Texans Love Their Guns...

Skimming through all the Texas news sources, I came across an article in the Dallas Morning News. It was an editorial called Guns and universities don't mix. First off, State Rep. Joe Driver and Sen. Jeff Wentworth are introducing legislation to abolish the "gun-free" status of Texas universities so that students and professors can arm themselves on campus.
The author believes arming students and professors is not the solution. He believes the possibilities for problems and errors in judgment are enormous, and not worth the potential benefits of the "campus carry" proposal. I believe that yes there is a possibility for error but not just anyone can carry. You have to have take classes and have a CHL permit to carry. Also most informed gun owners with CHL are smart about it.
Another reason to not be able to carry he brings up is that there are certain places in our communities where it's just better to rely on police and professional security personnel to do their jobs in emergency situations. Police aren’t always there all the time, especially when you really need them sometimes. For instance take a look at the Virginia Tech Incident. It’s not just that incident. There are many incidents around the US where students were robbed, assaulted, raped, shot where police weren’t there at the time. We cannot depend on the police to protect us because they aren't always there in time.
He then ended it off with this paragraph; we concede that only a tiny percentage of students would probably carry guns if allowed to do so. But universities are dedicated to the free flow of ideas, and they deserve to be in the special category as gun free. Students and professors should never feel inhibited by the fear that someone around them is packing heat. Well first off, the only people that should be allowed to carry a gun are the ones with a CHL. Second, if a student, or any CHL holder, is properly concealing a firearm, students and professors shouldn't be able to tell they are "packing heat."
It would be faster for a person with a CHL on campus to take out the shooter than having to wait for the police to arrive and he could end the massacre that’s waiting to happen. I personally believe in self defense and having the right to protect myself. I think the author of the article is misinformed and he should’ve done more research. There has been many times where a person with a CHL has prevented a massacre. Haven’t you noticed that most massacres happen on places where you are not allowed to carry even with a CHL?

Gov. Rick Perry, Hypocrite?

At the beginning of this entire stimulus bill situation, Gov. Rick Perry criticized the federal stimulus bill saying "they should stimulate the economy with something that actually works: tax cuts." He wrote a letter to President Obama stating, “I continue to believe that the best way to stimulate the economy is the approach we are taking here in Texas...low taxes, controlled government spending and a predictable regulatory climate."
So now that the bill has passed through the house and the senate, then signed by Obama, Gov. Rick Perry is now asking the White House for Texas’ cut of the federal stimulus bill. Gov. Perry stated that the money will be used to promote economic growth and create jobs. So much for doing it the Texas way and sticking with, CONTROLLED GOVERNMENT SPENDING.

Police State!

I too agree with Steven Le, the government needs to halt all warrantless wiretappings. The government has already invaded our privacy, who knows what else they’ll do in the near future. I believe that the government shouldn’t be allowed to touch, see, or hear anything that we do in our own privacy. The government needs to act on a more “legal/moral” for surveillance on the American people. I highly agree with Steven when he says “we should spend more money to find another route that doesn’t violate certain rights of the people otherwise it would create chaos within the nation.” Why not spend more money on things like this instead of stupid bailouts.
I too agree with Steven when he mentions, “ I don't mind if the government is putting surveillance cameras up at street lights and department stores because I believe that is for a good cause,” but who knows if the government will go overboard and install cameras everywhere monitoring each and everyone of us 24/7. I already dislike the fact that they are starting to talk about a National ID with chips built insides that can track each and everyone of us.
“If the government believes warrantless wiretapping is fine by any means, there's no telling what they are going to do next. Before you know it, we won't have any privacy whatsoever. I believe something needs to be done before it gets out of hand.” Who knows maybe the next thing they’ll do is take away the 2nd amendment.

Another Bailout?!!??

So here we are again. Once again, a massive bailout is in the works for the 3 major automakers of the US, GM, Ford. and Chrysler. Again the public is against the bailout but even though I don’t support bailouts, I think this one is needed. Lets face the facts here, they make crappy cars that no one wants to drive, the UAW is raping them, and their business model is set up for failure. I feel that if we don’t bail them out, we might end up having to bailout the entire state of Michigan. I don't think people quite realize how big of a shockwave to the economy it would be if the automakers went bankrupt. If you think the Job losses currently this year were bad, wait till GM files bankruptcy. To give a feel for how much jobs would be lost, here is an excerpt from one of my emails my friend sent me, “every job at GM accounts for approximately 8000-10000 jobs worldwide. According to Standard and Poors, GM currently has 266,000 employees worldwide. Do the math. Granted not everyone would lose their job unless chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed, but I will guarantee you a whole hell of a lot of people will be layed off in a chapter 11.”
These companies didn't just magically fail, they have been failing for a while. I think in order for them to receive a bailout they need to be totally restructured. Somewhere along the lines like Toyota who is the number one auto seller and is doing very successful despite a weak economy.

Hooray for 700 Billion Dollar Payday!

Are we bailing out CEOs? Im going to have to agree with Brian and say, yes we are. He mentions “
Banks are notorious for their generous annual bonuses paid out to their CEOs and other top advisers. This bonus is thousands of times larger than the average annual American income and is on top of their overly bloated salary.” On top of that some of the bailout money was funding vacations and lavish “business meetings” that cost almost 300,000. The money spent doesn’t seem like a bailout to me, It seems like a huge bonus/payday for these CEOs.
Brian also mentions “Why do CEOs of failing banks continue to be hoisted to their relaxed and cushioned seats at a steep cost to the taxpayer? Should we reward these obese fat cats of failing businesses for running their corporation into the ground?” I say its cause the American government rewards failure.
Also here is some food for thought. The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

We Are Doomed :(

As I start to grow and get more into politics and this election, my eyes have started to open on things. I think both these candidates are not worthy enough nor have the experience to be President. I also think Bush was a terrible president also. These men seem like they are just puppets and it’s the guys behind them that actually run this government. Obama and McCain are not the ones to vote for in my opinion. The one and only thing we need to do on Election Day is not vote for Obama and McCain but write in Ron Paul. If you want to vote and make a difference for the better of our country, you shouldn’t vote for these two clowns. If you actually look into Obama’s tax plan, it’s socialist. Same applies for McCain when a girl asks why her father, a doctor, should pay more because he makes more and McCain replies that, "once you reach a certain level of comfort, you can afford it". We are forced to pick the lesser of the two evils. Instead of picking them we should write in, Ron Paul, who would get things done.
We are forced to live in a country where the majority of voters (a.k.a. majority of the nation's citizens) make uninformed decisions which consequently leads to a major race between two of the highest funded puppets. The country is turning into a hole of uniformed people. They would rather have the media tell them who is good/bad vs. getting off their ass and doing some research on their own. No one wants to think for themselves anymore.

I'VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE

So I’m going through these blogs and found a interesting one by Steve Benen off the Washington Monthly. What stood out was the line “I got nothing to lose.” It has to do with Sarah Palin and her interview with Rush Limbaugh. First she was asked why she is more aggressive then John McCain and she responds, "Rush, I've got nothing to lose in this and I think America's got everything to gain by understanding the differences, the contrasts here between Obama and McCain." Another thing Steve brings up about Sarah Palin is that she likes to talk a lot on things that she knows nothing about. This reminded me of her first televised interview where she couldn’t answer anything. Benen had to say this, “It seems even stranger than someone would talk to a national audience about voter fraud without knowing what it is, but that's Palin for you.” And I have to completely agree with what he said about her. He also brought up the fact that the McCain is trying to keep Palin more hidden by having her, “talk to anyone but sycophantic conservatives.”
The last and final thing brought up in his blog was the fact that “Palin is right about not having anything to lose. If McCain comes up short in three weeks, she returns to her day job in Alaska, and she remains the darling of unhinged right-wing activists everywhere.” He says she can say whatever she wants from now to election. He also says “It's tempting to think the governor does have something to lose -- her credibility, her dignity, her sense of decency, her honor -- but we are talking about Sarah Palin. After watching her conduct over the course of this campaign, serious observers know she lost these qualities a while ago.”
I completely agree with Steve Benen and I too think Sarah Palin is dumb. I don’t see how Sarah Palin lost these “qualities” when she had none to begin with. What exactly has she lost? She's been like this since before her political career began.