RAMBLINGS...

I thought it would be helpful to compile a video list of everything the Democrats have said this election season. After watching these, please consider whether you really want to vote for a party that is so conflicted and downright foolish in the things they say (without thinking of the recourse).
Rep. Cohen Compares Obama to Jesus, Palin To Pontius Pilate

Obama admits he doesn't have the experience

Joe Biden on Obama and John McCain

Clinton's, Biden, and Edwards on Obama

STAY HOME!!!!!

It now sounds like Congress will meet again after the election season to try to pass another stimulus package. My only thinking is... STAY HOME!!! My wallet is still wondering where my share of the 700 billion dollar bailout has went. STAY HOME... and don't spend anymore of my hard earned money. Yes, they are spending MY money and YOUR money. They say that we don't get it, but I don't think THEY get it. We know what they're doing, and the worse part of it is that we hired them. If I owned a company, and then hired someone who makes the poor decisions they do, spend money the company doesn't have, drives the company further into debt and has no clear plans to get the company out of it, I'd fire the person and find someone else. But what do we do, we elect (hire) them again, or elect (hire) someone who makes a bunch of promises to spend MORE money we don't have. Let's fire those who spend OUR money with no clear plan or direction and hire those who are either going to give it back to us (we know how to spend it better than they do anyhow) or use it to focus on paying off the debt that those we fire have created for us.

CHRISTMAS LIST...

We've decided to start a Christmas list.

• Set of 8 drinking glasses
• Set of nice pots and pans (If Julie finds some specifically, she'll post the link)
• Air compressor (nothing fancy, just something that we can use to inflate basketballs, car tires, and bike tires when they get low)
• Menard's gift cards (we want to get some new lights and a bathroom fan and the ones that we like are at Menard's)
• New laptop battery for Dell Vostro 1500 (buying it from Dell is expensive, so purchasing it from somewhere else is fine by me, like eBay. We currently have the 56WHr 6-cell battery, which has shortened it's life quickly, but they make an 85 WHr 9-cell battery that may be worth if it's not much more.)
• 4 GB of RAM for our Dell Vostro 1500. The best play to get it is Crucial.com. We'd have to get the 2 piece kits of 2 sticks of 2GB of RAM.
  
• Windshield wipers for my car (2006 Scion xB)
• Mario Kart for Wii
• RF Modulator (This will allow us to take the RCA cable signal from the DirecTV receiver and output it over coaxial to other TVs in the house. Target has one for around $19 that comes with the cables and everything.)
  

IT'S TIME...

We hear a lot about the different tax plans from both of the candidates. So I wondered, whose tax plan would I benefit more from. Turns out, I would actually benefit more from Obama's tax plan. Amazing isn't it. Doesn't mean I'll vote for the guy because there are a few unanswered questions.

First, if 95% of Americans will benefit from Obama's tax plan and only 5% of them will have increased taxes, then where in the world is he going to get all the money to do the tax cuts. We can't afford it. We're already in debt and he's proposing more programs that will put us further behind in paying off the national debt, not ahead. Of the 95% of Americans who will benefit, how many of them actually pay taxes. From what I understand, there will be a greater number of people who don't pay any taxes at all that will actually be getting paid by the government.

So, we're going to take more from the rich and give it to the poor. Sounds an awful lot like socialism to me. I would imagine that of the people who don't pay taxes, there are a legitimate number who need an hand up, but I would also venture to guess that there is a large number of people who have absolutely no desire to better themselves and getting the extra money from the government means only one thing... a shopping spree.

So, it's time. I've decided that in 12 years, I will be old enough to run for President. I might as well throw my hat in the ring now because no one knows who I am and I won't be old enough to run until. Here is my stand on the issues:

• We need to redo the tax system in this country. It's horrible. We are a nation of creative and productive people, but this tax system is the best we can come up with? Honestly, it's ridiculous. I would propose the FairTax. www.fairtax.org
• The national debt is killing us. We know what large amounts of debt does to people. Look at the crisis on Wall Street right now. It's due to people taking out large amounts of debt that they can't afford. The nation is on the fast track to accumulating so much debt that we'll be crippled to the point where we can't take care of basic government necessities (look at our roads). It's time to refocus the government on what it was made to do...protect the people and provide an infrastructure that allows us to flourish. Anything beyond these things needs to be reviewed with great scrutiny to determine if it should even be considered at the federal level. The only things that would pass through the oval office with a signature on it is a bill that focuses precisely on one item. No more "financial rescue packages" that gives money to wool research and wooden arrow manufacturers (sorry wool researchers and wooden arrow manufacturers).
• Finally, our energy plan will not be solved in 12 years. No one will take responsibility for it or do what it takes. I wouldn't give much if any money out for it because like I said before, we need to reign in the federal debt. We're buying our oil from countries that don't like us and selling our debt to countries that don't like us. It's time that the USA is finally self sufficient and no longer relies on other countries for ANYTHING. How can we be a powerful country when we rely so heavily on other countries for our basic needs? The Pickens Plan (www.pickensplan.com) makes a lot of sense and I believe it could work. We just need to determine what incentives would be necessary to get people to move to alternative energy. If you tax something it makes it less desirable. Placing a tax that gradually increases over time on oil imports and reducing or eliminating taxes on the types of energy we want to promote could get companies and people to make the switch.

WHO'S WHO????

In case you were curious who voted for and against the bailout in the Senate so you can rehire or fire them come election day. Here is the list: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14196.html

I've expanded it here in case the link is no good by the time some of these guys come up for re-election.

Akaka (D-HI), Yea 
Alexander (R-TN), Yea 
Allard (R-CO), Nay 
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay 
Baucus (D-MT), Yea 
Bayh (D-IN), Yea 
Bennett (R-UT), Yea 
Biden (D-DE), Yea 
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea 
Bond (R-MO), Yea 
Boxer (D-CA), Yea 
Brown (D-OH), Yea 
Brownback (R-KS), Nay 
Bunning (R-KY), Nay 
Burr (R-NC), Yea 
Byrd (D-WV), Yea 
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay 
Cardin (D-MD), Yea 
Carper (D-DE), Yea 
Casey (D-PA), Yea 
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea 
Clinton (D-NY), Yea 
Coburn (R-OK), Yea 
Cochran (R-MS), Nay 
Coleman (R-MN), Yea 
Collins (R-ME), Yea 
Conrad (D-ND), Yea 
Corker (R-TN), Yea 
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea 
Craig (R-ID), Yea 
Crapo (R-ID), Nay 
DeMint (R-SC), Nay 
Dodd (D-CT), Yea 
Dole (R-NC), Nay 
Domenici (R-NM), Yea 
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay 
Durbin (D-IL), Yea 
Ensign (R-NV), Yea 
Enzi (R-WY), Nay 
Feingold (D-WI), Nay 
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea 
Graham (R-SC), Yea 
Grassley (R-IA), Yea 
Gregg (R-NH), Yea 
Hagel (R-NE), Yea 
Harkin (D-IA), Yea 
Hatch (R-UT), Yea 
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea 
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay 
Inouye (D-HI), Yea 
Isakson (R-GA), Yea 
Johnson (D-SD), Nay 
Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting 
Kerry (D-MA), Yea 
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea 
Kohl (D-WI), Yea 
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea 
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay 
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea 
Leahy (D-VT), Yea 
Levin (D-MI), Yea 
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea 
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea 
Lugar (R-IN), Yea 
Martinez (R-FL), Yea 
McCain (R-AZ), Yea 
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea 
McConnell (R-KY), Yea 
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea 
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea 
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea 
Murray (D-WA), Yea 
Nelson (D-FL), Nay 
Nelson (D-NE), Yea 
Obama (D-IL), Yea 
Pryor (D-AR), Yea 
Reed (D-RI), Yea 
Reid (D-NV), Yea 
Roberts (R-KS), Nay 
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea 
Salazar (D-CO), Yea 
Sanders (I-VT), Nay 
Schumer (D-NY), Yea 
Sessions (R-AL), Nay 
Shelby (R-AL), Nay 
Smith (R-OR), Yea 
Snowe (R-ME), Yea 
Specter (R-PA), Yea 
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay 
Stevens (R-AK), Yea 
Sununu (R-NH), Yea 
Tester (D-MT), Nay 
Thune (R-SD), Yea 
Vitter (R-LA), Nay 
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea 
Warner (R-VA), Yea 
Webb (D-VA), Yea 
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea 
Wicker (R-MS), Nay 
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

Here is the link to the representatives who voted yes and no on it as well:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081003/ap_on_go_co/house_rollcall_financial_meltdown