A Thought on Getting Stimulated

I think that the reason we haven’t started to see visible improvements in the economy can be traced back to two things: politics and patience.

Politics: I’m going to be drawing some relevant comparisons so bare with me. Many historians believe that the cause of the great depression was the cost of WWI and the promotion of buying on credit, along with an uncertainty of the future economic success of the country. This caused the runs on the banks and the crashing of the stock market. Jump to today, where we are fighting a ridiculously expensive war and a changing of the face of politics and what it means for the government to control aspects of our day to day lives (patriot act, gitmo, wiretapping, blackwater.)
When the new deal was enacted, congress did everything they could to help Roosevelt and passed whatever he put before them. The country had a “can do” attitude that was nothing but working towards the good of the whole for the betterment of the nation. Everyone pitched in to accomplish this goal and now, almost 70 years later, things they put into place are still functioning. Things like FDIC, social security, the fair labor act, the FHA and the SEC still help grease the gears of progress. If you compare that attitude to today, we look like jerks. Congress is bickering and drawing lines in the sand, based upon party lines not doing what is best for the people they represent. Companies were practicing some of the most unethical things imaginable and standing with their hands out wanting help when the house of cards they built comes crashing down around their ears.
And then there’s us. We wonder why the sky is falling and all then world is coming to an end, until American Idol comes on and then all of our troubles float away. We should have seen this coming. We can’t just be complacent and keep our heads in the sand until something goes wrong and the demand blood because we were to busy surfing youtube.

Patience: we live in the greatest time in the history of the world. We live in a time where I can hold a device in my hand and talk to someone ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE. This same device has access to any information you would ever need, instantly, or as long as we have bars. My point being that we need to be a little patient with the stimulus plan.
When the money is coming from the top down, and everyone is pulling there share on the way down, it’s going to take a while to see any results. Let us remember “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Now that being said, giving billions of dollars to companies that obviously don’t know how to run a successful business was one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard of but none the less, let’s give it a little time before we start getting out pitchforks and torches.

Picture Wednesday?

I know that Pictures should normally go up on Monday, but I couldn't resist this once I saw it.

No matter your political position (most of you know mine) you have to admit that what happened Tuesday night way a monumental event in American history. 40 years ago people were arrested, beaten, and killed because of the color of their skin, and now 40 years later, a man can hold the highest position in this country without his skin color playing the slightest factor/



I bet he explodes it too.

I also just want to post a couple of excerpts for his acceptance speech.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

I read an article on CNN about the woman mentioned below and the fact that Obama brings he up in his speech was really heartwarming.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
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This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Congratulations Mr. Obama, you are truly a great representation of the progress of this wonderful nation of ours.