Going on post election/holiday hiatus...

I'll be back in 2009, bigger and better than ever! Have a great holiday season everyone!

What now?

It's time to turn the page and start a new chapter. The election chapter is over and my candidate did not win. That's life. Where do I go from here? I now enter into a weird place. For those of you who know me, you know I have strong beliefs in my own opinions. However, stronger than that is my love for this country.

What does that mean then? Well. simply put, I hope I am wrong about Barak Obama. I care more about my country than I care about being right. I believe he is the most divisive character to come into the national scene in a very long time. I also believe he is one of the most liberal people in national politics. I believe he is the most partisan person in Washington. I believe he is corrupt. I believe he is a liar. And the scariest part, I don't believe we have seen the worst of him yet.

I believe all of these things and yet, I pray I am wrong about all of these beliefs.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

PS- Choosing Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is not a good first step. He is a Chicago politician with a history of being a pit bull against Republicans and he is a former Fannie Mae board member. Oye vey!

My mother always says...

Two things I like to refer back to when I feel like I'm being challenged...

1) Things happen for a reason.

2) God only gives you as much as you can handle.

I have given these two things a lot of thought recently. How are they relevant to today's political and social climate?

Well, what reason can I come up with for the impending disaster that is the Obama/Pelosi/Reid three headed monster? Perhaps the reason for this is because we need to be reminded as a country what is important to us. We have lost our way, but not in the way Barak Obama is implying (OK, lying) to you about.

We have lost our way because we have become a "me too" society. We not only believe that we should keep up with the Joneses but that if we are unable to keep up on our own, that the Joneses should subsidize our ability to keep up with them. Why? How does this make any sense?

What if you were the Joneses? How would this effect your perspective?

More importantly, would you be more or less motivated to make the sacrifice, take the risk and put in the work to be come one of the Joneses?

This is the problem. The redistribution of wealth thru tax policy demotivates people. There needs to be more motivation to achieve great things and I believe Obama's agenda is counterproductive to this end. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he ill eat for a life time. We need more fishermen. Fishermen create jobs. Fishermen create wealth. Fishermen pay taxes. The more Fishermen we have the more total tax revenue there is.

What made the Clinton presidency "successful?" It had a lot to do with the fact the Reagan/Bush policies created more Fishermen. More companies being built. More wealth being earned. More investment.

Personally, I want to fish. I don't want the government to feed me. But that's just me. I'm selfish.

So maybe, just maybe, the Obamanation will help people see we need to get back to fundamentals. Maybe this is the reason we need him now. And hopefully my mom is right, Obama will not burden us with more than we can handle.

God Bless America,
EG

Spread the wealth...

I wish someone would explain to me...

How U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick, when dismissing the case against Barak Obama requesting to have is birth records released, 'ruled that (Phillip) Berg lacked standing to bring the case, saying any harm from an allegedly ineligible candidate was "too vague and its effects too attenuated to confer standing on any and all voters?"'

What?

Now, as I'm sure the Obama campaign would agree, I don't really think this is the type of thing we should be discussing a week before the election. There are many more pressing issues to consider. However, I am offended by the implication that any voter lacks standing to question the eligibility of any candidate. The arrogance of the judge offends me at my core. The arrogance of the Obama campaign offends me more.

Do I believe Obama is a natural born citizen? Yes. Do I believe his actions are above suspicion? No.

Why is this even an issue? Give up the documents, prove you are who you say you are and be done with it. And while you are at it, release your school records. What do you have to hide? The unknown is making me ill.

We are about to elect a president whose actions indicate he believes he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone. He refuses to sit for tough interviews. Whats worse, his gestapo threatens anyone who asks tough questions. (See Joe the plumber.)

John McCain is far from perfect. But with John, at least I feel like I know what I am getting.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Trick or Treat at Barak's House

John Stossel gets it...

I have not always been a fan of John Stossel. In fact it wasn't until a good friend of mine lent (although I still have it) me his book "Give Me A Break" that I started to respect his views.

Prior to reading this book, I thought of him as a reporter version of the ambulance chaser. However this book is probably the single most influential reason why this blog is being written tonight. There was one section that really put things into perspective for me. This section was titled "Government Always Grows" and in this section Stossel points out that when America began government only cost $20 (in today's dollars) for every citizen.

Do you have any idea how much the federal government costs to run now? $100? $500? $1000? $2500? $5000?

No, none of the above? When his book was written in 2003, the federal government cost over $10,000 for every citizen to run. Are you kidding me? How is this even possible? It makes me sick just thinking about it.

Are YOU ready to get sick now?

Based on the FY 2009 estimated budget of $2.7 trillion and a 2007 estimate of 138 million taxpayers (including those who pay no tax), each citizen will carry an average tax burden of nearly $20,000. To make things worse. This is just the federal budget I am speaking of, we haven't paid for state and local governments yet!

Does anyone else find this rediculous?

What is worse, now we are just over two weeks away from electing a Socialist who is looking to further grow government and increase the tax burden on the US. I frankly don't care who he is planning on taxing, if he is incapable of paying for the programs he feels are needed, with the money they are already stealing from us, well then, I guess he is not nearly as smart and as gifted as many of you would like to believe.

Now that I have depressed you, and myself, let me recommend another John Stossel production from last Friday night on 20/20. You can find it at http://abcnews.go.com/2020 under "John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics."

If anyone could still feel like our government is looking out for us after watching this I feel sorry for that person. Our politicians have stacked the deck against you and me my friends. They think we are stupid and wont catch on.

If we decide to stand idly by and do nothing shame on us. I beg you, please, go to the polls in two weeks and one day and do two things...

1) Vote against all incumbents.

2) Vote against socialism. Vote against Barak Obama.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

I have a purpose...

When I bought the domain name www.exchangeyourgovernment.com my motivation was to just get some frustrations out by getting my thoughts out in cyberspace and to see if there were others who shared my concerns. Since early August, just 10 short weeks ago, I have gotten my answer. Not only has the world and our economy changed since then, my opinion of our electorate has changed too.

I believed our voters were just lazy and apathetic. Why else would we continue to nominate and elect the wrong people? Though I believe there is a level of apathy out there far beyond what we should accept, in general it is not apathy but frustration our voters are feeling. More over, over the past 10 weeks, I have seen that frustration turn to anger.

Frankly, I love it. Now what can we do collectively to harness this anger and put it to good use?

I believe strongly that we need to create a third party. This party will not be named. This party will not have any "members." This party will only have one focus. This party will only have two tasks.

What will the focus be? Simple...the focus will be on defeating all incumbent politicians in the 2010 congressional election cycle. The task? Educate others about the danger of incumbency and vote against those same incumbents. Simple, right?

Now I understand that many of you may be saying to yourselves that you like your senators or representative or both. I realize that there are probably at least a few good members of congress. But the fundamental truth is this, as I wrote about last week, congress has failed us. So, if you really want to be serious about taking control back from the special interest and if you want to stand a chance of making real change, there will need to be casualties of this war.

The casualties may be YOUR senator or YOUR representative who you like and support. If you truly want change, I'm sorry, this is a necessary step. Unless and until we create a little chaos in the political system, there will be no change. Chaos!

Maybe we do need a name...the Chaos Party has a nice ring to it.

Remember, the average tenure for a member of congress is 12 years. Their length of tenure is exactly the reason why these special interest groups are able to peddle their influence all over Capital Hill. Relationships take time to develop. Representatives come up for election every two years. Lets face it, two years is not enough time to fully corrupt a well intentioned person. So, if we repopulate congress with a complete exchange of representatives in 2010 and then again in 2012, we may stand a chance of regaining control and sending a message.

Will you join me? Will you spread the word? Will you start early and begin voting against incumbents in the 2008 election cycle?

There is hope if we work together to spark this revolution in our voting booths!

God Bless Us All,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Trust...

I do not trust government. I do not trust the President. I do not trust the mayor. I do not trust the members of the school board. I do not trust politicians. I do not trust bureaucrats.

This is not a new revelation mind you. However my distrust has grown over the past several weeks. I am now to the point where I feel like a conspiracy theorist. I feel paranoid. Its almost to the point where I believe any person who holds elected office or draws a paycheck from the government is corrupt.

The sad thing is, I am not the only one who feels this way. There are thousands, if not millions of Americans just like me. How did we get here? Follow the money. Follow the power. Our answers will be found if we ask two questions to any problem.

Who got paid? Who gained power or influence?

These are the only important questions now, and we need to get the answers. The only problem though, is that it will require government involvement to investigate and gain answers to our questions. Is the problem worse than the cure?

The bottom line is, I do not want any more government under any circumstance. Government never solves anything. They are kind of like the pharma companies in that way. Since there is no money in a cure, big pharma researches how to mask or inhibit symptoms, not cure them. Got to love the recurring revenue.

Since there is no more budget if a division of government were successful in solving the problem they were brought in to address, they simply create a system of oversight and management over the issue. Got to love the recurring revenue.

Take for example the Department of Energy. This cabinet level department was founded under the Carter administration and was responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. In the over 30 years since it was founded this department has grown to over 16,000 federal employees with an annual budget of $25 billion. For what?

What have these people solved? We now are in the midst of the worst energy crisis in our history. If we are out to make the CEO's of Freddie, Fannie, AIG and others pay, why not the politicians and the bureaucrats in charge of departments of government who are derelict in their duties?

Whats worse? Now we are three weeks away from electing a President who wants to nationalize health care. My God, what have you forsaken me?

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

More? You have to be kidding me...

The pigs are back feeding at the troth.  The Fed has made an additional $37.8 billion available to AIG as part of its liquidity rescue package.  Apparently $85 billion was not enough.  Is anybody surprised by this?  I wish I was.  I wish this type of news would shock me again.    

I was surprised though by the McCain announcement last night that his administration would dedicate $300 billion to bailing out home owners who are in upside down mortgages.  This guy is supposed to be the fiscal conservative of the two choices.  Every day I become more disenfranchised with these idiots we have hired to be our representatives.

I am, however, no longer going to blame them for their corruption.  I am taking off the gloves and placing the blame exactly where it needs to be, on the voters shoulders.  This is our fault people.  We are the ones to blame.

A few weeks ago I started researching approval ratings of the members of congress.  At the time, congressional approval was at an all time low of 9%.  (Congrats Reid and Pelosi, you must be very proud.)  Can you guess what I found?  

Of 100 sitting senators, I was unable to find an approval rating below 34% for any of them.  Not only that, 80 of 100 had approval ratings at of above 50%.

What does this mean?  Well, to me, it helps prove my theory our electorate is blaming the problems with congress on everyone except their own congressional delegation.  Are you people insane?  How does this make any sense?

Congress has 9% approval yet your congressional members have average approval of 54%.  

What can we learn from this?  Well first of all we need to stop blaming everyone else for electing these idiots.  The sooner we as an electorate realize we only have control over three votes and three members of congress, the better off we will all be.  

Simply put, if you are unhappy with congress, get rid of your own delegation.  Simple, easy, done.  If you do not start there, you have no right to complain.  YOU are the problem.

God Bless America,

EG     

erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Debate pre-game...

Well here we go. Debate number two of three. (I am still angry that Obama backed out of the other 10 town hall style debates, what a coward.)

You know what. It doesn't matter. I want to vote "none of the above." In keeping with my theme of wanting every and all incumbents voted out of Washington, I want BOTH Obama and McCain gone. Neither of them are worth my vote. McCain, the maverick, has lived his life straddling the fence. Obama, the agent of change, is spewing rhetoric from the Carter presidency from 1977.

Don't get me wrong, I will vote. It is my duty to myself and to the country. Unfortunately and fortunately though, it really doesn't matter who wins. My biggest fear heading into this election is that Obama and a Democrat Congress will be able to push thru socialized health care. Since there is no money left, Obama's socialist agenda has no chance of taking off. Thank god.

I'll be interested to see what is said in the coming moments, buts lets face it, unless McCain becomes Jeff Gitomer (Google him, great salesman) tonight the race is over.

God help us,
EG

Credit default swaps...Huh?

I have to admit, I am no economist. I use reason and common sense to evaluate what is going on in our economy. I try to watch as much news as possible, both left and right, since there is no truthful news, and I try to read as much as possible. So when I was watching "60 Minutes" tonight and heard the term "credit default swaps" or "CDS" and their assessment that they will be the next shoe to drop in this financial meltdown, I had to get online and learn about what they are.

The long and the short of it is this, its an insurance policy a lender buys to protect against the default of a loan. It is not, however, an insurance product technically so therefore it is not regulated. Not that regulation would have helped.

Why will these CDS be the next problem to face the global economy? Well, the Wall Street Journal estimates the world wide face value of outstanding CDS at about $50 TRILLION!

Consider this, the estimated size of the US Stock Market is $20 trillion. Holy cow. These instruments are covering debt 2.5 times the size of the entire US market? I need a drink.

I am beginning to think the world economy is all a big Ponzi scheme. The more I learn, the more I want to curl up in a ball and cry. Unfortunately this is not an option for me or for anyone else.

I do have one option though, I will vote against every incumbent this fall regardless of party affiliation. I just don't think there is any other solution to this problem. Not only are the enemies at the gate, the enemies are guarding the gate.

Maybe if we start to get some honest people minding the store, we can stand a fighting chance. Maybe with a fresh start our politicians will begin to write laws with some teeth which will deter white collar criminals from ever trying these corrupt practices again.

I beg you all, please join me. Incumbents must go. The only way we stand a chance is if YOU take back your own voting booth.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

The day after yesterday...

The apocalypse is upon us! Everybody panic! Or not. Just kidding! Lets just create panic in the little guy on Monday so we can reap large profits on Tuesday. Whew, that was easy money. Thanks Congress!

Try to make sense of the last two days. I dare you. I'm not afraid to admit that I am completely lost. Is it necessary to help out the credit markets? I still think yes. But I am not as sure as yesterday.

I am more sure today of one thing though, these buffoons in Washington need to be taught a serious lesson. I have said it before and I will say it again, we need to get rid of every last one of them and it needs to start in November.

The more interviews and press conferences I watch of these poor excuses for human beings the more I am sure they have stopped being useful to any of us. In fact, I am now of the mind set that any voter who pulls a ballot for an incumbent needs to have his or her right to vote revoked and have their head checked.

Why would we vote for an incumbent? How have they served us so far? Have they not completely failed us and stewards of this great nation? We gave them our trust and they took that faith and have destroyed it. They are all corrupted by the system.

I know the system must change too, but changing the components is a good first start. Its harder for special interest to get their hooks in to a chaotic system.

Yesterday I asked for the finger pointing to begin. I chose the wrong words, let the finger pointing continue. You see that is all they are good for, covering their asses and assigning blame. Here is a news flash folks, they are BOTH to blame.

Listen to the white noise and you will hear 535 congressional members lying to the American people. Do you know how I know they are lying to us? Because they are talking! These wastes of space are incapable of telling us the truth, and to tell you the truth, I am sick of it.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Politics as usual.

Was anybody shocked by the fact the bailout package was not passed? This is not a popular piece of legislation. Politicians do not want to vote for bill that could possibly cost them their jobs. These people are not leaders, they are chickens and I think its time to turn the chickens over to Frank Perdue for processing.

Let the finger pointing begin. Oh yeah, and let the holiday recess begin. Congress will not be back in session until Thursday and the Dow is down 700+ points. They worked hard over the weekend after all.

Do you need a clearer argument to unseat the people in power in Washington? There are no leaders among them. This bailout is a tragedy. We should not have to bailout Wall Street, however it is imperative for us to do so. Credit markets need to be opened, and they will not be, at least in the short term, without something being done.

Think about this, unless you work for a well capitalized, cash rich company, your employer may not have access to enough short term cash to make payroll. Does that make this problem close enough to home? Something needs to be done!

I cannot begin to express my anger that we are here. I am even more angry that I cannot see any other way to fix the situation we are in without crippling our economy.

Even worse, I now find myself agreeing with Jack Cafferty from CNN, he just called for the unseating of every incumbent in Washington. The train is leaving the tracks ladies and gentlemen.

God Help America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

If I hear one more time...

that Barak Obama is going to lower the taxes for 95% of Americans, I am going to lose my mind.

I was having a conversation with a friend a few weeks back and he pointed out this statistic is mathematically impossible. The only way you could give a tax cut to 95% of taxpayers is if at least 95% of the population is currently paying taxes. It is estimated 40% of tax payers don't pay any federal income tax at all. (Before anyone gets on me, I realize we all pay Social Security and Medicare tax.)

How then, can you give a tax break to 95% of Americans if only 60% of Americans pay federal income tax to begin with? It must be the new math they are teaching in our schools. When I learned basic math, I was told you cannot have a number less than zero. What then is Barak Obama talking about?

My fear is that he is talking about the expansion of welfare payments and income redistribution thru the IRS. Did you know it is possible to get a larger refund than you paid in withholding? Depending on your deductions this is possible.

Let me put this plainly to you. There are "taxpayers" who have $7000 withheld thruout the tax year and then get $8000, or probably more, back from the IRS. Is that tax policy or social welfare? Not only are these folks not paying their share, they are a burden on the system.

Now I realize there is a need for basic social services and welfare. US citizens deserve a helping hand when they are in need. However, as I have discussed before, there needs to be limits to these programs and there needs to be value delivered by the recipients of these programs.

The problem here is that our "leaders" have been allowed to bastardize the tax system to provide subsidies. This practice needs to stop and Obama wants to expand it! How else would he give a "cut" to the 40% of the population who pay nothing to begin with?

I need a drink. This debate is driving me crazy.

God help us all, and God bless America,
EG
erik@exchngeyourgovernment.com

Buffett buys into Goldman...

Makes sense to me. I was having conversations with friends a couple weeks ago after reading an interview with Warren Buffett where he said the worst was yet to come. We agreed that the turn around will begin when Buffett starts investing.

Well, he was right, the worst was right around the corner. Is this the end? Will we begin to see the market turn around? Probably, but at what cost? I would have much rather seen the investment banks go under, cut the cord and move on. Sure there would be pain, but in the end we would not me mortgaging our future on a high interest credit card held by the Bank of China.

This bailout, were being told, is necessary. Why? Do these investment banks and insurance companies we are saving produce anything? It's all paper transactions. They only produce paper transactions, and those can be replaced.

Sure, people will get hurt. Rich people, middle class, and the poor. But, and I am no economist, I feel that letting them fail is the better long term solution. It would show consequence to poor judgement and investment.

What then are we bailing them out? Simply put, I believe this is a less painful solution for the politicians who let this happen on their watch, so that is why they are heading down this dangerous path.

Does Congress want you to know how badly they messed this thing up? Of course not. Does the White House want you to know they knew this was going to happen, yet did nothing to avoid it? Of course not.

I find it laughable that the Democrat led Congress is blaming the Bush Administration completely for this failure. Did they have something to do with it? Yes, however, since the average tenure of a member of the House, at the beginning of the 110th Congress, was over 10 years and just short of 13 years for Senators, I think they have had more to do with the creation of the issues at hand. (Plus, Bush is out in January, where will they be?)

Please, I beg you, join me in voting out and and all incumbents in November. It may not solve our issues, but it will be a good first step.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Where does the time go?

Seriously. I would love an answer. The last week went by so fast that I am not positive it actually happened. Thank God I have the internet to catch me up on things.

I sometimes try to imagine how things would be different if my ability to access information was limited to the daily newspaper and one of the three talking heads from the nightly news cast. How much would I miss? How much harder would it be to catch up?

My father would read all the newspapers from the previous week after we would get back from vacation just so he could keep up. I don't think I would have the time to do that today. Who would?

Anyway, I'll move on. I have read a number of articles assigning blame for our financial crisis to everybody from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton to GW Bush to Barak Obama (Really? He's only been in the Senate for 3 years, how would this be possible.) to the Easter Bunny. A good number of them were well written, however, except in very few cases, they were mostly filled with partisan agendas.

Where have all the journalists gone? Are all of the media members in the tank for someone? How could any sane individual look at our financial crisis and deduce that it all one person or one party's fault?

Our economy is in crisis right now because both parties were too busy pushing the agendas of their party "bases" and not busy enough minding the store. Freddie and Fanny are in trouble because of bad underwriting. Wall St. is in trouble because of lack of government oversight.

Who benefits from poor underwriting? Who benefits from little government oversight over our financial banks? I'll let you answer those for yourself. A little hint though, they are not the same answer.

If these two questions cannot be answered the same way, why then can I find thousands of "news" articles assigning blame to one side or the other? I am disgusted. Some honesty would be nice.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Dow off nearly 1000 points in two days...everybody panic!

Just kidding.

Make no mistake about it, this is a problem, and it has been a problem for a long time. Our "leaders" have just chosen to ignore the issue. And now, we all have to pay.

Can someone explain to me why the directors and executives of these companies are not being indited today? How is it possible no laws were broken here? That's a trick question, of course laws were broken, but nobody will be prosecuted. Not under this corrupt bureaucracy, not under these corrupt politicians.

Unless and until our legislators begin to prosecute white collar criminals with crimes, this kind of stuff will continue to happen. Maybe not today, there will be a lot of eyes on Wall Street now, but not to far from now, when we have all forgotten the pain of today, it will happen again. Remember 1987?

The penalties for these kinds of white collar crimes need to be almost usurious in nature to have any effect at all. Say, life in prison in a federal penitentiary with murderers and rapists for people like the CEO of Lehman, Bear Sterns, Enron, etc. How do you think Ken Lay would have fared in the general population? I would have loved to find out. Rot in Hell Ken.

You see, the problem with our current system of justice is that is is not based on how the crime effects the general public. The former CEO of AIG, Martin J. Sullivan, in concert with his unscrupulous henchmen, has done more damage to this country than any serial killer, yet Jeff Dahmer was sentenced to death. FYI...Sullivan received a $47 million severance package in June for resigning after AIG write of $20 billion in losses. I need that pay plan.

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending serial murder, I am just trying to make folks understand that the true evil in this world largely goes unpunished or at least under punished. Jeff Skillings is currently serving a 24 year sentence in a country club jail. I know that is a long time, however, since he caused the Enron collapse, that seems light to me.

Corruption in our financial markets effect us all. Murderers only effect the immediate and extended circles of their victims. Who deserves the longer sentence?

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Good Bye Lehman/Merrill...

It is going to be a bumpy ride today! When American wakes up and sees that Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America and AIG is seeking a $40 billion loan from the fed, I fear the news will be too much to avoid a huge correction in the market.

Is this a surprise to anyone? Didn't we all know this was coming? The failings of the government to provide proper oversight over our financial institutions has gotten us to this point. Thankfully this time the Fed showed the restraint to not bail out Lehman. I was fully expecting another round of corporate socialism once I heard the Korean investors had backed out of the Lehman purchase last week.

Despite the restraint in this instance, what got us here was a failing of our leadership at all levels, across both parties and all three branches of government. This is precisely why we need a wholesale exchange of the folks in power and to get back to basic fundamentals. Oh yeah, and by the way, we need to get rid of the lobbyists who have been allowed to corrupt our system of government.

As yourself this...if Congress has a 9% approval rating and the country is looking for a change, then why will 70%, or more, of incumbents win their elections in November? I believe it has to do with the "not in my backyard" factor.

Too many of us believe our senators or house leaders are doing a fine job and that it is everyone else's congressional delegation who is the problem. What? That is insanity. I beg and plead with the American voter to wake up and realize the problem is "All of the Above."

I am currently researching the stare specific individual approval ratings of the 535 members of Congress and will report my findings prior to the end of the month. What will I find? So far I have yet to find a rating approaching 9%. Interesting? I think so.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

I coun't have said it any better myself...

I have been racking my brain over the past several days, wondering how best to express my feelings about 09.11.2001. Well, I got an e-mail from a friend that sums it up nicely so I figured I would share it. (I have left out the names in the spirit of privacy.)

"Have you forgotten?

Please take 4:10 to watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpoudLoc8sY

A country music fan, I am not. A red white & blue blooded American, I proudly am.

I intended to wax poetic about what this day means to me, but I've decided to keep this relatively brief.

Simply put, as my (poor) wife can attest, not one single solitary day has gone by that I have not reflected on the events of 9-11-01. That day ignited a fire deep within the caverns of my soul........a soul which still aches of sorrow, yet still screams for revenge.

Do not forget what happened. Do not forget who is responsible. Do not allow for this day to be merely a "bad date" on the calendar. Rather, take some time to remember where you were, what you were doing, and EXACTLY how you felt when you saw or heard what took place.

It is the dissipation of that atrociously sickening feeling we recall in the pits of our stomachs which has allowed our nation, our leaders and our disgraceful political parties to become so horrifically divided.

I'm not sure whether I just care more about America than most, or if I'm just much better at holding and harboring intense/eternal grudges towards those who attack my family, my friends and my country. In today's world, I would probably be criticized for both. But guess who doesn't care............

Don't forget."

Like I said, I couldn't say it better myself.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Fannie & Freddie: Obama's Inconvenient Truth

As you may recall from my previous posts, I have a problem with lobbyists. They have corrupted our system of government and have stacked the deck against the middle class in America. If it were up to me, 22,000-37,000 federal lobbyists would be looking for work today. Unfortunately, its not up to me. It's up to the people the lobbyists are hired to spin. Conflict of interest? I'll let you answer this question yourself.

Why do I feel the need to discuss this today? Well, it looks like the champion of "clean," "lobbyist-free" elections was DEEP in the pockets of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How deep, you may wonder?

Let's look at the statistics, shall we? According to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, since the 1990 election cycle, Freddie and Fannie's employees and PAC have given $19.5 million to federal candidates and committees. Of these donations, 53% have gone to Republicans and 47% have gone to Democrats. Not surprisingly, Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, collected the most from the two companies totaling $133,900.

The eye opening stat to me was that the Messiah collected the second most with donations totaling $122,850! More staggering is the fact that Chris Dodd amassed those donations over a 19 year period while Obama has amassed his war chest in just 5 years! Dodd received just over $7000 a year while Obama has received nearly $25,000 annually since he declared his Senate candidacy. By contrast, McCain has received only $21,300 in total donations since 1989. (Just over $1000 annually.)

Now, I understand, in the whole scheme of things, $25,000 is a minimal amount when compared to the HALF BILLION DOLLARS Obama is spending to try to buy the presidency. However it does underscore the fact that with Obama you are not getting good change, you are getting politics as usual. Personally, I'm disappointed.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchngeyourgovernment.com

This Freddie/Fannie disaster...

Is why, combined with the Bear Sterns bailout, I have left the Republican Party. Make no mistake about it, this move by Paulson on Sunday does much more for the bond holders on Wall St. and around the world than it does for the American taxpayer.

I am familiar with the counter argument that this move was necessary to keep the mortgage industry from crumbling and causing a panic in the markets. Obviously, a market correction is not fun for anyone, but ultimately these poor investments need to bear losses on someone and I would prefer China or Japan suffer the loss in bond value. The stock holders were crushed by this move. Why not the bond holders?

We are now in a time where Paulson is being praised for a move that once again challenges the free market economy we Americans hold dear. I cannot believe I am actually saying this, but I agree with Jim Rogers statement that this is a communist type move intended to benefit the rich.

Think about it. Who are going to suffer the greatest losses under this plan? The bond holders are now protected by the full faith and credit of the US government. The share holders have lost 97% of their value and all ownership voting rights! This is a bad deal, shortsightedly structured to prop up the market.

I wonder if history will look at this moment in time as the point where the free market stopped, and socialism began. If our leaders in Washington continue to bail out their rich buddies with deals like this, the middle and lower classes will have no choice but to counter act their nefarious plans. Unfortunately, my fear is that the counter punch will be election of leaders like Obama who is hell bent on creating a form of socialism 180 degrees the opposite of the Bush plan. The problem is, us in the middle will still be paying the freight. We will be treading water the same as today, just in a different pool.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Going dark...

I'll be out of town in the Berkshires tonight and tomorrow. I'll return on Sunday with my thoughts on McCain's speech and the RNC in general. (Holy cow were there a lot of ugly white people there.)

Have a great weekend.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

I have no words...

To describe how outraged I was when I saw this CNN.com had posted on its from page this morning along with a story about Sarah Palin and her speech last night. Who can defend this obvious act of photographic slander? If a picture means a thousand words, what does this picture say? Sarah Palin is a Nazi, two hundred times? Shame on you CNN.

I watched her speech with a friend of mine last night and I have to say I was impressed. Going in to the speech I had my reservations about the small state governor, small town mayor and what qualifications she would bring to the game. After the speech, I was a lot less concerned.

Consider this, since Friday's announcement, she and her family had taken more shots for the liberal left and the media (I know that is redundant) than Sylvester Stalone took in Rocky I & II combined. Yet despite all the scrutiny and attacks on her family and character she stood up there poised to deliver the speech of her life, and boy did she not disappoint. I thought the speech was a home run. For once I felt like a politician was speaking to me, not above me.

At the end of the day, I think that is my biggest issue with our political leaders, they talk to us, the taxpayers, their bosses, like they are somehow superior to us. They think we can't figure out the games they are playing when they refuse to answer a direct question. They think they are smarter and more important than us and that they are not accountable to us.

But last night, at least for one night, I felt like a politician reached out to the American people as if to say "I hear your concerns, and I'm going to do something about it." It was refreshing. I know the cynical left is saying the words were not her own, and that the words held no answers. I get that, this is often the case with convention speeches and campaign promises. But I can't help but think she must have, at a minimum, inspired more than just me with a sense of idealism, at least for a moment. Sure she is imperfect, but is she real? Will she be part of the solution?

I now understand what Matt Damon was talking about during the following conversation in "Good Will Hunting:"

Will: I went on a date last week.
Sean: How'd it go?
Will: It was good.
Sean: Going out again?
Will: I don't know.
Sean: Why not?
Will: Haven't called her.
Sean: Christ, you're an amateur.
Will: I know what I'm doing. Don't worry about me I know what I'm doing. Yeah, but this girls like you know, beautiful. She's smart. She's fun. She's different from most of the girls I've been with.
Sean: So, call her up Romeo.
Will: Why? So I can realize that she's not that smart. That she's fucking boring. This girls like fucking perfect right now. I don't want to ruin that.
Sean: Maybe you're perfect right now. Maybe you don't want to ruin that. But I think that's a super philosophy Will, that way you can go through your entire life without ever having to really know anybody.

I guess, I'll take Robin Williams advice and take the chance to get to know her. Hopefully she is as she seems, an imperfect person, for an imperfect time.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Dividedwefail.org

A friend of mine asked me a simple question today. He asked how many bankruptcies are filed in the US every year? He asked the question because the adds for Dividedwefail.org claim there are 1.85 million filings a year because of medical bills. 1.85 million! That's a big number!

If there are 1.85 million filings from medical expenses alone, surely the total number of filings must be 2.5 to 3 million. Right?

Wrong! I did a quick Google search to get the answer and guess what I found? I found that our friends at Dividedwefail.org are telling us a fib. Guess what the real number is? Try nearly 1 million total filings from July 2007 to June 2008, including business filings. Is there a new rounding rule in math I am unfamiliar with? There must be? AARP wouldn't delibrately lie to us about this 1.85 million number would they?

I think we all know the answer here. It's just lobbyist spin. No, that's not right, it's a bold faced lie. When are we as a nation going to hold advertisers accountable for conning us? I don't care what their intentions are, this type of advertising would get a used car store brought up on charges. Why not do the same to the lobbyists at the AARP?

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

I don't quite have the words to explain my disdain for the media.

First, I thank God things in Louisiana were not worse yesterday. I know there was $10 billion in damage, but the human loss was minimal, and we can rebuild. That's what we Americans do, we deal with tragedy and we move forward. That is why I love my country.

The media in this country however, I could do without. This Bristol Palin story needs to go away and it needs to go away now. I don't care what side of the ideological coin you fall on, if you believe using this story to promote your candidates agenda is appropriate, I pray for your cold hearts. The saddest part of this story is that while the right is using it to show how "real" Sarah Palin and her family is, the left is using it to show how poor John McCain's vetting process and judgement is.

Seriously people, we are talking about a 17 year old girl who is going thru one of the most emotionally and physically straining experiences any teenager could go thru and our media is falling over themselves to use this trauma as spin. I don't know how most of them can sleep at night.

The real problem I have with this is because I knew this would be the result the moment I first heard the story. They simply cannot help themselves. What ever happened to reporters with honor. The kind of reporter that would not write a story about something because it was not relevant to the news, it was simply a private matter.

Maybe those times are gone, I have hope they are not, but I suspect they are. But for now I will say a quick prayer for Bristol and her unborn child and hope this story goes away and quick. Maybe one day the media will realize that the end does not justify the means.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Shame on you Don Fowler and Michael Moore...

I have to admit, I am not surprised Michael Moore is shameless and heartless enough to try to capitalize on the plight of our brothers and sisters of the Gulf Coast region by taking a cheap shot at Republicans. If you are unaware he was quoted as saying Gustav's arrival during the week of the RNC convention is proof of God and that he favors the Democrats. I am not surprised, but I am still appalled.

What was surprising to me was to then to see Don Fowler, former head of the DNC, reiterating the same point in a youtube video. Are you serious? He has since apologized claiming he was joking, but the statement was still made.

These reckless statements are further proof we need an upheaval in our government. This is politics as usual and is unacceptable. Its not just on the Democrat side either, a couple weeks ago GOP religious leaders prayed for a hurricane like rain storm to hit during Obama's speech last week.

Have we really become so intolerant toward each other that we are beginning to pray for natural disasters to befall each other? I hope and pray these instances are isolated on the fringes of our society, in the extreme left and right. Unfortunately since the extremists run the two power parties in our nation, this is representative of the message being put out on our behalf should we choose to align ourselves with either party.

I am now an un-enrolled voter. I encourage you all to do the same. Though I still consider myself a conservative, it has been amazing to me how liberating it has been to no longer consider myself a member of the Republican party.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Hopefully we learned from Katrina...

Have we learned from the sins of the past? Are we capable of dealing with the millions of displaced people better than we did three years ago? Can we sustain the blow to our economy?

I suspect we will all be emotionally and financially impacted come Tuesday if this storm continues on its current path. But this time, the problems will not be caused by us being unprepared. Katrina was a tragic disaster from start to finish. Our government failed us at all levels. (Can someone explain to me how Ray Nagin still has a job?) Have we learned? I certainly hope so. It looks like the people of the Gulf Coast have.

Three years ago, the governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency on Friday, the Mayor of New Orleans issued a mandatory evacuation on Sunday morning and the storm hit on Monday morning. Three years ago, hundreds of thousands of people refused to leave or waited until the last minute. That was their choice at the time and it came with tragic consequences. This time, millions have made the choice to leave.

We will find out later this week if leaving was necessary, I hope and pray it was not. But at the same time, I hope we don't look look back, if this is a false alarm, and next time ignore the warning.

God Bless the Gulf Coast,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Historic Friday...

Sarah Palin? Who? What? Why?

I try to keep myself up to speed with the who's who of politics, and until a couple weeks ago, I had never heard this woman's name. In fairness, I will reserve judgement until I can learn more about her. However, these are my initial thoughts...

I believe people vote for the top of the ticket and pay very little attention to the VP choice. However, make no mistake about it, this is bold move by McCain. He seems to be playing offense and defense with this choice.

Offensively, the choice of a woman as a running mate is going to swing some of the Hillary voters over to the McCain side. How many votes it will convert is unknown, but it will bring over some.

Defensively, choosing Palin keeps Obama's dogs at bay. Can they bring up her youth? Not without bringing Obama's youth into discussion. Can they bring up her inexperience? Not without putting a glaring spotlight on his own record. Can they bring up her gender? Not without alienating his base and bringing his race into the discussion.

Above those facts, she is a wife and working mother of five. Her husband is an Native American union worker and they have a disabled child. She seems to be the All-American girl. How do you attack that? I'm not sure it is possible without offending voters.

I will be interested to learn more about this ethics investigation though. I suspect there is not much there since McCain knew about this and still choose her, but I'm sure the media will latch onto this and try to make an issue of this drama.

We certainly do live in interesting times.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

What a speech...

The man is a tremendous orator. You would have to be completely against Obama to not be at least a little inspired by his delivery. His speech writers, on the other hand, either need some help or are deliberately giving him repackaged Democrat talking points from the past several decades.

I wish I could believe some of the things he discussed last night. The problem for me is he has refused to get specific enough. For example, I loved the following segment...

"Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime — by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less — because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy."

I agree with him, we need to close loopholes in our tax code which do not promote growth. However, can you give me just ONE specific loophole that needs to be closed? If there are so many, this must be an easy task.

I think we all agree, there is too much government and there is need for elimination of a number of broken or redundant departments. Can you give me just FIVE programs you have identified already which you will eliminate or improve in the first 100 days in office? With the amount of waste we all know is there, this should be easy too.

If he had answered either of those questions in his speech, I would have been giving Obama a second look today. Because specifics are what I am looking for from a man who is still largely unknown. He is overexposed and celebrated by the mainstream media, but he has submitted himself to very few interviews where he has been challenged about his policies or beliefs. You learn about people by seeing how they react in the face of adversity. Because he only does fluff interviews, we still do not know who he is.

What do I know?

I know he is an American success story. I know he has come from nowhere, against astronomical odds, to national prominence. I know he is a great family man. I know he inspires people. I know he is a tremendous orator. These are all good things.

However, I also know he was a political nobody four years ago. I know he spent 20 years listening to Rev. Wright. I know he calls himself a Christian, yet is and advocate for late term abortions of viable fetus'. I know he was, at a minimum, friendly with, and had fundraisers thrown by, Bill Ayers, an admitted domestic terrorist. I know he has used cocaine. I know by Jeri Ryan airing her husband's dirty laundry during his Senate run, he was given a free pass into the Senate. I know he has been running for President for HALF of his Senate career. I know he has voted the party line almost 100% of the time and has never taken opposition against his party on any major issue. These are all bad things.

I hope Obama gives me, and the American people a chance to get to know him. I am not fan of John McCain, but right now I have to give him my vote. I know who he is. I don't 100% like what I know, but none the less I know what makes him tick, what his track record is and what his motivation is. I know none of these things about Barak.

Will he eventually come around? I suspect if he does not, it will be because he knows his values and motivations are incongruent with most of America. If he does, I'll be interested to learn.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

The same ol' Bubba...

I am the last guy to compliment Bill Clinton. He takes, and is given, more credit than he deserves for the peace and prosperity of the 90's. The man should have "Bill Gates Rocks" tattooed on his body somewhere. Without the computer/internet boom and the economic growth it spurred, there are no budget surpluses for Bubba to hang his hat on. Thank you Bill, Gates that is.

As for the peace portion, the Bush 41 presidency had just squelched the Iraq problem, Lybia and Russia were still licking the wounds Reagan inflicted on them in the 80's. Who else would cause us any problems?

There was something about Bubba though. I loved to hear the man speak. I hated his politics, but he was so charismatic and engaging I just had to listen. Last night was much of the same. That man knows how to work a room. He knows how to connect with a crowd. He knows how to pull the wool over a nations eyes.

That is the legacy of the Clinton presidency in my eyes, it was one big charade. He took credit for others work then, and he continues to do the same today. But boy, could that man give a speech.

So, as I sit hear awaiting the Messiah's acceptance speech, I remind myself that words are only words, you are defined by you actions. What had Obama done? Other than giving a bunch of speeches, I'm not sure anything.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Putting politics aside for a moment...

The historical significance and symmetry of this week is important to note.

Yesterday, while delivering the best and most important speech of her political career, Hillary noted it was the 88th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment's ratification. Today, Barak Obama became the first African American to be nominated the presidential candidate for a major political party. Tomorrow, Obama will give his acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

All are important milestones on their own merits. But collectively, they show the ability of America to evolve. You see, we do not need to change America. America, is off course. We need a shift in many policies. But the fundamentals of America do not need change. Americans are strong. Americans are resourceful. Americans are capable of heroic acts of kindness and have the ability to do great things. These three events prove this point.

Can McCain or Obama offer us the leadership it will require to alter our course and steer us back onto the road? Do they have the intestinal fortitude to make the tough decisions and work with all Americans to bring us back together as a nation?

I don't have the answer for that question, but I suspect not. For today though, I choose to focus on these three milestone events and the greatness that is America.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

If hear the word change one more time...

I may just lose my mind.  How much us this change going to cost me?  How much is this change going to cost the country?  In addition to the financial cost, what will the moral and social cost be?  We have problems in this great nation.  But just uttering the word change incessantly will not solve our problems.  In fact, change with out a good plan can be a disaster.  What is the plan?  Give me something!    

There was a change in Pearl Harbor in 1941.  That wasn't good for us was it?  Did the citizens of Hiroshima like the change to their quaint town during WWII?  How about the change in the New York City skyline in 2001?  I know these are extreme examples but they highlight a fundamental truth, change for change sake is not necessarily a good thing.

Here is a good change, how about telling the truth!  The social programs being discussed under an Obama presidency will be so expensive he will have to raise taxes.  Raising taxes slows the economy.  A slower economy means less jobs.  Less jobs means more people needing public assistance.  More people on public assistance leads to a form of European socialism.  Is this what we want?

 

God Bless America,

EG

erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com 

     

Are you kidding me???

Ted Kennedy, who I consider the murderer of Mary Jo Kopechne, is, as I type, being celebrated as the hero of the Democrat Party.  Nothing makes me more sick than the sight of his face.  How did the convention attendees treat his "heroic" arrival at the convention in Denver?  They gave him a tribute and a standing ovation.

This is one of the main reasons why as a younger man I had no respect for anyone who called them self a Democrat.  This man's actions directly lead to the death of a young, vibrant woman who was the only child of Joseph and Gwen Kopechne.  What was his punishment?  He received a six month deferred sentence for leaving the scene of an accident.  Outrageous!  I guess it was good to be the son of a bootlegger who was in bed with the mob and the brother of a former President and former Atty. General.  

How could any decent human being think Ted Kennedy is a good man?  He is an alcoholic, murdering sub-human. 

Many people site his record in the Senate since the incident to sweep the incident under the rug, almost as if it never happened.  Well, I'm here to say it did happen.  I don't care what he has done since.  Even if I agreed with his politics I would think the same way.  Once a killer, always a killer.  Is why Ted has always been against the death penalty?  He knows he cannot be prosecuted again, right?

Sorry for the rant.  I know there are more important issues to muse about, but the moment I fired up my laptop and started watching the convention, he hit the stage.

Gad Bless Mary Jo and God Bless America,

EG

erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com   

      

Change? Biden? Really?

Let me get this straight.  

Obama has positioned himself as an agent of change by pointing out the only way to change Washington is to get rid of the establishment and bring in new perspectives.   

Joe Biden was elected to the Senate four years out of law school at the age of 29 in 1972 and has been there ever since.

Don't get me wrong, of the Democrats running for President prior to the primary season, I liked Joe the best.  Heck, during the debates I was astounded by the number of times I heard other candidates utter the words "I agree with Joe."  He is brash, comes off as ego-maniacal, likes to hear the sound of his own voice and has been known to say the wrong things from time to time.  Sounds like my kind of guy.  Though I don't fully agree with his politics, he certainly does not strike me as an idealogue hell bent on creating a socialistic existence in the US.  So, I guess that is a good first step toward taking the crazy out of the Obama campaign.  

The real issue here is this move shows Obama for what he is...a politician.  Biden is the safe, smart move for someone with no foreign policy experience.  He looks the part.  He has been on the grand stage before and he is not afraid of a fight.  But does Biden represent CHANGE?  Hell no.  He is the furthest thing from change.  

Obama rails on McCain for being in the Senate for the past 30+ years.  He points this out to show that McCain is Washington establishment.  (I agree with him on this point, by the way.) so why then is it OK for him to tap an equally senior senator to be his running mate?  Doesn't Biden share the same scars from being in the Senate for 30+ years?  

File under politics as usual.

God Bless America,

EG

erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com     

Once again the candidates do not disappoint...

Apparently America, John McCain has a housing problem and oh boy is Barak Obama happy to tell you about it. If you are not aware, John McCain was asked by the Politico.com how many homes he and Cindy own and he fumbled over the question telling the interviewer he would have his campaign staff get an answer for this question. The reaction was immediate by the Obama folks, how on earth can McCain not know the answer to that simple question?

Obama's stump response was, "I guess if you think being rich is you have to make $5 million a year and you have to think about how many houses you have, then you might think the economy is fundamentally strong."

McCain's response came from his campaign, “Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people ‘cling’ to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?”

Here we go again. We should all be offended. After all Obama considers himself an agent of CHANGE and he is now running the tried and true political playbook.

Newsflash folks, McCain's wife is loaded. They have a number of investments. True most of us are unable to comprehend owning four homes for our personal use and four to six other investment homes, but guess what? That's what you do when you have money, you make investments. Is this so hard to understand? Real estate had been a great investment until recently, and it will be a great investment in the future. This is a non issue and once again is only a diversion tactic.

As to the McCain response, there is very little substance to it since it is mostly an attack, but he had to respond to the pounce by Barak and his people, so I'll give him a pass here. However, I would be careful with the Rezko stuff. There are plenty of Republican connections to Tony Rezko too, in fact he even raised money to support Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. I know Obama had real estate dealings with him, but its a slippery slope to get on when you can simply bring up Rev. Wright or Bill Ayers who are bigger targets and much more evil individuals.

Don't get me wrong, Rezko is scum, but if you want to color the character of your opponent by mentioning the company he keeps, I would think a racist like Wright or a terrorist like Ayers would make a stronger argument.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Dark Knight was awesome in IMAX

Last night I went to go see the Dark Knight in IMAX and there were a couple things that struck me as relevant to talk about. When I got back home and sat down at my computer, I was very disapointed because I was having difficulty getting and keeping a wireless connection. You would think I would have an ethernet cable handy for just and occasion, but no. So, here are my thoughts from a super hero movie...

The first thing I thought about was a quote from Michael Caine's character Alfred. He was telling a story from his past about the motivation of men and made the statement "Some men can't be bargained with, bribed or bought. Some men just want to see the world burn."

Now why is this quote relevant? Well when I look at the state of our world today and I evaluate which of our two major candidates for President is most aware of the fundamental truth expressed in this quote, I become very scared about our future under Obama as our Commander in Chief. If his foreign policy plan is to sit down and talk to irrational leaders who only "want to see the world burn" like Ahmadinejad, we the people are in for a whole heap of trouble.

Another quote that got me thinking was "you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Interesting thought. However, this quote got me thinking in the opposite direction. What we need right now from our leaders is some frank talk about what we need to do as a society to get our country moving back in the right direction. This talk and the resulting action will not be popular at first. In fact it will be seen by a great many as hate speech, but these things need to be said to help lead us back on track.

We need to talk about things like taking people to task for spending their lives on the public dole, the erosion of family values and personal responsibility. No longer alowing things to be run by the politically correct lunatic fringe on the left and right of our society. Not allowing our politicians to be short sighted and forcing them to provide true leadership.

Ask yourself this, how much have McCain and Obama spoken about Social Security, Illegal Immigration, the national debt or our unbalanced budget? Sure, they all get mentioned, but compared to the time spent discussing race/religion, oil companies, tax policy and the housing crisis, these things barely rate.What is the difference in these issues? The things being discussed are flavor of the month discussions. (I do agree though, the energy crisis has been staring us in the face for years and our leaders have refused to deal with the issue.) The issues flying under the radar are ongoing, ever present issues that will be there for the next President or Congress to deal with. Are we going to wait until Social Security becomes a crisis issue before we demand action? I assure you it will be in the next decade if left unchecked. Are we waiting for the Chinese to call in the mortgage on America before we start paying down our debt? Are we waiting for our dollar to hit junk bond status before we do anything about our manic spending?

These issues have to be dealt with some time. Why not now? They won't be talked about in earnest because we don't demand the discussion be had. We would rather hear about how Obama will give us back $1000 tax rebate because energy costs are so high. We would rather discuss why McCain has gone negative with his campaigning. We would rather be told by the media what to do, because it's much harder to think for ourselves. We need to realize there are serious problems that need to be dealt with by serious people and they need to be dealt with now!

Will you start the dialogue?

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

I'm looking to reduce the work force in Washington...

One of the major issues I have with our government does not directly deal with our politicians or bureaucrats, I have a problem with lobbyists. More specifically I have a problem with the number of lobbyists and the influence I believe they have over our politicians and bureaucrats.

Depending on what set of statistics you choose to believe, there are between 22,000 and 37,000 registered lobbyists in Washington D.C. Said another way, there are between 40 and 70 highly skilled, highly paid, highly motivated and highly persuasive professionals for each member of Congress.

Oh yeah, one more thing, they are highly funded. I have read estimates that lobbyists spend in excess of $2.2 Billion is spent by lobbyists annually to make their point and gain favor of our Senators and Representatives. That's obscene! Lobbyists spend more than $4 million for every member.

Talk about being ganged up on! Ask yourself this simple question, if you were faced with such odds, would you fare much better? I feel I am highly independent and am not easily swayed, but 40 to 1 against on the low end? Showering me with $4 million? I'm not sure I wouldn't crack either. How would you fare?

Now I do realize that the politicians have some blame to share here since they allowed the lobbyists in. But its on us to let them know, the lobbyists have to go.

So then, I think its time we figure out a way to increase the number of unemployed in Washington by 22,000 to 37,000 people. Sorry lobbyists, even if you are doing good, and I am positive some of you are, you need to go! It's for the good of the country.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Coming up for air...

Now that was a busy weekend. I'm sure I missed something, thankfully the wonders of the internet has enabled me to somewhat catch up.

So, let me get this straight. For the first time since the campaign started in earnest, Obama and McCain shared the same stage and this program was buried on CNN on a Saturday during the Olympic games? Am I missing something here? We are in the midst of the most important election cycle in years, and the candidates first joint appearance is buried? Why?

My guess is it was always intended to be seen by as few people as possible. At least this was Obama's, and the mainstream media's, intention.

He would have been crazy to have accepted this invitation if it could have been shown in prime time during the week. Had it been seen by more voters, he would be in trouble today. Obama, the candidate of change, pulled the oldest political trick in the book but refusing to answer the "when does life begin" question. If you are proud of your stance proclaim it! Don't hide behind this "above my pay grade" garbage. Answer the question! And lets face it, he looked bad more than just there.

Why did McCain accept knowing this would be seen by a small minority of voters? My guess is that McCain was just happy to finally get Obama to show up to any type of forum, so he just accepted whatever he could get. I believe he wanted to show us a small piece of what we are missing because of Obama's decision to pull out of the ten town hall style debates he had previously verbally agreed to participate in.

What a shame we will miss out on these town hall debates. If Obama were truly interested in change, I think sticking to his word would be a good place to start. We know politicians don't keep their word, but if you are truly an agent of change, isn't it high time for some frank discussion? Please Barak, take McCain up on his "anytime, anywhere" pledge and give the country what we want. What could you possibly fear. You are the Harvard educated, well spoken one. He is the military brat with PTSD. How can you possible lose?

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Support the Jimmy Fund...

One of the first news stories I read today was about McCain raising $27 million in July. That is a staggering amount of money, and it still lags far behind the Obama fundraising machine. I plan on giving a full account of my thoughts the outrageous capital spent to get politicians elected, but for today I ask if you have it in you budget to spare a few bucks, please go to www.weei.com and make a donation to the Jimmy Fund. As of noon, when I lost the signal heading north to Bangor, ME, they had raised $2 million since 6 am yesterday. Their goal this year is $4 million before midnight, so please help if you can.

Why am I in Bangor, ME? Well, this weekend my brother's directorial debut "A Call to Action" http://www.iclips.net/acta.php is screeening at the Bangor Film Festival on Friday. Saturday is our 18th annual family golf tournament and Sunday is my father's 60th birthday party. Happy birthday Dad! Thank you for always being there to support us. I love you.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.org

PS- I know a number of you have been requesting a comments section below each blog entry. I am working on a resolution to that functionality as we speak and hope to have it up in the next week or so!

Hill gets her roll call...

Obama must be sick of this. If he weren't a socialist hell bent on destroying the free market and taxing us back into the stone age to support his social programs, I might feel bad for him.

Hillary has successfully gotten him to scream Uncle and her delegates will be alowed to voice their choice in an open roll call at the convention. The Messiah and Clinton are on record as saying this act will help unify the party and heal the wounds from a brutal primary process. Will it? I can see their argument. I'm sure this will bring some of her supporters back into the fold.

Here is the problem. 39% of the voter population is Democrat and 31% is Republican. By my math that leaves 30% of the country Independent. I'm not saying anything new that the Independent voter will decide this election.

So, though it matters to Barak he is able to bring most of Hillary's supporters back into the fold thru this show of "unity," I believe the Independent voter will, to Obama's chagrin, react negatively to this image. It is in the best interest of Democrats to unify, so this gesture is really unnecessary. Do you really think Clinton supporters will vote for a Republican? Seriously.

However, this gesture to the Independent voter will show anything but unity. A roll call where the vote is virtually split shows you are together? A near 50/50 split of the delegates will look the furthest from united. Divided is a much better term for what the Independent voter will see. This will be the indelible image from Denver to the Independent voter. As an Independent voter why would I vote for someone who cannot even get the full support of their own party?

Couple this with the Edwards scandal, and Barak must feel like he is being submarined by his own party at every turn. Like I said, I almost feel sorry for him.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

My first criticism...

I received the following, unsigned, comment earlier today and figured I'd share it with you all...

"If you want to debate something, debate the purpose of using God BlessAmerica after every post. What's the purpose of it really? Will god bless America ifyou don't say it? Why not god bless the earth? What's the purpose of omitting therest of the world? What exactly would gods blessing do to America if he had actuallyblessed it? It's a hollow statement that's overused by the corrupt politicians youtalk so admirably about, and it's being used no differently here.

You don't seem to be thinking outside the box, and your rants are mostly side-steppable. Someone told me I'd be interested in this blog but it looks likethey were wrong. You take the form of being "outraged" but you still only have avery narrow perspective.. or a least, not a incredibly informed one that wouldwarrant a blog."

To the author, thank you for your comment. I have been waiting for someone to write me on this exact issue. I only wish you would have included an e-mail address for me to respond to you in private with some clarifying questions. Since I was not afforded this opportunity, I hope you will allow me to make some assumptions on your comments.

I assume you take issue with the term "God Bless America" because you believe it's use infringes on your Constitutional right of Freedom of Religion or because you believe the statement is US-centric and implies that the rest of the world is to not be blessed.

Let's deal with the first possibility. The First Amendment of the US Constitution contains both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause with regards to Freedom of Religion.

The Establishment Clause stops government from passing laws to establish an official religion or endorsing one religion over another. This clause keeps the government from telling you WHAT to worship. Courts have ruled this clause accomplishes a separation of church and state.

The Free Exercise Clause stops the government from interfering with a person’s practice of their religion. This clause keeps the government from telling you HOW to worship.

In my opinion, the phrase "God Bless America," if uttered by me or if printed on our currency, does not come close to establishing or endorsing any specific religion. How could it? The phrase is deliberately vague. Our founding fathers were very smart. Now if I said, "Please Catholic/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu God Bless America" or any other similar phrase, things would be different.

America is populated by people of many religions who believe in God or a higher universal power. In fact the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently conducted a poll of more than 36,000 adults focusing on Americans' religious beliefs. You know what the results were? 92% believe in God or a higher power, 5% don't believe and 3% don't know. Interesting?

To the second possibility, you would need to view these words in a very narrow way to believe this phrase is asking God to bless America and no one else. When you say "have a nice evening" to a co-worker before leaving the office, does that mean they are the only one who is able to have a nice evening? Of course not. So why then is it an issue if I say, as an American, "God Bless America?" I am not saying bless us and curse everyone else am I?

Finally, to his or her second paragraph...Geesh, I have only had this blog up and running for a week and a half. The only thing I have ever written before is a screenplay that is still unfinished ten years after I started writing. I have my ideas and my views and I want to get them out in cyber-space to generate some discussion and thought. If you don't like the content and you are truly passionate about government reform and making America OF, FOR and BY the people again, write a guest blog, I'll publish it with your approval and get people talking. More important, get people thinking, this is why I started this blog to begin with, to get ME thinking.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

FDR's New Deal...

I was driving thru and economically depressed area of Hartford on the way to an appointment and my frustration with the status quo began to grow again. You should have seen how many people were outside, on the streets and, most importantly not working in the middle of the afternoon.

It didn't seem to me like these folks were on injured or independently wealthy. So why then, are they home in the middle of the work day? Could it be because our "leaders" have empowered them to do so? Empowered is a poor word choice, encouraged is better.

Asses this situation. You are a hard working individual with few marketable skills who works 80 hour weeks to still struggle to get by and put food in your family's mouths. Your neighbor is a disabled alcoholic receiving SSI who lives with his baby's mother receiving section 8 housing, food stamps and other forms of public assistance. Who is better off? Who has the better quality of life? Who is the roll model for many in our inner cities and rural areas? Is it the hard working individual or the one on the public dole?

The sad fact is that the one on the dole is better off. Working 80 hours a week is tiring. Trust me, I used to do it. Shouldn't the hard working individual be given an incentive to work so hard? Shouldn't the individual on the dole be given an incentive to get a job? I think so. In fact, I know so.

Here's is what I propose. No free rides! Simple right? If you are given a check from the government you need to work for that benefit. If you are unable to find work, we will find you a job. I do not care if you do not want the job we give you. There should be no trash on the side of the road, no graffiti on building walls, no infrastructure in disrepair. If you get a check, you go to work. If you are unable to do physical work because of age or disability, I'm sure our government needs people to do data entry or filing. If you get a check, you go to work. If you need child care, guess what, I just found a job for someone. If you get a check, you go to work.

What incentive is there for someone to better them-self if we give them a check to sit on their backsides all day doing nothing? Shame on the politicians for not seeing this. If you get a check, you go to work.

If you don't like the job we give you, better yourself, go get a marketable skill and find yourself your own job! I have a problem with a number of the social programs and reforms brought on by the New Deal, but when it comes to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), FDR got it right. (Lets face it, if you anger the unions, you probably got it right.) The CCC was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families during the Great Depression. Why did this ever go away? Wouldn't this be a good program for people on the dole today? If you get a check, you go to work!

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

It's 3 am...

Not really, but with the Russian aggression against Georgia still in full swing, it makes me think. What would be the presidential reaction be if it were McCain or Obama? We know what happened under Bush. His administration has completely mismanaged his relationship with Putin which has led to a resurgence of KGB like activity in Russia. Putin is an evil dictator and Medvedev is his lap dog, and under the Bush administration, nothing was done.

Would either candidate have handled this situation better? We will never know, however I can make an educated guess that making appeasements, like an Obama administration is likely to do, would result the same as Bush's appeasements. McCain is on record as saying he sees the letters KGB when he looks in Putin's eyes, so my guess is that he would not appease the Russian Prime Minister.

Why does this matter? Well, if we care about keeping ourselves safe in the world, I think we need to asses the willingness of our leaders to make difficult stands protect us from harm. Which candidate is more willing to act? Ask yourself this...In the middle of this international crisis in the heat of a national campaign, who is acting more like Bush? Isn't Obama on vacation? I'm just saying.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com

Upon further review...

Apparently I should have given a little more thought on my stance that the Edwards scandal doesn't matter. I received a number of e-mails on that issue alone, and upon further review, I agree with may of you, it does matter. There we two major themes of why people thought the issue was worth discussion.

First, as one e-mailer eloquently pointed out, "Edwards, though largely irrelevant as a candidate, matters greatly as a symbolic representation of today's politicians in Washington. He is one of many extremely wealthy, privileged, dishonest, corrupt (individuals) that we Americans entrust with running our nation. That is a horrific truth which needs to be changed."

Excellent point. Is this how we see our "leaders?" According to Rasmussen Reports, yes. 33% approval rating for Bush. (46% strongly disapprove.) 9% approval rating for the Democrat led Congress. (52% think they are doing a poor job.)

Yet despite these poll results, it is looking likely the Democrats will capture more congressional seats in November and are perhaps poised to have super majorities in both houses! The thought of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid being able to advance their agendas unchecked is my personal ninth circle of hell.

The second reason people thought this Edward's scandal is important is because it is taking mainstream media focus off Obama. Barak needs the mainstream media fawning over him to keep his momentum. Couple this scandal with Clinton's possible request for a roll-call vote at the convention later this month, and the Messiah is having a bad week.

That being said, I have changed my mind. This story was an important one.

Another set of e-mails took aim at Jack McGlone's guest blog, some thought he was right on, others thought he was a bit extreme or just plain wrong. I guess his opinion accomplished exactly what I expected it would...it got people thinking. Thanks again Jack. Even though not everybody agreed with your point of view, you got people to talk and think about your points. You gave us all the gift of thought.

If anyone else would like to submit guest blogs, just send me an e-mail. I will post them and hopefully your notions will cause people to consider their own opinions. The only thing I ask is that the submissions discuss some aspect of government or political reform. I promise not to edit content, even if your points are at odds with my own.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com