GOODBYE 2009

2009 is about to become a memory, and it seems like only yesterday that the year started! Tomorrow will be the beginning of a new decade, and with it's inception, many challenges face our country. Perhaps a step up on the proverbial soapbox is in order, as tonight we step into the new year, and I believe that our country has come to a crossroad. I'm neither Republican, nor Democrat when it comes to politics. My philosophy about life in general is a conservative viewpoint, that attempts to utilize good old common sense, with a strong emphasis on individual rights, limited government, and a firm belief in "We the people" as the foundation of all government actions. It seems to me that many of our national elected politicians have forgotten that government is supposed to work for the people, not the opposite. When I hear, and read about the federal government spending money by the TRILLIONS, that they don't have, I'm starting to wonder if any of these bureaucrats have any common sense at all. Instead of fixing existing programs like Social Security and Medicare that are about to go broke, the wisdom in Washington is to borrow more money, funding new trillion dollar programs, that the majority of the people don't want. When I have to balance my checkbook, my city, county and state have to balance their checkbooks, why is it that the feds just print more money, and don't adhere to the same principles that everyone else must live by? Congress just extended the federal deficit again, to the tune of over a trillion dollars. That is on top of an existing deficit that was already at more than 10 trillion dollars! This is madness that will have severe consequences down the road. If this so called health care reform passes, more unfunded mandates in the billions of dollars will be passed on to the states via Medicaid, unless you live in Nebraska or Louisiana, where 2 senators received backroom deals to buy their votes. As the old saying goes - the crap rolls downhill, and you are starting to see the effects at the local levels. Everything from budget cuts in local police and fire, to the State of Arizona closing Interstate Rest Areas because of a lack of money. Yet, the priorities at the federal level seem to be all about "social reform", " social justice", the expansion of the federal government with new multi billion dollar entitlements, and a blind eye to the impact all of this is having on local and state governments, and their people. Am I angry? You bet I am. It's easy to be apathetic, and turn a blind eye, and unfortunately, that's exactly what most Americans have done for decades. The people do have power, but it's not an individual power, it's a collective power. For "We the people" to have any meaning, it's the consensus that develops on election day. In order for this madness to stop, we the people must send a new message to Washington, and tomorrow, starts the year that this message must be heard.