Scary, huh?

What can I say? Does this make you mad? It does me too. That $700 billion dollar blank check that we just gave to Wall Street doesn't even come close to the money we owe to foreign countries, mainly China. I don't know of a whole lot of families that could afford to write out a $86,000 check to China to help pay off our national debt. The good thing is we don't need to if we start electing people that will balance our federal budget and work toward decreasing our federal defecit of $10 TRILLION dollars. We need entitlement reform... privatize social security and re-think Medicare, and make government spending more efficient. I'm not saying to do away with it all together, but like Clinton, you can still have a "liberal" agenda while balancing the budget. We need great leaders in the White House and Congress like Clinton and Gingrich, not Bush and Pelosi. We as voters need to let our representatives know that rather than a bridge project in our city, we'd like to help our national security by balancing our budget and getting rid of our debt.

Spying on American Troops?

Wow. I just read an article on CNN that got my blood boiling. The report is that the NSA used the Bush Administration's broad license to wiretap international calls to spy on American military officer's calls home. Forgive me if I don't trust the denials from the NSA saying that if they were personal conversations they were immediately deleted, but what reason do we have to trust what they say anyways?

Agree with me or not on the Bush wiretapping policies (see my previous posts) this is bad even for W. I cannot believe that the federal government would deem it ethical, moral, or its place to listen to the private converstaions of our military personell and their loved ones. Not only do we have our troops stuck in Iraq for who knows how long, but now we are giving them the ultimate slap in the face by violating their personal confidence and closest relationships.

I can't think of a better way for our federal government to say "thanks, but no thanks" for the ultimate sacrifice of these brave men and women who not only leave their families, but are risking their lives in the service of our country. I can only hope that people like you and I care enough to write our senators and representatives and let them know that this cannot stand.

Voting

I know I'm extremely political and I think about these things more than most, but I hope that everyone is registered to vote in this coming election. There is a lot that rides on this election, regardless of who you chose to vote for. The most important thing is that each citizen has the privilege and responsibility to participate in our democracy. If you live in Utah, you must have your registration postmarked by October 4 so you don't have to go down to the county clerk. If you are in another state, just google "(your state) voter registration" and you can find the specific rules for your state.

If you live in Utah and need to register to vote, here is a link to the mail-in voter registration form.

Again, regardless of who you decide to vote for, please vote.

Winter

So, as my background gives away, I'm more than a little excited for winter and snow. I love skiing, love football and college basketball, and wearing sweatshirts. That said, I can't wait to hit the slopes again this year.