Spend Less Cut More

Dear Representative Wilson:

Regarding lobbying reform. If there was nothing to sell there would be nothing to buy. The root of the corruption is that congress controls too much money and assumes too much power, much of which is, in my humble opinion, unconstituional. To help rid ourselves of corruption consider drastically cutting budgets and taxes and then returning the money to the people of the states. Then if the individual state legislatures want to implement some of the cut services they can. The people are better able to monitor what is close to them. I can afford to go stand on the steps of the capital building in Santa Fe and make my voice heard. I can not afford to travel to Washington to do the same.

Sincerely,

Craig W. Wright

Eminent Domain: An Open Letter

Dear Senator:

I was very disheartened to hear about the Supreme Court's Decision in
the case of Kelo v. New London. The expansion of the definition of 'public
purpose' in cases of eminent domain, as the dissenting opinion made quite
clear, has violently shaken the very notion of private property. By judicial
decree, the government may for almost any reason, take the property
of an individual. The use of eminent domain is no longer limited to public
works projects such as roads or utility lines. Any economic reason may
now be cited for the use of eminent domain. Please urge your colleagues
in the Senate to pass laws to limit the use of eminent domain. It would
be a travesty if the Supreme Court's word was the last spoken on this
subject.

An Open Letter To My Senator

Dear Sir:

After having written you today about supporting our President's judicial nominees, I began to look at your web page. I noticed a survey about my number one issue. My number one issue was not present in that survey.

I believe that reducing the size and scope of the federal government is the biggest problem facing us today. People have become overly dependent on the government, and this does not bode well for the future of the republic. In my humble opinion, greatly reducing budgets and cutting programs, not creating new ones should be your top priority.

I know there will be tough choices, but our nation is severely indebted and increasingly so everyday. We need desperately to do something about this. I do not want to see my posterity saddled with the debt that my parent's generation created. After all, we have not even paid for the Cold War.

I am willing to accept a more difficult life for myself if that means getting this nation out of debt and spending responsibly. I do not cast my vote with an eye toward what benefits will be conferred upon me by the elected. I cast my vote to preserve freedom, and loose purse strings will ultimately spell the end of our freedom, as they have for all democracies past.

It will take great courage and perseverance to trim the federal government, but I'm confident you are up to the task.


Sincerely,

Craig W. Wright
Albuquerque, NM

You Are What You Eat

Did your mom ever tell you that? I don't think my mom did, but I heard it somewhere. People eat like shit. Really. I was at Furr's Cafeteria tonight with my grandma and girlfriend. Although the food isn't terribly good, Furr's has a very large selection. Plus my grandma really likes the place. Go figure.

Anyway, it is possible to eat a well-balanced meal there. They have salads, cooked vegetables, meats, starches, a good selection of drinks, and of course dessert. Ever since I was a vegetarian, (I'm not anymore), I've been good about eating my vegetables. They are good for you and they taste good. Simple as that!

So I thought I'd do a little experiment tonight. As I was leaving I started checking out peoples' plates. Guess what I saw? Half-eaten salads, very little if any cooked vegetables, lots of potatoes, multiple desserts, fried chicken, pasta, and other meats. In general lots of meats and lots of starches.

Well no wonder the healthcare system is so fucked up. If we took a little bit better care of ourselves I imagine we could cut the demand for healthcare quite a bit. Elementary economics tells us that if the demand goes down prices will drop. Not to mention we'd all feel better too! I'm not at all impressed with what I saw tonight.

If not for many other reasons, this reason alone should be enough to discourage nationalized healthcare. Why should the average tax payer have to pay for heart surgery for someone who never bothered to eat right? Same goes for the smoker with lung cancer or the sugar addict with diabetes. I don't think I'm being unreasonable or inhumane here. We all need to learn to take responsibility for our actions.

We'll talk about exercise another day.

Attention All Wal-Mart Shoppers

I have a love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart. On the one hand Wal-Mart has most of the sundries I want at good prices, but I have to go through hell to get them sometimes. Let me explain.

I went to Wal-Mart this evening because I needed sunscreen, pencils and dog bones. Wal-Mart has all of these things and at pretty good prices. It took me a few minutes to park, a while to walk into the store, a short time to find what I needed, and suprisingly, (because it doesn't happen very often), a very short time in line. I was in and out in about thirty minutes. Wal-Mart is about a five minute drive or bike ride from my house.

That's the good stuff about Wal-Mart. The bad things are numerous too. First I really like to support local business when I can, so I feel a bit guilty going to Wal-Mart in the first place. Second the employees there, are in general, a drag to deal with. To top it off the lines are always long. Every Wal-Mart seems to be short of cashiers.

To get the three things I got tonight and simultaneously support local business I would have to have gone to three different places. First the pet store, then the stationary store, and finally a pharmacy. Three places, all of which, close early or are not open at all on Sunday. I would have been required to do my shopping on Monday. The other problem is that I would have to have driven like three times as much and it would have taken me at least twice as long to do my shopping.

However, the people would be more pleasant to deal with and I would have been supporting my community. It's really a tough decision. I usually go with Wal-Mart for things that don't require any personal assistance. Time is the most valuable thing I have and Wal-Mart saves me a lot of time. Still when I really need help purchasing something or a very special item, Wal-Mart can not compete with a small business. I just wish there was a way to shop in such little time and still support local business. Money, while a factor, is not as important as time.

A Little About Religion

I'm not a particularly religious person. I believe in some original spark because science can still not explain life. I call that original spark God. I'm not a Christian of any type, a Buddhist, a Jew, an agnostic, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Sikh, a Wiccan, or a Taoist. I know a little bit about all of these religions though and I respect them. They all basically want the same thing, harmony amongst men, and that is laudable. For this reason alone I enjoy seeing religion thrive. Religious men generally possess good hearts and there is never anything wrong with that.

It bums me out when I see the ACLU with its interpretation of the First Amendment. They want a freedom from religion, not a freedom of religion in the public sphere. By trying to impose atheism on us they are in fact imposing a religion on us, that of atheism. If you take Webster's definition of religion and religious you can plainly see that by imposing a Godless creed upon us they are in fact imposing a religion. What they are doing is contrary to the First Amendment and also damaging to society.

That they are using the courts to impose their agenda is even more despicable. By provoking the tyrants in robes, they are employing entirely undemocratic means to rewrite the law. Their goals and their means to reach them are deplorable. How can anyone support such an organization?

Damn Hippies

So I'm riding my bike down the street today and this guy honks at me. So what you say, "everyone honks at bikers". Whatever... Anyway, I happened to be in front of him at a light. Hello! Bikes are supposed to obey traffic laws and drivers of motor vehicles are supposed to respect bicycle traffic. Loser.

Anyway, he passes me, and what does his bumper sticker say? "Peace". Hrmmm, well if you want peace try showing some understanding in your personal life. You know, try to fix yourself before you try and fix the world and all of that. The leftists and for that matter the hardcore right-wingers always seem to want to impose their solutions from the top down. What ever happened to live and let live? If your idea is really that good then people will follow it regardless of whether it is a law or not.

So to top it off he's driving a Nissian Frontier and is also sporting a Kerry-Edwards sticker. Hey loser! They lost! Take the sticker down. I thought those people were all supposed to be driving hybrids anyway. Ugg.

Terri Schivao: A Letter To Congress

Dear Sirs,

I believe that custody of Terri Schivao should have been given to her parents, and that she should have been allowed to live. It is a tragedy that the State of Florida did not rule in her favor.

However, it is not the merits of the case that concern me here. Congress has no mandate to take any action on her behalf. It is a gross abuse of power and an affront to the 9th and 10th Amendments of our Constitution to do so. Please concern yourselves with the powers outlined in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution and quit meddeling in affairs that you have no business meddeling in.

Respectfully Yours,

Craig W. Wright
Albuquerque, NM

Start Saving Today!

That's what my credit card application says and that brings me to two things. First the word save is terribly misued. Second, credit card companies are predators. Two points if you can guess who the prey is.

What does it mean to save? If you watch TV or read your mail you would think that saving was inexorably tied to spending. I mean with the grocery cards, the coupons, the low low interested rates. You know, you've got the green light. You could save fifty cents if only you spent two dollars. I think many of us have forgotten that save also means to put aside as a store or reserve. We need more of that kind of saving in this country, both privately and publically. I can dream right?

Predatory credit card companies? The hell you say! No really, they are terribly irritating if not downright terrible. How many credit card applications do you get in a week? I would say I get six or more. I got two yesterday just from Citibank. The third piece of mail from Citibank was a bunch of checks I could use to start saving today, if only I would cash one of them. Ever since I paid that bastard card off they won't leave me alone. It's like the same door to door salesman knocking on your door everyday to see if you haven't changed your mind about the vacuum cleaner. No! I don't want it! Go away!

So yeah, credit card companies should clean up their acts. Unfortunately that is not likely to happen soon, our dear congressman having just passed a piece of
bankruptcy reform legislation. I'm all for personal responsibility, but why this and why now? Must everything appear so transparently corrupt?

Seatbelts Save Lives

It's true they do, just check out the facts. You're an idiot if you don't wear one. However, that does not mean there should be laws that compel you to buckle up. We have a right to our own bodies, and the right to be in the running for a Darwin Award. All that said, laws requiring minors to wear seatbelts are less troublesome.

So anyway, the other day I was driving to work and saw some cops on the corner standing around. Can you guess what they were doing? They were looking into passing vehicles and ensuring that the occupants were wearing their seatbelts. Those who were not were told to pull into a parking lot and were then ticketed. There were about four cops out there and they looked to be having a grand ol' time.

Now, in New Mexico, which is where I live, your car is an extension of your home. Therefore I question the constitutionality of this seatbelt patrol. It amounts to a cop coming up to every house in a neighborhood and looking in every window just because he wants to find out if anyone is doing something wrong. Ugg. What a world we live in.