The US Republic...

I like politics, but I don't care much for politicians. They do, however, have a lot of people to make happy, and just because people are happy doesn't mean that the nation is in a good position. For instance, the nation of Israel wanted a king because all the nations around them had a king. They forgot their God like they did so many times. God warned them about the abuse of power that they would have to endure. The masses didn't listen.

 The same thing can be said today. As a Christian, I believe that I should show respect to our leaders (Romans 13), but I do like history and studying facts. Many people don't realize today that the President doesn't have the legislative power. The President can veto a bill, but Congress can overturn a bill with two-thirds vote. This is the checks and balances system. After the Vietnam War, Congress enacted a law that would allow them to pull troops out of combat. Why do I say this? We can blame the financial crisis, health care crisis, military crisis, and so forth on the Republicans. The Democrats have had the Congress for the past two years. They haven't done much either.

It is funny that we are talking so much about change during this election. What has changed. This election has been run just like every other election (with respect to the Presidential election) in our nations history-mud slinging and all. We still have a Republican pushing Republican dogma and a Democrat pushing Democratic doctrine. They have still spent outrageous amounts of money for their campaigns. Money that could have been used in more fruitful endeavors. Obama has definitely taken the victory on this front with an increase of $150 million (of public funding-that he wasn't going to take). Palin is criticized for not having enough experience to be Vice-President. Did you hear me, "Vice-President." The Vice President sits on a seat and strikes a gavel. How much experience do you need? Obama has been in the Senate for how many years. He's the one running for President.

Also, McCain is accusing Obama of wanting to raise taxes. Okay. I agree. He does. However, McCain is wanting to tax health benefits for the first time in this nation's history. After taxing these benefits, he's going to give a $5000 rebate check to people so they can get health coverage. Yeah, like people are going to use that for health care. They won't, and we will be worse off than before. The Republicans are about not doing too much. Well, except for the whole bail out package. I would hate for the government to start taking control of things. As a nation, we spend more money on health care and education, and we rank very low in industrialized nations in both of these categories. The issue is not in funding. The issue is in efficiency. For instance, HIV is probably one of the most, if not most, funded diseases. However, more people die from Hepatitis B than HIV. If you look at the top killers in the US, you don't see HIV. Then, why do we spend so much money on it? Because of interests groups. We know what causes HIV. We know the most common transmission types (i.e. sharing needles, sexual contact). The number of transmissions have dropped in both child births and transfusions. We know how to slow the transmission and to prevent contraction. Why do we still fund it more than Diabetes, heart disease and stroke? Special interests.

We blame Washington for our mishaps, and yes, they do deserve some of the credit. Yes, the banks do deserve some the credit as well for the housing crisis. But what about us? Yes, the people in this great land. We all want lower gas prices, but we don't want to dirty our backyard. Not enough to stop our consumption-no. We still want gasoline. We just want someone else to kill their environment. We want cheaper health care, but we don't want to put down our $4 a pack habit that kills our lungs and cardiovascular system (cigarettes). Nor, do we want to eat healthier foods and exercise. We want a cheap, affective pill that will completely take any responsibility off our shoulders and put it on someone that we can sue if it doesn't work. I'm not saying this to mean, but I just feel that we need to realize that the issues that face our nation are very complex. Many of these issues start in the home with common people. The education system will improve when the home strengthens its values about education. The same goes with health care and a whole list of other issues (i.e. teen pregnancy, substance abuse, depression, etc.). Families need to do more activities together. They need to eat together, exercise and be active together, discuss important issues facing children today, and study together. If we strengthen the home, we will strengthen the nation.