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.