Regardless, this past week we found Wisconsin politics in many regional and national news outlets. Now I do not classify myself as a Republican nor a Democrat, conservative or liberal. I’ve quickly realized that Wisconsin has always been a Democratically controlled state – very liberal – and that my leanings are not liberal. I’ve mentioned before, time and time again my disdain for government as we’ve known it recently. And for the first time in a long time, I see some common sense coming out of a government official (Governor Scott Walker).

I see a lot of the B as in B, S as in S facebook ads promoting support for the unions as “supporting the working families”, which I find very odd – seeing as how those union benefits do absolutely NOTHING to support my working family. In fact, those will actually HURT my family. I work for a non-profit organization and I love what I do. If I do not do my job and/or do it well, I do not expect to be rewarded. However, if I do my job and do it well, I do expect to be rewarded – and I would hope that I would be able to keep those rewards and do what I wish with those rewards.

I understand that some level of taxation is necessary, I’m not about to doubt that – I enjoy roads (could do without the idiots who don’t know how to drive on said roads when there’s a little bit of snow, but that’s for another conversation), the police and fire departments and I realize that there’s some administration costs for running these things. But why am I paying for my retirement, saving money, paying for my health care – in addition to paying, through taxation, for other people’s retirement (pension) and health care, when they’re not paying 1/4 of what I’m paying into my own. Not only that but pensions are pretty much gone in the private arena. My parents both lost their pensions a few years back through some sneaky corporation financial wizardry. They have to work longer to make up for those promised benefits. It sucks for them, but they will continue to work for their rewards. Why is a teacher’s pension or a governmental worker’s pension completely safe from cutting like my parent’s was? The teacher’s union has too much power. We can’t touch their precious funds. And sure it would suck for the teacher’s to lose some or all of that pension, but how much of that pension have they paid into?

Why is it that a governmental office cannot fix what is broken? When my wife and I look at our finances, and see that we’re bringing in a certain amount and what we’re spending is more than that, we have to make a decision: stop spending so much, make more money or add debt. The third option is one we both HATE to do and is the very last thing we want. The second would be lovely, however, we’re only able to control so much of that. We both work hard to do what we can. The easiest thing to do is to stop spending so much – which I think we do fairly well. We’ve cut a lot of frivolous things out of our lives and some not so frivolous things. I haven’t played football in a couple years because it just costs too much in terms of moneys and time (I haven’t officially signed my retirement papers yet, I’m just taking a hiatus). The Wisconsin government is, FINALLY, trying to do the same thing. They see the need to cut spending and the unions are blocking them from fixing what is broken because it means some people need to work harder or longer. Well, boo f’n hoo. Times are tough. If taxes get raised, people and companies are going to leave the state and the tax revenue is going to decrease. You want more money for the government to do its thing? Make it more affordable to live and work here. Let businesses profit and expand and hire more employees. Let me spend my money in a manner that I wish to boost the economy – by purchasing products that are fairly priced and perform as promised.

Maybe this means I fall into the category of a conservative… if that’s the case, then so be it. I’m still not going to fall victim to party games (unless it’s Pictionary, Balderdash, Euchre or some other fun one) or party politics. Imma speak my mind and do what I think and feel is right for me and my family. If you have a problem with that – you can go f yourself.

i know i’ve failed to properly budget and have found myself in a world of debt that i’d rather not be in (i think we’re better off than many these days, but i’d rather not have any debt). and we are aware that some of our decisions haven’t been the greatest (the purchase of our home couldn’t have come at a worse time, for example). but we’re dealing with our financial issues… we’re paying off our debts, we’re not buying new TVs or cars or much of anything. just last night i sewed a hole in a pair of jeans – hoping that i won’t need to buy a new pair anytime soon. we’re trying to be more frugal with our money. we don’t frequent expensive eateries nor have we ‘gone out’ in quite a while. i would love to build my perma-house right now and get out of the townhome, but we’re making things work.

after watching this video and listening to some talk radio… why can’t the government, who works for us, stay within its own means? it truly makes me sick – i work for my money, i live in a town home that is smaller than i’d like, i drive a car to save on gas (rather than taking “Sunshine” for a stroll to work), we pay more than the minimum amount on payments – because we don’t want to have that debt over our heads forever… who wants to live like that?

i could discuss so many different areas of government that i think should not be a governmental department, and where spending by the government is just, by definition, retarded. i do hope that the changes in office from November make some serious impact on the way shyt gets done in DC, i really, really do.

wrong focus

while the focus has been on these AIG bonuses – the real problem is the fact that we’ve given them money at all… hey, government stay the FSCK out of the private affairs of businesses! if the government didn’t give AIG and those other institutions the stupid bailout money, we wouldn’t have to <airquotes>waste congress’s time</airquotes> with these unconstitutional-rush-bills that are taking away more and more of our liberties and freedoms…

why don’t people (and i’m referring to anyone in any position in government and the pBO apologists) realize that they are making it difficult for people to be forced to live with the consequences of their actions. face it, not everything you do will turn to gold. not every decision you make will be correct. and when you make bad decisions, bad financial purchases, when you bought a house you couldn’t afford… too F’n BAD. you figure out a way to handle your debts – maybe you’ll have to sell your 52″ plasma TV and your Wii… i don’t feel bad for you. as much as i would like a bigscreen TV and a Wii and a new bigger house, i can’t afford it and so i will have to wait for those luxuries. you should’ve done the same

**The Heaviest Element Known to Science***

*Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

and now, my rant…
i’m not sure if this is a sign of me getting older or what, but i’ve started paying attention to this stuff lately and i’m not sure why. i get annoyed and pissed at almost everything i hear about. the goings ons in DC and in government in general is enough to make a person sick. i don’t want or need help from the government, i work for a living. and i’d rather they (government) just get out of my face.

we live in a house that i’d rather not be in – but we’re making our payments. and NOT looking for a handout. we know we signed onto the deal with our mortgage and we’re living with our decision. if the market tanks and people lose their butts a couple months before their retirement, that’s their fault. if the market tanks and people lose money on their ‘investment properties’ that’s their fault. the government is not supposed to protect people from their own bad decisions. if a company can’t make enough money to stay in business and can’t raise capitol themselves, then the company shouldn’t be around. survival of the fittest no longer applies?

i recently watched wall-e, and we’re going to end up like the people on the ship. we’ve already started NOT doing anything for ourselves. everyone is looking for handouts and bailouts – get off your ass, stop spending more money than you make…

or just wait for the worthless paper check from the government that our kids or our kids kids will have to pay for, selfish pricks