Friday, October 31, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons I'm Voting For John McCain

Reasons number 7 and 8.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. I think that it is unfortunate if both houses of Congress and the White House are held by the same party. There has to be some REAL bi-partisanship.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons I'm Voting for John McCain

Reason Number Six

John McCain tried to prevent the current economic crisis which began with the housing failure.

It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years-- including the present year-- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis.
It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today's financial crisis.
Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago.

John McCain: that he tried, as a Senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. His attempts were blocked by the Democrats receiving contributions from Fannie and Freddie.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons I'm Voting for John McCain

Reason Number Five

I am a capitalist, pure and simple. I believe in the American dream - if you work hard and play by the rules you can succeed. Justice means that you get what you deserve, economic justice means that if you earned it, it's yours! I believe in personal responsibility. I should take care of myself and my family, and not depend on others except in case of emergency.

I believe that if a portion of my income should be used to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and clothe the naked that I should make that choice. The government should not require that I be charitable. I have heard those who believe that charity is a function of government cite the Golden Rule and other commandments as justification. But men are commanded, not governments. The American people are some of the most charitable and generous people on the face of the planet.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons I'm Voting for John McCain

Reason Number Four - Judicial Philosophy

We are a nation of law and I am a strict constructionist.

John McCain believes that one of the greatest threats to our liberty and the Constitutional framework that safeguards our freedoms are willful judges who usurp the role of the people and their representatives and legislate from the bench. As President, John McCain will nominate judges who understand that their role is to faithfully apply the law as written, not impose their opinions through judicial fiat.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons I'm Voting for John McCain

Reason Number Three - Energy

While I don't agree with all of John's plans, these three will get us moving faster than anything else. It make take years to get all of them up and running, but some are already waiting to go into effect.
Oil Production
There is no easier or more direct way to prove to the world that we will no longer be subject to the whims of others than to expand our production capabilities. We have trillions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves in the U.S. at a time we are exporting hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas to buy energy. This is the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. We should keep more of our dollars here in the U.S., lessen our foreign dependency, increase our domestic supplies, and reduce our trade deficit - 41% of which is due to oil imports. John McCain proposes to cooperate with the states and the Department of Defense in the decisions to develop these resources.
Natural Gas
Within the United States we have tremendous reserves of natural gas. The Outer Continental Shelf alone contains 77 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. It is time that we capitalize on these significant resources and build the infrastructure needed to transport this important component of electricity generation and transportation fuel around the country.
Nuclear Power
Currently, nuclear power produces 20% of our power, but the U.S. has not started construction on a new nuclear power plant in over 30 years. China, India and Russia have goals of building a combined total of over 100 new plants and we should be able to do the same. It is also critical that the U.S. be able to build the components for these plants and reactors within our country so that we are not dependent on foreign suppliers with long wait times to move forward with our nuclear plans.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ten reasons I'm Voting for John Mccain

Reason Number Two - Health Care Reform UPDATE

John McCain and Sarah Palin will make it easier for individuals and families to obtain health insurance. Their plan will use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people's needs, lower prices and ensure portablility. Families will be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines.
It will provide a tax credit to offset the cost of insurance, make it portable so that insurance follows Americans from job to job and expands the benefits of Health savings Accounts.

The McCain plan transforms the current tax code to provide all American families – including the self-employed and the uninsured – the same tax benefit, a $5,000 refundable tax credit ($2,500 for individuals) that was previously only available to those with employer coverage. Families can use this credit to purchase insurance of their choice, including keeping their current coverage.
Under the McCain Plan, your employer can provide you with health insurance and you would pay no more in taxes – regardless of your tax bracket. In fact, you would have some additional money left over from the McCain tax credit to put in a health savings account.

While I don't think that government really should be involved in Health Care, McCain's plan is more of a hand's off, private enterprise approach.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Ten Days - Ten Reasons to Vote for John McCain

It is ten days before the election and I have ten reasons to vote for John McCain. Not just reasons to vote against Barack Obama; ten reasons to vote FOR John McCain.
Reason Number One!
As many of you know, I am a strong proponent of the Fair Tax, which includes an elimination of all income, payroll and corporate taxes, among others. It replaces them with a sales tax on retail goods and services. John doesn't go that far. His economic plan doesn't go far enough but exceeds the other plan offered. It includes a pro-growth, pro-job creation tax policy which includes:

Middle Class Tax Cuts:
John McCain and Sarah Palin will cut taxes on middle class families. They will phase out and eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, saving a middle class family with children an average of over $2,700. They will also double the personal exemption for dependents.
Pro-Growth Tax Policy:
John McCain and Sarah Palin will keep taxes low by fighting efforts to raise taxes and making it harder to raise taxes in the future. They will keep the current rates on dividends and capital gainst while permitting business to immediately deduct the cost of equipment and technology.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

We Get Letters

I was contemplating the title of this post, wanting to do better than this one by a good friend, creative as it was is in it's own special way. And I couldn't figure out the tug on the old heart strings from the words "We Get Letters". And then I remembered!!! Perry Como was my first (or second) true love. I told my mom I was going to marry him. Talk about a thrill going up my leg! LOL

Back to business - you know that we all get letters, via email. Some are supposed to be funny, some are supposed to prompt us to good works or to guilt or to anger. Just so you know, I usually glance at them, and then ditch them. If you expect me to pass it on to 10 of my best friends or to everyone in my ding dong email list - don't hold your breath.

But I got an email last week, forwarded for about the fourth time, purportedly from a member of the women't choir at the Relief Society General Broadcast. It said that the music chosen for that meeting was straight from the hymn book. But more specifically, from those hymns that are included in every version of the hymn book. Although it has been translated into scores of languages, only about 20 hymns appear in every version. They wanted the sisters all over the world, even if they didn't understand the words, to recognize the music.

I give that email greater credence after General Conference this past weekend. All of the music sung was from the hymnal or the children's songbook. There were a couple of nice special arrangements, but they were the hymns of Zion.

I love those hymns, love to hear the voices in my head singing them, and LOVE* to hear them sung. They speak peace to my soul.

*although they sang "We Ever Pray for Thee" at half speed, totally not necessary.

Sunday, October 5, 2008