same commercials over and over during the breaks realize that although the people watching are most likely members of the church, that we do have an IQ. Just because it has something to do with a Mormon, does not make me want to buy it.

It doesn't bother me as much on Saturday, but Sunday seems a little overdone. I finish watching such beautiful talks so full of the spirit in their delivery only to be bombastically bombarded with kitchy, overdone and grossly overrun commercials for the LDS people. I guess I should just shut it off when conference ends. Gotta go...there's a couple new videos and books I've got to go buy. Oh wait, it's Sunday.

Frankly, I don't care for you....

I was never really interested in politics at all growing up. I could never figure out what a republican or democrat was but I knew it was impolite to ask three questions. One-How much money do you make? Two-What religion are you? And three- Are you democrat or republican? So instead of looking it up, I just ignored it all together. Until I went on a mission to Europe. I saw socialism at it's worst. The government was even more "out of reach" there than it feels here. I realized how good I had it in America. I wasn't in the states for the big Bush/Gore election debacle so this feels like the first time I have actually had a strong opinion in a presidential election. When I came home, I began learning, forming my own opinions and defending my positions and beliefs in college. It was good for me. Many of my professors would have been right at home in Austria. So, in my accounts in political history be kind, I am only an 6 year old!

One of these items of my political naivety is that I thought when you hold public office, you handle your affairs in such a way that is above reproach. Maybe it's the way I was raised but it seems like just the opposite now. When you get elected now you must get a goodie basket that has two get-out-of-jail-free cards, one lack-of-judgement card, one dozen free lies, an extra marital affair, love child or run in with a prostitute, and four bad personal association cards. Nixon, Clinton, Dodd, Craig, Clinton, Obama, McCain, Edwards, Clinton and now Barney Frank.

So I have been learning a little bit about Barney Frank lately. Again, call me naive or ignorant but apparently he's been "out of the closet" since 1984. He said he didn't want to make excuses to keep his private life in check with his political life anymore. There's no room for anything to go wrong now that everyone knows he likes other congressmen!

So, in the 80s, he hires a male prostitute for 80 bucks, moves him in, and tries to help the young man change his life around and then dumps the kid. (Let's leave the prostitute life changing to Richard Gere) Everyone finds out that favorite politician from Boston hires long term male prostitute-no prob Frank. We'll re elect him another couple decades or so. He has a card for that! Remember? And anyway, what he does in his personal life is his business! Quit meddling.

It's now the 90s and Mr. FRANK is on the House Financial Services Committee overseeing the big government run programs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the same time, Mr. FRANK accepts over 40,000 dollars from Fannie Mae while serving on this oversight committee that advocates lax lending practices for minorities and sub-prime loans. (As does senator Chris Dodd, also on the committee) Guess what direction the Financial Services' Committee leans? You guessed it. Oh and one more thing. For 10 years on the HFSC, Mr. FRANK was involved romanticly with a man named Herb Moses. He openly called Mr. Moses his spouse. Herb Moses was an executive for none other than our now favorite government bailout-owned Fannie Mae. I wonder if there was any possibility of a conflict of interest there? Since 2003, Mr. FRANK has been the chairman of this committee that "oversees" government programs and makes policy recommendations as to lending practices, government backed mortgages and banking policy. Gee, this is the same guy criticising republicans of letting this whole economic mess happen? Also the same guy that just 5 weeks ago said publicly that Sarah Palin's personal live was fair game?

Excuse my cynicism a moment while I ask a couple rhetorical questions.

If Mr. FRANK was a straight conservative republican, would not the press be reporting this with fervour?

If Mr. FRANK was a straight conservative republican, would this not be grounds for dismissal from this critical committee or from office altogether?

Although I am a bit naive still when it comes to politics, I am at least smart enough to know that if elected to public office, I'd better keep my nose clean. That is unless that goodie bag comes with some kleenex. As for Mr. FRANK, he is now being investigated by the FBI.

Maybe someone will finally tell Mr. FRANK to leave the ballpark. He may feel right at home in federal prison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgctSIL8Lhs

Prediction

I am going to make a prediction and I want it documented. The 850 Billion Bailout is just the beginning. Watch what our government does now that we've given them a mile. They will take a marathon.

Random Ramblings in Dixieland

Although I am sick to my stomach that the House passed the Emergency Economic Stability Bill today I am going to take a break from discussing this muddled mess. All I can say is God help us and I hope it works. There's nothing I can do about it now other than let it eat at me and kick the bums out of office in the next election cycle.

So we came down to the house in St. George for conference with Carin's folks. The ride to St. George with 3 kids three and under is always exciting. When we stop to get lunch we are often stared down the whole time because we have twins. You just smile. Most people mean well. The others I just beat down. Yes, we meant to have another kid, No we did not use fertility, Yes they are twins and yes they are identical. It always makes me wonder if people actually think before opening their mouths. Are they twins?! Um. Yeah-here's your sign.

Carin and I also discussed what we were going to get do for the twins birthday. I like my birthday and the free dinners and special treatment as much as the next guy but come on....if anyone should get special treatment or a gift on a birthday it should be the mother that birthed the baby's ginormous cranium. Really kids, we're glad you're here but go over and give your mother a hug. I did not have to talk very persuasively to convince Carin of my philosophy. Thoughts?

Another random thought....We took the new Legacy Parkway for fun today just to see how many dead raccoons we could re-run over. Apparently the extreme-enviros that held up the construction of the parkway for 10 years forgot about the little bandits-of-the-night. Poor fellas. The enviros from St. George have done a much better job protecting our little animal friends. If you have ever driven the Red Rock Parkway above St. George by the Dixie "D" you may have noticed the little 12 inch fence running along the side of the road. Desert Tortoise my friend. Desert Tortoise. It's a cute little fence anyway and I have never seen a dead tortoise. I would have liked to see them installing it though. I love to honk and wave at people doing stupid things....especially "neckers" on the North Ogden Divide.

And third....any of you who many have a commercial drivers license tell your truck driver buddies not to pass other trucks on a hill unless they are sure they can actually pass. Nothing worse than driving through "beautiful" central Utah at 30 mph.

The 24 Year Long Vice Presidential Debate

Why do we have to start the race for the presidency so early? Are we just so anxious to see a lame duck President finally be dismissed from office or are we just socially so inept that this compromises the whole of our lives for a year and a half? Does the media need material? Do campaign staffers really not want to go out and find a real job that bad?

So I suffered through the whole debate, word for word, without yielding to the temptation of the fast forward button as it screamed at me the whole time. I watched it because I am looking for someone to inspire me. Instead I found myself bored to tears by the same language, attacks and talking points we've have all been punished with for the last year and a half. I am considering a lawsuit against the government for the pain and suffering and irreversible damage this election cycle has caused me. I might even have a case under the "cruel and unusual."


I also, embarrassingly so, added CSPAN1 and CSPAN2 back to the line up on the dish. I watched the 1984 VP debate for a minute and decided that, if it weren't for the plaid suits, sweater vests and huge platter glasses on Geraldine Ferraro, that I could have shut my eyes and been listening to tonight's debate. 24 years later, our dialog has not advanced. Some might call this frustrating, aggravating, even embarrassing. Not me, I call it politics at their best. If the government can keep collecting our taxes and with those taxes promise to save the economy from turmoil, middle class families from financial insolvency and protection from maniacal dictators....props to them and shame on us for not making them live up to these promises.

Like a Kick in No-Man's Land.

I am still sorting out what happened last night and what could potentially be signed into law tomorrow. The House voted no to a bailout on Monday and so they added another $105 Billion to the price tag and it passed in the Senate. Guess it wasn't a big enough kick in the crotch. Hopefully we see a resurgence of kids playing with wooden arrows soon. Otherwise we'll know this thing didn't work. This is the equivalent of the government coming around your neighborhood and collecting Between $5,000-$6,000 for every family in America. I think even democrats might start clinging to their guns if this was realized.


How about discussing some alternatives? Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas have put together some ideas that would cost much less and accomplish much more. Here is a link to the plan in formal form.

http://mikepence.house.gov/UploadedFiles/RSC%20Version%20Economic%20Rescue%20Alternative%209-29-08%20(2).pdf

An FYI for you Utah folks....

Bennett (R-UT) Yea

Hatch(R-UT) Yea



Senators who voted NO

Allard (R) Barasso (R) Brownback (R) Bunning (R) Cantwell (D) Cochran (R) Crapo (R) DeMint (R) Dole (R) Dorgan (D)Enzi (R)Feingold (D) Inhofe (R)Johnson (D)Landrieu (D)Nelson (FL) (D)Roberts (R)Sanders (I)Sessions (R)Shelby (R)Stabenow (D)Tester (D)Vitter (R)Wicker (R)Wyden (D)


Please share your thoughts......

What George Washington Would Tell Congress Today Before They Vote

"Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions - The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."

-- George Washington (General Orders, 2 July 1776)