War in Middle East

In the resent days Israel has launched attacks in the Gaza strip against the Hamas. The Middle East countries are condemning Israel for the attacks and the civilian casualties. The problem is that Hamas started the fight by first firing missiles into Israel that they cannot even am so they just hit civilian areas. Not that Israel is fighting back they are mad.

What other country would sit still while thousands of missiles are fired at them for almost a month. I think that Israel used great restraint in their response. In my mind the first missile launched at Israel was a declaration of war by Hamas against Israel and they are free to defend themselves and do whatever is necessary to protect their country and people. What the world has to realize is that Israel did not start this but they are well capable to end it.

If Hamas or any country feels they can attack another country and not have them retaliate against them they are dead wrong. We as a world need to stand up together and say in one voice this will not be tolerated any more.

If they want to put their missiles or weapons in civilian areas to protect them from attack then to bad. When they do that those civilian areas become military targets and should be targeted. If Civilian lives are lost it is the responsibility of the group or government (Hamas) that put those civilians in harm’s way.

Don’t get me wrong as I am against any loss of life but after all this is war and in war there are casualties. If they are concerned for their citizens and the people they govern then they shouldn’t put them in a position where they could be harmed. What is going on in the Middle East is not Israel’s making. It is all because of Hamas and the attacks they started. They started it and I believe Israel will finish it. I feel sorry for the people living in the Gaza Strip but the conditions they live in and what is going on is the fault of their elected officials which they supported. Hamas has to be removed and they need to stop attacking other countries or they may very well be destroyed.

In any war there are civilian that get killed. All you have to do is look back in history. War is messy and people die, that is why it is something to be avoided. But if you can’t avoid it then you must do what is necessary to win it in such a way as you will not have to do it again. If that means a full on war then so be it.

Israel was attacked and as such they not only have the right to defend themselves but also the duty to put a stop to these attacks. We were attacked on 911 and we went to war over it and I fully support that decision just as I support Israel in their current war.

Auto bailout

Chrysler is shutting down all their plants for at least 30 day to save some money. They say they cannot survive without a bailout from the government (or as I like to call it the bank of the tax payers). The auto companies refuse to even consider bankruptcy because of the pressure the auto union is putting on them. They know that if they do file bankruptcy their contract is no longer good.
Part of the problem is the union is too strong and unwilling to make any kind of concessions. Now as I said they are closing all their plants for 30 days but guess what. All the union employees get their full pay and benefits so it is like they are getting a 30 day paid vacation and they want the government and the tax payers of this great country to pay for it. What other business closes for 30 day because they don’t have the money to stay open and are on the verge of bankruptcy and yet keeps paying their employees for doing nothing. I know my boss wouldn’t and neither would yours.
If they want the money this would be a good chance for them to show that they are willing to give up something like what they are asking the tax payers to give up. There should be no tax payer money for any auto company till this part of the contract gets changed. If the employees and union don’t care what happens to the company then why should we.
Bottom line is there needs to be no tax payer money for the union. The government needs to show tuff love and make them accountable for the way they run their company. I cannot even believe that they would pay their employees for a whole month to stay home when they are begging for money to stay in business. I thought it was bad when AIG got their money and then spent a few hundred thousand on a retreat for their executives but that was nothing compared to what Chrysler is doing.
I will never support the government bailout till there are major changes in the way they run the companies and I will not vote for any politician that gives them a free hand out of my tax dollars. The only way we can get their attention is to start voting them out of office.
They need to start paying attention to the people who elect them to office. The public overwhelmingly is against this bail out and we are not stupid. We know the impact it will have on the economy but we also know we don’t want to spend the rest of our lives being blackmailed by companies that do what they want and then tell us we have to give them money because they are to important. I have news for you. No company is more important than the American people. We are what make up this great nation. I would rather live through a few years of hard time then spend the rest of my life beholding to one company.

Governor of Oregon new budget

The Governor of Oregon has come up with his new budget. He is proposing increases in almost every fee. I can’t understand how he or any elected official could raise fees on tax payers at a time like this. He wants to raise car registration by 200% and a bunch of other fees by 100%. They have lost all touch with the people who elected them. Taxpayers are losing their home, losing their jobs, their retirement accounts have lost 50%. We are struggling just like the government and their answer is to take more from us.
He is also proposing hiring 1400 new state employees. Now while businesses are cutting jobs to save money as their revenues drop and the government is doing just the opposite, they are adding jobs even though they don’t have money. If other business did the same thing they would go bankrupt and the economy would be even worse. The taxpayers of this state (all states) are over taxed and the government keeps going on as if we have all the money in the world.
They are giving the big three auto companies a herd time because they didn’t change their business model as the country changed and are now on the verge of bankruptcy and they did the same to the banking sector as they gave loans to people who couldn’t afford it and they also went bankrupt but yet they are doing the same thing. I think that they should realize they are doing the same thing. They are not even trying to control spending or live within their means.
It is time we take back our government and elect people who will really work to represent us the voters of this great country. We are all cutting back and that is hurting the economy and instead of letting us keep some of our money that we work hard for they want to take more leaving us less which will only make things worse as we will have to cut back even more to pay the huge tax burden they are putting on us. We all need to call or e-mail the governor and all our elected officials and tell them enough is enough. If they do not control spending, if they do not give us tax relief we will vote them out and they can try and live on a normal job and try and pay the same taxes we have to on a budget.

City of Portland spends $200,000 tax payer money on center for illegal immigrants

I was reading where the city of Portland has opened a government-sponsored center for day laborers. They have used tax payer money for this. City leaders will spend $200,000 on the center over the next two years. Their reason is this will get them off the street corners and give them a safe place to go. I have a big problem with this as most of them are illegal immigrants. We are using tax payer money for this. How can any city or government do such a thing? In a way they are using tax payer money to support an illegal activity.

It makes you wonder what the City of Portland will do next. I know lets take the drug dealers off the streets. We can open a city funded drug house that way drugs are not being sold on our streets, or better yet how about a whore house. There is a big problem with prostitutes. Let’s put them all up in a house and that way we can get it off the streets. Now I know these are stupid but if you look at it from the legal point they are just as valid as the center for day laborers. Either way we are using tax payer money for an illegal act. I as a tax payer am appalled at this.

The city’s, county’s and state’s are all screaming they need more money and talking about raising taxes and yet they wastes tax money on something illegal. How can they justify such a thing? Now I have nothing against people from other countries, after all that is how this great country came to be. I do expect that the law be upheld and that all people are treated the same which means following the laws. If you are not in this country legally then you should not be given special treatment. You should have to follow the rules and become a citizen like all those people before you.

If government keeps spending taxes (especially on illegal) things then I as a tax payer have the right and duty to vote down taxes and vote against any elected official that feels they are above the law and can support illegal activities. It is almost like having organized crime run by our cities.

Portland needs to close the center and use that money for other legal things such as schools, homeless people, road, police (to arrest illegal immigrants) and fire fighters. Until they get their priorities right and start looking out for their tax payers I will not support them.

City of Portland wants a leaf district at tax payer expense.

I was reading in the paper that the Mayor elect of Portland wants to create a leaf district (to clean up leafs in the street). Now I do not live in Portland but just felt I had to comment on this idea. This is a classic example of government waste and a need to create a bigger government at tax payer expense. There are only a small percentage of people who push their leaves into the street and instead of cracking down on them their idea is to make everyone pay for this.

Now where I live for example, my street has 17 houses on it 11 have yard recycling and 2 have landscaping crews that take care of their yards. 5 of these houses have no trees or bushes (no leaves) of the 12 remaining houses only one does not take care of his leaves. This is about 7% of the people on my street. Why in the world should we all pay more in taxes for just 7% of a problem? Why can’t the city go to these idiots and make then clean up their own leaves. This is just another stupid attempt to get more tax money and hire more city workers.

The end result will be more people will push their leaves into the street. After all if I am paying taxes to clean up the leaves then why should I do it myself? Then what’s next? Why not put my tree trimmings in the street or better yet my grass clipping. We could all cancel our yard recycling and just dump it all in the street sense we would be paying for it. it is time that we all step up and be responsible for ourselves and not expect someone else to pay for our messes. A good example is the auto industry, banking industry and AIG. We all need to take pride in our neighbor hood, counties, cities, states and country.

Now like I said I don’t live in Portland so this will not effect me but you know once it happens in one city others won’t be far behind if they think they can get more taxes.

Auto industry bailout

Today I was reading about how the auto executives went to Washington DC to address Congress and ask for money for a bail out. The sad part is they all flew their private jets to Washington to ask for money because they are going broke. Now I find it a little funny and really sad that they would spend $22,000 on a private jet when they could have spent $1,200 on a first class ticket or better yet $500 for coach. Now if you wanted a hand out don’t you think you should show that you are willing to make cuts to justify someone giving you money?
Now I know how much the auto industry affects the US economy. All you have to do is look at the stock market right now. I have lost a lot of money and I think it will get worse no matter what happens. Now as I see it if we let them go bankrupt then they can renegotiate their contracts and they can work out a plan that will make them better able to compete on a global scale.
If we just give them the money then there is no reason for them to change and they can just continue as they have been going. I believe that in another 5 years they will be in the same situation and will be back for more money. There is an old saying that fits this perfectly. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for life.
We need to cut the apron strings that these big corporations have become accustom to in recent years. They keep doing business as usual and know that when they screw up the government will bail them out. It would be the same as one of us going to Las Vegas and gambling all our money. If we win we become rich and if we loose we ask the government to bail us out. It is a no loose situation. They need to know if they make bad decision then they loose no safety net. Maybe this way they will not take as many risks.
Letting them go bankrupt will be hard in the short run but I think it is the way to go. Let’s take our lumps now and get this behind us and move forward. This will also send a message to other corporations that we poor tax payers will not be there to bail them out.

Now on the same note the government needs to know that we as tax payers will not put up with this wasteful spending. They spend our money without any regards for the hard working Americans that give it to them. I think they would change how they spend money if it was all theirs.
My last word on this is I hope they have the back bone to stand up and do what is right. If they are unable to do this and look out for us then we should elect some that will.

waste of tax money by public schools

The state of Washington just completed an audit of 13 of the state’s biggest school districts and the waste they found really makes you stop and think. They found that the school together could save over 1.1 million over the next couple years if they controlled their spending on retreats. They found that the Vancouver school district could save at least $37,000 and the Evergreen school district could save $40,000. No keep in mind that they only checked 20% of their travel expenses so that number could be 5 time higher at $185,000 & $201,000.
On one conference in Chicago they found that the board members only attended 2 of the 5 day of conference but stayed for the full 5 day. They didn’t share rooms and spent over $200 a night on room. They also went out to dinner on two different nights spending over $50 each on dinner and all this on tax payer’s money. Now I don’t know about you but I don’t go out and spend $50 on dinner for myself even if I pay for it. To expect the tax payers to pay for these unnecessary and out of line spending when they keep telling us they have budget shortfalls and need more money is downright dishonest and should be illegal
Now I have always supported taxes I thought were necessary and of value like schools, police & fire but after reading about this waste I would have a hard time voting them any more money. It is bad enough that they give their employees raise’s every year (3% to 6%) and city of Seattle gave their police a 25% to 34% raise last spring. They seem to have forgotten they work for us and have a responsibility to spend the money we entrust to them.
Spending by our state and local officials has gotten way out of control. They do what they want with no regards to the tax payers they represent. It is time to put our foot down and demand they be responsible and live within their budgets just like the rest of us do.

Election of President

Well I thought I would write about the election now that it is over. And so there is no misunderstanding I will start with the fact I voted for John McCain. I thought he was more qualified for President. I also disagree with Obama on his stance on the war, health care, and the spreading of the wealth. Those are all socialist views and I don’t think the United States was formed on those views. Enough about that for now.
With the election over Obama is our President and weather you voted for him or believe in him or his views he is our President and you must respect his office. I have heard a lot of negative things about both candidates and I still believe this is the wrong way to get elected but it is time for all Americans to unite and come together. I do not mean you can not express your view or even disagree with him as I said I do on several issues but he is still our President and deserves our respect.
We are not democrats, Republican, or any of the other party labels you hear so much of during an election. We are not white, black, Hispanic, or Asian, we are Americans. We need to come together as one Nation under God and work together. We can have our differences but we are still one country.
As I said I disagree with some of Obama’s policies (and there were some of McCain’s that I did not like. No one person is perfect or has all the right answers, that’s what, makes us human. As the next four years go we will see what kind of President Obama is and then we will have the opportunity to once again vote.
We face some serious challenges in the coming years and if we do not work together then this great nation may fail. I will still speak out against the policies I don’t like, (which is my right) but I will always respect the office Obama holds as President. This also goes for all elected officials. I think some times we take our freedoms for granted without thinking about the sacrifices our forefathers made for us. we truly live in the greatest nation on the earth and every American should be proud and thankful for what we have.

county budget

I was reading in the Columbian new paper the other day and the county commissioners were talking about the budget for the next year. They were talking about how their spending was going up more than their revenue. They were complaining that because of a voter mandate their tax increases were capped at 1% plus new construction and with the current economy new construction was down 34%. Now even with normal new construction it would only and about 1% more to their budget so between the normal increase and new construction they would get about 2% or a little bit more each year. Now this is where it gets good.
They were talking about their surplus and how it was being eaten away and would soon be gone. Their reasoning was that with the cost of everything going up more than their revenue and here is the part I really like. With giving their employees 6% increase each year (remember payroll is 60% or more of their budget) their expenses go up faster than their income. Now isn’t that just the dumbest thing, anyone with a third grade education knows if your income goes up 2% you can only increase your expenses by the same amount or you will run out of money.
Now I know that everyone wants more money. I myself would like more and have asked for raises every year. For the last 4 years I was told no. My boss said they couldn’t afford to give raises. This year I got a raise and it amounted to 3% which equals less than 1% a year over the last few years. Now with the exception of government employees (count, state, city and federal) the average pay raise is less than 2% a year. Minimum wage has not gone up for a few years and when it does go up it is not that much. Our elected officials need to start to watch the way they spend our money we entrust to them. They need to write a realistic budget and stick to it.
I personally write a budget each year and have ever sense I got my first job so I would know what I can spend. I have found it incredibly valuable to me and would encourage everyone to do a budget each year. The simple fact is to spend what you have or less and that is how you get ahead. Our elected officials don’t seem to understand this and just keep spending as if their money was endless. If they need or want more they have the taxpayers to give them more. They don’t understand that we also have to live within our means so we cannot keep giving more and more to them otherwise we will not be able to balance our personal budgets.
The housing collapse was caused by several things one of which were people living beyond their means and all you have to do is look at the news or the stock market and you see what happens first hand when you spend more than you have. As we deal with this and try to solve the housing problem people forget about where the countries budgets are going. If we do nothing in a few years we will be facing a worse problem as our government faces the same problems the housing market is in the only difference is who will bail out the government except for us poor taxpayers.
Now what can we do about this problem. The first is simple pay for public employees should be capped at revenue increases, for example Clark County where I live sees a 1% increase plus new construction. This means they should only get pay raises of 2% a year. This gives them more money each year and keeps the budget in check. They say we have to give these big raises to keep quality people. The fact of the matter is if all state, county and city government did this then we would not have to worry about losing them as employees. The pay and benefits that public employees get is far better than most taxpayers get. It is time to level the playing field. Now from what I understand when a state, city or county job comes open they have hundreds of people put in for them.
Our elected officials have forgotten who they work for. They forget we are the ones who pay not only their pay checks but also all the public employees pay checks. If they keep living beyond their means they will not only bankrupt our government but the taxpayers too. We will become a nation in debt so far we will not be able to get out. It will not be easy but we need to start making cuts and stick to a budget. In good times you can spend a little more but you always need to save some for the future so our kids and our kids children are not handed a nation in debt.
If our elected officials can’t or won’t do this then we as citizens owe it to ourselves and our children to elect new ones who will. The public employees who work for us also need to understand that the days of huge pay raises are gone. If they don’t like their jobs or pay then let them find another job someplace else. But either way these huge pay raises need to stop or they need to live in the real world with the rest of us.

postage stamps prices

Postage stamp keeps going up and there is no end in sight. With the internet becoming popular and people using e-mail the amount of mail delivered by the post office have dropped off. Now with online bill pay more and more people are paying bills on line. Which means even less mail will be delivered. The post office will have to keep increasing the price of stamps. As they do this more and more people will cut back on stamps.
I saw on TV that a huge percentage of the younger population pay bills and use e-mail where as the older generation has been slower to except the new technology. But they also pointed out that it is the younger generation that are having kids and teaching them that using e-mail and online bill pay is the way to do things and the older generation is slowly dying off. So each year the amount of personal mail will decrees.
No other business could keep doing business as usual under these conditions. The post office though seems to think they can just keep raising the price of stamps to make up for dwindling business. Now the latest thing is businesses that are offering online bills. This is where they send you an e-mail to tell you your bill is ready. You then go to their web page and view or down load your bill. This saves the business printing cost and postage and is also good for the environment.
I have a solution that would work. I think the post office should get rid of Saturday delivery. The inconvenience would be very minor. Right now if you get something in the mail Saturday you can reply to it on Monday. Without Saturday delivery you wouldn’t get it till Monday so it would be Tuesday when you replied. One day later is all it would be. Even businesses wouldn’t be that big of a problem.
The plus side of this is the post office could cut their work force by up to 20% which could be done as people retire as to not lay off a bunch of people. But even if you don’t lay off that many workers you would also save one day of deliveries. This would save 20% of their fuel cost which would be huge and again this would also put less pollution in the air. This would be a great thing for the environment and cut our demand for oil.
I know I have tried to cut back on my driving and combine trips when I do go out. I have managed to cut my fuel consumption by about 8% from last year which has saved me money and I feel I am doing my part. Why then is the government unwilling to do their part.