Give It A Break

In the course of unfolding events in NYC and the Gulf of Mexico, two things have become exceedingly apparent. The first is that we no long have intelligent reporting; merely the essence of news wrapped in the political opinions of either the Democratic or Republican Parties. It would seem that there is very limited unbiased reporting these days, and that the direction we are heading in is almost becoming a state controlled media in some cases. There is little concern over those getting the media, the concern is limited to the opinion and politics of the person doing the reporting, and the person they are reporting about. Heavens forbid that someone might disagree with the current administration, and we all know that he could never be wrong. Yea right. Evidently we are too simple minded to think for ourselves given the facts, so we might need someone to tell us how and what to believe. Just once it would be nice to turn on the television and be given all the facts, both sides, about a story without any injection of personal opinion or politics. It would seem though that given the current course that media has taken today, is very unlikely to happen. This is one of the inherent problems with the two party system, it only allows for an either or mentality to exist. It also disconnects the people from the event from the event itself, they are no longer what the story is about they become props in the reporters tale. as an example, to much opinion on the part of the reporter takes from the NYC Mosque story the pain still felt by those who have lost family at Ground Zero and the insensitivity of all those involved to this pain. It also make the reporter a part of the debate and in an effort to defend their opinion they leave truly newsworthy items behind. Again a good example would be where does the money come from to build this mosque? Does it come from fundamentalist, because that kind of money comes with a price. What would be that price? This leads to the second item which is, where is the grey area? Only in understanding is something only this or that. We have limited ourselves into believing that we have only two choices and that the grey areas do not exist or that they are actually a decision for one side or the other. It may come as a shock but there exists a middle ground which can lead to a other directions. Sometimes the grey area is completely separate. When we abandon the mentality of this or that and focus on the events unfolding around us, collect the facts and make a truly informed opinion the we have transended into that uncharted grey area that we avoid normally. We place ourselves on the thresh hold of understanding that there is more to in our control then we are led to beleive and we can tell the media to give it a break.

Common Sense

No matter how you figure it taxes work one way, if you cut the money in one area and do not cut spending then there has to be an increase in tax somewhere else. The cuts are not not always in the areas they should be either. Since we cut property tax then we are going to cut obligated spending to the elderly to punish them for living too long. Or close facilities for the disabled to punish them for being unable to be keep up. Lord knows we would NEVER cut spending in the form of a pay cut for elected officials. Or the replacement of income tax with higher sales tax. I know the other sounds bad but if you could not itemize your way out of paying tax, and EVERYONE would have to pay it then more revenue would be generated with less money spent to collect it. There would be no tax forms, no need of that part of the Indiana department of revenue. There would be no compliance cost with this system and no state paperwork for employers to fill out to collect the tax. but them that might simplify things and lord knows the government can not have that. There are state reps and senators that had been in office for 10+ years and if we ever knew that common sense government would mean most of us could do the job, then we just might get common sense taxation. We also might get term limits and common sense spending. There have been studies done, the Heritage Foundation has one online, that show that the longer our reps serve in office the greater the spending becomes. Which means the less your tax dollars are worth. Send a clear message this November and DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT send common sense to Indianapolis and Washington DC vote Libertarian.

Brainwashing

In my travels campaigning I have encountered the brainwashed element of politics. The people who cannot remember who they voted for but they are best friends. I encountered one gentleman who told me that the incumbent was a friend of the farm and the family but he couldn't remember the man's name. It seems that knowing he was a republican was all he needed. In helping with another campaign I have found people who swear that since they are on the republican ticket then they must be of good character and good for America. Enough to make you sick, I know but true. If that were the case then Dan Burton would be an upstanding boy scout which is why he is called Danny Boy. Of course it has nothing to do with his womanizing or various escapades that have landed him on shaky if not collapsed moral ground. I mean any man who has been caught cheating on each ex-wife must be of the same moral fiber of your local pastor. If your local pastor happens to be Jimmy Swaggart that is. Then of course Mark Sauder and Tracy Jackson were just playing checkers. I mean they cannot be doing anything wrong if they are republicans. PLEASE, grow up. The time has come to realize that the right is just as bad as the left, in fact more of the so called right is in bed with the left then you might realize. These people are just like the rugby players of Europe who are trying to kill each other before and during the game, but once it is over, they are sharing a pint and laughing it up together. I hate to be the one to tell you this but it is no different here. It is this brainwashing that we must combat and not the idea of us against them, for if we were left to our own, the key social issues could be decided by a years time on state by state referendums. Perhaps this is what they have feared all along.

Is Allah Press Worthy?

The building of a mosque in NYC would not be a news item under normal circumstances, but the chosen site for the construction has created a monster that not even the Muslims themselves may be prepared for. As I go deeper into the story behind the building of the mosque one begins to wonder if the insistence on this site is not for religious freedom but for the attempt to gain public support in one of the most liberal areas in the eastern sea board. Interesting development seems to be though that the liberal era seems to have a stopping point, 54% of those polled did not support the building of the mosque and only 34% supported the project. Once again the current administration weighed into the fray to put its support to the proposed project and then reversed itself when public opinion went against him. What we have is two stories unfolding at the same time here, both have the same basic plot but with different final objectives. Obama wants to be be both the bad boy President and the savior of the progressive movement, while the NYC Muslims are trying to become the victims of the 9/11 bombings. There is no doubt that many hard working and very civic minded Muslims have suffered in the aftermath of 9/11 but they are not the ones who are building just a block away from ground zero. These are the ones who work hard every day, pay taxes and with the rest of us look at this situation and wonder what the real objective is for those who are fighting to build this mosque. The idea of this being a fight for religious freedom seems hard pressed when the governor of NY is offering to find them state owned land if they would just build a little further away from the site of ground zero. I think the best quote on the subject I have heard has been the comparison to the building of a memorial for the kamikaze pilots of Japan at Pearl Harbor. The total lack of sensitivity begins to make one wonder is Allah really news worthy or are we being taken for a ride by those trying to build, acting like the victims. Did not their own religious leader of their mosque say we were to blame for 9/11? It would make one wonder what else are they up to and why?

Running Against the Invisible Man

Running for office has been the greatest learning experience of my lifetime. I am running what would be truly considered a grassroots campaign, driving my car around to each fire station, police station, VFW, American Legion, business, farm, grain elevator, truck stop, diner and church talking to everybody. I have learned one thing, no one in the Indiana 28th State House District can ever remember meeting Jeff Thompson. This is a State House member who has been in office for 12 years yet no one can remember anything about him. I always get the same response from people, "oh yea I think I got something in the mail from him, but I threw it away." The greatest common complaint has been until recently that he is in office so he must be part of the problem as an incumbent. It seems that in 12 years he has two major advantages, first we live in a major republican area and second he has ran unopposed on a few occasions. It seems that few people have paid attention to him since there have been no scandals and he seems to have just eased through 12 years doing as little as possible and getting by. The surprise has been the idea that NO and I mean NO candidate or state politician in this district has ever just sat down and talked to the people. No one has asked them what things are going on that are particular to this district that effect you. I have never once had to ask for a vote and in every conversation I have walked away with the people I am talking to offer their vote to me by just giving them my undivided attention for a short time. It seems that this is the greatest testimony to the overall problem with government today. They want more and more control on our daily lives, removing more and more Liberty from us, however they are invisible. How can a government of the people and by the people be invisible and unreachable? It cannot but it seems to breed the idea if I can't see you then you can't see me, or that if we are invisible to you then you are invisible to us. The problem with this is that we cease to be people just some one to smooth over long enough for you to vote for them, then you are no longer there. I would challenge anyone running for office to do what I have done. Since I live in a district that represents a large portion of farmers I started with the large local farmers and set up an advisory counsel that I can refer to on anything agriculture when it comes up for a vote. The same with business and health care. It isn't just about votes it is about getting everyone involved back into their local government not just the candidate. If you want to re-establish your Liberties then we have to take them back ourselves and to do that there can be no invisible men running for office any more. There must be more interaction without the distraction, because distracted people create invisible candidates and invisible voters.

Liberty

There are few things that grant Liberty to people and often it is perception that removes said Liberty from us. But freedom is more of a state of mind then of body, even someone whose body is no longer functioning can find freedom within themselves. Freedom has no right or left, it is without direction or purpose, but the Liberty to be free grants us the right to pursue the direction for our life that gives us the purpose or direction we desire. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are written into the Constitution and contain one of the most quoted references. Again it is Liberty that sustains us as a nation and that same Liberty that seems to have eluded both of the major parties. The progressive movement that is contained with in the Democratic Party does not promote Liberty it diminishes it instead. The idea is that the government becomes mother and father and will meet all our needs and the running of our nation should be left to our betters. In other words they are elitist who believe, much like the current Obama administration, that we are incapable of understanding what is Liberty and how to apply it to our lives. The GOP is not much better it instead is in favor of just letting big business run this nation and that the Liberties of the little guy should not impede the growth or over growth of big business. the time has come for all those who hold dear their Liberty to put their votes where their hearts are. To get up and put out a vote for your local and federal Libertarian candidates. Not just because they are Libertarian but because they are not from either of the other two parties. Most have little to no experience but right now what does that mean. Two thing first they have no existing bad habits and secondly, they would bring a fresh prospective to government which is something we have been without for sometime. With new experience and prospective can they screw it up any more than it all ready is. I doubt it seriously. Many of the Libertarians have unequalled life experience that might actually lead to solutions without creating more problems. Ember to embrace Liberty be willing to embrace doing it different, try the other party. Most of us have tried both sides now it is time to try the alternative. VOTE LIBERTARIAN

Why we need to change now

All the perplexities, confusions and distress in America arise not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, so much as downright ignorance of the nature of the coin, credit and circulation." (John Adams)It is astounding how we have just given out the "Obama money" as it has become to be known, like found money, for projects that were considered not needed until it wasn't our money. Case in point though it is our money and at the rate we are spending it it will be our grand children's and great-grand children's debt. If figures are correct we have 306,108,000 people in the United States with a debt of $13,253,691,861,900.44 which means that each man woman and child owes $43,297.44. So that single mother with two toddler children owes $129,892.31 plus interest. This does not included social security and medicare which is another $14 trillion plus or an additional $44,000 each we will owe in taxes.
Now knowing this when you pick up the Indianapolis Star and read in the June 27 2010 issue "Results don't matter for energy program" how 22 million more is given to a company that did not live up to expectations last time around. As a matter of fact they were below 50% and were given more responsibility. We are continuing with road projects that were rejected the first time around because of impact and cost. However they now are being brought onto the table with this stimulus money, yet we are closing schools and libraries due to lack of funds. It would seem the priority has been given to short term solutions to a long term problem which is how we got into the situation we are in right now. We as both a nation and a state have used money earmarked for other projects to pay down the debt before to give the illusion of a balanced budget when in fact it is another debt that will come due long term. Two examples would be the retirement funds here in Indiana and Social Security at the federal level. It is this narrow vision that keeps our policy makers from making the long term decisions and keeps us on the short sighted path. The greatest issue we face is not the debts themselves but the arrogance of both parities involved. They play with the numbers create their own experts who spin fairytale worlds where only the other party is to blame for all the evils of the world. This allows events to unfold to the point of critical mass, where there becomes a point of no return and everything melts down around us. A good comparison would be if a building was burning and the members of both parties stood around in the doorway preventing anyone else from escaping the flames while they argue over whose fault the fire was, and how to put it out.
To end this state of constant conflict a simple solution is required to promote the growth and individuality of a third party. The third party can prevent the total control of government by one party and lead to the need to look at each bill on its own merit and not by the desires of the party. No longer could there be the us against them that has led to the adolesent control of this nation by those who often seem stuck in the playground rules mentailty of king of the hill. We can no longer afford to be stuck in the mire of politics there must be a demand to take back what is ours and put into place a goverment which embodies "For the people, of the people"

Race to the end

In the past week I have covered at least 35% of the Indiana 28th District meeting with local farmers, business people, churches and just sitting down in local diners, American Legions and VFWs. One thing has become very apparent, the people even at the state level feel very disconnected from their representation in government. I knows the idea is well known but I really wonder if people understand to what level the frustration has grown. There is an anger that is building and there seems to be no steam release in place before the frustrated anger blows into action. The action needs to be directed, with only 87 days left to the elections there needs to be a sense of planned urgency to turn this around. If for each supporter for a candidate took on the responsibility to talk to people until they found at least 20 people who they know would vote for the candidate, for every 100 supporters you would have 2000 votes. That means it would only take less then 500 supporters to win by a landslide in many of the state races. That would translate into 10,000 votes and the important thing to remember would be that they talk to people until they get 20 votes what about each person they talked to who was not sure or was supporting some one else and might change their mind? Just yersterday I talked to at least 250 people on my own, one busimess owner was so glad to have a candidate stop to talk to him without asking for money, he introduced me to everyone who worked there. I now have 15 more people who have contacted me to work for my campaign and all I put into it was time.

Challenge

I offer the following challenge to any current candidate state or federal, to have a committee they are accountable for with-in their district who specialize in various fields that they will be voting for bills in. Not only to have these committees but to sit down with them on a regular basis to see how the bills they are about to vote on will effect them. And to take any criticisms and ideas back with them to present to the voting assembly and to vote against the bill until it is fixed. But as we know those in power now will have not done this nor are they likely to start a program such as this. Accountability must be one of those big words that they find too hard to understand after all it is 14 letters long. We have to support candidates who will bring transparency to local and federal government.