Dear Friend

My dear friend Emily came to visit me for the weekend. It was so much fun for me to have her here. I have missed her since moving. We worked together every day before Ruby was born. It was nice to have so much time to sit and talk like old times. She brought her 2 kids and Ruby loved it. We took all of the kids to the zoo and aquarium and the adults even got an hour away to go out to dinner. Thanks Em! I loved every minute.

Washington

I had a wonderful visit to Washington over the weekend. It was too short. There is too much to say so I will keep this post short as well. It was so good to see Marcilyn, she is a beautiful, smart woman. It was great spending time with Camila, she is a loving and patient mother. Evan blessed his baby on Sunday. He is a devoted husband and father. Camila and Evan are married to extraordinary people that bring balance to our family. Aunt Tam looks as young and beautiful as ever. Mom and Dad are the best parents and Grandparents anyone could ever ask for. There were so many little boys running around I thought that at times I thought I was in Neverland. We did lots of fun things. I love and miss you all.

Politics take 2

So I'm a bit confused and I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I must be misunderstanding something big as far as politics/economics go, because I don't understand why George Bush is getting such a bad rap as far as the economy goes. Now I can understand someone being upset about the war or possibly some other issues, but why is all the economic blame falling on him? (Historically, a country going to war creates jobs) I thought we were a capitalist society, not socialist? Have things changed?

Another note. The economic report generated by the economists in Bush's administration shows an increase in wealth up to 2007, and in 2007 the energy price went through the roof, so the expected economic increase in families was less because of the energy costs ... then of course got worse in 2008. But unemployment was at or below 5% (in 2007). So I'm confused about the last 8 years being a complete economic failure. Someone please explain it. I'm serious when I say I must be missing something because literally everyone I know has expressed the same thing about Bush's economic policies causing these problems. Oh, and the U.S. is still #1 in exports. #1 in services and #2 in goods (behind Germany). We just import more than we export, which isn't a government problem, that is a consumer problem.

If this is a capitalist society (government pretty much stays out of business), the only way a government could effect businesses is in taxes, promoting or discouraging certain business based on whether they get tax breaks or not. Now one policy I know of that did have an effect on our current economic situation goes back to Bill Clinton. He pushed through some legislation that required banks/lenders to provide lending to folks who in the past have not been able to get them. Now I believe it was targeted specifically to minority groups that were not able to get loans, but is seems to have opened the doors for loans being made to a large population that in the past would have been denied based on economic potential.

I also take issue with the idea of heavily taxing the really rich and tax cuts for those who are not. Now that may sound weird since I and not one of the really rich, but I am a realist, not an idealist. Rich folks only stay rich if they know how to hold onto and grow their money. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of high paid accountants ready to figure out how to keep their employers money from going to taxes. Also, heavily taxing companies like oil companies sounds nice as well, but wait a second, what will they do .... pass it on to us. In my opinion, the only way we will ever see any of the money from the wealthy going to programs for those who are not, is if they do so on their own terms. I thought Bush's idea to give tax breaks on charitable giving was a fabulous way to accomplish that (though that is in concept, I'm not sure how well it actually worked).

Now I'm not a great Bush defender, but I do think things should be looked at in the right light. So somebody please enlighten me. If you don't want to post to the blog, you can just email me, because I am genuinely interested to know where I am wrong, and my basic assumption is that I am wrong, but I can't see it yet. I would like to know how things really work. I'm an engineer, and inherently skeptical, so please use reason and facts, cause there are a lot of things that both Obama and McCain have said that are nice in concept, but realistically I don't think it will play out like they have said.

Politics, by Dave

It's time again to comment on politics. I hate them all. I do have to mention though some things I have noticed during some of the past speeches. Now when I look at a candidate, I first look at moral issues, and their stances on those issues first ... then I'll look at their views on war, health care, education, foreign policy, etc. I haven't heard as much from McCain, but Palin has been unequivocal on her stance on abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem-cell research. They do not support abortion, same-sex marriage, or stem-cell research when it is the start of life through fertilization, and then terminated for the purpose of using those stem cells, they do not support.

Obama, I'll be honest, he scares me on these issues. At the democratic convention he made a few statements that indicated to me they he would likely lay the ground work to make same-sex marriage, and abortion socially acceptable, and supported in our society. When he said "You may not agree with me on same-sex marriage, but surely you can agree that a gay partner should be able to visit their partner in the hospital", and "You may not agree with me on abortion, but surely you can agree that there are too many unwanted pregnancies in the United States". Not this suggests to me that he would support same-sex marriage, and abortion. On the topic of same-sex marriage, Biden assures us that neither he, nor Obama support it, but Obama's statements at the democratic convention do not reflect that assurance.

Now, on all the other issures ... well, I think on energy, we need do cast aside the extreme environmentalism that seems to be supported by Obama, and address our energy crisis. Now that is not to say, "to hell with the environment, we need oil". Technology has developed to a point that this can be done responsibly, without destroying habitat. Obama is whole heartedly for clean energy, which I support, but I say .... don't be stupid. We need to drill now, and develop clean energy which takes time. Now I think Obama would likely be a better diplomat, and like Reagan, he would be able to work with foreign leaders and make good international progress, as far as our relationships with other countries are concerned. McCain, I'm not sure he's going to make a very good diplomat.

Well, there a a ton of things that I could talk about, and it can be summed up with this. I will support the candidate that I think will uphold good moral values, because once a society allows, and accepts things that destroys families, I don't care how diplomatic you are, I don't care how brilliant of an economist you are, the country will fail faster and harder when society embraces wicked practices as social norms, and as being fair and good to it's members. On the other hand, if we place people in office that will fight against these things that destroy the moral fabric of out society, we will be blessed. So my vote is for McCain. Not saying he is a saint, not saying he isn't going to make dumb decisions. I'm saying, he appears to be the candidate that will make a stand against abortion, and same-sex marriage, which are two major moral issues that have been debated.

Thoughts?

Hey Evan, is this controversial enough for you? If not, I'm sure you'll help me out.