Stormy Weather

I must admit I did not watch the debate last night, deciding instead to go to bed. The first one was so discouraging because the candidates never answered the questions directly. I know that when Bruce gets home, he'll have CNN blasting away; they will still be discussing/debating the debate ad nauseam. Frankly, there isn't a whole lot more I need to know about the candidates, what I do know makes me sad. Bruce's question is, "is this the best we can do?"

Early on, I was taken by Barak Obama, but the more research I've done, the more I realize that there isn't really much substance to the man. I know there are those who will vehemently disagree with me on this issue which is what makes America great. We can agree to disagree. Reading everything I can about him from a wide variety of sources, convinces me that although he is charismatic, his accomplishments are scarce. While in the state legislature his achievements were primarily made possible through the largess of another. When the Democrats took over the state legislature old bills that had failed under the Republicans were re-introduced by Obama and won approval. It seems as if he was not responsible for the writing of the bills, mostly their introduction. Not long after that he was running for office again. When you think that he has been largely absent from Senatorial duties going on two years now it only makes sense that he's not getting anything productive done aside from campaigning. That said, he can certainly rally people, and what we need right now is a strong leader making him possibly the best fit for that role.

Primarily people have focused on the foolhardiness of nominating Sarah Palin but I'm wondering about Joe Biden. The truth is that he has run for president, not once, not twice, but three times and the people have resoundingly said no thanks. He hardly represents change having spent over 30 years in the Senate representing a state with a population of around 800,000, nearly the same as Alaska.

John McCain too has tried for the presidency before and failed. He seems ill at ease, hardly inspiring voter confidence. His age does not worry me, but for some that is problematic. Although I find Sarah Palin's rise in politics amazing, she clearly needs more time before taking one of the highest offices in the land. It makes me think of how the people of Minnesota voted Jessie Ventura, the former wrestler, into the Governor's mansion. He not only represented change, but was an outsider as well, and we now know what a mistake that was. But then again, there is Governor Schwarzenegger, he is the head of a state that is by far larger than many European countries.

What is a voter to do?

Regarding the economy, I'm posting two different things that I think are worthwhile. Recently I've become aware of how the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act, signed into law by Bill Clinton, has had some effect on the current crisis. I'm not blaming him because Republicans were responsible for the introduction of the bill. At this point, finger pointing is getting us nowhere. What it does reveal is that the work of the Congress affects us all in ways that we often don't realize until it is too late.Glass-Steagall

Here's an opinion piece from the Washington Post:Everybody Calm Down

Stormy weather forced the cancellation of Monday's market,however before the rain started I spent time chatting with a vendor/friend. She told me about re-financing her home four times, each with a better rate hoping to stay afloat. Although it shouldn't, these kinds of stories astonish me. What kept running through my mind is something simple that we taught our children, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Putting most things to that test will usually keep you solvent. Secondly, we taught them that everything usually ends up in a garage sale (or EBay these days) anyway, so think long and hard about buying unnecessary things. I realize how simplistic that sounds, yet it has worked pretty well for us.

Today's post is somewhat of a downer, so let's end it on a happy note shall we? Remember when I sent a canvas to Ohio recently for a gift? What you didn't know is that the credit card I was given was maxed out. Sadly, I only was able to get half of the money. Fast forward to a few minutes ago--the girl just called apologizing profusely and produced another card to use. My faith has been restored.