We all have heard about the rhetoric coming from Russia lately.  Comrade Putin is reverting the place back to a disaster zone, faster than you can say "Nyet!".  The KGB is heavily promoting this political scientist who is insisting that the United States will break up, much like the Soviet Union did.  In general, things are bad.  Now, as every Conservative realizes, President Reagan had a big hand in destroying the "evil empire".  While we can all debate what it was that finally put the nail in the coffin, we know that the largest factor was the total collapse of the economy.  You see, the Soviet Union was in economic crises mode for almost the entire 20th century.  They always managed to get by because the international community was there to help them out.  Western nations kept them going by supporting them with our cash in the form of loans, investment, and most importantly, peace accords that bought the USSR time.  This was always so until President Reagan stepped in and put an end to it.  Reagan allowed their economy to crumble, doing them in once and (what we thought was) for all.  One strong Leader took the reins and decided it was time for us to allow our enemy to implode.  Fast forward to 2009.  The United States, in economic crises, is depending on the loans, investment, and support from hostile Nations in the east... especially China.  I call China hostile because as we all know, China isn't exactly being invited over for Thanksgiving dinner anytime soon.  Hypothetically, and I know you are reading this thinking it could never happen, but what if there arose a strong leader in China who decided that they no longer wanted America around?  You can take your pick of the reasons why.  Perhaps he doesn't want a competitor who poses a military challenge to China's empire, or maybe he wants China to have greater access to dwindling oil supplies.  Who knows, maybe he even wants America to collapse based simply on a moral agenda which portrays America as evil.  The point is, what if this Leader decides to stop the flow of money to us?  What if he decides that China will no longer invest in America, loan to America, or support it?  Would we end up like our former adversaries?  It seems far-fetched.  I'm sure it sounded just as ridiculous to a group of Russians before they ever heard the name Ronald Reagan.

by Thomas Craig

If you happened to miss Mitt Romney on Larry King Live this past week, I highly recommend you try to watch it online.  Romney brings up many interesting points but what stuck out to me was his statement that Obama is "learning on the fly".  He pointed out that Obama has never run a business (and certainly not a Nation) and that he is learning by trial and error.  The inexperience of our President is troubling to many, as it should be.  This inexperience has allowed the Congress to run wild.  It almost feels like they are saying, "George W Bush almost destroyed this Country, so now it's OUR chance to try to destroy the Country".  The AIG debacle is the first instance where the President and Congress cannot flat out blame Bush.  How did they react instead?  They tried to cover their butts by passing an unconstitutional bill which will tax AIG bonuses at a 90% rate.  I am amazed at how quickly the House introduced this bill and passed it.  Imagine if Congress worked that fast on solving our real problems.  The President is being taken advantage of by the radical elements of his Party.  Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Dodd... these are the faces of the true Leaders of America.  People who do as they please and serve only themselves.  Leaders who believe enforcing illegal immigration laws are "un-American".   You can't turn on the news without seeing a story about another State in financial disarray.  It is downright scary that States are depending on the stimulus funds to keep operating.  What happens when the stimulus funds run out?  They will be right back where they started only with more debt.  I wish we could just focus on the economy but our inexperienced President, unfortunetly, is lacking the ability to focus.  He is seeing this as an opportunity to exapnd Government programs and control.  Tea Parties are symbolic and fun, but they aren't getting the message across.  Americans need to bring their protests to the doorsteps of every Politician.  Let us protest in D.C. at the steps of the Capitol.  Let us go to our Representatives offices in our own districts and protest there and demand answers.  It is coming my friends.  We have two choices.  We can stand up now and demand responsibility or we can lay and wait until we wake up one morning, stripped of all our abilities to take ownership of our Government.

"Politicians, like diapers, have to be changed frequently – and for the very same reason." -Benjamin Franklin

Power is an addictive thing.  Few people in history have had the ability and morality to give it up.  George Washington, who could have been a King in all but name, voluntarily chose to step down from his office.  A fact that makes this great man even greater.  It is a shame more of our "leaders" don't follow in his footsteps.  President Obama wants change.  It is impossible to find change when you depend on the same politicians who created the messes to solve them.  The American People realize that term limits for our President is necessary.  Without term limits, one man can amass too much influence and power and gain the ability to monopolize the position in which he holds.  Several states have term limits for their Governors, and rightfully so.  Why then do we not have the same term limits for our Legislators?  There are members of Congress who have been in Congress for decades.  The longer they are there, the more money gets thrown at them and the more power they amass.  It is near impossible now for anyone, short of being a celebrity, to run against an incumbent.  Term limits defend us against lifelong politicians who will always become corrupted.  It's not their fault, it's human nature.  Large companies and special interests start throwing their money at you and you reap the benefits and perks of being a whore for their purposes.  The good People of New York City chose to create a law placing term limits on the position of Mayor.  Twice this law was challenged and twice the People chose to uphold the limits.  Then, only last year, did Michael Bloomberg choose to change the law on his own with the support of the city council in some back room deal and avoiding the pesky obstacle of a democratic vote.  Now, I live in NYC and I have my own problems with Bloomberg, primarily the fact that he was a Democrat until he figured he could win only as a Republican.  After switching to and winning as a Republican, he chose to return to the Left and became an independent.  Now he wants to run on the Republican ticket again to get re-elected.  He is a political opportunist with little respect or care for the People he serves. 

Term limits are the single best way to reform our Government and bring "change".  Almost every single time the issue has been put to a vote, the People overwhelmingly choose to place the limits.  So who does oppose term limits?  Incumbent Politicians and special interest groups who don't want to lose their investment in buying a member of Congress.  Term Limits makes sense and it is the only way to return our Government to the People.

by Thomas Craig

I know, the title is maybe a bit much.  I'm having a hard time lately just like I know you are having a hard time as well.  We are standing by and watching our Country change into something and it terrifies us because we don't know what it will become.  What is even scarier is that it seems like our Government doesn't know what it will become either.  I sit and I pray that the Obama administration will surprise us and we will be lifted out of our current state.  Every day that passes, however, seems to convey the message that the President and our Government are in complete disarray.  It seems like our Government is being run no better than a fraternity house.  I'll tell you what I see.  I see a stock market that is failing because of a lack of direction and focus in our leadership.  I see a President who promised to stop earmarks and then goes ahead and signs off to 9000 of them.  I hear a President, who promised America that he has solutions, and instead merely blames his predecessor and throws his hands up as if to say that since he didn't cause it, he shouldn't be held responsible to fix it.  It’s almost as if we should be grateful that he is trying to fix it at all.  I see a Treasury Secretary who has zero faith from the People as well as Congress.  I see Republicans who advocate reforming the Party and vowing to return to our principles, and then go ahead and add in thousands of earmarks themselves.  I see a Speaker of the House who treats her position as if she won the lottery and can say, do, and spend whatever she pleases.  I sense, because my actual sight has never witnessed even a picture of it, trillions of dollars of debt that is borrowed from our Children or China (I'm not sure which is worse).  New taxes will take effect, and old taxes will rise.  Sure, only "rich" people will have their taxes increase.  You won't feel it at all unless of course you happen to purchase goods or services of any sort.  I see trillions spent on bailouts and stimulus.  I hear the call of our Leaders for trillions more to be spent to stop what the free market is naturally trying to accomplish.  Around the world, I see foreign nations test our resolve and flex their muscles and in return we invite them to sit down and talk.  I see Afghanistan failing and Mexican drug cartels pressing hard on our border.
Our individual freedoms are shrinking and our Government is growing.  More than ever before are we so controlled by our Government.  What saddens me is that America asked for it.  They saw a young man who talks a good game and who sold them Heaven itself.  That man is now winging it and trying to learn as he goes.  Of course the alternate option was not much better.
Republicans need to accept the misdeeds perpetrated by the Party during the Bush years.  I supported Bush and so I am guilty as well.  I supported the Patriot Act and I supported the expansion of our Government.  Both violate the Republican principles of individual freedom and limited Government.  I see all of this and I pray that our best days are ahead of us, but I fear that we might not be able to come back from where we are going.

The following was written by Robert A. Hall, a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them-with their own money. 

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women's rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won't multiculturalism be beautiful? 

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor;" of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers;" of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery;" of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 

I believe "a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin." I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the
appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government. 

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. 

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004. 

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance. 

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough. 

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. 

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is
self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need. 

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our
military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years-and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the 20 blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American
soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers-bums are bi-partisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet are bi-partisan as well. 

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich
or poor. 

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing. 

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems. 

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to get to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.