#jay owen

[vedicardi]

jay owen sends his regards

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

7.8%

After an incredible debate performance, the Romney campaign and his supporters were riding high this week. Those on the left seemed to be totally deflated. Magically however, they have been brought back to life with the unemployment numbers dropping below 8% for the first time in 44 months.

The left is now tooting their horn and the right is rushing to discredit these numbers. I'm not going to waste my time, or yours, busting out all of the stats that show how silly all of this is — but I do want to make a point.

Here's the thing — people know if they are working or not, people know if their neighbors are working or not, they know if they are making more or less money than they were 4 years ago, and they know that 16 trillion dollars in debt (and growing) is not acceptable.

Let's be honest, the timing of these numbers seems awfully suspicious — can you say, October surprise?

Both sides can spin the numbers to (as I outlined here) — it will be an interesting race to the finish. Don't count anyone out.

Good news for the right... we're only a few days away from seeing Paul Ryan v. Joe Biden.

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

We Belong to Government?

In a DNC intro video, it had this line: 

'The Government Is The Only Thing We All Belong To'...

"Belong to"? Really? Yikes.

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

A Series of Unfortunate Stats

We've heard it 1000 times, the president inherited a horrible economy. No one questions that. He also promised to get us out of it, get unemployment back to 6% and keep the national debt down.

The facts, however, are a pesky thing for the President. If he was a CEO, the board would have fired him already.

Unemployment was 7.8% when he took office, it's now 8.3%

Median Income for American families was $54,983. It's now down to $50,964.

Gasoline was $1.85/gallon, it's now $3.78.

And the big one, the national debt was $10,600,000,000,000 and it's now $15,900,000,000,000.

American people, it's time to fill out the pink slip in November.

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

GOTCHA!

Sarah Palin loved to say the media was trying to pin her in a "gotcha moment". After-all, what magazines or books you read is a serious trick question!?

Craziness aside, it's frustrating that our political system and media really are focused on gotcha moments. It's not unique to one side or another. Everyone in the press is waiting to jump in a 5, 10, or 15 second clip that can be replayed over and over again. Something that will stir people up, cause them to talk, and allow commentators to have hours of conversation over an instant of verbiage.

We've already seen a lot of it this political season:

Mitt Romney: "...I love to fire people..."

Barrack Obama: "...You didn't build that..."

Joe Biden: "They want to put y'all back in chains!"

Todd Akin: "...legitimate rape..."

We then spend at least week replaying and discussing these sound bytes. I get it, people love a spectacle and enjoy seeing someone else say something stupid because it makes them feel better about themselves or their party. Both sides are guilty of jumping on the bandwagon. Sometimes these little sound bytes do reveal serious concerns about someones beliefs and values, but other times they are just somebody saying something that sounded bad out of hundreds and hundreds of interviews.

There is no end to this, it will go on and on, but the more we can get past the sound bytes and really look at the real issues, the better off we'll be as a nation.

Let's spend some time really learning about what someone believes, what their records shows, and what their plans are for the future. The issues of our time are much more complex than a few sound bytes and the more time we lend to sound bytes, the more disservice we are doing to ourselves and our fellow citizens.

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

The 1% in the mirror.

There has been lots of discussion about the 99% vs. the 1%. People camping out in streets, throwing tantrums all over the country, and acting as if anyone who makes over a certain amount must have earned it through greed and distortion.

After-all, it's not fair for all of "the rich" to prance around in their flashy cars, live in their mansions, ride in their elevators, and leave the rest of "us" to struggle through life without such luxury. I mean, those people couldn't have possibly earned that much and must not be paying their fair share, right?

First, let's look at what the 1% actually means. In the United States, the top 1% of income earners make $380,000/year or more.

What about if we look at the rest of the world? What's the top 1% of income earners in the entire world? It's $34,000/year.

What does that mean? It means if you make $34,000/year or more (most working adults in this country do), you're in the top 1% of all income earners in the world. Out of over 6 billion people, YOU are the 1%. Let that sink in for a minute. If you're not in the top 1% internationally, almost all working Americans are in the top 5%.

We are a nation that is so concerned with what everyone else has, that we forget to look at the many blessings that we have.

Don't get me wrong, if someone is breaking the law or doing something immoral to get their money, we should be concerned (or at least the justice department should), but we should also take the plank out of our own eyes before we look to others.

The left, specifically the Obama campaign, seems set on vilifying all things rich. Back to the old "class warfare" rhetoric it seems, especially with an opponent such as Romney who has been so fiscally successful. It seems especially evil if someone made their money from other money (investments, stocks, etc. — more on the capital gains tax later). Is this really what we want — to vilify success? Or should we celebrate it?

I say we should celebrate it and learn from it!

So what have we learned here? We've learned that most people reading this post are the 1%. We've been reminded that we are a nation of people so blessed that we are blinded by our own greed. (Remember, greed is not a characteristic reserved for the "super rich".)

Let's take a step back, get some perspective and be thankful for the things we have.

[sometimesleftalwaysright-blog]

Let the season begin.

It's that time of year again. The time when mud starts to fly and things start to get interesting for the biggest political race in the world. The candidates are in place, they have selected their running mates and we're off to the races.

Lot's of people hate the election cycle because of all the "extremism", fights, and opinionated people that get all opinionated. I, however, love it. I love the debate, the hot topics, the exploration of ideas, and even a little mud slinging.

I talked my brother-in-law, David, into helping me launch this blog. He and I disagree on many political issues, but we also find common ground from time to time. The goal here (at least for me) is to do a little bit of both.

We'll be posting links, photos, comics, and our on opinion about anything political related. We'll tag the posts as left, right, or somewhere in between and also try to tag the subject matter when we're not too lazy.

Let's get one thing straight to start, I have horrible grammar and my spelling is only half decent due to integrated spell check. If you can't handle my, incorrect, placement, of commas; or sentences that go on and on and on and make little to no sense at all... just don't read it.

If you disagree with us, let us know, if you agree with us, let us know — or don't. Either way, I hope you enjoy the insanity and don't take it all too serious (as I often do). I'll try to laugh a little at my side of the aisle as much as I make fun of the other (after-all, it's almost too easy with Joe Biden and Sarah Palin — oh wait, she's not the VP nominee anymore...)

If you have an idea for a post or recommend resource, click the "send us your thoughts" link and we'll consider it — or not.

Let the season begin.