Does it Matter? Part 1

Sunday in priesthood meeting I gave my blog url to one of my friends. He said he would read it but warned me that he hated politics. He further explained that everyone has their opinion on what is best - smaller government or larger government - and that you can't change a person's mind. I understand the sentiment; I really do. It scares me that he might be right.


Barack Obama was elected by an ignorant electorate who was looking for government to take care of them. As I have tried to explain in a previous post, government cannot take care of us. The cost monetarily and the restrictions on our freedom are too great. If we cannot educate the populace, we cannot bring people to the understanding that we have elected tyrants that will seize the day by capitalizing on giving us what we think we want. We the people have always been fickle when it comes to who we put in office. For the longest time, the electorate could be broken down into thirds; one-third who would vote Republican, one-third voting Democrat and the final third would decide the outcome. This was especially true in this last general election. The Republicans, having betrayed the values of President Reagan (smaller government and fiscal responsibility), have begun a rift that is threatening to shatter its political base. The group polled as independent has grown while both republican and democratic parties have shrunk. I am concerned that this splintering effect will further give political power to a plurality of people that will once again vote themselves other people's money and will give up freedom for comfort and security. My question to you, the three people who read my ramblings, is: Does it Matter?



Does it matter that we have put a man in executive office that has no regard for the law? When restructuring Chrysler to sell to Fiat, the Obama administration helped put together a deal that would pay the union members a higher percentage of the sale price than those of the secured bond holders (you know, the guys who paid extra to ensure they would be first in line if the company should go bankrupt, which it did). This was in direct violation of bankruptcy law. When the court case was passed to the Supreme Court, rather than work to change the deal, the Obama administration wrote a letter to the Supreme Court asking them not to hear the case. What scares me is that somehow that letter was heeded. Another example of Obama's wanton disregard of the law is when he fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin. Most presidential political appointments serve at the behest of the president, but there is a law when it comes to inspector generals that the president has to give sixty days notice and give cause to congress before said firing. One might give Obama the excuse that he or anyone of his staff didn't know of this particular law. The only problem is that he co-sponsored this law in his short stint as a senator. Instead of working within the confines of the law, the Obama administration went out of their way to smear the good name of Gerald Walpin, accusing him of being senile. But why, oh why, is congress not doing their job and stopping this egregious use of power.

Does it matter that a growing number of Americans, to include myself, feel disenfranchised and powerless? Conservatives are not prone to demonstrations. We don't make a living hanging out in the streets as protesters. We're usually not that good at it. You would think that the media, congress and the President would stand up and take notice when the "Tea Parties" sprung up from grass roots conservative efforts. The main stream media cast aspersions on the party attendees, the congress ignored them and the President said he didn't know what was happening. Isn't it telling that much smaller protests get results when people want congress to do something (in most cases spending money or forcing other people to spend their money) but when we protest for congress to NOT do something, like not spending money, they ignore us and call us radical.

I ask in all sincerity, What do we do?

What I found in my Email; Why I have such "faith" in the government making my cars

Dr. David E. Cole is the Director of the Center for Automotive Research(CAR) and a Management Partner at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM). Dr. Cole has worked extensively on internal combustion engines, vehicle design, and overall automotive industry trends. Dr. Cole received his B.S.M.E., M.S.M.E. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.-------------------------------------------------------------------------(From a senior level Chrysler person) Monday morning I attended a breakfast meeting where the speaker/guest was David E. Cole, Chairman Center for Automotive Research (CAR and Professor at the Univ. of Michigan. You have all likely heard CAR quoted, or referred to in the auto industry news lately. Mr. Cole, who is an engineer by training, told many stories of the difficulty of working with the folks that the Obama administration has sent to save the auto industry. There have been many meetings where a 30+ year experience automotive expert has to listen to a newcomer to the industry, someone with zero manufacturing experience, zero auto industry experience, zero business experience, zero finance experience, and zero engineering experience, tell them how to run their business. Mr. Cole's favorite story is as follows: There was a team of Obama people speaking to Mr. Cole (Engineer, automotive experience 30+ years, Chairman of CAR). They were explaining to Mr. Colethat the auto companies needed to make a car that was electric and liquid natural gas (LNG) with enough combined fuel to go 500 miles so we wouldn't "need" so many gas stations (A whole othertopic). They were quoting BTU's of LNG and battery life that they had looked up on some website. Mr. Cole explained that to do this you would need a trunk FULL of batteries and a LNG tank at big as a car to make that happen and that there were problems related to the laws of physics that prevented them from.......The Obama person interrupted and said (and I am quoting here) "These laws of physics?" Who's rules are those? We need to change that. (Some of the others wrote down the law name, so they could look it up.) We have the congress and the administration. We can repeal that law, amend it, or use an executive order to get rid of that problem. That's why we are here, to fix these sort of issues." And these are the same people who are going to fix healthcare???

Due to a comment, I'm adding for future reference that THIS IS A JOKE!!!!!

The Open letter that I wish I Had Written

Glenn Beck: The Letter

June 17, 2009 - 10:36 ET
Related Links
Sign the petition: An open letter to our nation's leadership

GLENN: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona. She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership:

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:


One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

Why I Love Glenn Beck

My Daughter; I Love Her But I Just Don't Understand Her

Rachel is a very smart child who makes her parents proud ninety percent of the time and utterly frustrated the other ten percent. Her grades in school have slipped this last trimester and we (and by we, I mean my wife) have had to be on her all year to keep her grades up. If it was because she was being lazy and slacking off I could understand it (I wouldn't condone it, but I could understand it). It's the kind of student I was at her age. Well, no, not exactly. She does the work. She spends hours going through a mountain of homework most nights and the teachers all say that she is an exceptional student in the classroom. She does not do any sub par work. The reason her grades have slipped is because she somehow forgets to turn in her papers, even those she does in class. The last three weeks have been rough both on her and on us (and by us, I mean mostly her mother, which in turn upsets me, "'cause if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"). Most of her teachers have given her extra credit work in an attempt to bring her grades up. Not because her grades are poor but because she does A+ work but would be bringing in C's and B's if not for my wife's determination. My daughter is a nervous wreck with just three days left of in the school year.



I just don't understand how this can be an ongoing problem. How can you put so much time and effort into your work and consistently not turn it in? My question to the three of you who read this blog (actually two since my wife is not allowed to comment on this post) is how do I help her next year?