Sound familiar? Well it should, because lately everything seems to be falling down around us. Banking institutions are going under, the stock market is plummeting and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under investigation for fraud. What is this world coming to? To make matters seemingly worse, our government is going to spend 700 Billion dollars to help bail these “guys” out of the mess they themselves created. It’s the ultimate mulligan. There is a lot of debate as to how exactly this money will be spent and what restrictions will be put on this dollar figure. The heads of the companies that will be bailed out stand to make a large sum of money and I agree with those that are saying their benefits should be capped at $400,000 [which, by the way, is the annual salary of the U.S. President]. It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out in the end. The bottom line for me is…this is OUR money you are spending—spend it wisely.
Let’s get back to the Task at Hand August 1, 2008
Attention all Politicians:
We will be electing our next President of the United States in November. Can we please stop talking about all the nonsense surrounding the candidates and figure out how we are going to fix this brokeback country? We spend day after day talking about how Hillary came in under sniper fire [not], Obama and his Reverend Wright [WRONG], and enough with the age jokes already–give McCain a break!!
Here are just a few things I have questions/concerns about:
*Iraq war-Will it ever end?
*Energy Crisis–I remember when gas cost $.75/gallon
*Economy- Recession/Mortgage Crisis
*Education- Put Our kids first!
*Healthcare-prices go up while standard of care declines
*Food Safety-how do we know what we are really eating?
*Social Security-Will it be here when I’m ready to retire?
*Immigration-Can’t we all just get along?
*A balanced Federal Budget-Our country is more than 9 Trillion dollars in debt [OUCH]
Fly me to the moon! May 25, 2008
I am one of “those people” that owns an inefficient, gas-guzzling, monster SUV. My justification—it’s PAID for!!! So I go to fill up with gas and it costs me just over $100, which will take me about 300 miles. There has been a lot of talk lately about the price of gas and how it will keep increasing throughout the summer. This does not make me happy, but what choice do I have? I can fork over the roughly $22,000 it costs for a more efficient car like the Toyota Prius, or $53,000 for a Tahoe Hybrid or just pay a little more in gas. I choose the latter because, being a stay at home mom of 3, I like not having a car payment. I also like the room a large SUV provides. Before I had my third child I drove a Honda Civic. I really loved the car but I felt like we were on top of each other. When the kids fought or cried, it was as if they were right in my ear. And with the birth of my third child I couldn’t fit 3 car seats in the back.
Here’s the question I have…If we can send a man to the moon, surely we can figure out a way to make a more efficient SUV or come up with an alternative fuel [that doesn't drive up the price of basic foods and cause a worldwide shortage]. I’m thinking it hasn’t happened because there is too much money to be made in the oil industry. Then they put pressure on politicians and we go nowhere fast. I used to be able to fly from the West coast to Dallas for under $200. Now tickets are double that, at minimum. I’m not sure how we go from an oil dependent nation to one that is more efficient and environmentally friendly without causing other problems. I’ll leave that one up to the smarties. Until then I will continue to drive my PAID FOR SUV and spend a little more at the pump.
