Say No to the Washington Blame Game--Take Action!

We have seen a lot of political turmoil lately. The 2012 election season was full of attack ads and empty promises, we've had financial ceilings and cliffs come and go over the last couple of years, and our country is more divided than it's been in 150 years. 

The thing that troubles me the most about this is that when I listen to the news I hear blame, not a call to action. It doesn't matter what station I listen to: if it's MSNBC they're blaming the Republicans; if it's FOX they're blaming President Obama. But on no station do I hear, "Our country is in trouble; let's put our party differences aside, come together, and get it back on track."

The "sequester" is coming in 24 hours. It seems to me that everyone in Washington is playing a game of "chicken," with the American people as the one who will have to pick up the pieces. The politicians are blaming each other and then sitting at home, with no meetings or phone calls on the books, waiting for the other side to blink. 

I want to be very clear: I am not at all blinded by my past involvement with the Obama campaign. I am incredibly frustrated with Obama and the Democratic party, as well as the Republicans. 

I feel cheated: I worked for Obama for three months to get him re-elected because he promised a better tomorrow, a better country. Kentucky is slated to lose 150 teaching jobs if the sequester happens. My fiancé is a first year teacher and his is the only income we have right now. If Josh loses his job because Obama and Congress can't get their act together to fix this mess that they put us in, you'd better believe that I'll be very vocal about what my president and my congressmen have done for me.

We get to elect our leaders, but I don't feel like we've elected leaders. I feel like we've elected 15 year old boys to Capitol Hill and they're acting like children, refusing to talk to the guys they don't agree with. They need to get it together and remember that they are representing us, the people of America. 

They have the honor of having been chosen to represent us at the highest level and they are not taking that seriously. It seems to me that most of the people in Washington (the president, senators, and representatives) are more interested in their own political gain than doing what's right for the people. 

Contact your congressmen and congresswomen, as well as your president. Tell them that you don't agree with the way they're doing business on your behalf and you expect better from the people you sent to Washington in your stead.

Contact Info:

US Senators

US Representatives

US President

The only way we will get this country back on track is to stop joining in the blame game. We need to take action, not spend article after article blaming the "other side." We are better than that! Our country is one that has been built on its citizens taking action, not its people complaining until someone else fixes our problems.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Should Some States Secede?

Following the re-election of President Obama, 20 states are petitioning the federal government for secession. My sister-in-law shared this a few days ago and I thought it was a joke! Then I started hearing about it from more sources. The states that want to secede include Kentucky and Montana; the two states I've lived in. The author of the previously linked article says to let the states that want to secede do so. I take exception to this.

I don't want you to think I'm freaking out about all this; I don't believe that we are in danger of seceding from the U.S. because Obama would have to sign off on that, and he has enough sense to not allow 2/5 of his country to leave. But I do want to talk about this a little bit.

How is it possible that people feel that they would be better off if they were not part of the United States? I understand all too well the anger of losing an election, but would these states really be better off not being part of the union?

None of the states on the list have a budget surplus, which means they would have to find some way to generate money quickly. Really, the best way to do that is to raise taxes. But most of these states don't want to raise taxes--hence the reason they want to secede. So how would they raise money?

How would they get money to fix the interstates that run through their states (or countries, I guess)? How would they keep the schools that are receiving federal funding open? Free and reduced lunches are funded by the government (at least in KY); who would pay for those? Some of the KY farmers have gotten government subsidies for their crops during this drought; would the state government help those farmers out? How would we have a military? I don't want to go back to little warring city-states like there were in ancient Greece.

There are so many reasons to stay in the union. Being unhappy with the results of the election is just part of the deal when you're in a democracy. To the people who want to secede, man up. There is absolutely no reason for you to be such drama queens in this situation. Just get over yourselves and work with what you have. That's what the other half of the country did during the Bush years.

As for me, if KY secedes, I'm making my own country and you're all welcome!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi