After a whirlwind year in politics, the sickening economy and recycled rhetoric, I’ve finally made the decision to vote third party. To many of you, I know this will not be a surprise. I’ve spoke of it openly in the last few weeks. What I may have neglected to share with you is how and why I arrived at this decision.

Well, the bailout was the last straw for me. Although my grasp of economics may be rudimentary at best, my researching skills have become well honed from writing. And as Glenn Beck says, “I may not be an expert, but I’m a thinker.”  Our leaders failed us, yet again.

Recently, I began researching campaign finance and who gets what money. After a while it became clear to me that BOTH Obama and McCain, were bought and paid for by big business and special interest groups. Let me be clear, I have nothing against either one. I believe in free trade and I know that big business creates jobs. I also know that SOME special interest groups do some good work.

But when you have politicians that are beholden to them, it’s a recipe for corruption. It’s no better than the mafia. We give you the money and some day we come to you for a favor. Yep, just like in the movies.

As a lifelong Republican, I’ve always believed in (and still do) most of their principles. Principles like free trade, limited government… basically, the Constitution. Unfortunately, the GOP stands for those things in name alone now. The rest is a farce. 

This country is slowly become Socialist. I know, some of you would prefer that. But not me. That’s not what our forefathers wanted. That’s not America. If you doubt the truth in that statement, then just read the Constitution. We were never meant to lose all of our civil liberties or to become a welfare state. For almost every example one can give of how our country is free, one can give an example of how that is no longer true. Our leaders have slowly taken away many of our freedoms without the average American even noticing that it happened. And they have done it all in the name of protecting us.

I could just say, “Well, that’s how politics works”. But for me that would be like condoning it. That would be like being an enabler to a drug addict. If we keep giving the addicts their drugs, they’ll never quit.

Well, I won’t do it anymore. If we are ever truly going to see change in this country we have to start somewhere, even if it’s just a few of us. Isn’t that how all revolutions start? Don’t misunderstand me. I still believe in Americans. I just don’t have faith in our government. And it is in that hope in Americans, that I think we will be as great as were meant to be, again. But only if we stand up for ourselves and take this country back. In my opinion, voting for McBama won’t accomplish that.

Bert and Lizzs' discussion about government agencies being a waste of tax-payer money made me think of a new game.

If you could get rid of one or two government agencies that you thought were a waste of money, which one, or ones would it be? To be fair, you can ADD government agencies too.

How about a new game?

IF you could choose any two people in the world to be our President and VP, who would they be? It doesn't have to necessarily be a politician. It can be anyone. Also, just for fun you can add Secretary of State and other positions.

Sarah Palin flew into Ft. Myers yesterday and got right onto the "Straight Talk Express" bus and I was thinking, we clearly need a Purple States bus (an environmentally friendly one, of course). How great would that be, huh? I didn't get to meet her because they had already approved a small "press pool" of only local journalists and we aren't really considered "local" because of the Washington Post credentials.

 Palin gave her stump speech and her delivery was pretty smooth. She wasn't "Mavericky" at all, in fact, she didn't use the phrase even once, thank goodness because I don't think I could take it again. She had her trademark jacket on, you know the one, it looks like she's wearing a straight jacket and I think EMS was there in case SHE passed out. Of course, she had her trademark glasses on and her regular updo. (I have to mention these things, they are important to us women).

Anyway, in all seriousness, something that struck me as I was standing on the press stage:

Palin is eclipsing McCain on the ticket. I must have interviewed at least 6 people in the audience and every single time I asked them why they were supporting McCain AND Palin, they always answered the question as if McCain wasn't even a factor. They gushed about Palin, and mentioned McCain only as an afterthought. It was as if they were voting for HER as President and that they had forgotten that HE is actually at the TOP of the ticket. 

The other thing is that I asked every person was if they thought she she could help with the economy. They all felt strongly that she would because of her record in Alaska. You know, all along I've been thinking that Obama will probably win. And now, unfortunately, I'm even more convinced. I think McCain had an opportunity here with the fiscally conservative Palin on the ticket to get some of those undecided voters.  Now, I think he blew it when he voted FOR the bailout and then let it pass with all the extra pork! I mean this guy is supposed to be about the lowfat bills. 

All things considered I think Palin did well in the debate tonight. Better than I expected, at the least.  

A few of my observances:

Biden's dramatic "Let me say this again". Guess he was trying to drive his points home.

Biden's condescending little smile and chuckle as if he was saying, "awe, look at the cute little girl, trying to play with the big boys".

Palin's continual use of the word "Maverick" when she had nothing else to say. Annoying.

Palin is definitely an outsider, anyone who believes otherwise is blind. That's good and bad. Some people want experience and some want "change". Either way it doesn't matter, it's only a matter of time before they corrupt her purity.

What I'm wondering is what's the rush with this bailout? Why is this the only option being considered? 

Fun Fact:

$101 million has been contributed to both political parties from the finance industry in the 2008 election. 56% of it went to Democrats. So basically, it's almost equal on both sides.

Paulson, Bernanke, Dodd...How are these guys still in charge? Isn't that like letting the wolf into the henhouse?

There is something fundamentally wrong with this situation. I'm so angry, I had a hard time sleeping last night!

Check out this idea, I'm no economist but I like the way it sounds:

http://online.wsj.com/video/bail-out-home-borrowers-not-wall-street/F4714439-1E7F-4706-8639-3E54B3B0A55F.html

My little brother got married this weekend. His new wife is Columbian and we all love her. Some of her family came from Columbia to be a part of the special day. The whole weekend was a blast. Lots of salsa dancing and great food and wine. My new sister-in-laws' father passed away about 16 years ago and so my father and her are becoming close. He even gave her away. 

She came here, like my father did, for a better life. She loves this country and so do the 50,000 Irish immigrants that are living here illegally, according to what John McCain said this morning when he gave a speech to a very Irish crowd in PA, I think it was PA. Where's Scranton?

Anyway, I was thinking about all the haters who like to blame everything on the U.S. and constantly talk smack about this country and how embarassed they are to say they are American..I'm not naming any names, Michael Moore...oops! I think that if we asked all of them to give up their citizenships and move to, I dunno say maybe, Venezuela (Mikey likes it there, Chavez is his best friend) then we could let all of the illegals who deserve to be here, stay and make them legal.

Let's put together a list of everyone we could deport, I'll start:

Michael Moore

Johnny Depp (I say this with a heavy heart because he's so darn hot)

Kevin Bacon (I threw that one in for Liz)

You can take it from here, go ahead, I'll wait...

I called my cable and television providers this past week in an attempt to get my bills lowered and guess what? It worked! Okay, now I’m really getting worried about our economy. A year ago they would have laughed at me, now they’re willing to give me a “loyal customer” discount? Hmmmm, I wonder if that will work at the grocery store. I can just see it:

“I’ll give you $1 a pound for those apples”, I say.

The clerk replies, “Make it $1.25 a pound and I’ll throw in some toilet paper”.

“Fine”, I say, “but you’re carrying my groceries.”

Anyway, I digress. Seriously, I’m worried. No, our household isn’t in dire straights YET. But what if gas prices remain high, our home continues to depreciate and our taxes go up to pay for this $407 billion deficit that was in the headlines this morning? Can our government really afford to bail out Fannie and Freddie? Can they afford NOT too?  I need some reassurance. It’s hard to know what to make of it all if you’re not a fiscal expert who knows all the history. Some experts say it’s just a cycle; others call it the Fall of Rome. I need an aspirin!

I don’t know all the answers but I’m going to be extra friendly to my grocery store manager, just in case.

P.S. I wrote this in red on purpose.