Mike's Blogs

My Christmas Bonus

2010-12-17T21:37:00.000-06:00

I want to share my Christmas Bonus with you this year but before you get too excited, it's not cash, or a smoked ham, or a Tie-Of-The-Month membership. It's just some "sappy-happy-feel-good" moments I've had this year, and they mean more to me than anything else and I'm so happy to have them and reflect on them at this special time of year.

This year, a very good, close, personal friend of mine deployed to Afghanistan, visiting us before he left, and again after he safely returned and we got to see how his sweet daughter has grown in the years since we last saw her. I got to spend time with him and a couple other "Army Buddies" this year, and they are so much like family to me and my family, my kids call them "Uncle".

I got to spend time with my Goddaughter from Germany, and reunite her (at least momentarily) with her father that she hasn't seen since she was a toddler. It was a time of pleasure and pain, seeing the woman she had become, reconnecting, and the disappointment of realizing that the values she had been brought up under were so vastly different from ours. Our time together didn't end well, and we may never reconnect, but we had the opportunity to find out.

We found out the true colors of the people Susie worked for, and found them to cheap, perverse, and devious. They used and abused her skills, qualifications and good nature until they poisoned her and infected our family. Yet once we saw them for what they were, Susie applied to two other businesses, and had two better offers, each better than the last. I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished. She has reached a point where she could support our family on her pay alone if we had to. It wouldn't be much of a living, but we could survive. Coupled with my wages, we can finally get those ends to meet in the middle and even have some string to spare to enjoy things more. The best part is that we've worked hard to earn that position, and we've done it honestly and with integrity.

The next part of my bonus was going back to Arizona to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful visit, sharing laughs, sights, and even a few sour notes on Mom's Karaoke machine. It was a truly wonderful visit and we realized how much we missed being around family, especially Mom and Dad. All the way home Susie and I talked about how we would like to be closer to be there for them, and share their grandchildren with them more.

I think I've always been a gypsy, I never seem to stay very long anywhere. I thought I found home in Missouri. I was active as a Boy Scout leader, as well as Susie... we were taking notice of local issues, even survived a terrible ice storm on our own for about two weeks without power. Right after that I was laid off and moved to Oklahoma in search of better opportunities. It has been nice here, but I never felt it was home as much as Missouri, or Arizona felt, but I got a good job and things settled down. The kids are in the band and doing great, have more friends than ever, and we have close friends nearby from our Army brotherhood, even adopting their families and friends somewhat.

Yet all the way back from Arizona we thought and talked about, "what if" we could move there and be closer to Mom and Dad. When we went back there for Thanksgiving and we hit the Arizona/New Mexico border at sunrise and looked over the landscape and I realized just how much I missed it... When we went through the mountains in Flagstaff, across the badlands to Yuma, across the southern half of the state along I-10 to New Mexico... I felt as if I were home at long last.

I showed up to work Tuesday after Thanksgiving weekend to find out there were open positions in Dallas and Wichita. I asked if there were any in Arizona and was directed to the job postings page for our company. Within two weeks of returning to Oklahoma I had applied for, interviewed, been accepted, offered, and accepted a job in Phoenix doing what I already do, with a raise and relocation allowance.

In the meantime I had asked my friends and family to pray that the right choice, the right option, would present itself and be attainable to me that God wanted for me.

So now, in just three weeks I will leave the majority of my friends, to start a new life in Phoenix, closer to family, and in the middle of the land and laws that I love, honor, and defend. I will range on ahead of my family, to find a suitable place to live and start my job there while they remain with the familiar and finish up the school year, then we'll join up in the summer to move out to Arizona as a family, permanently.

I may not be all that old, but I'm now old enough to know where I am happiest, and I am moving to Arizona, and I will die there. Preferably not anytime in the next 40-50 years, but my faith is in God that I will be where I need to be, when I need to be there.

So, that is my Christmas Bonus, and it's more than I could have hoped for. Sure there have been hard times this year, when ends didn't meet, or things didn't go our way. When I was sad, angry, depressed, worried, etc, but I choose not to focus on those in a negative light. Looking back, it was a pretty damn good year, and we all survived it.

What more can we ask?

Barack Obama has awakened a sleeping nation!

2010-10-17T18:33:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama has awakened a sleeping nation!
Gary Hubbell
Aspen Times Weekly February 2010 Barack Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in the last 100 years. Truly, he is the savior of America 's future. He is the best thing ever.

Despite the fact that he has some of the lowest approval ratings among recent presidents, history will see Barack Obama as the source of America 's resurrection. Barack Obama has plunged the country into levels of debt that we could not have previously imagined; his efforts to nationalize health care have been met with fierce resistance nationwide; TARP bailouts and stimulus spending have shown little positive effect on the national economy; unemployment is unacceptably high and looks to remain that way for most of a decade; legacy entitlement programs have ballooned to unsustainable levels, and there is a seething anger in the populace.

That's why Barack Obama is such a good thing for America .

Obama is the symbol of a creeping liberalism that has infected our society like a cancer for the last 100 years. Just as Hitler is the face of fascism, Obama will go down in history as the face of unchecked liberalism. The cancer metastasized to the point where it could no longer be ignored.

Average Americans who have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips - they've gotten off the fence. They've woken up. There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.

Think of the crap we've slowly learned to tolerate over the past 50 years as liberalism sought to re-structure the America that was the symbol of freedom and liberty to all the people of the world. Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion. Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility, the fracturing of families, and a cycle of generations of dependency. Debt was regarded as a tonic to lubricate the economy. Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy. Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms. Productive members of society have been penalized with a heavy burden of taxes in order to support legions of do-nothings who loll around, reveling in their addictions, obesity, indolence, ignorance and "disabilities." Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again. Lawyers routinely extort fortunes from doctors, contractors and business people with dubious torts.

We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.

But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.

A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers' union - whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense - is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.

Literally millions of Americans have had enough. They're organizing, they're studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, they're reading history and case law, they're showing up at rallies and meetings, and a slew of conservative candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Is there a revolution brewing? Yes, in the sense that there is a keen awareness that our priorities and sensibilities must be radically re-structured. Will it be a violent revolution? No. It will be done through the interpretation of the original document that has guided us for 220 years - the Constitution. Just as the pendulum swung to embrace political correctness and liberalism, there will be a backlash, a complete repudiation of a hundred years of nonsense. A hundred years from now, history will perceive the year 2010 as the time when America got back on the right track. And for that, we can thank Barack Hussein Obama.

Gary Hubbell is a hunter, rancher, and former hunting and fly-fishing guide. Gary works as a Colorado ranch real estate broker. He can be reached through his website, aspenranchrealestate.com

545 vs 300,000,000

2010-08-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

The article below is completely neutral, not anti republican or democrat....Charlie Reese, a retir...............e......d reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day.

It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE -- By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.... . The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power..

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.

Sales Tax

School Tax

Liquor Tax

Luxury Tax

Excise Taxes

Property Tax

Cigarette Tax

Medicare Tax

Inventory Tax

Real Estate Tax

Well Permit Tax

Fuel Permit Tax

Inheritance Tax

Road Usage Tax

CDL license Tax

Dog License Tax

State Income Tax

Food License Tax

Vehicle Sales Tax

Gross Receipts Tax

Social Security Tax

Service Charge Tax

Fishing License Tax

Federal Income Tax

Building Permit Tax

IRS Interest ChargesHunting License Tax

Marriage License Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Personal Property Tax

Accounts Receivable Tax

Recreational Vehicle Tax

Workers Compensation Tax

Watercraft Registration Tax

Telephone Usage Charge Tax

Telephone Federal Excise Tax

Telephone State and Local Tax

IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)

State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax

Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax

Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)

Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax

Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes

Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? ' I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!!YOU can help it get there!!!GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!!!

Stimulas for Jobs

2010-02-13T15:58:00.004-06:00

Obama is making jobs creation his focus this year. That is wonderful! He's finally listening to us! Or is he?

His latest piece of work includes "eliminating capital gains taxes on small businesses" but my sources tell me that the majority of small businesses don't pay capital gains taxes.

There are also incentives to businesses who hire new workers, but it sounds like another "cash for clunkers" scheme to me, and businesses will either not benefit much from it, or they will be able to cheat it.

Another is eliminating fees for small business loans and guaranteeing them. Again, I don't see a lot of help there, and it could open doors for abuse.

Then there is $50 Billion for more construction projects. Uh hello? Lets fix more crap that could probably wait, and while we're at it create more jobs for illegal aliens while making a few contracters fat and happy in a recession?

Then there are a few provisions to give tax credits to people who upgrade their homes to be more energy effecient and to "green jobs". My problem with this is that people get tax credits to upgrade old appliances that they were probably going to upgrade anyway because they are old and broken, or are old and they can save more on their utilities by upgrading them... so they would probably have upgraded anyway... either way, no new jobs there.

As for the "green jobs" measures, it's great in theory, but when 80% of the jobs created are created abroad for things like purchasing and installing wind turbines and solar cells, how does that help us here?

To me it sounds like the same old tired agenda Obama had during his campaign and what he tried to accomplish last year, but with a new label meant to make us feel like change was happening.

Obama campaigned on "change" and "hope" so far all he has delivered on is "hope" which doesn't take a high school drop-out to recognize as intangible and unhelpful.

I could hope for 40 years to have a Ferrari but without hard work and sacrifice AIMED at achieving that goal, it's not going to happen.

So, what do I think will create jobs?

Fine US based businesses that outsource positions abroad.
Cap, reduce, or remove taxes on small businesses. Period.
Reduce the federal government as a whole.
Replace the tax code with the Fair Tax plan.
Block the government from being involved in commercial, corporate, and small business affairs entirely. In capitalism, it's sink or swim, with no bailouts if you fail.

In otherwords, leave us the hell alone and we'll make money and grow the economy. Get in our way and everyone will suffer. It's a proven fact that Government cannot compete with private industry and commercialism. They are out gunned, under-motivated and under-educated to perform in a competive enviornment unless they use power and position to muscle out the backbone of the American economy.

The American Way is all about everyone having a chance to succeed and be successful. The ones who do not are the ones who don't want to work for it. That's why they live on the streets or work in fast food joints if their over 20 years old. They are not entitled to what hard working people get until they learn how to work for it.

Socialists and Communists want everyone to benefit the same, regardless of their efforts. If you believe in this you need to move to some other country that supports laziness. America was founded by hard working people who worked, fought, bled and died for everything they got. It's time we got back to our roots.

There are jobs out there, if you don't have one, you aren't working hard enough to get one, therefore you don't deserve one, or else the government is paying you too much to not get one.

I've been there, and I know what its like to sit back and know I am getting a check worth more than any number of jobs I could be taking and choose to wait for something better. But when those checks ran out you can bet I took whatever I could the next day. I hated unemployment, but it was almost enough to scrape by on, and it ran out. That is the way it's supposed to be. It's not supposed to be extended, it's not supposed to increase. It's there to give you a CHANCE to find something like what you had. If you can't, it's time to find something else, even if you're 40 years old applying to McDonalds for the first time.

You had your chance. There's no "Participant" ribbon in real life, and nobody owes you anything if you can't take it on your own.

State of the Union (According to Mike)

2010-01-20T17:39:00.013-06:00

In an effort to preempt President Obama's State of the Union Address, I am publishing mine, going over some topics in a likely different perspective than he will do. This is my fair and non-partisan assessment of the state of the Union, giving credit where due, and criticism as well, so keep my words in mind when you hear President Obama's assessment, and believe what you want.

First of all let me be perfectly clear, while it is no secret that Obama has lied or flip-flopped on issues, he has been honest and forthcoming on others, such as:

"Bush has dug a deep hole. It's going to take some time to dig us out. We're all going to need to tighten our belts a little bit. We're all going to need to sacrifice,"

and...

“When you think about the structural problems that we already had in the economy before the financial crisis, this is a big problem, and it's going to get worse.”

Bush DID leave us a big hole over several issues and its Obama's job to dig us out. We do need, and we have been tightening our belts and sacrificing. At least everyone except Obama and Democrats. Obama had the most expensive election party in history, but no one complained because he was going to make good on everything soon.

Except the spending didn't stop there. Continued bailouts for banks, automakers, government paid-for cell phones for lower income people, cash for clunkers, billions handed out to create or keep jobs which were reported for districts that don't even exist.

Then the granddaddy of them all, ObamaCare which will cost a trillion dollars, and not take effect for years. The more "we the people" heard about it and what it was all about, the less we wanted it, yet Obama and the Democrats continued to push it, harder and harder, insisting that they WILL pass it, and we WILL like it because it's what THEY say we need.

Then one by one, the sleeping masses began to wake up, and we began to wonder where our country had gone. First there were the "Town Hall" meetings, and angry Americans questioned and spoke out about issues they were opposed to. Often these meetings were loud and bordered being out of control, yet I can hardly blame them after all they weren't filled with politicians but hard working, tax paying Americans, many out of work or facing unemployment, foreclosure and other hardships. Their backs are against the wall and they are looking for answers and actions from their elected officials.

Then the tea party movement began and became a forum for even more people where Town Hall meetings weren't available, and the country came alive with a wave of Nationalism not seen for many years.

In response Democrat leaders called them "knuckle-dragging neanderthals", "evil-mongers" and other nasty and entirely demeaning names, then vowed even stronger to pass their bill.

However in all honesty, not every Democrat jumped on board, thirteen were "bought out" with pork, exceptions or ammendments so they would jump into bed with "the party."

"My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."

Yeah well, it's a noble gesture and if you hadn't already failed at transparency it might be your redeeming asset Mr. President. However closing the door to the media and allowing Reid and Pelosi re-write the health care bill behind closed doors is clearly a deal breaker.

The list of lies and failures go on and on, but the fact remains, President Obama is our President for at least 3 more years, and for the time being at least Democrats control the House and Senate. There is time for them to turn around and listen to the people that elected them, instead of talking down to us and forcing their agenda on us and putting us into a level of debt that makes what Dubya left us with pale in comparison.

What I want to see happen is for Washington to wake up tomorrow and hear the voices that elected Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy's seat in blue blooded Massachusetts and resolve to start honoring their office and their constituants by voting for what their people want.

I want to see election reform, where every State has every candidate on the ballot, and I want a box that I can mark that I showed up to vote and didn't like ANY of the candidates.

I want to see strict term limits. I want a Government of citizens, not professional politicians, and I don't want them voting for their own pay or benefits. I can't vote myself a raise, why should they?

I want to see a fair (and simple) tax plan. Small percentages based off of income, everyone pays, no credits, exceptions, or loop holes. Keep it simple.

I want to see penalties for companies that outsource jobs abroad, and more incentives to create or keep jobs in the US.

I want to see less Federal Government, and more State Government, so if we don't like how we are treated in one state, we can vote with our feet and move to another.

I want more common sense applied to laws that restrict people. I don't need ANY government protecting me from myself. I need protection from the Government; State, Federal, and foreign. I don't want Sweden dictating how I should live, or give my money to them to manage how to make the world a better place. If everyone fixed where they live, and how they live, locally, then the world is a better place. We don't need someone else overseeing how we manage within our own borders.

I want us to quit selling debt to foreign countries, we're selling our souls to the devil. We need to stop it, pay our way back out, and then spend only what we have available except in the most dire of circumstances. Then pay that back as soon as possible.

I have lost all respect for Democrats as well as Republicans. My only hope is that there are some true Americans in office under one of those parties that are so because it got them where they need to be to enact the real changes we need. I am an independant in that I will not vote for a candidate based on their party affiliation. I have voted for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents. I have not been in favor of 100% of everything that any of them have done, and I'm sure I never will be.

However Obama and our Democrats today have given me a renewed outlook, and hope for the future and change. It's their polarizing actions that have begun to awaken us and today more than ever in decades are Americans watching them again, taking interest, and doing their duty to country by voting either for, or against them. Senator-Elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts is perhaps the first milestone of our journey back to a proud and politically active country.

Let's hope this is one politician who will do what he says he will, and listens to his people.

In short the State of the Union (according to me) is in a state of distress, but we're waking up, getting involved and there is hope again despite the following facts that I'm sure President Obama will tout as positives for the past year:

The economy is improving (Not really, not yet.)
National Healthcare is about to be passed. (Should be past, because it's going to be very painful.)
Guantanamo Bay is closing down as promised (yeah, and moving to Illinois)
We are withdrawing from Iraq (we were already, the timing is just helpful to Obama's agenda.)
We are stepping up efforts in Afghanistan (after taking too long to make a decision, and then it's probably the wrong one anyway.)

Those are the high points that I can conceive that Obama will try to spin in his favor. I hope to God he doesn't try to say anything postive he's done for national security, unemployment, or transparency in government, because he's been counterproductive to himself on those issues. I've got to have some hope for him if I'm going to survive the next 3 years...

The Eagle Has Fallen

2009-12-19T14:27:00.000-06:00

The impact of Government Healthcare Reform on America is something that has been well analyzed and discussed in recent months. By and large the consensus has been that it will drive our country further into debt, increase unemployment, raise taxes to unprecedented levels, cause rationing of health care, and drive out all other commercial insurance carriers except those that are lucky enough to get on board with the government plan.

More Americans than ever have been following this issue and are against it, and yet still the House of Representatives and Senate have blasted it through, forcing it on us despite the poll numbers and outpouring of people speaking out against. Yet many ignorant Americans are still for it because they simply refuse to believe that Government would ever do anything bad to us. They choose to put trust in liars and crooks over those that have spent months following this disaster to American society and economy and reporting their findings. Most of these ignorant Americans have not read a single word of the 2000+ page bill, and put their trust in the Devil because he promises them that they need it and it’s good for them.

One of the ways this bill is going to directly impact myself, my family, and my community is as follows.
My wife works for a new childcare facility. They are a wonderful care center with the best employers you could ever work for. Their facility is full with a waiting list to get your children in, yet they struggle each month to make their payroll and other expenses and balance the books.

Because they are a small business, the first impact from the Healthcare bill is going to be higher taxes on the owners income tax. This will probably be a near killing blow to their already fragile budget, but they can probably compensate for it by raising their prices, at least on the children that aren’t being subsidized by the state, because the Department of Human Resources (DHS) mandates how much they will pay for each child they subsidize, and that rate is much lower than their regular, private pay rates. Perhaps the daycare can counteract that hit by dropping DHS payments altogether. Of course that means several families will lose their daycare in an area where it’s hard to find quality daycare at affordable prices.

By increasing their rates, dropping DHS payments so they can make up for the extra taxes, there will likely be a few parents who have to take time off from work to find another daycare that they can afford. If they can’t find one, they may even have to quit a job.

Later as the Healthcare Bill unfolds further and the Daycare is forced to either get their employees on the Government Healthcare plan or pay the fines, the owners will be backed up against a wall that just won’t give. Because they are a daycare and they must keep a ratio of teachers to children by law, they can’t simply let a few employees go to cover the costs. They could raise their rates again, but they will likely lose more children. If they lose too many children, they won’t be able to cover their other expenses like rent/mortgage on the business, food costs, cleaning supplies, payroll, etc and they will have to simply close their doors. This will leave a dozen or so people unemployed, and about 45 children without daycare. Again, parents will have to take time off or quit their jobs to care for their children.

The above scenario is 100% plausible, and likely to happen. While it may not seem like a major economic impact, you have to consider that this scenario is just one small business, and that all small businesses will be going through much the same way. Some will close, some will cut back on employees, raise prices and continue to survive, but everyone in the community will be affected in small or large part because of this. Also in this daycare scenario, all of these problems emerged, had to be dealt with, and not one single person received healthcare insurance.

Fast forward 2-3 years from now, after the weaker businesses have all closed up. We will be paying higher prices for everything, as each business has to pay for healthcare or fines for not buying into it, as well as making up for their other cost increases. You will have fewer choices for daycare, groceries, gas, etc. You may not have internet access at home anymore because your only available provider was a small business that failed.

You will be paying 50%-60% of your gross income in taxes and premiums, so you’ll probably be turning off your cable or satellite TV, canceling your gym membership, and trading in that Lexus or Mercedes for a Honda. At least you’ll have healthcare, right? Welcome to long lines, waiting lists for procedures, and government approval for procedures. If you’re too old as defined by the Senate to get a procedure, you’ll not be getting it, no matter what you do, even if you want to pay for it all yourself. Just remember, Uncle Sam said this is good for you, you NEED this!

And what did you do to speak out and try to prevent all this from happening?

Save the Eagle! Call and write a Senator (any Senator that voted for this plan), once a week, every week. Write your local papers and tell them that you’re against it and you’re fighting it. And when mid-term elections come up and we’re still fighting it, vote out these criminals who claim to be representing you yet vote against the majority of their constituents. The people still have the power if we are united and loud enough, but they are trying to take that power away from us. Take America back now, before it’s too late… and remember, it’s later than you think.

Michael L. Craner
A concerned citizen, veteran, and independent voter.

You Might Be A Socialist If…

2009-08-28T19:36:00.000-05:00

You Might Be A Socialist If…
• You believe all people are equal, regardless of how hard they work.
• You believe your government owes you something, even though you’re not a retired government employee.
• You believe “there ought to be a law” to enforce some sort of moral or behavior that is not a national threat to lives.
• You believe the government should manage or otherwise regulate the financial well-being of individuals or corporations.
• You believe the government should control your physical and mental health by being a provider of such.
• You believe the government should choose the curriculum taught in public schools, and measure children against each other based on that curriculum.
• You believe the richest should be forced to support the poorest in the form of higher taxes.

The United States of America was founded to be OF the PEOPLE, FOR the PEOPLE, BY the PEOPLE. However when we weren’t negatively impacted, we let our elected officials do whatever they want. For generations now they have slowly but surely expanded the size of the government to control aspects of our lives that were never intended to be under government control. Taxes have gone up to pay for it, and now it seems we have a President who is hell-bent on being “the man” who will make the final step from being Capitalists, to Socialists. (By the way, the next step is Communist.)

The only sector right now not facing high unemployment is in the Government, and they’re hiring anybody and everybody they can get because they’re expanding so rapidly. Those that are protesting these changes are being called “un-American”, rednecks, and even racists. Simply for protesting against a change in our style of government. We might have voted for change, but I would hope that most of us didn’t expect to lose our way of life in exchange.

The simple nutshell fact of the matter is that the more the government gets a finger or toe-hold into our society, the less it becomes free, the less it rewards those who work or have worked hard, and the more it becomes Socialist, on it’s way to Communist. Whether or not it is the INTENTION of the current government to be socialist or communist, they are holding the door open and inviting it in by giving so much power to so few.

Today, thanks to stimulus packages, and plans to make things better for everyone, the government is controlling communications, transportation, financial, and soon to be medical, although they already have a finger or two there with Medicare/Medicaid, and most importantly, the FDA. Pray tell me what is left?

It came across the lake slowly in the night, caressing us in the midst of our dreams, and just when the morning broke, the misty fog silently, serenely, emotionlessly choked us into oblivion.