Week One of our New President

Prior to the inaguration I was dead set against watching any of the news casts about it or even watching live as it happened. Quite honestly...I didn't want him to win so why bother. And then I started realizing that made me just as closed minded as so many other Americans and I just couldn't put myself in that category!

I watched a bit of it online at work while getting my work done at my desk. I saw part of Rick Warren's invocation...he is awesome. And I saw part of Obama's swearing in...they flubbed it a little bit.

I have some issues that have been on my mind since the race began for this new President...and it is about RACE. Would anyone care to tell me when this will no longer be about him being black/African American/or whatever we are calling it in 2009? First of all...he's 1/2 black. So, when Jesse Jackson's son runs for office will he then be called the first "fully" African American to run and possibly win the White House? Can't we just call everyone human and call it a day?!

I realize that it is an important and historical day for our country in that many other countries would not allow such a thing to happen. Not only would they probably not vote a black man into office - they pretty much tell you who to vote for.

One of the problems I have with the situation is this...I understand that many white people are ancestors to slave owners and that many black people are ancestors to slaves. But none of us that are alive today are party to that behavior. I really don't think I've even encountered anyone that would condone it or thinks it was a really good thing back then. But it is what it is...and luckily through many years of trials and tribulations we have moved away from a lot of the hatred there once was. Don't get me wrong...I don't live under a rock or anything, I know that there are still idiots out there who are not kind to people of other races. And this, in my opinion, is due to their upbringing and knowing no different. I know that people come in all different colors - I just don't care to look at it like that. In my heart we are all human and should treat each other as such!

I am proud that our country was able to vote a black man into office, just like I will be proud the day a woman is elected. Just please...let's stop focusing on that. We need to focus on what he can and will do for our country - not the color of his skin! His skin color, and for that matter the fact that he is an excellent communicator, has absolutely nothing to do with his ability to lead our country.

As I have mentioned a few times before - I will be very thankful if the people who voted him into office prove me wrong rather than prove me right that he is not ready for this position. I am trying to keep an open mind and to support him since he is my President. But I would like to focus on his abilities and not his skin color!

And one other thing...for those who I have overheard saying "I never thought I would see a black man as President" or "Now my son thinks he can be President one day" - I have something to say about that. If your child EVER thought for even a second he couldn't be President (or anything else) because of the color of his skin it is YOUR fault for not instilling in him that he can be anything! I mean, parents are supposed to tell their kids that they can do and be anything. I do think it's wrong for a parent who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that his/her kid can't sing and then sends them to audition for American Idol, but other than that there is no reason to NOT encourage your kid to be anything he/she wants to be!

Why I went to bed MAD!

Wednesday night (that would be 12/10/08) I decided to head to bed at a reasonable hour for me (11 pm) and picked up my favorite magazine to do a little pre-sleep reading. My favorite magazine is Reader's Digest (and yes, I am 38 not 88).

If I read this particular magazine prior to sleep I usually skip around and read all the jokes so that I go to bed on a high - having laughed myself silly. But this particular night I got caught up in an article by Michael Crowley who often writes about things that would easily piss a person off - not because he offends me - because he brings to light bullshit happening in our country! And so was the case on Wednesday night.

I decided to read his article about a government program called the National Flood Insurance Program. This program is in debt to the tune of $17 BILLION dollars. Normal people like me can't even truly imagine what that looks like (a lot of zeros - that's for sure). This program offers low cost insurance for people living in flood zones. WHY would that be an option? Well, because some brilliant people in DC voted this crap into effect. And do you know WHO is paying for this $17 billion dollars? Yep - you guessed it - that would be those of us that are tax payers! WTF??

I think that this program needs to seriously be looked at and reformed. People should not be allowed to continuously build on the same piece of land that will eventually get flooded again - and have someone else pay for it. One of the examples in the article is: One house in Houston has flooded 16 times; repairs have totaled $807,000, seven times the market value of the property. You cannot be serious! How on earth can we allow them to use our tax dollars to rebuild a home 16 times and it's worth is significantly lower?!

Below is a link to the article from Reader's Digest. The more I read this stuff and see what is going on in our world the more I think I need to run for public office. We need to start a grassroots effort to turn this country around! I've had enough!!

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/outrageous-tax-dollars-bailing-out-homes-built-on-flood-zones/article103797.html

As most of you know I am not a fan of our newly elected official, but I will do my best to support him as our leader. I must say, however, that he ran on the platform of "Yes we Can" and "Change" so on that note let's pull the plug on all the ludicrous stuff being put into effect by our government. Each and every one of us counts and can make a difference...if you don't like what is going on with programs such as this one - stand up for your rights and do something about how your tax dollars are spent!

The end of the credit free-for-all!

So...here we are still waiting to hear the outcome of the newest version of the so-called "bailout" plan. It now has many names, such as Emergency Economic Stability Act (EESA) and $700 billion bailout. I don't think it really matter what you call it at this point. The fact is there are many different views on the subject and quite frankly I just want to know WIIFM!

When it comes down to tax dollars the IRS tells me they want my money right now (April 15th) and I do my part, but I really don't have anything else to spare. And from what I can tell my friends and family don't either!

Maybe instead of a bunch of rich, overpaid idiots deciding how this should work they should put together a group of working class people who are on the front lines day-to-day dealing with this stuff. It's the "regular" guy/girl who is out there trying to figure out how to make ends meet, pay a mortgage, put gas in the car (and in GA that's even harder than it sounds right now), etc.

Stop taking money from the "real" workers in America. I don't want the people who are rich simply because daddy is rich or the people who are rich because someone else did all the work making the damn decisions (okay - maybe one or two of the really smart, savvy ones would be okay but the rest need to jump in a lake).

And, while we are at it...the thing I keep hearing over and over again is about people NOT being able to get credit. Maybe that's half the damn problem! Maybe, just maybe, if every freakin' college student hadn't gotten a credit card the first day of school, or people who couldn't really afford a $200k house didn't get approved, and the list goes on...we would be in a better position today! Why should the government (oops...I mean me and my friends the tax payers) bail out companies who took a risk and gave bad loans!? Stop with the damn loans and credit cards to people who can't afford them - and by-the-way making them pay a higher APR doesn't help anyone either because it takes them longer to pay off the loan and then when the inevitable bankruptcy comes around the amount to be written off is way higher than it would have been had the APR been reasonable (whether 4% or 24% the company is still making money - let's face it).

So...it appears I have gone on a few tangents here and stood on my soapbox long enough...below is a link a friend sent me. I am not usually a fan of CNN but it has some good points in it.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1846040,00.html?cnn=yes

Sharon Osborne disappointed me!

Man, I really liked Sharon Osborne and then I watched Ellen today (who I love, but she is on her little Obama rampage too). Again - I am not necessarily a Republican or a Democrat - I just want what's the most equitable for the citizens of the US! Today Sharon said some things about Sarah Palin that I simply think are rude whether you like McCain's choice or not!

Here are a few words from her interview with Ellen (clip below)...
"Hookie Disney movie"
"Scouring America for a woman...last stop before you fall off America is Alaska"
"Passed each other on an ice lump"
"Women aren't that stupid"

Okay - so about the "Women aren't that stupid" comment...Really Sharon, because I think it was pretty stupid of you to say what you did! So there! And by-the-way, who the F*&^ invited you to America anyway? If you and your "used to be drugged up" husband and kids don't like the choices we have in America you can always go back to England "the land of the beautiful teeth" and deal with what you got there! But, I digress...The problem I have with politics is how rude everyone is about the other side. Can you not find a nice way of telling people why you do/do not like a candidate or his/her running mate? Does it have to be so darn cut-throat? I'm kind of tired of the whole thing!

Anyway, here's the video...I think she forgot to take her pill today!

Pro Choice/Pro Life

It's election time again and obviously a sticking point for a lot of people is the arugument for and against Pro Choice and Pro Life. To be honest, I don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt which argument I am for. I know that for me an abortion would never be the answer (luckily, due to a hysterectomy I will never have to test that), but I do think there are times when it is a good decision. What about the girl who is gang raped and gets pregnant? What about the woman who due to medical concerns would put herself in grave danger by continuing the pregnancy?

I read the book of Gia a girl who survived the abortion her mother had. It is a heart-wrenching book and certainly makes you think of the effects of abortion on the person receiving one, the fetuses that do die, and the ones that survive such as with this case.

But then you hear about the girl who is far too young and already has had children and you wonder if caring through with the pregnancy and adopting out the baby is truly the best idea.

I've decided that this is a subject that simply should not be part of politics. It should be a private decision made by those involved and their physician and only them! Yes, the argument is that we are killing one of God's children, but I have to ask - do you think he really likes the other stuff we do to our bodies? It's a personal choice - not a government decision! They can no more make you a Republican or Democrat no matter how much they try once you have made up your mind - so why can they decide on this?

Cast your vote for the candidate that overall can run the country the best, not based on whether or not they are Pro Choice or Pro Life.

Freedom of Speech is a Wonderful thing!

Again with the politics...I am not usually into politics that much. In fact, I must humbly admit that for the first few years that I was eligible to vote I did not. The reason unfortunately was due to my lack of knowledge and lack of interest in something that should have been more important to me than I allowed it to be.

I prefer to consider myself "middle of the road" because I would like to be able to make an educated decision on the best candidate based on their credentials and ability to lead our country - not just based on Republican vs Democrat.

And what I love most about the process of voting and living in the US is the fact that I, as a US citizen, have Freedom of Speech. This freedom of speech comes in many forms...and one that I happen to be laughing about right now is the skit from SNL from this past Saturday. How can you not love Tina Fey as Sarah Palin?

Here's the clip - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Hell - I've now watched it 5 times!

Politics again...

Oh dear...as the time draws near for the election things get heated up more and more but then there is always JibJab to bring us back to earth! I laughed pretty damn hard when I saw this one (might have even peed a little - LOL).

You know my feelings on the election, but no matter who you like - this is worth a good belly laugh!

Change...We all Want it!

Change - we all (well most of us) want it and some of us actually like it and thrive on it!

An election is coming up and each of us is hoping for change. Some of us simply want George W gone and would literally vote for anyone with a pulse and who can fog up a mirror. This, my friends, is not the right kind of change. That's like having cottage cheese thighs and wearing spandex instead of nice tailored pants. Don't make us all suffer for your mistakes and bad judgement!

I am not as they say a "Republican," but I am also (much to my grandmother's dismay) not a Democrat. Yes, I'd rather be a Fatass (Elephant's remember everything) than a Jackass. I am more inclined to go with "if I like what you stand for than I will vote for you." What I am concerned about, however, are the changes the left wants to make regarding taxes. As a former business owner and someone who wants to own a business again in the future I am sincerely worried about this. It has always been a common thing for the Dems to raise taxes and Obama has stated that he will. He has, however, stated he won't tax YOU or ME...it will be about businesses. Hmmm...well, as a previous business owner I say HOLY CRAP and as a future business owner I repeat myself HOLY CRAP!

When I closed my business at the end of April a friend had seen on Corrupt News Network (oh, that's CNN) that the number of foreclosures of small businesses had exceeded the number of foreclosures on homes. Either way you look at it that is a grim fact! But small businesses have been paving the way for a long time and are a majority of the businesses in this country! Drive up taxes and guess what? No more small businesses...

I can't say I'm completely overwhelmed and excited about how much money I make right now. Hell...I made quite a bit before trying to live my dream and run a salon. But I am a lot happier with how much I make right now compared to how much I will have left after a nice, hefty tax increase!

I'm not saying I love John McCain (although I do think Sarah Palin rocks!), but I am saying we need to think about this! I know a lot of people in Cosmetology school where I attend who want to own their own shop in the future instead of work for someone else...this could be virtually impossible (or at the very least extremely difficult) if business taxes go up (and up and up...).

Think WAY back (I know some of us are nearing 40 or have even just hit that milestone) to your Economics and Macroeconomics classes...if businesses are taxed more who pays more??? And who gets paid less??? Yep, that's right - the employee and the consumer!

Honestly, I'm darn near close to just writing in a name on the ballot just to not have to pick one over the other. But, for anyone EVER considering your own business, on the payroll somewhere, or having anything at all to do with a business...you cannot vote for INCREASED TAXES!