Whoa Nellie! The uber liberals are in heaven since Obama stepped into office on Tuesday and the ideas floating around about this so called stimulus are unworkable, insane and must be a joke.
First of all, lets take a look at who might be getting some cash from the government. There is an idea floating around Washington that if we send out more stimulus checks they should only go to unskilled and minority workers. WHAT! how is this going to help? Our government is actually giving thought to the idea of paying people for being unskilled or sending out a check because of the color of one's skin? So, we take the skilled worker, you know, the one who actually learned a trade, went to school or in some other way took what America offers and bettered themselves and tell them - "sorry you lost your job Joe, but we can't help you." Seriously? This has to be a joke. This is gonna ruffle some feathers, but do we want to get into the businesses of funding drug dealers and the video game industry? I mean if you have been sitting around in this Land of Opportunity and you are still unskilled then seriously your life most likely consists of drugs and video games. That is fine, if you chose it, but I don't want to fund it.
Another idea is a tax cut. The conservative in me says - good, good, tax cuts are good. Cutting taxes from 10% to 5% on the low wage earners will do nothing! Let's say you make 16 grand a year and pay 1600 of that in taxes. Mr. Government cuts that in half for you. Now you are going to have an extra 8 hundred bucks over a year to stimulate the economy. The Dems thought the stimulus checks of last year were a bust, give this one a try. Wow, now they can afford an extra Slurpee at the 7-11 once a week.
A bold problem calls for bold action. It is time for The Fair Tax. The Fair Tax is a consumption tax, in other words a sales tax on a national level. Talk about stimulate the economy. Ask yourself this, would you spend more money if you didn't pay payroll taxes? Of course you would. You would pay taxes on the goods you bought with your money then the government would get their share but the consumers would be in control. SCARY for the government but it would quickly fix the problem. People would have more, spend more and the economy would improve. Maybe some of these stores could stay in business if we had the dollars to spend in them.
Folks, if you don't pull your head out of your rear end this is going to get bad, really really bad. Do yourself a favor and go to www.fairtax.org. Don't let these fools in Washington run us into a ditch that our kids and grand kids will still be in 40 years from now.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Take A Nap Every Afternoon
One of the first great books I read as a "real" adult was Robert Fulghum's All I Ever Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten. This one book had a great effect on me and to this day I think about that simple list and as I get older it seems to hold more wisdom.
In today's blog I just wanted to share it with you. Many of my friends and even my own husband do not understand my love of the afternoon nap, but Mr. Fulghum understands.
Just today I began the day taking my eight year old to basketball practice at 9 a.m. It was -3 degrees and I really didn't want to go. Once home, I finished cleaning the kitchen I had asked my 17-year-old to do. I made beds and chased kids. I made 24 cupcakes for snack later on, fed seven children under the age of 11 lunch and cleaned that up. Sat for five minutes to eat my lunch, frosted the 24 cupcakes. I then cleaned the kitchen again. I swept up the cat litter the three cats had tossed out of their box, fed the cats and picked up various pieces of paper and socks and toys off the floor. It is about 1:30 in the afternoon and I want to take a nap. Who can't understand that? The children are fed and fairly quiet, my 17-year-old is doing little to nothing so she can take care of any needs her brothers may have.
This isn't my funniest blog, or my most creative entry. Is is my outlet today. Halfway through the day and I'm exhausted so I will take the advice of my dear Mr. Fulghum and take my afternoon nap.
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
Robert Fulghum
In today's blog I just wanted to share it with you. Many of my friends and even my own husband do not understand my love of the afternoon nap, but Mr. Fulghum understands.
Just today I began the day taking my eight year old to basketball practice at 9 a.m. It was -3 degrees and I really didn't want to go. Once home, I finished cleaning the kitchen I had asked my 17-year-old to do. I made beds and chased kids. I made 24 cupcakes for snack later on, fed seven children under the age of 11 lunch and cleaned that up. Sat for five minutes to eat my lunch, frosted the 24 cupcakes. I then cleaned the kitchen again. I swept up the cat litter the three cats had tossed out of their box, fed the cats and picked up various pieces of paper and socks and toys off the floor. It is about 1:30 in the afternoon and I want to take a nap. Who can't understand that? The children are fed and fairly quiet, my 17-year-old is doing little to nothing so she can take care of any needs her brothers may have.
This isn't my funniest blog, or my most creative entry. Is is my outlet today. Halfway through the day and I'm exhausted so I will take the advice of my dear Mr. Fulghum and take my afternoon nap.
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
Robert Fulghum
Friday, January 16, 2009
Get those lights down - Christmas is over!
It is officially mid January and if you still have your Christmas tree up, you are either on your deathbed or just plain lazy. Take the darn tree and decorations down already!
On Tuesday a short distance from where I live, history will be made. Barrack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of our United States of America. Although I am a lifelong GOPer, the thrill of this moment is not lost on me and I am as excited as a Prius driving, mulch making, pot smoking lesbian. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
The fact that President Obama is our first black president is awesome, however, I think more outstanding is the fact that four years ago, no one outside of Illinois knew who the heck he was. What I find truly inspiring is the fact that this man decided he wanted to be President and wham, four years later he was. It proves to me once again that America is the greatest country in the world.
On the flip side, what a horrible time to become President, and the bar is set very high for this man. Our hopes for a viable future rest on his shoulders. Expectations for this man are higher than any President in our history sans maybe George Washington.
As I do everyday, I was watching Fox News this morning. I know it may be hard to believe but they were interviewing some over-blown, fat white Republican politician. The kind who doesn't know how much milk actually costs, has never done a load of laundry and thinks everyone has at least one housekeeper. (Remember, I can say these things, I am a Republican. Just like I can say my brother is ugly, but you better not!) Anyway, he was giving the TV viewing audience a lot of bravado about how the new stimulus package is just wasteful spending and how the rebates for the American people won't work. I found it hilarious when he started talking about how the Republicans were going to come up with a plan that included across the board tax cuts for business owners and taxpayers. His whole mantra was about getting the money into the hands of the people so they can create jobs and spend us out of the recession. Although those ideas are great, I was laughing because of the bravado. HELLO - GOPers in congress, you don't have the votes to do anything. He said something about the minority in congress + the American people = a majority. Is that new math? The American people voted for the Democrats this time around so I don't think they are on your side Republicans.
I'm just an average American and I don't know the answer to what ails this economy, but I do know my Republican friends up in Washington better get a grip. They are so used to running the show. Looks like we better be serving some humble pie in those swank DC restaurants they all frequent at lunch time.
On Tuesday a short distance from where I live, history will be made. Barrack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of our United States of America. Although I am a lifelong GOPer, the thrill of this moment is not lost on me and I am as excited as a Prius driving, mulch making, pot smoking lesbian. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
The fact that President Obama is our first black president is awesome, however, I think more outstanding is the fact that four years ago, no one outside of Illinois knew who the heck he was. What I find truly inspiring is the fact that this man decided he wanted to be President and wham, four years later he was. It proves to me once again that America is the greatest country in the world.
On the flip side, what a horrible time to become President, and the bar is set very high for this man. Our hopes for a viable future rest on his shoulders. Expectations for this man are higher than any President in our history sans maybe George Washington.
As I do everyday, I was watching Fox News this morning. I know it may be hard to believe but they were interviewing some over-blown, fat white Republican politician. The kind who doesn't know how much milk actually costs, has never done a load of laundry and thinks everyone has at least one housekeeper. (Remember, I can say these things, I am a Republican. Just like I can say my brother is ugly, but you better not!) Anyway, he was giving the TV viewing audience a lot of bravado about how the new stimulus package is just wasteful spending and how the rebates for the American people won't work. I found it hilarious when he started talking about how the Republicans were going to come up with a plan that included across the board tax cuts for business owners and taxpayers. His whole mantra was about getting the money into the hands of the people so they can create jobs and spend us out of the recession. Although those ideas are great, I was laughing because of the bravado. HELLO - GOPers in congress, you don't have the votes to do anything. He said something about the minority in congress + the American people = a majority. Is that new math? The American people voted for the Democrats this time around so I don't think they are on your side Republicans.
I'm just an average American and I don't know the answer to what ails this economy, but I do know my Republican friends up in Washington better get a grip. They are so used to running the show. Looks like we better be serving some humble pie in those swank DC restaurants they all frequent at lunch time.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year, New Chance?
As I watched the ball drop in Times Square last night, on TV of course, I thought about what 2009 might bring. The world seems so happy and jubilant to let go of the past year and ring in the new one. It is as if all the problems associated with 2008 will be wiped away and we won't have an economic crisis as we usher in 2009. The fact is we are still in the middle of one of the worst economic downturns our great country has ever seen and dropping balls and balloons will not wipe that away.
I do enter 2009 in an optimistic frame of mind. Frankly, our family was hit hard, but not as hard as others. If I were to make a resolution for 2009 it would be to learn from the lessons of 2008. I am not a big one for making resolutions so what I am going to do instead is make some promises to myself. I promise to work harder and smarter in 2009. I know at some point this year I will begin a brand new career and I will not the the mistakes of my past shadow the success of my future. I vow to myself to be humble and worthy of trust. I promise to myself that I will learn learn learn. I also make a commitment to myself and my family to eat healthier food, spend more time in the pursuit of exercise and over all take care of myself.
Although the problems of 2008 and didn't not evaporate with the dropping of a crystal ball in Times Square or a peach in Georgia or whatever else was dropped from the sky last night to bring in the new year, we can learn from the mistakes of 2008 and help make 2009 a rebuilding year for our families and our country.
I do enter 2009 in an optimistic frame of mind. Frankly, our family was hit hard, but not as hard as others. If I were to make a resolution for 2009 it would be to learn from the lessons of 2008. I am not a big one for making resolutions so what I am going to do instead is make some promises to myself. I promise to work harder and smarter in 2009. I know at some point this year I will begin a brand new career and I will not the the mistakes of my past shadow the success of my future. I vow to myself to be humble and worthy of trust. I promise to myself that I will learn learn learn. I also make a commitment to myself and my family to eat healthier food, spend more time in the pursuit of exercise and over all take care of myself.
Although the problems of 2008 and didn't not evaporate with the dropping of a crystal ball in Times Square or a peach in Georgia or whatever else was dropped from the sky last night to bring in the new year, we can learn from the mistakes of 2008 and help make 2009 a rebuilding year for our families and our country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
