Paying Taxes

For years I've said that I don't mind paying taxes; I just want to make sure that my money is going to good use.
I am astounded that the rich rulers of the republican party have managed to convince the average republican citizen that taxes are a bad thing, and that somehow they are paying for someone to "slack off"--someone who's taking advantage of welfare or beating the system in some way. While the reality is that someone on Wallstreet or heading a big corporation is the person who is really getting away with something. I've never tried to live off of welfare money, but it certainly can't be easy or enough to have a life filled with material prosperity! It might be enough to just get by.
I just laugh when I hear these party rulers in Congress cautioning citizens that paying more taxes is a bad thing. If we get better public transportation, green energy, healthcare, and other services, how in the hell can it be a waste of money??? Those will save me, my children, or our planet somewhere down the line. It sounds like a smart investment to me.
I want to pay taxes and I want the taxes to go to benefit us all. Maybe I'm a socialist, but I don't have a problem with that. I don't see socialism as something threatening (I guess because I'm against the excesses of Capitalism.) I see socialism as a smart way for a country to take care of all its people instead of just monetarily rewarding those at the top, providing a few meager services for those at the bottom, and leaving the rest in the middle to fend for themselves.
So go ahead President Obama - increase my taxes -- I just ask that you make sure they are spent wisely and tell me what I'm getting for my money!

(Of course, with three kids and a meager middle class income, I probably never pay any taxes anyway....but I would be willing! :) )

Moving Toward Peace

Last night my husband was speculating on what "the terriorist groups" were going to do now that President Obama is making changes to foreign policy. I said they aren't going to do anything but fade away, because how can you muster up enough anger in people against the U.S. when the U.S. is being kind and humane. I guess I was trying to say that Obama is killing them with kindness. He then said but they have all these other issues with christians and jews etc. I still think the main thing that propels their cause forward and keeps youth joining is the anger against the acts the U.S. has committed in the past few years. Bush has given them someone to hate. Hate is what creates the ugly thing we call terrorism. If we take the hate away and replace it with kindness, their followers will diminish, their power will fade away. Then my husband wondered if the terrorists even exist to the extent that we've been told and whether they are simply like the weapons of mass destruction Bush never found in Iraq.
I think Obama is truly trying to "usher in a new era of peace." Whether the rest of the world will accept the outstreched hand, I don't know. What I am sure of is that we are doing the right thing. And because of that I can sleep at night and I can feel sure that we are passing on the right values to our children.