Doom and Gloom America?

Watching the Democratic National Convention you get the feeling that America is land of the victim. Every story involves a “Dave and his family in Kansas” are struggling to fill the gas tank, heat their house, and send their kids to college, while falling behind on the mortgage, after a diagnosis of a disease without a cure, while caring for their 90 year old mother that was denied Medicare, etc…

Now I know that some people are struggling but the picture being painted is one of a country that doesn’t care. And that could be no further from the truth. What most clear thinking individuals realize is that government is NOT the answer, it is the problem. Every speech being given at this convention is delivered with the premise that we need more government not less. That is why this election will be a landslide for McCain if he chooses Mitt Romney as his VP.

That would be the ultimate ticket with a definitive contrast between the two party philosophies. Romney will speak confidently on the economy knowing that we have the best system in the world if we can just keep the government from tinkering with it, and will highlight that contrary to public opinion and democratic distortion, grew 3.3% in the 3rd quarter.

Americans hate the pity party going on, the absolute attempt to paint a gloomy picture, and the insinuation that we are not capable of being great without government (and Democrat’s) help.
Our media and democratic pundits like to point to the polls that most Americans believe we are going in the wrong direction. That direction is not just about Bush, it is about a political class that is trying to get their hands into every aspect of our lives. So when the democrats read those polls and are gleeful, they should realize that their direction is not the preferred one. Most Americans are sick of all the politicians “running” this government.

My advice to all politicians is to read the constitution and understand the role of government. That would be a good start. Just a thought…

Breaking New: Obama’s campaigns stomps on free speech with impunity!

Seniority in Congress and representatives like Doug Lamborn…

Inside pundits and party officials believe that you have to have political “experience” to be effective in elected office. They never clarify what that means in detail. Experience is usually described as having held office before, or being connected in the party apparatus. They never talk about the fact for example how Doug Lamborn (or other “career” politicians) have never held a job that has had a budget, employees, paid taxes, or had to work within or around regulations, say, like I have. That is not relevant if they have been a good party soldier.

I am the first to agree that experience is better than a degree any day. But what we have to look at is the results of that experience - not just the length of service. As the Republican and Democratic parties argue how independents are a “risk” for chairmanships and key roles in the government, they never point to results. Here are the results of the “experienced” and “career” politicians I have observed:

• Social Security is going bankrupt and being used to offset the real budget shortfall the federal government is running. No urgency here.
• Energy “policy” has been ignored - so now because of the “experienced” members of congress’ inaction, we now enjoy another crisis created by them, who now say they are the right people to fix it. Really?
• The inner city and minority communities are worse off than ever because of the programs of “career” politicians. It is criminal in my opinion to have spent trillions and the problem is worse. When will a new approach be tried by this group of “experienced” social engineers?
• The public education in this country has been hijacked by unions and special interests with the help of “experienced” politicians. The department of education funds need to be sent back to the states where they belong. I don’t want to cut education, because my experience tells me it is the answer to poverty, I just want the people closest to the community to have the funds they need to provide a quality education. Not a one size fits all approach. But I don’t have the experience to know this I guess.
• The federal “budget” is a disgrace. The economic ignorance is embarrassing because politicians like Doug Lamborn have never had to run a business within a budget. A budget is a foreign concept to most “career” politicians.
• Border Security is being ignored while our “career” politicians allow border agents to be assaulted and thrown in jail for shooting criminals in the arse. The fed sides with corrupt Mexican officials over our own American soldiers. And they act powerless? They are the US Congress in charge of securing our border; make it your issue dangit!
• Our military is the greatest most stabilizing institution in the world allowing for free trade to be conducted between the nations of the world, and yet our democratic “career” politicians continue to despise it and cut its funding whenever they can to divert funds that create jobs to put into failed social programs that suck the hope out of; New Orleans, LA, Detroit, and other inner cities that resemble third world nations. Never mind they are the defenders of all freedom loving nations in the world. Without them we have nothing.

I could go on forever here. So I ask; if this is what the “experienced” and “career” politicians results are, what is the risk in sending some fresh new blood to congress? We need to focus on results not intentions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions as they say so when will it be time to try a new approach?

We also need people in congress that are willing to passionately work to change the way it operates. Lobbyists, fund raising, selection of committee chairs, length of time in office and in DC, and the transfer of power back to the states where it belongs for most issues need to be addressed and changed. If you agree I say:

Give Congress a Hand; Rich Hand!

Give Congress a Hand in 2008; Rich Hand!

This is my attempt to be clever with a slogan for my upcoming 60 day blitz to Election Day November 4th. I know there are so many clever citizens out there that could come up with a better play on words for the campaign.

I would like to challenge all of you to take a shot at it. Also notice the new video on the sidebar created by my wonderful daughter Emily!! She has 2 more videos to come. One on issues, the other on how simple it is to write-in Rich Hand!!

One of my blog posts has been picked up by the website Tenth Amendment Center. I am in the company of Ron Paul and other citizens concerned about the federal governments over reaching policies like unfunded mandates. I hope you check it out.

The League of Woman Voters will be posting my positions in the next few weeks on their site. I am all over the political sites which are driving a lot of traffic to my site. I am confident I can break 100 votes this year!

Doug Lamborn the republican incumbent has agreed to debate me in September; only kidding Mom!! He doesn’t have the guts and many would consider that foolish politics. But it just shows you what you get in the current system; gutless tools. Sorry Doug if you consider that a personal attack, I call it the truth. Two different ways to look at the same thing. I know you see everything from the lobbyist view but I see it from a citizen view.

Keep coming back as I add some audio (radio) commercials and hopefully start getting some speaking gigs. I will be walking School District 38 with Kelly Mobley who is working to maintain the integrity of the schools there by getting support for a mill levy increase that is much needed because the federal government gives back so little of the billions we send to the Department of Education in DC! See my position on getting that money back…

More news to come. Looking forward to some creative slogans!!

It is time to start campaigning…

From now until Election Day I will be starting to focus more on my cause of becoming the next representative in Colorado’s congressional district 5. The primary is done, and as expected incumbent Doug Lamborn cruised to an easy victory in the 3 way race. He could have been beaten by either of the 2 other candidates in my opinion in a 2 way race. Both Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn are good men and would have made much better leaders over Doug Lamborn. They split the vote because they are both such strong candidates. My only issue with either was their party status. I believe we need to work from the outside in because the parties have proven they can’t fix it from the inside out.

Doug Lamborn has a voting record that most in this district would support but being a leader in my opinion is bigger than that. He is content waiting in line for his place in a congressional system that favors length of service over skill, has money and lobbyists at its core, and is an assault on every American that lives in a district where they have had the guts to elect new representatives.

We need a leader that is willing to fight to change the rules of congress so they favor all Americans right to fair representation in congress. We need to change the system so good principled Americans want to run for office. And we need a representative that will stop taking their direction from the lobbyists in Washington DC. Mr Lamborn has been running commercials here stating how he has stood up to Nancy Pelosi and is willing to fight against her liberal policies. Well I take exception to that. From what he has done here by avoiding debates in the primary, and basically hiding behind an ad campaign, shows there is no way he is fighting Nancy Pelosi and liberals because he doesn’t even have the guts to stand up in front of his constituents to debate his candidacy with two “friendly” foes. Nancy Pelosi would eat this guy for lunch in a debate.

We need someone that knows that the system is broken and will fight to change the rules in the House. Doug will not even debate in an election cycle, do you believe he will stand up and challenge the Republican leadership to make the changes we need to get fair representation in congress?

I am running unaffiliated which is the largest voting block; and growing in Colorado. I will fight for changing rules that will help clean up congress so we can all feel better about the people we send to congress. The two parties have made this mess, and now they say they have the solutions to fix it?? Well I don’t know about you, but I think they need some help from us.

Please join me by going to my website and recommending it to other constituents in Colorado District 5. Thank you in advance…

Balance in media? Or trampled First Amendment?

I ask you; who do you trust to decide what is balanced thought/speech? The government? The same government the founders created out of complete distrust of government? The reason the founders were compelled to guarantee a right to free speech against the government was exactly what “balanced” thought/speech is guaranteed to do; squash political speech. So any “fairness” doctrine is an assault on the first amendment. To think that nearly 50% of Americans don’t see a problem with the government infringing on free speech on our talk radio networks is chilling to me.

Can we be that numbed to the implications this has on the political process? Can we be that flippant with our freedoms to think that people in the government are not trying their best to intrude in our lives? Can we be that stupid?

Most people don’t realize how fragile and unusual our system of government is. It is based on the premise that we are endowed with inalienable rights from our creator. That no government power is granted without the consent of the people, and to think that the people would concede to trampling on the first amendment is frightening. How does this happen?

I hope you are not one of the 47%. If you are; you need to rethink your position. Today it is talk radio; tomorrow it will be the words that leave your lips that will be the focus of these government “officials”. And God forbid you say anything “unbalanced” about your government when that happens. China, Russia, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, anyone?

The meet is over... Update

Taylor swam the 800 free in 9:11:74 which is a sectional qualifying time! He raced like I have not seen in his free style in a long time. He came in 13th of 24 and left 6th overall in his age group!

His finals in the 100 backstroke had him seeded 2nd and the times were 1st at 1:03:12, 1:05:14 (Taylor),1:05:42,1:05:45, 1:05:46, 1:05:54, 1:06:97, and 1:07:44. So as expected it was close. In the end he was 5th overall and he dropped his time to a sectional 1:04:54! Excellent swim with great competition!!

Overall a very successful meet for Taylor and a deserved break will be welcome but he will be itching for the pool sooner rather than later. Justine and I will take any break we can get!!

Thanks for the comments!! Taylor is at the final party for the event and I will have him check them out after he gets home. They have a rafting trip before getting on the plane tomorrow. That's all from Portland...

Update from Portland Oregon…

Out here at the Western Zone Championships on the final day of the competition and it has been a great meet for Taylor. He opened on Tuesday with a best time in the 1500 (mile) with a 17:45:96 placing him 11th out of 25 swimmers in his age group.

He has been the leadoff in 2 medley relays doing the backstroke and both have been best time splits at 31 seconds. He swam the 200 backstroke on Wednesday and placed 8th which brought him back in the finals where he again swam a best time to move him into 7th place overall at 2:21:42.

He swam the 200 free on Thursday and had a best time of 2:09:38 placing him in 18th out of 48 swimmers in his age group.

Friday he swam the 400 Free and swam his seed time 4:32:50 placing him 13th out of 25 swimmers in his age group.

Today we just finished the prelims for the 100 Back and Taylor qualified for the finals in 2nd place so he will be in lane 5 with one swimmer to beat for the championship. He made a sectional cut by taking 2 seconds off his seed time to place 2nd at 1:05:14.

We will be going back for his 800 free and 100 back finals to cap the meet.

Overall it has been a very proud parent week for Justine and I. We have not seen Taylor this pumped up for swimming in a long time. He has been having fun and swimming well. Emily has been a trooper and we have done a bunch of sightseeing between events.

Will finish this post when I can…

Too much power for one person…

This article headline says it all when you wonder why congress is broken and getting 9% approval ratings: “Pelosi blocks offshore drilling vote that GOP wants”. Now I don’t care what the GOP wants, I do care what the people want, and they want us to drill for oil. They also want more renewable and alternatives as well. The bottom line is Americans want an energy plan that allows for a continued lifestyle of prosperity which means more energy supply.

That can only come with the help of congress, and one congress woman should not be able to stop the will of 434 others. Every congress person should have the opportunity to vote up or down on an energy bill or any bill. The people are no longer being fairly represented by the congress because of rules that put too much power in the hands of a few.

James Madison believed in representative government because he felt it would offset the fear he had of factions (majority’s) having too much control to make bad policy on popular movements, too quickly. He never intended congress to become the place where factions (parties) would thrive. He and the other founders believed a reasoned representation of the people would be men of stature with a view toward the good of the people. He never would have dreamed that one person in congress could have wielded so much control. They would have been fearful of any system giving one person or one group too much control. It is time to change the rules in congress and let all congressmen represent their constituents fairly. Only congress can do that since they make the rules. Find out where your congressman stands on the rules. This is not a game, this is our future…