I wish some people would just grow up!!!

Ok, back from a reprieve since I have been very busy with work and all... but just saw something that got my blood boiling.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40587353/ns/us_news-life/?gt1=43001

The so called "Rev" Phelps is at it again... this time he is planning on having his so called "Church" picket and protest Elizabeth Edwards funeral.

When these people claim to be using first amendment rights to picket and say hateful and hurtful things it might be something we have the ability to do, but what is the point of it. I don't even see anything about Elizabeth Edwards life that would be any basis for them to want to protest other than they want to have their faces, names, and posters in the news. And in this case they have not even stated why they are doing it. Oh, I know why.... Fame

I thought we had laws to also protect against slander, and abuse, even if it is only verbal abuse. If it had been the wife of Phelps I wonder how he would feel and if he would be concerned or outraged. He only does this to get attention, Christ would never have taken this type of action. When the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman to Christ, did he jump up and down stating that he hated her for what she did and point fingers? No he was compassionate and understanding, and taught us an amazing lesson; correct the action, teach, and love the sinner back to the fold.

I am sorry, but the God that Phelps follows is not the God that created the world, sent his son to teach us and pay the price for our sins so that we could return to his presence again. The God that created this world is a God that is just and loving, he can be both just and merciful because of the atonement of his Son that was his plan form the beginning. Each of us has been given agency to do with this life as we see fit. If we choose to follow God and align our actions and thoughts to his, then we will find peace in this life and the life to come. Will it be easy? Probably not, but worth it, you bet! Phelps has the right to do as he sees fit, but claim that he is a man of God, that he follows God, that he is not.

We should just not take any pictures, footage, or interviews of Phelps and his so called "church" let them just wallow in their hatred for everything under the sun. Maybe they would just stop doing it if no one paid attention and they could not get any "airtime".

Big Brother

It has been a few weeks since I last posted. I was reminded today though that it is important to keep a vigilant eye on what is happening in Washington.

I was enlightened on an issue that is being put to a vote just after Thanksgiving, Bill S.510, which is marketed as a way to allow the FDA to be able to protect us from tainted food getting into the food distribution systems = FDA Food Safety Modernization Act S.510.

I looked up info on a few sites:
http://www.govtrack.us/
http://thomas.loc.gov/

There would be additional regulation put in place to control the distribution and storage of food products. The part that concerns me and many others is that there is nothing in the bill to exclude backyard gardens, small farms, that might produce for your local farmers markets. Personally I like going to the really nice local farmers market we have here in our town, and I like that if my home garden really took off with tomatoes or maybe zucchini I could give them away to my neighbors without being in violation to the FDA or the Dept of Homeland Security.

Please make your voice known to your senator as soon as you can. This Bill would definitely increase the cost to produce farm fresh products, and add more time to the process of inspection and regulation.

I do not want to have my food prices increase substantially, I am also very, very fond of my local farms and the produce that I can purchase from them. I understand the risks, but I have the opportunity to go and check out the farm and their practices. I would like to have the ability to buy locally, without big brother looking over my shoulder. I would also like to share the bounty of my home garden with my neighbors.

Finally

Well, here we are on Nov 2nd and as the dust settles on who will take "control" of political power in Washington, or in the states with the gubernatorial races going on... I find it surprisingly peaceful to not be listening to the barrage of political campaigning on TV.

My wife and I were listening to the radio tonight while running an errand, and the host made the comment that even after all of the money that Meg Whitman (gubernatorial candidate for CA) put into trying to blast Jerry Brown in all of the negative ads, that she will still lose. He then said maybe people should look at campaign reform, and think about whether it makes sense to spend so much on TV and Radio ads. Applause, applause, applause!! DUH!!!

Well, I still go back to my idea of letting the candidates raise money, and then only are allowed to spend about what the average American makes in a year. Give them each equal time on the TV and the Radio in debates that are covered by the media, and then use the rest of the money to start putting in place things that will actually create jobs, or help our beleaguered public schools, or anyone of many issues that face Americans at the National, State, or City level. Show us how you will actually get things going and what answers you have to the problems we face. Show us that you do have the ability to make things better. Don't just say it, do it!! Don't just tell us you have answers, explain the solutions you have and show us that they work, by putting their ideas into working models that we can see.

Do that, and then let us choose who really is making headway, who is really able to get the job done, who really cares and can create real successful solutions!!

Have a great night!

Campaign Reform... Well, where are the enforcers

OK, so here is yet another example of the out of control issues with campaign financing that is going on.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/

It is no wonder that we have people in Washington willing to just spend and spend and spend!!! They feel they have an unlimited supply of money to do whatever they feel like. If any of us ran a business this way, we would be out of work and in jail for fraud and deception.

I would really like to see our politicians to really come up with a smart solution that would allow us to slowly pay down the National Debt, and still allow for essential services to go on, but allow us to stay within a budget.

I still like the idea of limiting the amount the Politicians can spend, to a small amount. Let's see how creative they can get ON A BUDGET that makes sense. Then allow the Politicians to have fund raising parties, and get other interest groups to donate funds, and take the extra and put into place the ideas and plans they are promoting and actually show us what they are going to do.

See my prior post -

http://kiss-politics.blogspot.com/2010/09/oh-my-hell-what-on-earth-are-they.html

Obama! A Modern U.S. President (musical spoof)

This is so funny, and since I really like Musical Theater, Gilbert and Sullivan is a perfect way to poke fun at our politicians....

http://www.youtube.com/user/ronniebutlerjr#p/a/u/0/y54FRMedT_s

Enjoy!

Campaigning... what a crock!

OK, so I am really getting on my horse (call him high if you want) and I am going to wave this flag!!

The theme in my prior post "Who is to blame", talks about the need to reform campaign ads. I stated that I feel that with some of the campaign ads, they are close to being abusive or could even be considered Cyberbullying. Well, I found a reference on wikipedia that has the definition of cyberbullying. I know that it states that it is adolescence that do it, but I am thinking that we are setting a bad example if we do it among adults and then expect our children to act any different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbullying

Just this evening, I have counted the number of slanderous campaign ads just in 1 hour in the Sacramento, CA media area... the numbers are staggering (these were counted from 5:30pm to 6:30pm Oct 20.)

The sheer volume is unbelievable......

Number of political ads - 28
Number of Political ads considered to be a positive message - 5
Number of Political ads considered to be slandering of the opponent - 16
Number of Political ads considered to be neutral (proposition ads) - 7

In an article in the Daily Finance, an AOL Money and Finance Site, http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/political-ad-spending-TV-broadcasters/19644734/

"In total, TV station political revenues may hit $2.5 billion in 2010, a 25% increase above 2006"

This is not including the revenue that will be generated in Radio, Internet Ads, or for static advertising such as billboards, yard signs and vehicle ads.

Let's see, what can we do with 2.5 Billion Dollars... for this election time

• Helping our public education system: The average teachers salary (lets say for High School) is $43,272 rounded down to $43,000. (according to PayScale.com) Now double it for the 2 years they will be in office if they get elected. That is $86,000 in salary, of course there is other expenses, but let's just keep this as simple as we can. 2.5 Billion Dollars puts 29,000 more teachers to work in public schools, an average of 581 per state. The average student/teacher ration for the US is 16.2:1, (I know that it is a lot higher in some states like CA) so that would allow for another 9000 students to be taught in a state.
• Helping protect our borders: The average border patrol officer salary is $55,000, so that would put an additional 44,000 border patrol officers along our southern border to protect us form the onslaught of illegal immigrants coming in. If we just stationed them along the border with Mexico (which is our biggest problem right now, and I am not being racist, that is just the fact) which length is 1,969 miles, that puts 22 officers PER MILE. According to Globalsecurity.org, the proposed fence that would protect the southern border with Mexico could possibly be finished (using the low cost version fencing) with those funds, slowing the 400,000+ illegals from getting into to our country per year.
  

This is just two examples... I am certain there are many more that could be thought of. I say we put some legislation in place to limit the political campaign spending, and have the funds go for something good for a change.

Who is to blame

I find it pretty maddening over the past few weeks that all of the political ads have nothing, and I mean nothing positive to say at this point. They are played so often that I feel completely bombarded right now. I mean do I really want to hear their whining 1 to 2 times every 8 minutes on TV, or the radio about how blah blah blah is such a bad choice or they will ruin our lives....

OK, I get it, you differ on some items, that is fine, tell us how you differ by showing us some of your solutions, how the hell are you going to fix this, I want to know!!! Tell us the way you will stop over spending, or balance the budget without raising taxes, come on, I am listening... I really would like to know!!

We have cracked down on companies that do misleading advertising techniques called "bait and switch" There is punishments and fines associated with it.... Well, I feel this is very similar when a politician tells us that they will balance the budget, or lower taxes, or better our school system, and then after getting into office don't get anything done like that. To quote a famous politician... Pedro Sanchez - "If you vote for me.. all your wildest dreams will come true". I swear that as absurd as this sounds, it is just about as bad today in our political environment.

Here is another thing with this... We have heard so much in the media lately about youth committing suicide due to bullying, cyber-bullying, and verbal abuse due to being different or gay. This is something that is completely unacceptable, but what are we showing at every moment during a commercial break right now... Oh yeah that is right, let's verbally abuse someone, even to the point of lying or stretching the truth and we call it campaign ads. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! It is verbal abuse!!! And it should stop!!

I really want to propose to someone that will listen to put an end to campaign spending like this. Do you really think that us as a voter base are really going to take you seriously about lowering spending, when you are wasting all of our time and an incredible amount of money on stupid campaign ads that only try and tear down their opponent. I think politicians think we are just that stupid.

I feel like someone needs to take up the banner on this one, and I guess it might just have to be me if there is no one else in political position that will. Please comment if you would like, I would love to hear your comments on this.

Issues We Face As A Nation!

Most of the posts on this blog have been some form of rantings by yours truly... I really do not want this to just be a place for me to post things that I do not like about what is happening in our Nation, but also a place to share ideas on how to solve the issues at hand. I know that all of you out there that may read this have your own thoughts of what needs to be fixed, and I hope that you have thought through some solutions to these.

Here is your chance to speak up. I would love to hear from all of you out there on what you feel the most pressing issues are in our Nation today. I would like to have a platform that we can start discussions from and be able to share input on solutions for these.

Fiscally Responsible America

I have to admit that I fit in the category of not being as fiscally responsible as I should. I am not tightening the spending habits of myself or our household to a point where it may feel like it is limiting, and we are spending more than we should, and that leads us to live paycheck to paycheck.

I was alarmed to read the following article and see the percentage of Americans that are living paycheck to paycheck, and am really concerned.

http://www.theworkbuzz.com/current-affairs/are-savings-accounts-a-thing-of-the-past/?cobrand=msn&siteid=cbmsnmnbuzz

Just in the last year it has risen 16%, that is a huge number of Americans that are new, to having to live paycheck to paycheck. I fall into this category, but we have been working our way out of being unemployed for a number of months last year and earlier this year. We have been talking about it and looking for opportunities to implement it, and as I sometimes do, not think about it when I have time to work out the plan and implement it. Well, for me anyway... now is the time. I look at this article and realize that if over 3/4 of the US is living paycheck to paycheck and our Gov is more in debt and spending more than they bring in every single minute of every day, then we are definitely headed for a financial meltdown that could really cause everyone to suffer. I know that there is talk in Washington about fixing the deficit, (not certain how that will be accomplished) but I do know that it could mean higher taxes. If they raise taxes to help offset the budget free fall, and most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck then where is the extra going to come from?

I see it a couple of ways..

1. Those living paycheck to paycheck will start spending less and get more and more under the poverty line. When they do that it in turns slows spending at retailers and other services which (we have seen over the past few years) directly effects that stock market and causes mass panic in and around the economy, causing companies to layoff and tighten their belts. This could be cause of more people on unemployment and will have a harder time finding work.
   
2. People will have to lower their expenses (not that this is a bad thing) but they will stop buying bigger homes and nicer cars. Both the Housing and Auto industries are embattled already and will take further hits, causing more widespread issues in the economy. These are two of the industries that Obama tried to fix in dolling out over 700Billion. Nice to have all that money go to waste... NOT!

I am going to try and do my part in getting our own financial prowess fit, trim, and ready for the storms ahead. It will not be easy, or pleasant to think more about saving than what is it that I could get with this extra each month, but it will much better for our family, and I think in some very very small way, will help the country. If we all were working at this (which I am sure many many are) then we would ease the financial roller coaster that we are all on. I know that most of the people in that 77% are so deep right now, or have had situations out of their control that have gotten them there. I do know that in some cases there was things they could have done before the downturn of the economy this last time that would have lessened the impact. I hope that each of us can take the time to get financially fit for the rough times ahead and that starts with me.

Impact on our Nation

Do we really understand what the impact of us not having a relationship with God is having on our Nation?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39397251/ns/us_news-life?gt1=43001

You may feel.. "So what? So there is a bunch of people out there that really don't understand religion today." Why does that have anything to do with politics?" "Why should I care?"

I am certain that if more of us were taking the messages from God into our lives and honestly trying to live by those teachings we would all be much, much better off. Whether you believe that is from the Bible, Quran, Hadith, Tanakh, NWT, Book of Mormon, or from modern revelation through God's servants here on earth today, I feel it would make this a better place to live. We should also be actively seeking understanding of others and their beliefs as well.

I feel it is a product of not really knowing, or studying the word of God that puts us in a place where our pride and selfishness gets in the way, and we rely on Man to direct our paths. Personally I know that I do not have the answers for all of the issues we are facing or will face, but I do know someone that does and that is God, and I hope that God will impart some of that knowledge to me if I stay close to him and try and live his teachings. I feel that this is important for us to keep up the communication with God if we are to truly fix the issues we are facing as a Nation now and in the future. We all have the ability to think for ourselves and to put our minds to these issues, but it can only help us to get divine help in the process.

I know there was the old adage that states that one should not talk about Politics and Religion, but why not? I really enjoy talking to others about what it is that they believe, why they believe that, and how they came to that belief. I feel we all should take more time to understand our neighbors and the people around us, and what motivates and drives them ethically. I also feel that it is good to talk about Politics, it is something that if we get passionate about it, maybe we will do something about it.

I feel that until we are willing to accept God's help we will always struggle to find ways to solve the issues that we are facing as a Nation. Let's include him and get these issues fixed sooner than later.

Illegal Immigration and our kid's education

Immigration is a touchy subject these days, with more and more confrontations happening. My forefathers came from Sweden and other lands to this country to start a new live to make a life better for their children, but they did it the legal way. They came through the proper channels, worked hard, learned English and spoke it as much as they could, paid taxes, and basically did just that, made a better life for them and their children.

What I am oppose to is ILLEGAL immigration and the terrible impact it is having on my kid's education.

It seems more and more today that there is a rising voice for Illegal Immigration, and it comes in the form of being against anyone or anything that wants to place restrictions on legal ramifications to policing this problem. AZ decided to put a line in the sand, and I applaud them for it. Maybe it is not perfect, but at least it is a start. CA has the highest % of Illegal Immigrants, and the state that is the closest to being bankrupt. CA really needs to do something about it for sure.

Some stats that I have read...

• In a Dateline report done in 2004 it was found that in California who's already struggling K-12 education system was spending approximately $7.7 billion a year to school the children of illegal aliens who at that time constituted 15 percent of the student body.
• In July 2010 Fox News did a report and found that the US spends 113 Billion Dollars a Year in harboring Illegal Immigrants. Just think what we could do with 113 Billion Dollars if we put it into our public schools.

The same Fox News story post info about the cost to our schools

"The single largest cost to the government of illegal immigration, according to the report, is an estimated $52 billion spent on schooling the children of illegals. “Nearly all those costs are absorbed by state and local governments,’ the report states.

Moreover, the study’s breakdown of costs on a state-by-state basis shows that in states with the largest number of illegals, the costs of illegal immigration are often greater than current, crippling budget deficits. In Texas, for example, the additional cost of immigration, $16.4 billion, is equal to the state’s current budget deficit; in California the additional cost of illegal immigration, $21.8 billion, is $8 billion more than the state’s current budget deficit of $13.8 billion; and in New York, the $6.8 billion deficit is roughly two-thirds the $9.5 billion yearly cost of its illegal population."

OK, so in my humble estimation, here is one solution... might not be the best, but at least here is an option...

Put the education vouchers in place. Each parent would get a voucher that covered a certain dollar amount of the child's education costs. Obviously this would need to be coordinated with the state and local leadership that handles this and should cover the basic cost of education that the states and local communities are already bearing for the legal citizens. The school would receive this amount to educate that child. Vouchers would only be given to Citizens of this country for that use. Those that are not here legally, would have to pay the full price to have their kids educated here. It is very similar to the way State Colleges charge students and in state tuition and an out of state tuition. It is higher for those that choose to go to another state to get the education, but know that they will have to pay more.

Student vouchers would accomplish this by forcing those that are illegally here to have to pay the full "tuition" to get their kids educated. They would still have a choice, just that all the rest of us do not have to pay their way. You may say that it is not fair, that those that are here illegally are usually working on farms, and do not have the means to pay that. Your right they probably do not, so let them stay in their own country, or get the legal documentation to be here in this country and then they could take part in getting their children educated.

I am tired of seeing the teachers in the schools where my kids go, have to fund educational materials out of their own pockets (and we all know that teachers are among the lowest paid, highly educated positions in our country). I am tired of seeing the student/teacher ratio in the schools continue to climb to a point where the teachers cannot be effective in helping our children get a good education.

I am certain that I do not have all of the info... I am also certain that this may not be the complete solution, but it would be a start. And we have got to start somewhere.

Excuse Me, but are you ashamed to say it?

I try to keep a level head about some of the antics that our Politicians do, or say, cause in the end they are human, they make mistakes, and they all have flaws....

But, I mean there is a point when you begin to see the underlying motivation in their actions and that leads you to understand the person inside, regardless of what they may profess.

I know that there are those of you out there that will completely disagree with me, and feel that it does not matter whether a person has a religious background or not to be in public office... I understand and value your opinion... As for me, I have a deep, penetrating understanding that this great Country was founded by men and women inspired by God, in how and when to form this Country.

Yes Inspired by God!

I have a deep belief that God directed the activities of those special men and woman to do what they did and when in order for us to have the freedoms that we now enjoy. I know from personal Spiritual experiences that God has a great purpose for having this great Country here on this continent, at this time, and for a higher purpose. I also believe that he still directs the affairs of this Country as long as we, as a Nation are trying to follow and live like him.

I know that our President has his flaws, again, we all do, but he was "marketed" to the US Public that he was Religious, that he held the same values as I did when it came to looking to God for understanding and inspiration on the affairs of this Country and the World around us.

I am sorry, but I am seeing more and more from his actions that tell me that he really truly underneath the facade might not have a deeply rooted understanding of the need to have God involved in our lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-xYtTv3dUo&feature=related

There have been other instances that have happened earlier, but this one tells me that he just wants to "appeal" to the public. I really think that he is just working his angle at getting re-elected. He hesitated a long time before actually skipping the part "they are endowed by their Creator", so either he forgot that part, or was thinking through whether to say it or not, and then did not. Either way does not enlist confidence for me. The Declaration of Independence is a very important document in our history.... If your going to quote it, quote it right! It is what it is and it is what has helped form our Country in what it is today.

Want to fix our Country's issues? Involve God.

"What's in it for Me"

You may ask this now and again, I know I do. But I am changing my tune on this.....

I was witness to an event that took place last night that reaffirms my thoughts that it is in the simplest ways that we might be able to solve our most pressing problems in this country.

I have been involved in Theater Arts for over 15 years now. In that time I have shared the stage with plenty of Diva's and Egomaniacs, but also privileged to spend many a memorable evening or Saturday morning with amazing people... last night was no exception.

Since moving to this new town a little over 4 months ago, I go involved in a startup theater group that has just acquired rehearsal space in a previously vacant building, near the actual Theater, but also next to the local liquor store that has a reputation for attracting a rougher bunch, and that some of the towns homeless seem to come to get booze after collecting recyclables throughout the day. So since moving into the space that the homeless use to hang out in front of, we have been able to see some of the destitution of these folks first hand and have had to move a few on even in order to not have issues while doing rehearsals.

Last night we had the usual audience... as we were rehearsing, one particularly "fragrant" man stood in the doorway, he did not try and come in, but just stood in the doorway, blocking passage, and looking at us. He had tattered clothing, few teeth, and looked as if he had not been able to shower in well over a year. Since I was close to the door, I took the sentinel position and walked over to talk to him and ask him to move along. He stated that he just wanted some food, and not knowing about the food that was brought yet, I told him that we did not have anything for him and that he needed to move along. He then pointed over to the table where people were busily getting ready for rehearsal time and prepping for warm-ups, and in a flash I could see what he was looking at. There was a tinfoil pan, and a few people getting plates out and dishing some enchiladas out that one of the cast members brought. This same cast member, looked over, and then grabbed a plate, put on a heaping pile of enchiladas and Spanish rice and then without even a second thought, grabbed a fork and brought the lot over for the man to have. She did not make any fanfare about it, if I had not just a few minutes before told the man to “move along” I would probably had not even seen this act of service.

This touched my heart… You see, this cast member has to work two jobs just to help support her family, and she volunteers with the theater, since it is Community Theater and there is no payroll. I see her working long hours and putting in extra time at her work just to help her bosses in order that their businesses stay afloat in this economy. She has mentioned in the past to me that only a few years ago when the economy began to take a dump, her husband lost his job and they ended up losing their house, and possessions to the bank (one of the same that was bailed out by the Gov.) and have had to basically start life financially over again in their 50's. The food she brought could have easily gone to help lessen the load for feeding her struggling family, but instead she offered it up to the cast freely, and then when seeing this person in need without hesitation piled a huge portion grabbed a fork, napkin, and helped him over to a place that he could sit and enjoy a much needed meal.

I feel that one of the pressing issues with our Country today is a lack of a desire to serve others, versus the attitude of “what do I get out of it”. I see it more and more with Politicians, and people on the street. Gangs are all about “what’s in it for me”. Crime is a factor of the attitude of “what’s in it for me”. I am grateful however to have been privileged to witness this Small Miracle, that reaffirmed my faith that there are people today that can keep this Country great! That are still decent! That have morals and values that are well beyond the “what’s in it for me”! If we all could take this approach to life, we could solve so many of the issues we face today! I know this is probably preachy, overly simplified, and probably way naive in most of your minds… but it is by simple things that great things are accomplished. I for one will do much more for those around me, so there is one… who else will join me?

Wow, If we all could have all the money we want to print at our finger tips

Found this site on the Internet... Interesting way of looking at the deficit. I am not certain if all of the info is 100% accurate, but it does make you think.

http://www.spendingrevolt.com/

Oh my Hell!! What on earth are they thinking!!

I read in the paper this morning that Meg Whitman who is running for Gov. of CA has now raised and is planning on spending 119 MILLION DOLLARS, which is a new record in the amount that has ever been raised or spent in a Gubernatorial race....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/15/meg-whitman-campaign-spen_1_n_718415.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/09/whitman-adviser-defends-campaign-spending-on-meet-the-press.html

WTF (in my mind that is "What the Freak")

OK, so not only is she planning on spending that to get elected as Gov. of CA, but the other candidate Jerry Brown will be spending Millions as well in order to "get the word out".

Do either of these candidates understand that when average hardworking citizens read this, those that are struggling with the downturn of the economy, loss of retirement pension values, increase fuel prices, struggling public school systems, and a whole host of other issues that we are facing... we as tax payers and citizens begin to think that they have lost touch with reality.

Hmmmm, maybe they have....

Let's say that Jerry Brown only spends half of what Meg Whitman is planning on spending. That is roughly 178 Million freakin dollars just to let us know that they want to be the next CA Gov.

OK, so here is an idea I have for a solution......

1. Put a cap on the amount that politicians can spend on campaigning. Make it a fixed amount. I don't care if it is figured into a budget that comes out of some tax funds. Keep it low, like an amount that would equal a decent salary, say 100K. Oh I can hear the rumblings now... "there is no way in this political area to get the word out for 100K, signage costs more than that, TV ads are expensive, radio ads are expensive".... Your exactly right!! If that was the budget they might actually have to get CREATIVE in getting the word out, or NEGOTIATE time on TV and Radio. They may even have to plan more DEBATES where they would be forced to really talk about their way of fixing the issues we have versus telling us how "stupid, incompetent, morally unfit" the other candidates are. Are we not looking to put people in office that actually have these skills? Are we not looking for candidates that can solve issues with effective programs and teamwork?
2. Let them fund raise, let them see if they can be in the record books for raising the most money for the issues they say they are going to fix. Just think if you could put all the rest of that money that these two are going to spend on campaigning, into the budget beleaguered public school system in CA. How many more teachers could be hired, how many more school building improvements could be made to schools that so desperately need it, how many more struggling students could get a more hands on experience with a teacher that cares and now has the ability to spend some quality time with kids because the student/teacher ratio for her classes has dropped from 35 to 28 or less.
3. Now take the funds that they are raising and begin putting them to good use, making a differnce in peoples lives, before we vote. Let the media (who is always looking for a story) cover these events and report on what these candidates are actually doing to improve and fix the issues we have. Let the candidates put these funds into meaningful projects and programs that can be sustained by the funds raised, and if elected, can put in place additional tax dollar or propositions in place to help sustain them even further, or increase their penetration into solving the issues.

Let's see them actually do something good for a change before we actually have to vote for them. I think that we would all like to see how effective a leader our candidates can be before we have to pick one. I would love to have the problem of having to pick from two or three really awesome, effective, compasionate, and caring candidates for a public office. This would also allow us to see how creatively they can solve the issues of the day without just throwing money at it. I agree that we have a lot of issues that need money to fix, but we have increasingly become a nation that feels that, to fix it, cover it with a money bandaid. This is going to bite us in the butt with the overspending of the budget and the increasing deficit that we are in. We are a nation that within a very short time, put the greatest minds we had on a goal of putting a Man on the Moon, and we did!! Not only that, we got him back as well!! China now owns probably more of the US than we do. This is because we have been willing to go into debt and place money bandaids on pressing issues for years and years. We have not had anyone really digging in there and actually solving the underlying problems, and this has got to stop.

That might mean that our next candidates are not the most beautiful, or hansome, not the most well known... they maybe average people like you and me, but would have shown by example their capabilities to lead, direct, inspire, and creativly solve our issues.

I am tired of only having to choose between the two or three that have the most money to spend to "get the word out", without really knowing anything about thier abilities to actually deal with the challenges that we face. I have met some people, very average people as to the view of the world, that are amazingly effective at solving problems, who can inspire people beyond what they thought they could accomplish. These folks have unique understandings of how to organize and implement solutions to complex issues at a moments notice.

I would love to hear from you.... Please post your thoughts.

I need a place to vent

You are probably wondering what this blog is all about with a name like KISS Politics... No I am not the ultimate fan of the KISS Rock group, although I do like their music now and then, KISS is in reference the sales and marketing adage "Keep It Simple Stupid". I have felt more and more over the last decade that politics has become increasingly cumbersome and overly complicated, and it is brought about by the "yahoo's" we have in office, and the attitudes of the American People. I have posted a few times on Facebook my thoughts on politics, environmental issues, healthcare, and other issues that as of late have got my blood boiling. I have decided to create this blog so that I can vent at will and those that want to read it can, those that don't can just ignore.

I would say that I have become increasingly conservative in my political views, but I pride myself on keeping an open mind. I am trying to constantly educate myself on the issues and the arguments from both sides, so that I can make wise decisions when it comes time to vote on laws and propositions that are sent to the polls. I am a family man. I like to spend time with my family more than doing other activities that might seem "fun" or "cool" in today's world. I would rather "hang" with my kids and my beautiful wife, than to run down to the sports bar and take in a game. Call me old fashioned, but I feel that working hard and saving for something greater is better than going out and buying the "hot on sale item" with credit.

If you like, you can comment on posts that I place on here, I love to hear others opinions. I would like to encourage you to rant if you feel like it, but please add your thoughts on how to solve it. I think we all need to turn on the thinking caps and actually look for ways to resolve the issues we face. Thanks for reading