This is my one and only big political rant.  I don’t get into politics.  I am not trying to say I am right and everybody else is wrong it is just me calling it like I see it.  Just my way of trying to put a hopeful voice on the government shut down. 

I really hope that in the next election we have more than two candidates to begin with and some of them are people that genuinely care about the general public and listen to them.  This last election was pathetic.  No good candidates.  It literally came down to who you believed to be the lesser evil.  That is partly why I wasn't overly broken up by not being able to make it to the voting polls on Election Day this last time.  I hate having to choose between two evils without a good alternate choice. 

Some people are saying that this government could be the end of America as a nation.  I think it could possibly be the end but it could also be the beginning of a better America.  We should all band together as a people and help support our American big businesses, small business, and home entrepreneurs.

With 14% of customs workers on furlough there may be delays on imports reaching the shelves of stores.  If this shutdown lasts long term it could present the possibility of American businesses opening more factories or it could be the catalyst for more direct sales companies to thrive.  If more factories open than more Americans will be employed.  It could potentially be a step towards America becoming a self-reliant nation.

We, as a nation, need to rebuild our political system in such a way that is more in tune with what our forefathers intended it to be.  We should start electing general citizens who are good hearted smart leaders into public offices on the local and state level then we need to help them get to the national office levels.  It also would not hurt to lower politicians pay a little bit while they are in office and eliminate the “for life” part of their salary.  They can still get retirement benefits like the rest of us but this reduction in pay would help eliminate reduce the number of people running for office that are in it for the money.  This shut down could be a literal rebirth of the nation. 

I know a lot of people want to eliminate food stamps, WIC, and other government assistance programs.  I think they are all really good programs but too many people abuse these programs.  People have found ways to expedite loop holes in these programs.  I have known a handful of people who abuse these programs.   At the same time there are others like myself who use these programs in order to get their feet back under them or to keep their feet from getting pulled out from under them.  We currently get WIC.   Yeah, I know some of you now think I am the scum of the earth because we use government assistance.  We get two checks each month for five 12.6 oz cans of formula.  That comes to $160 a month on formula alone.  Last month we still ended up buying a can of formula ourselves.  The rest of my family of three can get by on a food budget of $300 a month.  WIC is extremely helpful to young families of the working class.  I think that too many people see the horrible abuse done by some to these programs and don’t get to see the good these programs do.  These government programs help a lot of really good people have the opportunity to make something better of themselves. 

Another big hard hitting topic is illegal immigration.  I understand why people come to the nation illegally.  I don't condone it but I also don't condemn it. I think we just need to do better at not helping illegal immigrants quite so much.  That would make it easier for American citizens and those who are here legally but not yet citizens, to have a better chance to make something better of themselves.  We need to give people less reason to come here illegally and encourage them to do things the legal way.  Implementing harsher punishment for those who enter the nation illegally may unfortunately be one good way to encourage people to enter legally.

We as a society need to remember the golden rule of treating others as you wish to yourself be treated by others.  We all need to do more to help each other out.  Care about your neighbors.  When I say neighbors I am not simply talking about the people living in the houses immediately to all sides of your house I am talking those across town, in neighboring towns, in neighboring states, across the nation, around the world.  America used to be the great melting pot.  A nation of great diversity where all could thrive.  Somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten about this.  We are all so self-absorbed living in this high speed high tech life that we forget about the value of human interaction and the basic human (animal) need for acceptance.  

I guess I am just a bit too Christian to be a politician.  I just think we need to all do more to help each other out if we can and quit helping the politicians.  Hey, look at that I just circled back to where I started.  Also it shouldn't cost so blasted much to run for public office.  It should be something that the people who are just hard working people in the middle or even lower middle class should be able to do.  We need people in office that understand the working class and the poor.  The middle class, lower middle class, and the poor need to have a more proper voice in politics.  There is a higher population in the middle and lower class than in the higher class.  Our political system needs to represent the population better instead of catering to the rich. 

Sorry for the politics rant.  Normally I keep my mouth shut on politics because I understand what the forefathers were trying to accomplish when they set up the nation’s political system and I understand that what it evolved into over the generations is a massively huge far cry from what it was intended to be.  Politics has become so much more about money than anything that if you don't have money you are less than the dirt that is scraped off the shoes of those leading the nation.  I hope that this shut down is the catalyst that the nation needed in order to get back to being what the forefathers intended.