Happy Independence Day everyone.  Thank you for taking an opportunity during this holiday to take a stand for American values, prosperity, independence and free will.  Check out the pictures below, and a short video at the end.

The Raleigh TEA Party Crowd

CAP (Your Income) and TRADE (Your Freedom)

I entered the world during a Great Depression... Looks like I'm heading out the same way!

My favorite sign is the gentleman in the picture above. Honestly, much of the policies we are protesting won’t effect him much, but he has the wisdom to see what is happening, and the love for his country to take a stand.

Capping our freedom, Trading our future!

Land of the Free Because of the Brave.

No We Won't!

Don't Tread On Me

Wheel Of Debt

Mell Watt, Brad Miller, David Price, G.K. Butterfield Jr., Bob Ethridge and Heath Schuler voted for CAP AND TAX. Vote them all out of office.

Revolt Against Socialism

Will Work for Less Taxes

The Constitution: The Other Document They Never Read

What's Mine is NOT Yours!!! STOP the LOOTING, STOP REWARDING FAILURE!

And the one thing I saw today that gave me the most hope…

Yes, the Declaration of Independence was signed on this day in 1776.  But it is not the date that makes it special, it is the stand those brave men took.  A stand that firmly entrenched our nation on the path of individual freedom, liberty, and equality for all men.  A stand that made our nation the only place on the globe where someone could show up with nothing and succeed entirely on the fruits of their labor.

Independence did not start on July 4th, nor did it end there.  Independence from an oppressive, tyrannical government took countless efforts, thousands of lives, and is still a fight our nation wages to this day.  Independence is a process and a state of mind.  It means that not just our nation, but our people must constantly strive to be and remain free.  And Independence means we are a beacon to all of those who aspire to the same ideals of liberty and freedom that our forefathers held so dear.

July 4th is a date.  One of the most important dates in history, but a date nonetheless.  And as liberal academia try to rewrite our history and brainwash our youth, it is much easier to separate the label “July 4th” from its true meaning.  Think back to this past election or the media reports to this day.  How many of your fellow Americans have forgotten the idea of Independence?  How many have and are continuing to willfully surrender their Independence to a government that is appearing more like what our forefathers fought against so many years ago?

Today there will be thousands of patriots at TEA Parties around this land.  They will be making their voices heard and reminding our elected officials that they answer to us.  This was never about a nation giving you everything but rather a nation that affords you the opportunity to achieve anything.  There is a huge difference in the two, and that my friend is Independence.

Please join me in my humble fight.  Today is not a date to be celebrated once a year, it is a constant struggle for our land to remain free.  We must not let the next generation lose their understanding of today’s purpose.  We must not let our country lose its path and ultimate goal.  Today is a celebration of the Liberty endowed by God onto all people, people who shall forever remain free.

July 4th is a date.  And every year it will appear on the calendar.  But will we continue to remain free?  Today is Independence Day, and every day we must fight to hold on to it.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Reportedly, the audience was hand selected, the questioned were pre-screened, and the made-for-tv “spontaneous” hug was actually a DNC volunteer.  We knew Hollywood loved this guy, but didn’t know until now they were one in the same.

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More FREE Stuff: One visitor politely asked for these posters that they could download and reprint for upcoming TEA Parties.  In an effort to make a small contribution to this effort, here they are as printable PDF files.  Enjoy!

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• ObamaCare Government Approved Diet Poster
• ObamaCare Prostate Exam Poster

New legislation will ad a sales tax on virtually all services costing every North Carolina family more and taking revenue from North Carolina businesses.  This will have a devastating effect on the already hurting home improvement/building companies and other labor related fields.  It will also hurt everyone from car repair people, hair stylists, lawncare professionals and even courier/delivery services.  The result will be less consumer spending in these sectors and ultimately less revenue for the state, not more.

But that’s not all.  In the language for the new tax plan is a scheme claiming “nexus” on all companies that advertise online and have a sale in North Carolina.  This means that if Amazon places an advertisement on a website that prompts a North Carolina individual to make a purchase, then Amazon will have to collect North Carolina sales tax notwithstanding FEDERAL LAW and precedence to the contrary.  If Amazon were to accept this “nexus” language and continue running advertisements in this state, it could further open them to other taxes, restrictions and control by the state government where they have no physical presence.  So rather than allow themselves to be unlawfully taxed and unduly burdened by a state government that should have no control over their commerce, Amazon rightfully decided to suspend all affiliate marketing agreements in the state.

And Amazon isn’t the only one.  I just received an e-mail from another company, CafePress, making the same move.  Effective next week, they too will cease all affiliate marketing efforts in the state of North Carolina.  And if history is any indication, all other companies utilizing affiliate marketing will follow suit.

The end result not being an increase in sales tax revenue for the state, but a decrease in the income and livelihood of state residents and the taxes they pay on that income.  My livelihood is one of those included, and overnight I will see a large portion of my income disappear.

To put it in perspective, imagine for a second that you invested in some low-risk stock that paid dividends every month without fail.  Now imagine that even though that investment had retained its value, you could no longer receive those dividends simply because of the state you live in.  THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NORTH CAROLINA.  Thousands of people like me invested time and money developing sites that generate meager but consistant revenue every day, and over time that revenue of 10 cents here and 2 dollars there adds up to real money.  And even though the websites are still valuable and the sales still coming in, my dividends from that labor will vanish overnight thanks to this new tax scheme.

We are a household that faced the closing of a family business and loss of a job last year.  We didn’t stop paying our mortgage payments or wait in the unemployment lines.  We adjusted and made due.  I worked everyday and through many nights in order to build something again.  And after long hours and lots of hard work, we built something new to replace the income and stability we lost in this difficult economy.   We even decided we could afford to have a child.  Now, three months before the birth of that child, the state is passing a tax scheme that is taking all of that hard work away and making our income disappear.

Watch out America.  This is my story today, but it could be your story tomorrow.  Think Cap & Trade won’t do the same to hardworking families in the coal industry?  Think ObamaCare won’t do the same thing to hardworking families in medical related fields?  Think the so-called “auto bailouts” didn’t do the same to thousands of auto dealers, their families and their employees?

This is the problem with career politicians who have never made a payroll, run a business, or held a real job.  This is the problem with people who think they can regulate everything even though they know nothing.  This is the problem with citizens sitting idly by and not getting involved in the political process until its too late.  This is the problem with people not taking a stand to do what is right for their country because it doesn’t effect them individually.  THIS IS A PROBLEM.

Legislation has consequences and so do elections.  Twice in less than two years I have seen government plans and intervention destroy economies and put people out of work.  And its not done yet.

When will people get mad enough to make their voices heard?  When will we take a stand for personal responsibility, free will, self determination and kick the government out of our lives?

Government interference has cost my family twice in the past two years.  Is your family next?  I made it through one job change, and even if it means moving, I’ll make it through another.  But when the government comes knocking on your door and puts your company out of business, what will you do?  Will you wake up then?  Will you get mad then?   Hopefully it won’t be too late.

Eight Republican turncoats and 211 Democrats voted against the American people and in favor of increasing all of your energy costs, food production costs, manufacturing costs, transportation & shipping costs and to effectively put the coal companies out of business… all because of junk-based science which is being increasingly dismissed by the scientific community.  These clowns would prefer to take money from your pockets and make your living expenses increase in order to create a new ethereal economy based on the concept of energy credits.  More of them, their big business friends, and Al Gore would become richer while the squeeze put on American families would be even tighter.

And if you are in Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Montana or one of the other coal-producing states… expect your state’s economy to suffer dramatically.  More empty homes and businesses.  More neighbors out of work.  But the problem doesn’t end there.  Roughly half of all energy in this country comes from coal, so everyone’s expenses for virtually everything will go up.  And when it does, these Republicans deserve much of the blame:

• Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
• Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
• Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385 (And he’s seriously considering running for Senate!)
• Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
• LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
• McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
• Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
• Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765

Forty-four Democrats had the courage to vote against this painful tax on American productivity.  Too bad these eight Republicans didn’t have the stones to do the same.  With a razor thin margin, these eight Republicans made the difference.  You can thank them when it becomes even more difficult to pay your bills every month.

Remember these names when its time for re-election.  If the party doesn’t put up a Conservative, Libertarian or Republican alternative, vote for the Donkey.  We can not continue to keep turncoats in power who prefer earmarks and junk science to the well-being of American citizens.

h/t: Michelle Malkin

Nexus Language for Online Advertising.

Part of the new law includes nexus language for online advertisements.  In essence this means that if someone in North Carolina runs an online advertisement and you purchase something from a company in another state, you still have to pay North Carolina sales tax.

An online marketer (affiliate marketer) is nothing more than an advertising company.  Online marketers run advertisements, and are paid when that advertisement results in a sale.  This advertising revenue is already taxed as income for the online marketer.

Does the News & Observer have to collect sales tax because you decided to purchase something based on an ad you found in the Sunday paper?  Does G-105 have to collect sales tax because you ordered something you heard about on the radio?  Does Time Warner cable have to collect sales tax because you bought something you saw on QVC?  Does the kid down the street making $6 an hour to put fliers on your mailbox have to pay sales tax if that flier prompts you to make a purchase?

Of course the answer to all of the above is NO, but that is exactly what the legislature and Governor Bev Perdue are proposing for online advertisements.  And it will drive people in our state out of work.  Amazon.com has closed their affiliate program and suspended all North Carolina participants as of today (June 26, 2009).  Other companies will follow suit.  Over the past year as unemployment rose and the economy suffered, many people like myself have turned to online marketing as a means to supplement or completely replace their previous incomes.  Yet the State of North Carolina has chosen to put us out of work… again.

An online marketer runs an ad, nothing more.  They don’t facilitate the transaction, process the credit card, deliver the goods, or provide customer service.  They run an ad and are paid on that ad’s performance.  They don’t see the payment nor do they even see the details of the transaction.  They don’t know who the purchaser was, where they live exactly, and may not even know all that the person purchased.  Yet law makers who don’t understand online marketing and have likely never run a business of their own are going to pass a law that requires the marketer to collect sales tax.  The result won’t be increased revenue for the state, it will only be a loss of income for its citizens.  Amazon.com was only the first to pull out, but it won’t be the last.

The Services Tax.

Another part of Bev Perdue and the legislature’s tax scheme is a services tax.  Up until now, sales tax was collected on the transfer of physical goods and some specific services, but virtually all services were treated as not taxable at the point of purchase (individuals and companies have always had to pay income tax on the revenue).  That will all change if this tax scheme is signed into law.

• Get a hair cut?  You will have to pay Sales Tax on the service.
• Get your car worked on?  You will have to pay tax on the labor.
• Have your roof replaced?  You won’t just pay Sales Taxes on the materials, you’ll pay Sales Taxes for the workforce too.
• Buy an extended warranty?  Yup, they want to put a Sales Tax on that as well.
• DirectTV installed?  Sales Tax on installation.
• UPS or FedEx delivery?  Sales Tax on the service.
• Does a neighborhood kid cut your grass?  He’ll have to collect Sales Tax too.

This change will have a fundamental and dire impact on our already hurting economy.  Think North Carolina’s unemployment rate is high now?  You haven’t seen anything yet.

North Carolina has a large number of builders, many of whom were hit hard with the mortgage and economic crisis over recent years.  Of those that have survived, many turned to remodeling work to keep the business flowing.  But with this new tax, the cost of the same home repairs will increase by hundreds or thousands of dollars.  When the same work costs substantially more, do you think as many North Carolinians will be able to afford to have it done?  What about when that car repair or oil change costs more, or when your business has to pay more for the same delivery service?  Will that negatively impact the bottom line?

This tax scheme is a money grab by irresponsible legislators who have been abusing their powers and misusing our money for years.  And instead of cleaning house, reworking their books and living within their means like the rest of us… they are going to hurt the citizens of the state even more and make the economic picture for working North Carolinians even more bleak.

As a banking state, we were hit hard by the mortgage collapse.  With the number of home builders in the state, we were hit even harder.  Most of the people I know from business lost their jobs over the past two years, but for the most part it was confined to the financial and housing industry.  Now no one is safe.  Car repairmen, handymen, hair stylists, delivery people, advertisers, online marketers, and anyone who provides a service or runs a business is about to see their costs go up.  Can you afford for your costs to increase right now?  Can your employer?

The Bottom Line.

We are all trying to do more with less… so when the state sticks its hand out and takes even more money from you, what do you think the end result will be?  More loss of jobs?  More closed businesses?  More homes falling into foreclosure?

The people running this state have been corrupt for years.  Just look at corruption convictions and/or investigations of Jim Black, Meg Scott Phipps, Governor Easley & his wife, etc.  Think about how they passed the lottery in the dead of night and the number of people who were charged or convicted of ethics violations after the fact.  These people have been more concerned with their own political gain, personal wealth, and power for years.  And the end result is an economy that is hurting with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. Their solution is more than a Billion Dollars in higher taxes on the already burdened citizens of this state, costing thousands more North Carolinians their businesses and their jobs, and putting the squeeze on us all.

Enough is enough.  Please take a stand and call your legislators and your Governor.  This scheme is going to cost my family much of our household income.  What about you?  What about your neighbor?  What about your employer?  What about the next time you need home repair or work done on your car?  Aren’t we all hurting enough?

Take Action.

Help stop another burdensome tax increase in North Carolina. Make your voice heard.

Find your NC local representatives here.

Other Contact Information.

The Governor’s Office:

• Governor Bev Perdue
  Office of the Governor
  20301 Mail Service Center
  Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
  Phone: (919)733-4240
  Fax: (919)733-2120

North Carolina State Senators:

• NC State Senators w/ phone numbers and e-mail addresses

North Carolina House of Representatives:

• NC House of Representatives List w/ links to contact information

In order for people not to be charged more or denied coverage based on risk factors or illness, two things must happen.

1. All American citizens will be forced to have health care either through their employer or paying for the government plan.
2. In order for the costs to be “equitable” people will pay what the government deems they can afford, not what their risk factors dictate.  If costs can not be based on risk factors, that means they have to be based on income.  So citizens who make more money will pay a higher share than those who make less.  The Obama Administration has said as much.

Keep in mind that power-hungry politicians on both sides of the aisle refuse to close our border or send illegal immigrants home in hopes of gaining a stronghold on votes of the ever-growing Hispanic population in our country.  And remember that doctors and emergency rooms can not deny care to anyone who doesn’t have proper documentation or insurance.

So while every citizen will be required to pay for their mandated health care, the undocumented population will still get covered for free.  Welcome to a Citizenship Tax.

This is something opponents of universal, socialized and/or single-payer health care need to focus on. For people who don’t realize the inherent problems and necessary rationing of universal care… the realization that this is a Citizenship Tax may make a difference.  Two issues were winners with Republicans this past fall — securing our borders and domestic energy production.  Unfortunately both issues were not fully supported by Republican leaders who were too cowardly to take a stand on principles and instead let Democrats and the media control the issues.  But the people were not persuaded.  Thousands of Americans picked up the phones, wrote letters and made a substantial impact on legislation on both fronts, without the help of either party establishment or mainstream media.  If the issue is focused right, the same could be done for universal health care.

This isn’t an example of xenophobia or lack of compassion.  It is about the government taking away our freedoms, redistributing our wealth, and levying another tax on American citizenship to further their political conquests.  And it must be stopped.

Oppose the multi-trillion dollar boondoggle of universal health care.  Regardless of its ultimate form, one thing is certain, it is a tax that only applies to citizens with benefits that apply to all.

To my father, father-in-law, my wife’s grandfather, my friends who already have kids, and all the other dads out there… Happy Father’s Day!  Enjoy the new ties, the Hallmark cards and fellowship with family.  Find some dry weather and a bit of shade as you fire up the grill.  And get ready, next year you’ll have to teach me the secret handshake.

So when I was at the grocery store the other day I noticed a kid shopping with what I can only assume was his grandmother.  I saw them again as I was sitting in my car about to leave.

I used to make trips like that with my grandmother to the store or Kmart and remember them quite fondly.  Some of the most basic life lessons were taught or reinforced on my shopping trips with grandma.  You can’t always have everything you want.  Throwing a tantrum will get you nowhere, but it might earn you a sore bottom.  Always say please, thank you, yes ma’am, yes sir.  And always, always open the door for a woman.

And this young kid seemed to be soaking up his experience equally as well.  He seemed to have fun, likely got a new toy.  His grandmother opened the car and the young child no more than 5 or 6 hopped in the backseat as grandma unloaded the groceries.  And then she took the empty cart and pushed it out of her way a bit, popped in her car and took off.

At once the casual observation of a soon-to-be father full of nostalgia turned into feelings of disgust.

Grandma got around pretty well.  She maneuvered the store unassisted, walked to her car just fine, and loaded groceries into a car by herself.  She clearly was able to watch and take care of a young child.  Surely she was equally capable of pushing the empty cart 25 feet or so to the cart return.  But she didn’t.  With an impressionable child in the car, grandma taught him an inadvertent lesson.  There is no personal responsibility.  Take the easy way out.  The only thing that matters is yourself.

I see people do this all the time and it drives me nuts.  Why is it that you think you don’t have to put the shopping cart back where it belongs?  I know grandma wasn’t raised that way… but that is how she’s teaching her grandson.  Maybe she figures someone is “paid to do that” or maybe she figures it isn’t a big deal.  But grandma, it is a big deal… its representative of a really really big deal.

Every day throughout every facet of our lives, we all have our own shopping carts to put up.  Do we put trash in a trashcan or throw it on the ground?  Do we meet deadlines or make excuses?  Do we work when the boss isn’t looking or browse facebook and twitter?  Do we keep our word or just say what others want to hear?  Do we pay or taxes and our debts or default because things got tight?  Do we blame others for our problems or take responsibility for ourselves?

The cart is symbolic of our nation… and like grandma, most of our fellow countrymen seem too bothered to take an extra few seconds to do what’s right.  It’s easier letting someone else worry about it, right?

Our government is spending money it doesn’t have, mortgaging our children’s future and risking our nation’s security.  Why?  Because its politically easier that way.  Let the next guy deal with it.

My governor is raising burdensome taxes that are already driving business out of our state and will put thousands of residents out of work.  Why?  Its easier than cutting programs and pork.  Let the next guy deal with it.

Some of your neighbors quit paying their mortgage payment, not because they couldn’t but because they no longer wanted to.  Its easier that way.  Let the bank deal with it.

And grandma doesn’t take a few extra seconds to put her cart back.  Its easier that way.  Let someone else deal with it.

What are we teaching our children?  Where did our nation and our culture go wrong?  Putting shopping carts up saves insurance costs, labor costs and cart costs for the grocery store… but it doesn’t seem to directly impact grandma so she doesn’t care.  Its someone else’s problem.  But its not about the shopping cart.  The shopping cart is a symptom of a national decay.

If you don’t think these things are linked, you’re crazy.  Personal Responsibility starts with the simplest things.  The same mindset that excuses not putting your cart away is the same mindset that excuses not voting, not paying your bills, not taking responsibility for yourself.  It is the same mindset that lets our government get out of control because people don’t take seriously their responsibility to become informed and get involved.

The downfall of our nation started with the downfall of personal responsibility.  As a nation we can decide now to clean up after ourselves and start taking responsibility for our own actions.  We can make the hard decisions, make the painful cuts, and stand-up to the people who are out of control.  Our we can leave our cart sitting in the middle of the parking lot and hope that someone else will come along and clean up our mess.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let’s just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

If you agree, sign the petition, join a Tea Party, get out and make your voice heard.  We can take our country back, but we must start now.