We have figured out how to solve the current economic crisis.
1- Stop paying money to foreign countries. We are giving billions of dollars every year to countries that hate us and conspire against us. Not cool. Stop paying them money. We give North Korea money all the time to try and make peace treaties with them. Okay, I like peace. Give it a shot. We did. They break the deals all the time whenever they feel like, and then extort us for more money to re-make the same deal that they just broke. Stop already! It isn't working! We are giving money to Egypt, Pakistan, North Korea, Syria, Jordan, etc. They hate us! Why support them?!! Why help them work to destroy us?!! That is self-destructive and increasing our deficit at the same time. Use the money that would be spent there and use it on infrastructure, schools, green technology (NO PORK ALLOWED!!!!) That is not an insignificant amount of money, and it would just be in addition to the source of funds that they currently have.
2- Get rid of unions. I'm sorry for all people in unions and feel that this would seriously hurt them, but fact of the matter is, they're going to lose their jobs anyways because we can't afford to pay them $80 per hour for 15 minutes of work. Unions slow work down considerably, and hike costs up way above anything reasonable. Unions were necessary when they were started, but legislation has been passed to control all the issues that unions formed around such as child labor laws, 40-hour work weeks, healthy working conditions, etc. Now, they are just focused on getting the most amount of money possible for the least amount of effort. They are rotting our capitalist society. President Obama wants to strengthen unions by removing the freedom of workers to vote against unionizing in a private vote (to be free of retribution). Aside from the banking industry, which is another tantrum, the biggest drain for the bailout is unionized industries. Auto, steel, Hollywood (where is their “patriotic duty” by bailing out their own industry?!!)..... Need I say more? Also, President Obama is talking about “protectionism”. This will force people to buy American goods under the guise of strengthening our economy. The problem with this is three fold. One, we have unions, which raise prices as it is. Two, this would give a monopoly to our unionized society which would give them the means to raise prices even more. Three, this would practically destroy any future chance of foreign trade after we get established economically enough to where whomever is in office decides that it is okay to trade world wide again. This leads to:
3- Equal tariffs. We are trading trading world wide with a higher tariff on our goods heading out than on goods heading in. Instead of protectionism by forbidding the purchase of foreign goods, place an equal tariff on their goods coming in. Countries may decide to lower their tariffs on our goods to what they want our tariffs to be on theirs. If not, we just raise ours to theirs and we make American goods more competetive. This may increase the price of some goods, but it would keep an explosion of prices by a monopolistic union society. Also, we could use the grounds to produce some deals with countries. For example: Freeze the current tariff rate with China for a finite period of time in exchange for them stopping North Korea. Not only do we stop paying North Korea and bending over backwards for them, and they cease to be a threat to South Korea, the US, heck, the world without us spending extra money on taking out the threat, but we maintain a low cost on goods from China which is allowing us to have some low cost goods to help the strain on our wallets. We could do various deals such as this with other countries to solve many of our problems. And best of all, it doesn't involve $800 trillion (the next “stimulus plan” that will be “necessary” after the current one in debate) in increased spending.
4- Move to a flat tax system. How great would it be if we didn't have to worry about deductions? Set a poverty line of income, and everybody above that has to pay some percentage of taxes. No loopholes, no punishment for working harder and making more money, no tax refunds, easy. What is your income? You owe this much money. Hong Kong has been using the flat tax system for fifty years and has had constant economic growth the entire time (some would say the best). Perfect! In light of the situation in California right now, this probably seems even more appealing as they wouldn't have to worry about being able to cash in a governmental IOU to get their money back.
5- Home loan window. Make a home loan option available for two years where people can buy a house or refinance for a 15 or 30 year mortgage at a government guaranteed 4% interest rate. This would get the housing market back on track. The two year window would provide the sense of urgency needed to get people out and buying the homes now, as well as allowing the free market to go free again (with the restrictions on lending that the Bush administration tried to get put in place years ago but was turned down by democrats because it was the racist thing to do) once things even out again.

Auto Bailout

This post could be another controversial one. It's about the auto bailout that is going back and forth. Unions were created for a good reason. They have accomplished much good. They got legislation passed that have done much for the working class. However, they seem to have outlived their purpose. Now, they are making things worse. Their purpose now seems to be to get as much money for as little work possible. This may seem like a good idea to some, but when you consider that their employers are now facing bankruptcy because they can't afford everything, the workers will have no jobs and therefore no money. To be competetive, the auto companies need to get rid of the unions, and yes, structure more like the Toyota workers are structured. They may be getting paid less and they might actually have to work (gasp!), but at least they will have a job and still be getting paid. It's not lousy pay, either. Also, I have to say that I agree with what I have heard Senator Corker talk about. I say kudos to him!

WII

I don't know how many of you have had the opportunity to play a wii game system, but it's pretty fun. And, seriously, don't forget to stretch. Some friends bought one and invited me and my husband over for a gameday. After many hours of laughter and fun, I was already feeling sore. I tended to get a little overzealous with my swing on tennis and bowling. It got progressively worse the next couple of days before it finally began to get better. I was telling a youth from church about the cause of my immobility, and he gave half a chuckle; "Yeah, we call those 'wii pains'". How perfect!!!! Naturally, we are now using "wii lingo" in reference to all things wii. If you get the chance, play, but don't forget to stretch, and watch out for tennis elbow!

Abortion

Some of you have already recieved this in email form. It is unchanged.

The following are some links that I have found about the issue of abortion. I must first state that I do not hate people for having an abortion, nor for considering it. I know first had what a big deal pregnancy is and how much it changes. I can understand that the thought would at least cross the mind of a person when faced with the concept of an unexpected pregnancy.

That said, here is my stance on the issue. As far as most pregnancies go, it is the result of consentual sex. I am pro choice: they chose to have sex. I don't care how much protection you do or don't use, it is possible to get pregnant if you have sex. That is a very real consequence. The people that are so "pro-chioce" are negating the choice that they made in having sex. We are held accountable for the consequences of so many other choices that we make, so why not when we get pregnant? If you are afraid about having the baby and taking care of it, adoption is a very real solution.

I have close friends that have made the choice to have an abortion in the past, both from the point of the male and the female. They later regretted it, which is not to say that all do. They reflect on the fact that it was so easy to have it done. They were young and scared. Instead of having to face their parents with the issue, they opted for the abortion.

The right to have an abortion is all about taking away accountability for a decision that they made. I understand that not all cases of pregnancy were ones of choice. There are women that get pregnant from molestation and from rape. They did not choose to have sex in those cases. Those are special circumstances, as is when the mother's life is at stake with the pregnancy. While I like to think that I would opt to keep the baby in those instances, I understand that they are extreme situations and should be handled as such.

I think that we need to bring back accountability for our actions.

What the heck is up with people saying that the parents shouldn't have to be notified when their child, a minor, has an abortion?!!!! An abortion is dealing with a major medical and emotional situation in the life of the minor, and the parent has a right to know about it. I even go so far as to say that both sets of parents have a right to know. They need to know so that they can do better by their children.

As far as the aborted babies that survive the abortion and are left to die, that is plain dispicable. The legislators and citizens that don't wan't to pass a law protecting them because they are afraid of passing anything assoiciated with "pro-life" and abortion are just disgusting and evil. If the baby survives the abortion, even if it is expected that it might die, it has the right to receive medical care, and not just be left to die. THAT IS DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some people just make me sick.

As far as the Freedom Of Choice Act goes, I don't want my tax dollars to go toward paying for abortions. From what I've read in the bill, it doesn't allow for abortions past "viability", just to make things clear. I still don't like any abortions.

As far as politicians go, a person that is making legislative decisions for anything here is not below the paygrade to determine when he believes that life for a baby begins. He had better know if he is going to be passing laws!

Talking about pregnancy prevention, I am all for teaching kids abstinence and protection methods. I am not stupid. I know that there are going to be kids out there that will defy the best of parents and have sex. I would prefer them to know how and why to protect themselves. However, if they do chose to have sex, and either get pregnant themselves or get someone else pregnant, I am going to hold them accountable for their decision.

I hope that I haven't offended anyone with this email; that was not my intent. I am just very unsatisfied with the way that things are going, and wanted to get the word out about them.


http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040102197.html

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/404kfgky.asp

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/issues/abortion/access-to-abortion/freedom-of-choice-act.html

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.2020: Freedom Of Choice Act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Carhart

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/text/pl108105.txt Partial Birth Abortion Act-- I didn't know about the details behind this. Partial Birth abortion is DISGUSTING, and is unnecessary in protecting the life of the mother. Usually, a c-section is performed in the emergency situation and they try to protect the lives of both the mother and the fetus. There is no reason for such a horrific practice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7r1lpn4gQs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8UK5Dv4v8&NR=1

First Blog

Well, I have joined the blogosphere to add my two bits to the life discussion. I can't guarantee any great pearls of wisdom are going to eminate from my blog, but I hope to at least put out something to get the noodle turning, something for you to consider. There isn't any limit to what I am going to write about, so this is your only warning: I am going to write what is on my mind. Whenever my husband tells me that I should write someone, this is it. I am not out to offend, just to say how I see things. You are more than welcome to disagree. You may do your own independent research on things that I bring up. If you find evidence to the contrary and wish to show me your evidence for me to review, feel free to tell me. Final word is, we are all entitled to our own opinions. It's not all going to be gloom and doom, but I am watching the news a lot, and it is election year. On that note, I am going to start with a blog about abortion that I sent out as an email.

Tami and All Her Glory

This beautiful new blog is dedicated to the ramblings, musings, temper tantrums and endless opinions of a beloved sister, Tami. Tami is wonderful, giving, passionate, beautiful and smart beyond any other woman I have ever known. As of late, I have spent a great deal of our telephone discussions listening to her opinions on all things political. Although as much as her energy on the topic is amazing, I missed the good old days of discussing things that I dig, such as painting/redecorating/ How much did that kid throw up?... these types of discussions. I can handle such conversations.

That being said, I advised, in my limited wisdom, that this intelligent woman start a blog with which she can rupture her opinions all over the blogosphere for your reading delight. It's good for us stay-at-home mom types to have all sorts of different things to do. It is my hope that there are many a thing to read, laugh at, or cry about that come out from this blog.

Here's to one of my greatest Champions. Here is to my truest friend, a great companion and a supporter of all my craziness. To my Sister, the calmer one- Tami. Love, Red