Monday, March 24, 2008

This Young Girl

I once knew this young girl who was quite different from anyone else I had met before. She was extremely intelligent, had a sharp wit, had piercing determination, and had more potential than anyone could imagine. Think of the people you know that have the capacity to do anything they want: she was one of those people and then some. At twenty-two going on twenty-three, she hadn’t finished school yet. She worked a full time job and was the chief financial provider for her household that included her mother, who worked at a fast food restaurant on an Army base and her younger fifteen year old sister. This young girl had taken on the role of the primary provider at the age of sixteen. She had a father that left the family when she was still young. She has an older brother who is currently married and lives a few hundred miles away. Neither of those two men have been much help to this struggling family. I always wondered why she had not finished school yet. As her and I got closer and closer, I saw the reason. She has often had to work two jobs to keep her family afloat. She had to leave school. She could no longer afford to go to university and simultaneously put food on the table. Sadly there were times where she had to choose between food and paying the rent for their two bedroom apartment that they were able to get through government assistance that is located in one of the worst parts of town.

With tear filled eyes that broke my heart, she would tell me countless times that she is torn that she can’t go to school, but that she will do what she has to do simply so her younger sister can have a fighter’s chance at life. This young girl I knew chose to put her future on hold to be able to provide for her sister’s future.

I come from a middle class family. I went to a middle class high school. I grew up with middle class people. I didn’t understand the lower class until I grew to know this young girl. I saw with my own eyes the everyday struggle that they had to go through. I saw the tears that the lack of money caused.

Many people have asked me why I have an interest in politics, and why I want to enter public life. The answer I give them is something simple. I tell them that I believe we have made progress in this country, but there are places that I see where we can improve. I tell them that I believe in this country and along with that belief; there is more work to be done in order to keep this the greatest country on earth. That is an honest answer to the questions they pose. But the true deep core of my rationalization to enter public life is because of this young girl that I knew. Since I’ve known this young girl, I have proactively spoken to countless people in lower income situations and have come to realize that in this country, there are thousands of people that find themselves in the same situation that this young girl continues to find herself in. They have all the intangibles to succeed. They just lack the tangible: money. I have chosen to enter public life because of this young girl. No one should ever have to choose between food and their future. I will continue to work to ensure that one day we will get to the point where this decision never has to be made again.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Demise of the Democratic Party

We may soon be seeing the demise of what we currently know as the Democratic Party. Picture this scenario: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue their race all the way up until the National Convention. Obama ends with more pledged delegates, more state victories and have the popular vote. Yet imagine somehow Hillary Clinton still gets the nomination. That decision will split the party in ways that may be irreparable. Not only will the party be split, voters across the country who tend to vote Democrat and share Democratic ideals will be so utterly turned off by this course of events that it will prevent them from showing up on General Election Day. Or even worse, they may seek to penalize the party by voting for the Republican candidate. Clinton will lose to John McCain and we will have four more years of pain and suffering. This would cause the demise of the Democratic Party.


There is hope; however. The party is split on the decision of selecting Hillary Clinton so Barack Obama runs as an independent. He has garnered so much support that many of the big whigs in the Democratic Party will continue to endorse him. He would continue an internet fundraising campaign that would be unmatched. He would be able to gather enough money to run as an Independent. He will have such a following that he would be able to spear head the start of a new, true and powerful third party. Tom Daschle, Bill Bradley, John Kerry and yes possibly even Ted Kennedy along with Obama could be the leaders of this new third party. A party with Democratic ideals on social and economic issues, but that can remind voters why this country is as great as it is. A party that will cut out the games of politics in politics. A party that will not be based on who you know or how much money you have, but rather on what you believe and your judgment. A party for the future that has arrived. As Obama says, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Monday, March 10, 2008

One Question

Clinton or Obama?

For those who happen to be Hillary Clinton supporters, I have one question to ask you: Would a Republican Senator ever support a Democratic Senator in order to denounce a fellow Republican?

The answer to that question is an emphatic NO!

For the last seven years and counting, we have had to endure Bushonomics, Bush Politics, a Bush and Cheney for Oil war, Bush lies, the Bush racial and economic divide, and the list goes on and on. Senator and Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain has already said he agrees with Bush’s policies and will continue his economic plan. Essentially he will be carrying out Bush’s third term.

Would a Republican Senator ever support a Democratic Senator in order to denounce a fellow Republican?
We already answered this question as an emphatic NO. So let’s reverse the question:
Would a Democratic Senator ever support a Republican Senator in order to denounce a fellow Democrat?
The answer to this question is apparently YES!

We had our answer on March 5th, 2008 when Democratic presidential nominee hopeful, Hillary Clinton, said the following:

CLINTON: I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.

CLINTON: I think it's imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander in chief threshold and I believe that I've done that. Certainly Senator McCain has done that. And, and you'll have to ask Senator Obama with respect to his candidacy.

Since Obama first came onto the political scene in 1997, and widely in 2004, he has always represented change in the way this country does politics. Being desperate enough to back a Republican Senator who will be the Republican Nominee, who happens to want to continue Bush politics is reason enough not to vote Hilary Clinton in.

Martin Luther King Jr. called on us to judge people by the content of their character. With foolish runners of old-time politics, and cut-throat candidates like Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party doesn't need enemies.

Clinton or Obama?- You decide.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

National Debt

As of 08 Mar 2008 at 07:28:24 PM GMT, the United States National Debt is 9,398,233,506,059.57. This is money that we owe. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.70 billion per day since September 29, 2006!


But wait, we're supposed to be the wealthiest nation in the world. In that case, who do we owe all this money to?


Here is a pie chart showing the makeup, or ownership, of the National Debt as of December 1998.



I have come to realize that i pretty much live my life by graphs and charts. If we look at this pie chart, notice that the majority of our debt is owed to the Federal reserve and government accounts (40.6 %). Second, we owe to 22.7% of our debt falls into the Foreign and International category.


As of November 2007, Japan ($580 billion), China ($390 ) and the United Kingdom ($320 billion) are the biggest foreign holders of our debt. This is money that we owe them.


We have not always owed so much money. The National Debt on January 1st 1791 was just $75 million dollars. Today, it rises by that amount every hour or so.

The following graph shows how the National Debt has grown year by year since 1940 in actual dollar amounts, uncorrected for inflation:
Notice that the debt was steadied somewhat in the mid to late nineties. This is primarily due to the surge of the dot-coms at that time.
How can we lower this national debt?
It may seem hopeless We may never get out of this debt. Some radical movements and changes are our only hope. The two greatest generators of debt are war and a privately owned central bank. The first thing that we must do is end this war we are conducting in Iraq. We went in at a time that when we shouldn't have. We had no business in the war in the first place. Many opposers to this view will say that regardless if we should have been there or not, Iraq is not prepared to govern themselves. We can no longer babysit a civil war. Think of it in this sense: lets say PersonX has children, and PersonY has children. PersonY is having some problems so PersonX volunteers to take care of PersonY's children. Since PersonX is taking care of PersonY's children, PersonX is neglecting his own children. What does that say about PersonX's parenting skills if he is neglecting his own to take care of other people. It may sound somewhat selfish, but at a certain point we have to take a look in the mirror and really prioritize and find what is most important: our children or someone else's children. Helping others with their children is great, but not at the expense of our own.
So the first thing we have to do is get out of this war that we have involved ourselves in. The second thing that we have to do is take a look deep look at the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is the central banking system for the United States. It is often referred to as The Fed. Contrary to the Federal Reserves name, there really isn't much federal about it. The Fed is a quasi-public banking system. The Fed is part government (since it deals with the countries currency and has the ability to print currency) and is part private (since it is a group of privately owned banks that print money and loans it to the government. ). There are a few problems with the Fed, however. First, since the Fed is privately owned, this causes a further separation from the rich and the poor. the Fed works for the top ten percent of the population and leaves the remaining ninety percent to scratch, claw, and struggle for every penny. Secondly, the Federal Reserve is the leading cause of our national debt. It contributes 40.6%. This is because the Federal reserve has the ability to print money and to loan it to the government. Since this money is being printed with nothing backing the money, this is what causes this atrocious debt. Back before the Federal Reserve was created, money was backed by gold or silver. Meaning when money was printed, there was an actual reserve that could back that printed money should the market crash or should the country go into recession. That was a great plan. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order called Order 11110 which gave him the power as President and government to create money for the people of the United States, this way they would NOT fall into deeper debt with the Federal Reserve and actually begin to come out of that debt. Kennedy was a President of the people. He saw the divide the Fed was causing, and the mishandlement of money that the Fed was doing. Unfortunately he was assassinated and was not able to accomplish that goal. That executive order is still in effect, but no president has enforced it. In order to begin to decrease and remove our national debt, we must close the Federal Reserve and move its responsibilities over to the National Treasury (an actual federal department).
Stop the war, close he Federal Reserve and watch the national debt disappear.