"Iran continued to expand its nuclear infrastructure and continued Uranium enrichment despite multiple UN security council resolutions since 2006 calling for the suspension of those activities."

"Iran's intention is to develop the weapons and the materials to be the major power in the Middle East"

With this new CIA report that says things such as the above quote, I think it is time to start considering the possibility of a new war, a real war. It may not be for another 10 years or so but Iran is tired of being pushed around by us, by the UN, and they hate Israel. If I was in their position I would have my top scientists working round the clock to get those weapons manufactured. If Iran suddenly hit Israel with a nuke, even a small crude nuke, it would ruin Americas image as the ultimate world power. America has pledged support to Israel, in the past Israel has not required that help. With our technology and their guts they have showed that they are not being moved. But now Iran is on the way to having the ability to knock Israel silly with one sucker punch. Should Iran do that the President of the United States would face a decision that is a lose lose decision. They could a) Tell Israel "I'm sorry but we are spread to thin right now and do not have the military flexibility to assist you." or b) We could swallow the fact that we can not afford to go into another war, both economically and we do not have the man power to do that, and we could stand up for the little nation. Personally A is the choice that the President would have to go with, because B could mean WWIII. China may not like the fact that Iran has nuclear capabilities, but they still are trading partners with Iran receiving 19.3% of all of China's exports which makes them the biggest single buyer, and China receiving 13.6% of Iran's exports which are mainly in the form of crude oil. This puts China in a tough spot, should the US go to war with Iran we would want to shut down all trade with country so that they can not afford to fight a war, this is the easiest way to win a war. So would China be willing to cut off their main energy import and a fifth of their exports just because the US told them to? I think not, but I also do not see them going to war with us just because we went to war with Iran. The point is that the US needs to start preparing now for a nation that has little care for the world and a complete dedication to punishing infidels (or at least that is how they get their people to fight) and may have nukes at some point soon. To do this we need to finish the jobs we have started in Iraq and Afghanistan and find a way to strengthen our economy so that we are in a position of strength and power. Because there is no better way to scare someone than to have the potential to kill them, and there is no better way to make a country feel capable of taking on a giant than to make fools out of ourselves. I say it is time to quit being foolish and show the world that America is still the #1 power in the world and is willing to prove it.

For Money, Glory, or for the People? Or maybe Revenge?

I am sure that Sen. Bunning has a reason in his own mind as to why he just put up one of the biggest one-man filibusters ever in the Senate. But as for me, I am confused as to what his goals were. At one point he claimed that he only wanted the Senate to prove that they had a way to pay for the Medicare, for unemployed benefits, highway projects, flood control and many other things. Yet he then voted against a bill to curb spending. As part of a democracy, Sen. Bunning's job is to serve the people, he is to always make decisions not for his own good but for the good of the people. However, it seems to me that he is summing up all of the selfishness of our govt. in this final throe before he retires. The price for Bunning's pride is that the American people were without money for flood control programs, thousands of jobs were furloughed, all because Bunning decided since he could stop progress he would. Is this why these officials are in office? Is it so that they can salvage their political careers, so they can save their pride? Or were they put in office to look after the good of the American people? What is even more sickening to me is the way that Sen. Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell handled the problem that Dunning posed. Instead of saying "We do not support this tactic, this is wrong". He tried to avoid the question when it was posed to him, and when he finally faced it, he said that Sen. Bunning's views were not shared by everyone. And when he was asked if HE supported it he fudged around and repeated his previous statement that Bunning is not speaking for everyone. It seems like McConnell is more worried about splitting his party than he is about one of his party acting like a child. This type of politics has been going on for awhile and in both parties, Bunning has just brought it all to a point. Now it is time for both parties to start acting like mature adults and see the effects of their actions on the people. Maybe with some of this we will see America come back once again to the power that it should be. All we need is the two parties to accept each others ideas and work together.

The Cliche Subject

Now everyone has heard all of the talk about health care, some for some against, some don't know what to think about all of this. I personally fall into a category that, I will admit, is called steam rolled by the government. At this point I no longer am worried about if it is what our country needs. It is too late for that, the bill is through and changes are beginning already. On President Obama's weekly podcast that he does he said that starting today there will be no more high premiums and no more people excluded from insurance. The other changes may take 5 years or so but there are some that he is forcing through. I personally as a uninsured American do not see how anything that that bill has done is going to help me to be insured. It gives tax incentives to business's that offer insurance to their employees, it prevents insurance companies from charging an arm and a leg for premiums and it gives those who are uninsured more options for health insurance. But what bugs me is that I no longer have a choice to go without insurance. I have broken my wrist, I went to the ER, just about a week or so ago I got a personal call from the doctor who treated and set my wrist. She was thanking me for finishing paying the first part of my bill. Now some people have told me that I should be thankful for this bill because it gives me a option instead of having to pay the 3000 dollars I could have govt aid. I beg to differ, I do not need the govt. aid and I believe that as long as I am able to care for myself I should be left alone. Now should I default on a payment for my wrist I could understand the govt. stepping in and saying hey we have to cover that, therefore you will be penalized. Besides for all of the problems I have with a large govt. that I could go on about for ages, my other big gripe with health care is the way it was presented and still is being presented. Does anyone actually know what that bill says? Does our lawmakers actually know? It sure does not seem so because there ae several rumors floating around, big rumors that demand answers, and no one answers them. The one that comes straight to mind is that this health care system will undermine our already weak financial state. What is the answer that I have found? Repeatedly I find quotes saying over the next 10 years the bill will increase the GDP by 1 trillion dollars. OK cool answer sounds good. How? There is no answer to how, I have looked and looked at every paper that I can find on the subject and all that I see is spending, spending and more spending.
Grant it our health care system needs help, it is failing and giving terrible results while insurance companies charge through the roof for this service. But I just don't think that that bill is the answer. I wish the Republicans would have tried to work with the Dems on some of the basics of the bill instead of stonewalling them. I think that together both parties could find a solution that would work for everyone.

One Step Closer

So now that the Obama admin has finished socializing health care (I am holding out on bashing it just yet, I will explain why in my next blog) it seems that they now feel that it is their part to step in and take over housing loans from private investors. The reason behind this is to offer home owners who are struggling, a loan which is protected from default, has lower payments and lower interest rates. Now this is great and all except for a couple things, first I am of the opinion that our Govt. can not take care of their own loans. We are currently at 12 trillion and climbing at a rate of 4.03 billion a day. Now if I remember correctly there is a debt limit that was voted into place at I believe, 9.6 trillion dollars. So instead of finding a way to stay below that limit our govt. voted to just raise it. Now I work at a bank and one of the policies that we have is, when someone is having a tough time paying their lines of credit we lower those lines of credit, then they slowly pay back what they owe till it is below their limit then they can begin borrowing again. Now that is just where I work but it sure seems like that is the right idea. So our govt. is acting as the blind leading the blind, while they are swamped in debt and not really looking for a way out, they offer others, who are drowning in debt too, a hand... That is not how it works.
My other problem with the govt. taking over loans on housing, is that is coming way to close to home (no pun intended). It is not the govt. job to own private sectors, in this bill that they are passing they are looking to help three to four million home owners. That is a whole lot of people who are essentially at the govt's. whim. Should the govt. suddenly decide that they want to house soldiers in civilians homes, I wonder who's door they would go knocking on first? These are just far fetched theories but they have happened under similar circumstances before. Say a president knows that he is going to lose the coming election, a simple brochure or television or radio ad implying that should he leave office those mortgages go down too. I have a feeling that a lot of people's votes would suddenly change in order to keep the security of housing above them. Sure the president does not have the power to do that, does he really need it? All it takes is the idea to put fear of having to find a home for one's family. This coupled with the control that is now on the health factor is too much power even for a democracy to have. Power corrupts most everyone.

What is This All About?

This is a question that many people ask nearly every time the Govt. puts forward a new bill. This is interesting because these bills change each of our lives, they raise taxes, lower taxes, they make things legal and illegal, yet still few ever actually understand what is being debated or what they are voting for. This brings up the question, how is it that in our last election nearly 70% of those who voted between the ages 18 and 30 voted for Obama? Seeing that nearly everyone in my age group who I talk to do not understand many of Obama's plans. And some even do not know the basic things that he promised during his election. So why are these people voting for or against things that they don't understand? What is influencing these people? I think that the answer to this is two fold. One reason is that they are voting for the most publicized or most charismatic person. The other more troubling possible reason that leads the public to vote on matters without fully researching them is a phenomenon that I call party affiliation. It seems that many people vote because of the party that they are registered as. This concerns me because as one of our founding fathers stated "Partisanship is a evil but it is a necessary evil" Partisanship is good in showing two sides to a argument, however, it is bad when it becomes a matter of pride to stay within a parties affiliation. This is where many people get caught and are unable to make a clear decision because they are so caught up in what it means to be a part of their party.