Is your Senator up for reelection in 2014?

When is the last time you spoke to your US Senator? I wanted to schedule a meeting during the health care debate and only could meet with her in DC. Her staff didn’t know when she would be back to NC.

I called and emailed and never did get to speak with her or be notified when she would be back in the Charlotte area. I did know of her travels back to NC until after she was here and went back to DC.

Senators have 6-years to make a difference for us. Kay Hagan has NOT made a difference over the past 6-years. I would suggest that we should make a difference.

Now that she is up for election, I see her presence on all different types of websites. Most senators are ineffective and have little to offer. They are more interested in their legacy than their constituents. I am sure to remind myself that most Senators work for only those that vote for them and will only meet if convenient for them, true or false?

Why would we vote for an incumbent to go back to Washington DC (either party) to solve the problems when they are part of the problem?

Why do we call them Senators after they are voted out of office?

They have put themselves on a pedestal and we are supporting their arrogance.  Even Senators are sheep and their free thinking is limited but we continue to vote in incumbents.

Let’s review examples of her accomplishments:

S.RES.150 : A resolution to designate the year 2013 as the "International Year of Statistics".
Sponsor: Sen. Hagan, Kay [NC] (introduced 5/21/2013)      Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 5/21/2013 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

S.AMDT.1031 to S.954 To authorize the use of the insurance fund to reduce fraud and maintain program integrity in the crop insurance program.
Sponsor: Sen. Hagan, Kay [NC] (introduced 5/21/2013)      Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/23/2013 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 1031 agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 94 - 0. Record Vote Number: 138.

Health Care ----

"Today, the Senate passed a health care reform bill that reduces costs, expands coverage, and provides stability for North Carolina families," Hagan said. "It prevents insurance companies from taking away your coverage when you get sick or discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. The bill reduces the waste, fraud and abuse that currently exists in the delivery of care, and it will save our country money by decreasing the mounting federal deficit. As we move forward, I will continue working to ensure that North Carolina's families, seniors and small businesses have a seat at the table."

When pressed about whether she would back the health care law if she had another chance, Hagan said: "Yeah, I would vote for it again. People have to realize that the cost of health care was getting out of reach for everybody."

If you are not from NC, are you pleased with the accomplishments of your Senator? Did they listen to you? Have you talked with them? Have you seen them in person? Do you think they represent the majority of you in your state?

The last election was important and it was. But this year, our vote will either define us as individual thinkers or as tired worn out sheep waiting for the next fleecing. Not to vote is to vote!

Wake up America!

As individuals we must invest in others

I had a penny in my pocket and found a penny the other day; a 100% profit!

Forget about the drop in the unemployment rate from 7% to 6.7%.  

Remember all of the people and families affected by the lack of work.

We need to think about families; invest in others in need

Non-government workers employed                                                        144,386,000

Federal, State, Local gov’t workers                                                           22,300,000

TOTAL                                                                                                         168,686,000

Unemployed less than 27 wks                                                                      6,500,000

Unemployed greater than 27 wks                                                                 4,110,000

Dropped out of the labor force                                                                     91,000,000

TOTAL                                                                                                          101,610,000

Statistics are used only to spin a success or a failure and typically used by politicians or by those striving to highlight a success or a failure of a politician. Here is a statistical fact --- the 101,610,000 out of work Americans are individuals --- but their sphere of influence i.e. family, extended family, friends and more are affected every day.

The impact on the economy is exponential.

When are we going to stop looking at statistics and start looking out for those that want to work and make a living? 

How do you answer this question: Are YOU Better off NOW than in 2010?

Regardless of your circumstance, let’s consider the nation as a whole and review some published statistics comparing 2010 to 2013

We must do our own research and draw our own conclusions based on the reported stats.

                                                                        2010                           2012                           2013

Employment to population Ratio           58.5% (3/10)              58.5% (3/12)              58.6% (12/13)

I am not an economist nor am I an expert on anything but the ratio is essentially the same over the past three years!! Unless I am wrong, jobs being added match the net increase in the employed population.  The unemployed number will not decrease until more jobs are added. But the number has actually been going down! Troublesome don’t you think?

Median Income                                           $49,445                      $51,373                      $51,404 (12/13)

Note: 15% of our population or 46,500,000 Americans are living in poverty with an income below $29,437 for a family of 4. This statistic has remained relatively constant over the 3-yr comparison period. In 2008, the median income was $53,644. We are keeping up with inflation but certainly not getting ahead.

 

National Debt as Percentage of GDP    86.4% (1/10)              101.7% (6/12)           113%+ (3/13)

Inflation Rate                                               1.24% (7/10)              1.41% (7/12)              1.5% (12/13)

Note: remember the inflation rate does not include food and energy costs 

Median price of Ex. Homes                      $177,900                   $171,250                   $174,000

Mortgage Interest Rates (30-yr fixed)        4.38%                         3.54%                         4.48%

Note: for 2014, I expect interest rates to increase and may be over 5% by the end of the year.

This will  not be helpful for a recovering economy --- flat incomes, rising home prices, and rising mortgage interest rates.

Gas / gal                                                        $2.78                          $3.61                          $3.49

SOURCE: By Chris Isidore@CNNMoney December 31, 2013

Ground Beef/ lbs                                        $2.49                          $3.08                          $3.46 (12/13)

You should do your own research and determine what is important to you and your family.

All I know is that it is tough out there and we need to help others.

I am sorry to report that the state of the union is not doing so well.

It may very well be on life support because of $17,000,000,000,000 of debt. 

We continue to ask those that created the problem to correct the problem. 

Those in power use polls and stats to support their beliefs until the American people tell them something else and then - they just ignore us! True or False?

When is it time for us to say --- Enough is Enough---- probably when it is too late!

Quotes from our Presidents - When do you think we changed as a people?

We used to look for a hero as someone to emulate. Is there a hero today that you would say “I would like my child to be like them”? Our culture has changed as the leadership of the free world has changed.

A hero is somebody who is admired for outstanding qualities or achievements or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character. It is easy to select quotes and illustrate when we changed as a culture.

Do we care who is on the cover of Time magazine as “Man of the Year”

Do we watch Barbara Waters and want to know her list of the most interesting people of the year?

Do you read the NY Times or the Washington Post? Who cares about what they have to say?

Who is the last news anchor that told the truth without an agenda or bias?

Do we trust any politician?

What really defines us or do we allow others to influence our values?

When do you think we changed as a society? Remember; you can’t change a personality.

Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)   (He did not have a middle name!)

“When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril.”

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961)

“There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure.”

‘Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963)

“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. “

 Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969)

“Men want to be a part of a common enterprise—a cause greater than themselves. Each of us must find a way to advance the purpose of the Nation, thus finding new purpose for ourselves. Without this, we shall become a nation of strangers.”

Richard Milhous Nixon 1969-1974)
“A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”  

“I am not a crook”

 
 

Gerald Rudolph Ford (1974-1977)

"If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have."

"The American people want a dialogue between them and their president ... And if we can’t have that opportunity of talking with one another, seeing one another, shaking hands with one another, something has gone wrong in our society."

James Earl Carter, Jr. (1977-1981)

Whether the borders that divide us are picket fences or national boundaries, we are all neighbors in a global community.

Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1981-1989)

While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.”

“Let us ask ourselves 'What kind of people do we think we are'”

  

George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993)

 “Read my lips. No new taxes.”

“Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective — a new world order — can emerge: a new era, freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, east and west, north and south, can prosper and live in harmony.”

William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001)

“Frankly, I'm fed up with politicians in Washington lecturing the rest of us about family values. Our families have values. But our government doesn’t.”

“It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.”

George Walker Bush (2001-2009)

I know that Americans sometimes get discouraged by the tone in Washington and the seemingly endless partisan struggles, yet history has shown that, in times of real trial, elected officials rise to the occasion.

"Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

Barack Hussein Obama (2009-present)

“America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page of the policies of the past.”

2008

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Feb 5, 2008

 “We are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history; we’re going to have to move into a different place as a nation.” — Michelle Obama, May 14, 2008

 “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” — Barack Obama, October 30, 2008

2009

“But I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.”

“I think that one of the things that we all agree to is that the touchstone for economic policy is, does it allow the average American to find good employment and see their incomes rise; that we can’t just look at things in the aggregate, we do want to grow the pie, but we want to make sure that prosperity is spread across the spectrum of regions and occupations and genders and races; and that economic policy should focus on growing the pie, but it also has to make sure that everybody has got opportunity in that system.”

2010
"For every success story, there are other stories, of men and women who wake up with the anguish of not knowing where their next paycheck will come from, who send out resumes week after week and hear nothing in response. That is why jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight."

2011

"It's a balanced plan that would reduce the deficit by making additional spending cuts, by making modest adjustments to health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid and by reforming our tax code in a way that asks the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share."

2012

“You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth.”

“The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future.”

2013

“I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me.”

“But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”

2014

And tonight, what will our President be remembered for?