What are you doing here?

GO VOTE!

Photo Source: Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me

Post from: Blisstree

What Are You Doing Here?

Tomorrow is Election Day.

I’m the Alternate Election Judge in my precinct. I’m can’t wear campaign paraphernalia – but, I will be wearing dog tags bearing the name of a real woman who never had the right to vote. This has been a banner year for women – all women – and I salute both parties and all people for the participation of women we’ve seen in 2008.

Let there NEVER, EVER be another election without the female half of this country being represented on a Presidential Ticket. That’s my fervent prayer.

I’ll be at my polling place to make sure the Republican Election Judge doesn’t cheat or harass Barack Obama voters. He’ll be there to make sure that I, the Democratic Election Judge doesn’t cheat or harass John McCain voters.

It’s going to be a very, very long day and I’m super-excited.

My husband and I participate in election judging every election we can. We both do it if we’ve got a grandma to watch the two kiddos for 12 hours. This year we don’t.

After the election we’re going to the Democratic Headquarters for Pizza and News.

We’re feeling optimistic enough to bring champagne. If polls are to be believed at all then Barack Obama is going to win.

But, anything could happen. It’s hard to determine what will happen.

Personally, the human nature of this election has been a little disappointing for me.

The racism and sexism and blatant and intentional ignorance isn’t in our country’s best interest.

I’m praying for a landslide because being on the fence as we have for the last 8 years – where half the country loathes and disrespects the sitting President hasn’t been good for us. Having a president who openly disregards and disrespects half the country’s interests and ideas has been detrimental to our citizen moral.

The best thing that could ever happen tomorrow is to have a solid Congress that sits with the President – at least for 2 years. Nothing can ever get done if we’re a 50/50 country at war with each other. Then both sides become cynical and blame the other.

The party who wins tomorrow better do it with grace and proceed with rapid action.

The party who loses tomorrow better do it with grace and lick their wounds in a quiet support of the winners. That’s the American way. A peaceful transition of power.

We consent to and support the outcome (even if it’s not the one we wanted) – that’s our process.

We need to move to the middle people. We need to make some compromises with each other or there will not be peace in our country. There will be anger in our country.

Choose one way or the other America.

Make it a crystal clear choice and make it a consistent one.

Vote your conscience.

Marrianne Williamson had a lovely prayer for both candidates and all voters and a peaceful and loving election on her daily devotional today.

Oh, and if you want to experience a Patriotic High there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities tomorrow. Help an elderly person vote, take a neighbor, call your party’s headquarters and volunteer to make phone calls.

Image Source: www.barackobama.com

Post from: Blisstree

Patriotic High – VOTE!

Joe the Plumber sits on Joe Six Pack.

John McCain and Sarah Palin’s depiction of the American man:

Drowning his anxiety in beer every night, after being knee deep in shit all day long.

(Of course this is most excellent if you happen to be in the beer industry like the McCain’s.)

Image Source: Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me

Post from: Blisstree

2 American Joes

What We Could Have Done with the Money: 50 Ways to Spend the Trillion Dollars We’ve Spent on Iraq, by Rob Simpson looks like it’s worth reading.

For only $9.95 you could buy a book that examines how short sighted your government has been by going to war with Iraq.

I myself have just been thinking – we could have developed all the energy technology we need right now over the last 6 years of the war, if we were only willing to spend the money here instead of fighting Iraqis for their oil (and don’t pretend our international “security” policy isn’t about oil – wake up and smell the petroleum people).

This guy literally worked out the math for 50 alternatives: pave the streets with gold, literally; paying off the entire country’s credit card debt; give everyone on earth an iPod; take all the Iraqi’s to a baseball game; pay for every high school kid’s college education making us more globally competitive; rebuilding the entire city of New Orleans; rectifying Social Security and Medicare.

I’m in the mood for long term strategy and smart thinking and better financial priorities.

To make myself feel powerful I spend my $1 Trillion on the cool online shopping spree and I was able to literally change the world. For the better.

I rebuilt levies in New Orleans, fed a lot of starving children until they were 18, conserved natural habitats and forests, fed the hungry all over America, bought goats for families, empowered 1,000 business women all over the world, provided health care for many.

I voted for Barack Obama last week!

Cause John McCain seems to think doing all those kind and generous things for people makes “the big scary government too big – but big fat expensive violent wars in Iraq do not.” I just don’t happen to agree.

Think. People. Think.

Post from: Blisstree

What Would YOU Do with $1 Trillion?

By 11 comments Trench Reynolds from My Crime Space won our Blogtoberfest Debate.

I hope he enjoys it because in real life the polls say his candidate is going to lose.

In case you’re getting all “ha ha ha we’re going to win” about Obama’s sure win let me just tell you: There is no sure win.

* Donate the money.

Polls are like the stock market – one minute they’re up 700 points and the next they are down 700 points. Oh and while you’re thinking about the stock market reflect on John McCain’s platform of Market Worship.

There is only one true God and it ain’t The Market driven only by short-term profit.

Deregulation, John McCain’s favorite economic policy, means they can turn your hard earned money into junk bonds and the only person walking away poorer will be you.

Not John McCain, not your real estate broker, not The Market, not the guy who’s trading your 401K without rules, regulations or taxes – just you.

(Not even Joe the Plumber who doesn’t have any money in real life and who thinks buying health insurance is a “penalty for success.” Whatever.)

Anywho .. . Terra Heck won a really cool Barack Obama Bobble Head from Jail Break Toys.com.

Don’t forget to vote and consider the consequences before you do.

Make sure you visit Blog Fabulous often next week. You could be the next Blogtoberfest Prize winner.

Post from: Blisstree

My Crime Space Won Debate

Trench Reynolds from My Crime Space supporting
John McCain and Sarah Palin.

This is a Blogtoberfest Debate Post.

The blog with the most comments on this
debate post is declared the WINNER.

If you leave a comment you will be entered
to win a very cool Blogtoberfest Surprise. The
prizes will be drawn at random on Oct. 17.

National Security

Tracee Sioux: I just read both candidates
biographies.

John McCain loves war. He writes so romantically of war and fighting
that I believe he’s looking to be a great war general. He doesn’t think
there’s anything heroic or honorable about making peace. He’s an
old-school foreign policy thinker – old school hasn’t been effective. If
he’s president, chances are, he’ll get what he wants and what he wants
is war.

Barack Obama loves peace. He will go to war – but only if he MUST. He
speaks heroically of diplomacy and has a skill in taking two opposite
sides and finding middle ground. He’s a fresh thinker and I’m into
giving new perspectives a try. If he’s president, chances are, he’ll get
what he wants and what he wants is peace.

War is expensive and should be avoided if at all possible. In the
debates I’ve heard both candidates foreshadow war with Russia, Iran,
Pakistan and Afghanistan (not to mention Iraq). I’m not a pacifist, but
I’ll cast my lot with a man who’s made a study of how to achieve peace,
diplomacy and compromise rather than a man who has made his life’s work
a study of war.

Trench Reynolds:

Unfortunately war is a necessary evil. It has been throughout the
course of history. There has never been at any time the pie in the sky
dream of ‘world peace’ only global stability. I hate to pull a Rudy
Guiliani here but since 9/11 the worlds has been unstable and will
continue to be so unless military action is taken. Since the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan started there have been no more terror attacks on
U.S. soil. I’m not one of those people who believe that Iraq had
anything to do with 9/11 but Saddam Hussein needed to be eliminated. The
UN wasn’t doing anything about it even when Hussein blatantly ignored
their requests. My point being that Sen. Obama would rather negotiate
with rogue countries like I ran when history has proven that some
countries, especially Iran, are beyond negotiations and diplomacy.
Having served our country down in the trenches I believe that Sen.
McCain knows full well the consequences of war and military strength.

Health Care

Tracee Sioux:

From a purely Economic perspective Universal Healthcare is the way we
should go. When people are uninsured they don’t seek preventative
medicine and then we end up paying for their catastrophes through
Medicare and Medicaid in our taxes AND in increased costs at the
providers AND increases in our premiums in our insurance policies. I’ve
done the math – if everyone in the United States is adequately insured
it will save my family tax dollars, lower the cost of premiums and
copays, and put a stop to the inflation we’re experiencing right now.
Barack Obama’s plan is just smart economics.

From a moral perspective it’s barbaric to watch people be sick and
not able to see a doctor or receive treatment because they can’t afford
it. With health care inflation the way it is the average family can’t
afford it. The way we do it now is short-term expensive thinking. Let’s
be let America be better than that. A civilized nation takes care of her
people. John McCain’s plan will leave more people uninsured and does
nothing to force insurance companies to stop discriminating against
people with diagnosis’s so we’ll still be picking up the tab in taxes.
Who can insure their family for $5,000 a year? I spend
$11,000 in 2007 and we couldn’t afford recommended
health care.

Trench Reynolds:

While Universal Healthcare is a great idea in theory the reality is
that it would become another bloated and corrupt program like Medicaid
and Welfare have become. Combine that with the red tape that most people
have to go through with any government program in my estimation
Universal Haelthcare would make the system worse rather than better.
Sure everyone would be covered but then you’d have the problems that
Canada is experiencing with long waits for critical procedures. And if
you think that will lower taxes at all I believe that you are
mistaken.

I agree that insurance premiums have become to exorbitant. I myself can’t even afford to cover my own wife who has a chronic condition that needs constant attention. Both candidates have proposed similar healthcare initiatives but where I think Sen. McCain edges out Sen. Obama is that Sen McCain wants to put a stop to friviolous lawsuits
against medical practices and hospitals that have really driven up the
cost of healthcare in this country. Working in the medical field myself
I have seen many a doctor close their private practice because they
couldn’t afford the malpractice insurance anymore. I’ve also seen
physican rates skyrocket to cover costs of their insurance.

Crime

Tracee Sioux:

When I saw the head of the FBI say he couldn’t afford to arrest
300,000 known child rapists who are passing photos of their crimes
around to their organized group of pedophile buddies because the
Republican priorities have been solely about international terrorism . .
. well, as a parent if you think THAT isn’t worth paying taxes for then
we have nothing in common. Parents are afraid to allow their children
normal friendships, sleepovers, relationships with relatives. Over the
last 8 years parents have begun to build bubbles of isolation around
childhood. American kids used to be entitled to a carefree safe
childhood. Parents have lost trust the government will arrest
criminals. This will have long-term devastating effects on society.

Domestic Violence, teen relationship violence, and rape statistics
are unacceptable. I won’t even go into the fact that Sarah Palin’s Chief
of Police was charging rape victims for the rape kits that provide
evidence for finding the perpetrator.

Trench Reynolds:

First let me start off by saying I found it interesting that I
couldn’t even find the topic of crime as an issue on Sen. Obama’s
website.

That bubble around children that you speak of didn’t just happen the
day that President Bush took office. It goes as far back as the crimes
that were perpetrated on Adam
Walsh and Megan
Kanaka. Might I also add that President Bush signed the Adam Walsh
act into law but I digress.

While I am as disappointed as you that Sen. McCain has not addressed
the issue of domestic violence he has sworn to increase penalties for
repeat criminal offenders and to strengthen laws against sexual
predators. Soemthing else I find appealing about Se. McCain’s stance on
crime is that he will appoint judges that would follow the letter of the
law rather than what I like call criminal sympathizing judges.

Abortion

Tracee Sioux:

If Americans are serious about reducing the abortion rate they will
provide women with the healthcare necessary to prevent pregnancy.
Universal Health Care will prevent abortion. Universal Health Care will
lower the abortion rate.

When we started giving access to family planning we prevented an
estimated 9 million abortions. In this country men are entitled to
viagra by insurance companies, but women have a hell of a time getting
their insurance company to pay for the pill.

I personally, and many like me, would become a lot less attached to
Roe v. Wade when women have equal and affordable access to the ability
to prevent pregnancy and manage their reproductive lives. When women
have the ability to take responsibility for their reproductive lives I
believe they will do so. As it stands, I won’t convict women who have
limited choices due to their limited access to health care.

Trench Reynolds:

Women have never had more access to sexual and reproductive education
than they do today. I would even say they have more access to it than
men. Abortion is just a way for men and women to shirk the
responsibility of having to care for a child by terminating its life. I
have no problem with abortion being used in cases of rape, incest, and
endangerment to the mother.However when it’s used as a form of
retroactive birth control I definitely have a problem.

In a legal sense alone Roe v. Wade was a legal abomination. The
Supreme Court is supposed to interpert the law not create them. And if
Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, which I support, it would not make
abortions illegal per se but would return that option to the indvidual
states.

Sen. McCain endorse programs that would encourage adoption rather
than abortion and as someone who was adopted he would get my vote on
that alone.

Economy

Tracee Sioux:

Deregulation caused this economic crash. John McCain is a
“deregulator.” In every speech before the stock market crashed he touted
the sacrosanct “Market” as the holy grail and said he would reduce
corporate taxes and reduce regulation.

I have ZERO respect for someone who can’t admit their beliefs and
economic policies have failed the American people. Now he wants to buy
the mortgages of those who overextended themselves so they can stay in
their homes? The bankers who extended those loans and the people who
took them artificially inflated the price of homes out of the reach of
middle class families on a budget. And now those middle class families
who respected their budgets should shoulder the tax burden of those
homes so people with large appetites and no self-control can stay in
their $500,000 homes they could never afford? I got news for them -
there’s a $100,000 house on my street in my less desirable neighborhood
- come buy that. Take your loss and learn your lesson.

In 2008 Barack Obama is the Fiscal Conservative – PAY AS YOU GO.
That’s what my family does and that’s what the government should be
doing. They are throwing around 700 Billion like it means nothing so now
it means nothing. Cut the credit card in half America. Republicans and
their deregulation of the market have cost us all enough already.

Trench Reynolds:

The Democrat’s had a hand in our recent economy woes as well. They
are the ones who are in control of congress as we speak. They are the
ones who put pressure on banks to make home loans more accessible. What
has that gotten us? More foreclosures then we know what to do with.
Personally I think the current economic woes fall squarely on the
American people for not doing a better job of managing their own money.
I don’t feel empathy for people who have had their home foreclosed on.
If you can’t afford a mortgage you have no business buying a home.

The one point of Sen. MCain’s economic plan that I find most
appealing is lowering the taxes on employers. That will produce more
jobs since employers will be paying their employees rather than the
federal government.

The only points on Sen. Obama’s economic plan I strongly disagree
with are unions and raising the minimum wage. Unions have become bloated
and corrupt relics of the past that have outlived their usefulness. We
have things like OSHA and other government channels to address work
complaints. Minimum wage was not meant for supporting entire families.
It was designed as additional income or income for teens just entering
the workplace. If you’re trying to support a family on minimum wage than
maybe you would better off gaining some more education to make your
worth in the workplace more valuable.

Women’s Issues

Tracee Sioux: Women make up 51% of this country. If
America wants to stimulate her economy invite the women back to work.

We don’t have to go overseas for talent, experience, brains,
ingenuity, passion, or innovation. Women have that right here. Women are
leaving their jobs because the workplace is hostel and uninviting to
their motherhood. We will not choose work OVER our children, but we will
passionately pursue any professional ambition along-side raising our
children.

Women are the number one starters of small businesses in this
country. We want to work and we are the fresh ideas you’re looking for.
But, we’re going to need a few things to help us do both – flexible work
hours, virtual work environments, family medical leave insurance, sick
days for us and for our kids, and equal pay.

You haven’t seen nothing yet. You think the economy was good before?
Add women change everything! We’ll have better science, better laws,
better businesses, better education, better products, better everything.
Because women are better? No. Because two minds are better than one.

Barack Obama is going to get women what they need to go back to work.

John McCain is going to hang tight with the status quo. The status
quo is causing great companies to see workers overseas rather than
invite the women back.

Trench Reynolds:

I think workplaces have been increibly accomodating to women in the
work places. At least the ones that I have worked for in the past 20
years. Evefry employer I’ve worked for has had maternity leave for its
female employes and have allowed them to come back to the same position
they were wroking before. Also in that interim they have hired female
temps that in a lot of cases ended up being hired bu the company. Take
that for what it’s worth since I work in a female domintaed field.

I believe there should be equal pay as I feel the best pay should go
to the best candidiate for the position regardless of race or sex. I
would love to see employers offer more flexibility and more options to
its female employers that choose to have children. What I don’t want to
see is government handouts to achieve this. I would hope that as an
incentive to get better employees that companies and businesses would
offer this fleibility and a lot do. I feel that the market should
dictate that desire not the government.

This is a Blogtoberfest Debate Post.

The blog with the most comments on this
debate post is declared the WINNER.

If you leave a comment you will be entered
to win a Barack Obama Action Figure if you win the Blog Fabulous Prize or a John McCain Action Figure if you win the My Crime Space Prize. The
prizes will be drawn at random on Oct. 17.

Post from: Blisstree

Blogtoberfest DEBATE – Blog Fabulous v. My Crime Space

No one cares about your personal beliefs Sarah.

The questions are referring to whether you would pass laws that would hold US to your beliefs.

That’s what we have a right to know.

Post from: Blisstree

Sarah Palin on Abortion, Morning After Pill & Science

No regulation, they say. The market will take care of itself.

Let the heads of banks make whatever loans they want. Their sense of self-preservation will protect the people from greed and fraud.

Turns out, unregulated, bankers are greedy and don’t care much whether Joe Blow can make his mortgage – cause they sold it as soon as the bad loan papers were signed.

So today, The United States Government becomes, essentially, the fiduciary principals (owners) of quite a large portion of private property with their massive bailout.

Its communism by way of the failure of extremely deregulated capitalism.

Irony?

That makes The People – Us, You and Me – a share holder in a great deal of real estate.

I’ve heard you can make a killing in real estate. And mortgage loans – do you know how much you can make on compound interest?

Perhaps then we’ve invested in an alternative funding source that will eventually lower taxes?

Post from: Blisstree

Capitalist Irony?

John McCain may not show up to the debate tonight – essentially his job interview. He has to take a nappy nap after working on the economic crisis HIS Party CREATED with all their deregulation. Here’s what I have to say about that:

PUSSY!!!

What’s the Matter? You SCARED?

You Chicken!!!!

{{{{{{{bawk}}}}}
{{{{{bawk }}}}}
{{{{{bawk }}}}}
{{{{{bawk }}}}}

(Apologies to all women. I mean no harm by relating wimps to your lovely and delightful vajayjays.)

Photo Source: 10 million websites including this one.

Post from: Blisstree

If McCain Doesn’t Show for Debate

Last night while watching him on 60 Minutes I told my husband, “Look how old his hands look, see how he’s kind of hiding them. Oh My Goodness, he’s seeing Cindy’s Botox Doc! I think John McCain is getting botox!”

Photo Source: JohnMcCain.com

Post from: Blisstree

McCain Borrowing Cindy’s Botox