Silent long enough.....

So I have resisted comment on the current debt debacle going on in D.C. because honestly I am so disgusted with politics in general lately that I have had no idea what to say. I think that once again those elected are not actually listening to the people. "Cut, Cap, and Balance" has some pretty good points. Mega cuts are needed and a cap is a great idea. Balancing the budget and requiring a super-majority vote for certain changes is a good thing. We fall into a tax bracket where hubby paid in a hefty % last year much to our shock. Despite looking froward to that return I honestly think that if it improved the economy and the entitlements were reformed as well as some immigration crack downs we both would feel comfortable paying more. I have been looking at the "Gang of Six" and their new plan today. If it does what they claim I think this plan looks very promising. Part of the problem has been the total complication of things. You get this tax break but that tax so you actually pay this....... blah, blah, WTF? I swear tax law is it's own language. I do the taxes for a few people besides us and I swear it boggles my mind. Hubby paid in XX amount but only got back a small chunk despite owning a home and 2 kids. A SIL made not even a 1/3, has one child and rents, paid in far less, and received quite a bit more back. It boggled my mind. Heck my MIL didn't even pay in because she made so little but she received a return? Really? Makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Simplification would be nice. I think reforming entitlements (SSI to me is not entitlement as you pay in you should get back.) so that citizenship requirements are more thoroughly checked and credit checks are ran to see if those applying have crazy amounts of credit and such would be good. I was in Wal-mart yesterday and we are trying to save so I can see the first niece born to my side of the family be blessed in a couple weeks and so we can visit other family in Utah for a family tradition of Derby weekend. I kept telling the girls "No" when they asked for the usual weird kid requests and finally said we were trying to not spend money. I got such nasty looks from a few people and one of them ended up behind us in line to check out. Should have seen the shock when I handed over my debit card and not a food stamps card. I think because I seemed frustrated and I said we didn't have the money he assumed we were on food stamps yet my cart was very full. Um no, just teaching my kids about budget. Back to the plan. Major cuts is a very good thing. Yes times are tough and things need to be done but we don't have the money and we need to stop spending more than we have. We borrow from John to pay Jim and ignore our own needs and it has to stop. Hopefully they figure something out soon. I don't like where things are headed but I think some people are trying to do the right thing. They just might be in the minority still.

Where I stand

TOR posted this quiz on TSLRF after a few people questioned how 'libertarian' he is, and I thought I'd take it also. I've been slowly but surely leaning further towards the middle as time goes by. But consider my thoughts on some social programs and ideas, I don't see my status as the 'token bleeding-heart liberal' (as the Boys call me) changing any time soon.

Gracie here, Maggy and I had the same idea for a post. She just beat me to it. Here are my results.

Lila here! I figured I should add mine to the mix so you all see where all of us sit!

Palin - Quitter or Fighter?

So I voted republican in the last presidential election. I have always liked McCain and his values and choices were the most in line with what my family wants and needs. I liked Obama a lot to though so was not throwing a fit when he won. I think he deserves the chance he earned by winning to show us that he wants to make it better to be American.

Anyway as most of the world knows now Sarah Palin has resigned as Alaskan governor. Even after her speech I am still feeling in the dark as to why she quit. When she became VP nom I was excited. A woman I could get behind. Then she took a few mis-steps and honestly I couldn't fault her. She was a small town politico thrust into the national and international political field. Who wouldn't stumble a bit? This resigning thing though makes me mad. It also makes me not want to vote for her should she run in 2012. I want someone who chooses the office to remain in that office until death or the public remove them or their term ends. I want someone who will fight for me and for the leadership role they took on, knowing what that entailed. I see this as quitting. A part of me can't blame her. Politics has become a free for all in the media, just as bad as Hollywood, BUT resigning shows she will run when times get tough. I do not want that in my president. What do you guys think?

I just don't get it Part Duex

I spent a couple of days emailing and calling around trying to dig up some more information on our town's oh-so-wonderful new sewer. I've literally found out jack-squat. All the public offices I called were not help, and generally couldn't tell me who could. I did manage to find out that the city will indeed put a lien on your house for none payment.

Several options were given to homeowners over the last year or so. I'm not sure how these were presented to the public as I just found them on Google after a little creative searching. The options were; pay out of pocket, apply for a USDA rural development loan, apply for a grant from the city, and have a payment plan. As of May 6th, 2008 the city was still "researching the possibility of a policy for a payment plan" so I have no idea if it actually came to fruit. But according to the information I found you had to have been turned down for funds by at least 3 financial institutions (and have proof).

After some more Google-ing I actually found a page on it on the City website, complete with monthly updates. I couldn't access any of the info however as the PDF's wouldn't open on my computer, or my parents. I guess for now I'll just have to judge their progress from my front windows.

The property we live on is bordered by two roads; one main and one arterial. They spent two days last week tearing up the front 250 feet of my house on the main road, and decided to use their easement on our land to make themselves a parking lot in our yard for the weekend. So my son got to play soccer between a honey bucket, a Grater and a Backhoe.

Monday they finished up work on the main road, and this morning started on the arterial. I know this because I was awoken by one of the local city guys (who looked exasperated to be honest) letting me know that I had no water, because the vibration from the backhoe had cracked the water main. I didn't kick up a fuss because I had just woken up, but this happens to be the second time I've heard this excuse. Because the same thing happened to my friend's parents down the road. The city fixed it the same day, and agreed to adjust (and actually reduce) their water bill for the month. They didn't make me any such offer, but I guarantee you I will be informing my landlord, just in case they don't.

Not much longer after that, there was another knock on my door. This was another worker, asking if I need to get out of my driveway that day. Granted I have decently unorthodox work hours, so this was about 8:30 am, but yes I had to work. He asked when and looked fairly anxious. I sighed took pity on the poor guy and asked when in the next 90 mins. would be best for them. He said now. I glanced on the couch at the Boy lazing around in his pj's, and sort of went 'uhhhhh'. Instead I offered to move my car to a neighbors driveway so they could do whatever they needed to do.

Once I got the boy ready to go and headed out, I could see why they had wanted to know if I was leaving. There was a 4 foot trench where the end on my driveway used to be.

So to recap: I have no answers, no water and no driveway.

Quote of the Day

Hubs - I am not a Republican and sure as hell not Democrat. What does that make me?

Lila - American!

*Discussion after we watched more political coverage on CNN.