Be Aware and Informed

Hi Everyone,

As hard as I try to not write about politicians and their lack of common sense, their own words are their worst enemy. What concerns me the most is that there are people who will believe anything a politician says and will take as the gospel truth.

Last Sunday, 9/4, on Face the Nation, Michele Bachman said that if elected president, she would drop the corporate tax rate down to 5%. Which she said meant a fundamental restructing of the tax code. Then she said that she would replace the lost federal money with a use tax for all Americans. In essence what this means is that corporations would pay less taxes and all Americans would pay more via a use tax. Bottom line, corporations pay less and a tax increase for everyone else. Doesn't that go against the tea party vow of no new taxes?

Bachman then said that if she was elected president, she PROMISED gas prices under $2.00 per gallon. She would allow drilling for oil anywhere in the United States, including she said, the Florida everglades. Ok there seems to be a few problems with her promises. First and most importantly, Bachman and any other president have absolutely no control over the price of oil. She should study up on the free market and OPEC a lot more to better understand how oil prices work. Secondly, even if Bachman allowed oil drilling anywhere and everywhere, it would take over 5 years for that oil to come to market and not during her presidency. Thirdly, oil drilling should not take place in environmentally sensitive areas like the everglades. Obviously, someone didn't pay attention to or learn a lesson from the BP disaster that happened to the Gulf affecting some six or seven states wet lands and beaches etc. Oil on beaches crippled those economies and killed an unknown number of fish and birds etc. According to Bachman, environmentally sensitive areas be damned. Oil wins over environment?

Still on the same Face the Nation show, Rick Perry said that Social Security is unconstitutional. What? That means that Perry wants to eliminate Social Security. It that were to happen, it would hurt tens of millions of people receiving SS who can least afford it. I don't think it would hurt the upper class millionaires, do you?

On Tuesday, 9/6 on the Today show, Perry, via satellite, said that his state, Texas had 50 wildfires and he needed lots of help from the federal government to fight the fires. Besides needing manpower, he said he needed FEMA money asap. If you remember, Perry also thinks that FEMA's budget should not be increased except when an equal amount of money is cut from the federal budget. We all know how the last federal budget reduction talks went. It took months and we ended up having our country's excellent credit rating lowered. So if FEMA's budget is strapped due to, to many natural disasters, according to Perry, the House and Congress would have to fight it out again and the affected states wouldn't get their much needed urgent money to clean up and rebuild. How do you clean up and rebuild when it could take months and months to receive the money? Most interesting is that Perry is not calling for an equal offset now in FEMA's budget since his state needs money. Go figure. Why is it ok to take the money when his state needs it, but not ok to increase FEMA's budget when its funds run dangerously low? Makes no sense does it?

Again, all politicians should use common sense before they open their mouths. Tit for tat and partisan politics must end. I made mention of these statements to let voters understand that there are some politicians who besides lacking any common sense, are also wolves in sheep clothing. Voters should be wary and vote with as much correct information as possible.

Til next week.

Peter