A New Year

Here we are firmly entrenched in the new year. I'm looking at this as a new start. A new way to do things, a new way to feel refreshed and excited about my life and the things happening in the world. Sounds good, doesn't it? Now if I can only do that, wouldn't that be great?

I had to return "Pigs at the Trough". I didn't finish it, but the more I read it the more pissed off I got. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. I didn't realize how blindly I let our representatives in Washington and in our state Congress represent me. It's as if they have no idea how many Americans feel about the way the government is run. I know they can't be that stupid, can they? But maybe they can. That just means that I need to be more aware of what is going on in my neighborhood, which includes my city, state, and country. That means I need to be more vocal about all of the issues. You may think an issue doesn't concern you, until they throw in some pork barrel spending to a bill or create a new law or loophole. Then it concerns you. But don't wait that long. In Congress, it's all about give and take. It's what's being given and taken we need to see.

And we need to let companies and banks and whoever is in control of our products and money know that that's our money. We can spend it where we want to. And if it isn't with them, it will be with someone else. We need to let WalMart know that we want to go back to the days of American made, not made in China. China is silently poisoning and killing us and we are silently letting them.

By the same token, we as Americans need to get our spending under control. Yes, it's great that you can work an assembly line and make $40 an hour to screw the same screw into the same piece of whatever product all day long. But is that job really worth $40 an hour? Or is it that the union has taken over too much control and made you think that job is worth $40 an hour? We need to realize that living above our means just drives this economy into the ground. It was bound to come to a head, and boy did it ever. It has driven this household over the edge a couple of times. And we are learning from that mistake, and trying our damndest to pull it back. We all need to realize that compromise is a good thing. As long as you aren't compromising your principles.

We all know right from wrong, good from bad. It's a matter of putting life in perspective and getting over the old adage of "looking out for number 1". We all need to look out for each other. And we all need to look out for our country, or pretty soon, someone else will own it. Think about that as we go into the new year.

There are so many countries that are investing in America, floating our debt for us. And how long do we really think that's gonna need to happen? We need to get a grip on the war, a grip on our taxing and spending, and we need to refocus on what's important. I'm not sure how that's going to happen, but we should all take a step back and take a deep breath. It's gonna get fun.