ISSUES

There is a lot of evil in this world. Freedom allows people to choose evil. God expects us to tackle evil. It's easy to complain. It's hard to address evil and push for change. If people don't challenge evil it continues.

We have to address issues in the United States. "We the people" is where the responsibility lays. It is up to us to challenge the priorities of this country. Our country needs to reevaluate its priorities and make changes so that we can continue to improve our country, i.e., "form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." These quotes come from the Preamble of the United States Constitution.

I have concerns about a number of issues going on within our government and county. People have to support change and work to improve the welfare of this country. An important method of change is to remove from office people who are directly or indirectly supporting the status quo of areas needing change. I'm starting a list of issues where I see the need for change. I encourage you to get active in change.

• Our country spends over half of our tax monies on the military. Something is wrong with these priorities! We spend almost half of all the money that the world spends on the military. I don't have a problem with defending our country from within, and participating in United Nations initiatives. I do take issue with us spending billions to wage U.S. wars against terrorism around the globe.
   
• We have lost over 4,000 military in Iraq, and have reached the 2,000 mark in Afghanistan. The Senate has recently approved another $60 billion for wars. Why can't we spend this money to strengthen our own country to take care of the needs of our citizens in the areas of health care, jobs, housing, and education, rather than spending excessive amounts on the military.
   
• We are the target of terrorism because of our unwanted military presence in other countries. Also, it is a backlash against our history of arrogant, meddlesome, and self-righteous imperialism, and pushy foreign policy, and the economic pressures we exert to get our way.
   
• Our government doesn't have the chutzpa to control Wall Street. It allows greed and lack of restraint to flourish, which results in devastation to innocent investors, and the economy as a whole. There continues to be a lack of proper supervision and regulation in the market place.
   
• We need a push in this country to produce energy efficient transportation. There are too many interest groups and lobbyists who do not want to get away from the old transportation modes that are dependent on petroleum.
   
• The petroleum industry need to have emergency preparedness strategies in place to deal with scenarios that could happen in drilling and exploration rather than seeking solutions after problems occur.
   
• There should be laws and fines to prevent use of hand held cell phones while driving a vehicle. Common sense tells us that using a hand held cell phone while driving is a distraction that causes accidents and takes innocent lives.