I am so tired of all the lies, half-truths and spin in our politics. Our elected officials have forgotten they work for us and not for the lobbyists. The "party" has become more important than the country and all efforts are spent getting and keeping power for the party. We, the citizens of the USA, are the ones to blame due to our voting or lack thereof. Currently, Trump thinks if he is President, he can pretty much do what ever he wants. Clinton has a lot to make up for and will come to the office with so much baggage, I wonder if she can get anything done. The real power lies with the Senate and House of Representatives. The collective body of the Congress writes, votes and passes the laws we all have to live by. When Trump says he is going to build a wall, reject all Muslims from entering our country and disrespects women, blacks and gays, I know I cannot vote for him. When he refuses to show his tax returns, thinks using loopholes to keep from paying income tax, which he can do because he has the money to hire lawyers and tax experts to find these loopholes, makes him smart, I know I cannot vote for him. Clintons past has cast a big shadow on her judgement. She is part of the political establishment that has brought us to this point in America. Being a gay mother and grandmother I can and will vote for her because the thought of Trump being my President is more than I can bear. To get back to my original point, if we really want a better government for our country, we all need to vet for ourselves the local politicians that are asking for our vote. Start with your city officials and keep an eye on what they say and do as their political careers move up the ladder. I think we should have term limits on all senate and house representatives to keep them from getting too cozy with lobbyists. I think we should also have age limits on them. Why would anybody over 80 years old want to stay in congress except to keep drawing a hefty paycheck. We have seen many examples of these elder statesmen napping during meetings and hanging onto their elected seats just so the party can maintain a certain number of members in congress. In my life, I have voted for Republicans and Democrats. I try to know the issues and vote my conscious.

I bet you thought I was gone for good, well, I'm back. I have a very severe case of Road Rage. Over the past few years I have several instances where my anger overtook my common sense and I made some bad decisions that could have resulted in dangerous situations. In todays world, there are far too many crazies driving with guns in their cars. I have been lucky so far not to have run into these folks but let's face it, how long can my luck hold out. Here are some examples of what not to do which I have done. Coming back from doing some shopping at Victoria Gardens, I was cruising along in the middle lane of the freeway when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a car entering the freeway. This driver seemed totally unaware of anybody else and proceeded to quickly move from the entrance lane to my lane which was 2 lanes to her left. I had to brake in order to miss her car. She finally noticed me in her rearview mirror. I made a motion with my palms up to say " What are you doing!!!", no flipping off, or mouthing F U, just palms up. In return, she gave me the finger and put on her brakes. I then moved to the far left lane to get away from her and she moved to stay in front of me. What went through my mind was " okay, sweetheart, you wanna play, let's play". I then proceeded to follow her south on the 15 freeway, past my exit, almost to Temecula. She changed lanes several times and I stayed with her. After awhile, she got on her cell phone and I assumed she was calling her husband for help. I did not tailgate her or make any threatening moves but I believe she was afraid I was going to follow her home. Hmmm, I might have done just that. At one point I pulled along side of her and she faced her phone to me and there was a mans face so I smiled and waved at him. A couple of miles later, she started to change lanes to the right and I did the same. I notice a CHP car coming upon us and realized she had called them. I pulled over the side of the road and so did she. The CHP pulled up in front of us and another car behind us. The cop that came over to me asked what was going on. Upon hearing my story he asked if wouldn't have been more prudent to just get off the freeway until she was far ahead. I told him that I was on my way to Pechanga Casino and why should I delay my trip when she was the aggressor all along. They let us both go with a warning but I really, really hope she had to change her underwear when she got home. Another incident involved a woman driving with her children. I was turning left onto Lincoln Avenue from 6th street. turned into the far right lane in order to enter the 91 freeway. There was nobody behind me when all of a sudden a car on my left pulled in front of me almost clipping my front bumper. I sounded my horn and the driver gave me the finger. A few feet up the road the car turned into a supermarket parking lot and I followed. When they parked I pulled up behind them, got out of my car and approached the drivers window. A woman looked at me and said, "what do you want bitch". I noticed she had three children with her between the ages of 5 and 13. I said, "nice language in front of your children" and why did you give me the finger when you cut me off. She got real nasty so I took out my phone, walked to the front of her car and simulated making a call. I said loud enough for her to hear " Good morning, sergeant Patterson, I hate to bother you but may I speak with my son. Hi, honey, I hate to bother you at work but I was just cut off by a very rude, foulmouthed woman and I was wondering if you could check on her license plate to see if there is anything you can find out that would teach her a lesson." I then proceeded to give the license plate number from her car. I wish I could have heard what the kids told their father that night. So, that is all for today, just don't do what I have done in the past. I try now to keep my cool.

Okay, I admit that I am not a Rhodes Scholar but I do think I have an ability to see things in a logical way and find a simplistic solution to most problems/issues. So this should explain why I am so surprised so many people are acting like a bunch o f sheep by being unduly influenced by the particular media they watch. Let's take the current Race for President between Romney and Obama. I am extremely disappointed in the results of our current President when it comes to the economy. I think he has been able to do some really good things in the past 3.5 years, such as ending the war in Iraq,finding and eliminating Bin Laden and getting a health care bill passed. Yes, I do believe that "Obama Care" is a good thing. I find it disappointing that he failed to do anything effective for the middle class. Bailouts and cash infusions were offered to banks and financial institutions, the auto industry, "green" companies and a host of other parasites that mismanaged their business. The middle class is what really drives our economy and we were left out of any programs or solutions. Now he has to answer for this. His own party did nothing to help him during the first two years when they had the majority. Instead, they continued to act as selfish and self-serving as usual. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late and they lost their majority in the House to Republicans. The Republicans then managed to block any real economic reforms. Mitt Romney is now in a position of possibly unseating Obama putting the Republican agenda in place. I wonder how Mitt and the Republican party are going to bring our economy back?? So far I have heard a lot of promises but not a lot of specifics,( kind of like when Obama ran in 2008). I hear a lot about cutting taxes and spending but it seems to break down to, cutting taxes for the rich, big companies, banks and financial institutions but still nothing for the middle class. I hear of major cuts/changes to Social Security, Medicare and other social programs but nothing about how to increase revenue, which, if you are realistic at all, is sorely needed. Romney and Ryan have nothing in common with the middle class in spite of what they say. Have we all forgotten that it was during the eight years Bush was the President that got us into this mess?? Between a tax reduction that wasn't paid for, an unneeded war that wasn't paid for and a lessening of regulations that allowed the financial industry to play fast and loose, those eight years put this country in financial jeopardy that will take years and some very tough decisions to remedy. If the Republican party has all the answers, where have they been for the past 3.5 years?? Let's all open our eyes and realize that until both parties get realistic about working together for the good of our country instead of what is good for their Party we will continue to squeeze the middle class until we disappear.

Okay, I'm back and I am not any happier with the current state of this state or country. I am really perplexed that the elected officials in this great state of California think it is okay to continue to spend money when we are BROKE!!! Their latest idiotic action is the Dream Act. This is California's version of the Federal Dream Act which has not been passed yet due to lack of support. Leave it up to the sorry group of politicians we have here to go forward with a rejected national bill. For those of you who don't know, the Dream Act will allow undocumented students to receive public funds for education. Yes that is correct, public funds. Our tax dollars being used for children of illegal aliens. If I recall correctly, our State Colleges and Universities continue to raise their tuition because these same law makers have cut funding for all schools. Most legal residents can hardly afford to send their own children to college and if they have a job, their children will most likely not be eligible for student loans because their parents income is just over the limit to qualify. Now, I am not saying the bill is a bad idea, it is just really bad timing. If California was in a strong fiscal position, unemployment was very low ( currently over 12%), our infrastructure was updated and/or repaired and the funding for schools was re-instated, I would not be so opposed to helping anybody wishing for a higher education but for now, this puts the undocumented student in a better position than our legal citizens. Am I the only one who thinks this is another in a long line of lousy decisions from Sacramento?

Earlier this week there was a news story about student cheating at Stanford. This was followed up with examples of other cheating at most of our college campuses. When interviewed, most students attitudes were " everybody cheats, in life and everything else so it's not a big deal". I can hardly blame our current crop of future leaders for having this attitude. Just think about the past 20+ years and the list of politicians that have cheated on their wives, husbands, expense accounts, taxes and credentials. We have had religious leaders convicted as pedophiles, scam artist and hypocrites of their own preachings. We have had law enforcement individuals convicted of taking and offering bribes. Teachers and school coaches have been convicted of having sex with underage students. Court Judges profiting from their legal decisions. Leaders on Wall Street cheating their investors, financial advisers stealing from their friends and clients, corporations selling dangerous products from cars to food in order to satisfy their own greed. Banks and Savings and Loans that prey on susceptible borrowers. Now, this morning, we are told that the Better Business Bureau has been caught SELLING their highest ratings to businesses that pay the most money. To have this lack of integrity, honor and ethics become the norm for our great country is ,I feel, due to the complacency of the masses. When it started is hard to identify, ( Watergate scandal, Monica Lewinsky, a fake war??) but it will not end until we demand a higher level of behavior from our leaders and ourselves. Let's all take inventory of our own actions and pledge to neither act in nor accept unscrupulous behavior.

Things are not getting any better for our economy and, as usual, it is the the middle class that is shrinking more and more. All the companies that were saved by our tax dollars are doing just fine and seem to be making profits once again. To celebrate, they reward their management with large bonus checks. Meanwhile, the banks are refusing to lend money to the average taxpayer. It will come as no surprise when the Democrats lose and lose big in the November election. Our entire economic melt down was caused by the finance industry and their greedy culture but it is the average taxpayer that continues to pay the price. Our government has not held them accountable to any degree and bailed them out without any conditions attached.

On another subject, I would like to know when our country changed from being the "land of the free" to the "land of the free ride". There has been more money spent on protecting the illegal alien than on helping the average citizen get through these tough economic times. This past week I saw an article about some illegal workers here in California complaining that they are not being paid as much as legal citizens. They claim that they do not get overtime and are required to work more than eight hours a day. I think the answer to this is simple, slap the employer with a very hefty fine and send all the illegal workers back to their country where I am sure they will be treated better than here.

This country has been turned upside down. The corporate culture is one of greed and corruption. Ethics, honor, fairness and integrity have become vanishing characteristics in the leaders of industry and government. Double speak is the norm and character is no longer an admired trait.

It has been a while since my last posting but the life of a retiree is action packed to say the least. I have had to endure the frustration of an exceedingly
large tax bill, I have fallen twice, once at my daughters when we were walking and once from a ladder when I was trying to install a solar shade for my container garden. In addition, my back started acting up again so I have reacquainted myself with the Chiropractor.Now, let's move on to the more important items affecting our lives.

The level of greed from corporations coupled with the level of corruption within our government continues to negatively impact the working citizen. The latest example is, of course, the oil spill in the Gulf. Information continues to leak out at a lesser rate than the oil but no less of an impact to our lives. It seems this latest disaster was caused by BP trying to cut corners in their maintenance responsibilities. In addition, it seems that Halli Burton was involved through their ship-shod work on the concrete portion of the well. You remember Halli Burton, the company with whom our previous Vice President was intimately involved. Even though the oil disaster has grabbed the major portion of the headlines, it did not go unnoticed that Johnson & Johnson has been cited for poor quality control of it's plants which has resulted in a recall of several of its over the counter drugs.

So, let's review, top banks, investment companies, insurance companies, oil companies, drug companies, auto manufacturers, coal mining companies and most likely others that I cannot remember at this moment, have let their greed override their responsibility for safety and ethics to the public and their employees. They have been able to do this in large, very large, part because of the lack of regulations put upon them by our Government. The reduction in oversight and regulations began when Ronald Regan was President. It is not that his idea was bad, it is just that it grew under his and all succeeding Presidents. The lobbyists for these industries began to enjoy unprecedented access and influence among our elected politicians. Now that the results of this deregulation has reached epic and negative proportions and Washington is trying to implement some regulations back on these industries, they are calling "foul" and crying that it will hurt business overall. This bunch of soulless, dishonorable, greedy, unethical, leeches doesn't want the government to have any oversight of their business but want their lobbyist to have unfettered access to the bunch of weak willed, unethical, greedy, vapid, dishonorable, leeches we have voted into office. Now I am really upset!!!