November '12 Highlights

If it seems like it was a long month, it was.
A lot went down.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• 2012 Elections
• Benghazi Saga continueth
• Middle East Powder Keg
• Total Solar Eclipse
• Obama Asia Trip
• Sandy Aftermath 
• Pot legalized in CO and WA
• 67 movies released (Flight, Lincoln, Twilight Saga, etc)
• Veterans Day / Remembrance
• The Fiscal Cliff approaches and is NOT resolved in November
• Black Friday errrr ......Thursday
• Thanksgiving
• Brothers Birthday
• Daughter & Son-in-Law move into new home
• Son prepares for December 1st Music Production National Competition representing NYC in NYC DGMayne X iStandard Producer Showcase Finals
• Surgery recovery, physical therapy and back to work

 Near Term Biggest Issue to all of us:

As we enter into December I sense a wider gap between Democrats and Republicans regarding the fiscal cliff.  This is a standoff at the American peoples expense (literally).  Would the guy at the left let this happen?  My solution:  No tax rate increase for households making under $500K (not $250K).  For every additional $500K increase the rate by 1% until a maximum of %35 is reached.  Those making over $4M annually will be capped at %35.  Not very Republican of me but I would vote for this as a compromise.  Next, reduce deductions in charitable contributions and mortgage interest by limiting the deduction to 50% of the interest and charitable contributions.  What else can be done to generate revenue or reduce government expense ?

Presidential Inauguration 2013

It is estimated that 1.8M people participated in the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.  2013 could hit 2M people.  It is estimated that costs for all of the inaugural events could hit $200M.  In these hard economic times, should we be spending $200M for a big party,or a bunch of parties?  What could we do with the time and talents of 2M people for a couple of days and $200M?   


Don't get me wrong, we should celebrate every Presidency; but let's watch the oath on TV, do a lottery and let the homeless attend the Gala, and let's build 500 new homes for low income and feed 5000 of our inner city hungry across the nation 10 times.  Whats that?.... about 80 cents per every person in the US?

By the way;  I'd be saying this independent of who won the white house.  This country is in tough economic waters.  We all see it; we all know it.  I'm not even going to get into where the money comes from.

A $200M celebration seems a little opulent in these times don't you think? 

Are We All in?

It's "Texas Hold em" time at the white house now.  With the domestic cliff around the corner at home, Benghazi still hanging around like that old coat, barely 2 weeks into the new term, we have rockets lighting the sky on the strip yet again.

Crater at the Strip

A true cry for help?  An SOS from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Well, today we sent in SOS Clinton who assured Ben that he had our "rock solid" support.  As our country comes close to the end of an 11 year war and as we make preparations to get our troops home, I have to wonder;  Does Rock Solid support mean troop support, or a peace keeping force, or providing global cops at the Strip, like a bad Spring Break at the beach? 

When it comes to the Middle East struggles this conflict between Palestinian Jews and Arabs started in the early 20th century, leading to a full-scale civil war in 1947.  I grew up in the 60s and 70s listening to stories on the news of "peace in the middle east".  

With Secretary of State Clinton arriving today, just as the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy brokers  a truce and may be ready to proclaim success,  we fly in to offer our support.  Let's hope that a truce can be negotiated without much input or interference from Uncle Sam.  

Since we just sat down at this high stakes poker table, I have to wonder;  Are we all in?

Beginnings......

Leave the Lights On:

I am thinking of the many things that I love about our country.  

The freedoms that we enjoy are as a result of so much history, the vision of our forefathers that came to this land, the penning of our Constitution, our rights as citizens.  I view all the pieces that feed our freedom, our way of life, as individual lights that illuminate to shine brilliantly.  Our challenge is to preserve these lights, ensure they are energized, sustain the brilliance, receive the right amount of power, and to understand that if any single light goes out, the brilliance dims.  


The lights are our history, our collective values, the critical elements that make us free, the governing laws of our land, the articles of our Constitution, and the very principles that built these United States.  

As you march through your days, pass along to others, the things that keep the lights lit. To future generations; share the history, to the non-believers; share and remind them of principles that allow us to live in a free society; and to those that would extinguish the lights; defend and fight the good fight, for our freedoms do not come easily but can easily be taken, one light at a time.

 As you march through your days, leave the lights on......