Politics Shmalitics

One of the rules I have is that I don’t talk about politics. Unfortunately this is one of those times that I have to get on my soap box. All through this year I have been saying that we should fire all of congress and the senate and replace them with people who really care about what we the people want. It’s just insane what is going on. They are giving billions of dollars out to bail out companies yet they put no restraints on what those companies. Case in point is AIG who is now being bailed out for $150 billion which is more than what was originally projected yet they are still having weekend outings at posh resorts to “reward” their hard working employees in these difficult times. What ever happened to cutting costs in difficult times? Then there’s American Express who gets authorization to become a bank holding company who now sticks their hand out for $3.5 billion bailout by the government. Excuse me? Last time I looked American Express was the company charging the highest fees to their merchants. Where has all that money been going? I also thought of an idea that might assist the economy. Why doesn’t congress mandate that all credit card companies drop their interest rates to 0% for say the next 6 months or so. As far as I see it but I could be wrong, this would not only help the hapless consumer who is drowning in debt to repay their debt and actually see it go down rather than going no where because of the finance charges and the credit card companies would still get their money rather than none at all. Why can’t everyone just stop being so greedy. Enough said about that.

On another note, I really wasn’t thrilled by either presidential candidate but I did vote and I believe that everyone needs a chance to prove themselves. Here’s the problem I have at no time in history have I ever hear of thousands and thousands of people massing to watch and celebrate the election of a president. I know we needed a change but come on let’s celebrate after his term and elect him again if he does a great job. What amazed me even more was the reaction of the people almost deifying Obama as if he is our savior. It’s not about Obama being our savior. It’s about we the people. Obama was quite clear in his election speech that it is our responsibility and duty to get this country back on track. In the words of JFK “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country!” What further amazes me is that they actually want to declare a national holiday on his inauguration day. Let’s get real people. He is not God. Yes a precedent has been set with the election of the first African American but does that mean we declare a holiday for that? There was no holiday when John F Kennedy was elected yet he also set a precedent as being the youngest president and also being the first Catholic to become president. I wonder if there would have been the same reaction if Hillary had been elected president. There’s no doubt that Obama has a long hard job ahead of him and I look forward to the changes which will be coming.

As a final note I want to compliment the Obama supporters. At no time during Obama’s speech was there any booing when the name of McCain was mentioned. The same cannot be said for the McCain supporters who booed every time Obama’s name was mentioned. Just because the other guy got elected doesn’t mean we need to be disrespectful. Whether Obama was the right choice or wrong choice can only be seen from what he accomplishes or doesn’t accomplish during his term. Everybody deserves a chance. Remember that it’s not only Obama that will be responsible for bringing about change. There are 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen who hold that same responsibility. Obama is just the Director the members of Congress and the Senate are the Actors.