# I feel so dumb...



## lillopad (Oct 27, 2008)

Feel like I need to talk to the real guys who get mud on their boots and occassionally get their trucks stuck out doing stuff the city boys would never do...

I just don't understand much of this anymore. I am watching some guys on the TV who supposedly "represent" me sitting around having discussion about who gets what along the way to raising the credit card limit for a country that is so far in debt my grandkids better start mowing lawns this weekend to start paying their fair share (even though I don't have grandkids yet).

I don't know. I run operations for a business that somehow manages to control spending and end the year with a little more in the bank than the prior year. We struggle every day to make it, but it seems as though we somehow get through the economic pressures, the taxes, the health care costs, the monthly inspections by the regulatory agencies (OSHA, EPA, DOH, electrical inspectors, etc). Seems awfully hard some days compared to just holding out our hands and asking for a bailout.

Over the past few years my wife and I have had to squeeze out the spending and swtiched from an occasional steak on the grill to hotdogs, from playing golf to walking the dog, from nicer cars to almost-reliable used ones, from vacations in neat destinations to going over to the neighbors for a beer on a weekend evening. We have a son going off to college and want to make sure we can help him with some of the cost while avoiding debt. Strange idea, I know. We cut up the credit cards a few years ago because we recognized the temptations. I have worked hard (averaging 10-12 hours a day for 22 years now) to get to the point where I make a decent salary. The income taxes I paid last year are probably equal to the total wages some guys make in a year. I have been blessed and know it. But now I am a bad guy that doesn't pay enough yet??? I am beginning to wonder why I do it. I am really beginning to wonder why I do it here in the State of MN where the attack on the "makers" is just as fierce as it is on the federal level. Looks a lot like the view of the unfriendly end of a double barrel shotgun.

My Dad must have been a simple man because he raised me to do a few things that look awfully "hick" now-a-days:

1. love the God that made you and tell him thanks every day - even for the simple things like family, job, and food
2. take care of your family. If anyone threatens them, give him a chance to back off, but use every means necessary to stop him if he doesn't
3. take only what you work for
4. help someone else... shovel their driveway, feed him, give him $20... but only if he can't take care of himself
5. feel shame if you lie, cheat, steal, or fail to come to the aid of someone needing real help

America is on the verge of having to come to grips with the reality of the situation. We are 2 very different people living within one border. The divide isn't along the Mississippi, but along lines of ideology. How long would the Takers make it if the Makers decided not to play anymore? How long would the ruling class be able to drive (excuse me... be driven in) the big cars if we decided they aren't going to "represent" us anymore? How long before this blog post gets me "noticed"?

No, I am not a crackpot looking for a revolution. I know we need to settle this stuff at the voting booth and not through the crosshairs. I am hopeful we have learned our lesson as we watched a once great and beautiful Europe erode to one big long food line. I hope the guys in Washington can turn off the cameras, roll up their sleeves, and do their jobs.

Maybe I am all wrong here and someone can straighten me out. Let's start with the simple question of the day:

How does raising the credit card limit so we can continue spending more than we have SOLVE a debt crisis? The rating agencies are going to downgrade our credit rating if we DON'T take on more debt??? Excuse me, but that SH!t wouldn't fly if I walked into Wells Fargo on Monday and asked for that deal for myself. Must have missed that chapter in the econ class. I think I skipped out to go duck hunting. Got mud on my boots that day as I recall.

God bless you all for listening to me rant and rave about all that complicated stuff I am too dense and simple-minded to understand! I am heading off to the range to sight in the toys. My boys and I are heading out west soon to visit some prairie dogs we have been ignoring for too long because of the gas prices being too high. That's another topic for another day...


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Nice post lillopad. Have a good time in the dog towns, and God bless. :thumb:


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Sounds like lillopad's dad raised him to be a right-wing radical


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

....and I'm very glad that he did :wink:


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## lillopad (Oct 27, 2008)

Heard a great analogy today that helps describe the thinking behind spending your way out of a deficit...

"I better have another beer because if I stop drinking I am afraid I might become an alcoholic."

I guess that's good logic...


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