It's Not Goodbye...It's See You Soon

Tonight, I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my 25 years on this earth...

I said goodbye to my Grandma.

My Grandma, who has been battling lung and bone cancer, is succumbing to a disease that shows no mercy. She has been through so much. She has been so strong. Even though she is still with us, it was comforting (for all of us) to be able to say the things that we wanted to say. To express our true feelings.

How does one approach this situation? My mind could not comprehend the magnitude of this moment.

I cried on the way to my grandparent's house. I cried before I went into her bedroom to see her. I cried before her. We cried together. I held her hands. We kissed. We embraced.

With my wife, my daughter, and my grandfather in the room; I told her how much I loved her. How much I appreciated what she has done for my family. How I will carry on the values she has taught me about what it means to be a family. How I will cherish all the memories of 'Grandma's House.'

She loved seeing Kayley again. It always has given her spirit a shot in the arm.

But, the most important part of the evening came in the form of a question:

"Will you pray for me?"

Humbled, I spoke to God as we cried and held hands. Out of all of my memories, nothing will ever trump that moment.

Because in that moment, it wasn't goodbye...

It was see you soon.

I love you with all of my heart and all of my soul.

Forever.

Happy Halloween

It's Catching On...

The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the US.

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a Democrat black bear in Montana nicknamed 'Bearack Obama'

Fitting Scripture

I saw this verse on a friend's blog that I wanted to share. Sometimes God's Words are so simple. However, in this eroding world, His Words are becoming more difficult to hear.

Psalm 11:3
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can righteousness do?

When Ronald Reagan took the oath to become President, he used his mother's worn Bible and it was open to the 2 Chronicles passage. My friends, this is no ordinary election. I ask that you begin to pray for our country. We have never needed it more.

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Camp Muskingum: Year Two

Well, I'm back!

This past Monday morning, 122 sixth-grade students and six teachers (including myself) left for a three day/two night trip to Camp Muskingum in Carollton, Ohio. Besides the average temperature being in the 30's, the experience was a blast!

I attended several nature-based classes with the student groups, hiked the trails during the day (once at night) with my colleagues and students, ate pretty good camp food, monitored restroom breaks, played games and talked with the kids, chaperoned a dorm with 60+ boys, and just enjoyed watching the students interact in a different environment that was outside of school.

Tomorrow it is back to my classroom. However, I now have stronger bonds with my colleagues and students...which is always a good thing.

People always say that a teacher can enrich the lives of his/her students, but I firmly believe that a student(s) can enrich the life of his/her teacher(s). Each year, there are students that really standout above the rest. You see their drive for success. Their enveloping personalities. The good head upon their shoulders. The kind spirit they possess. You see a bright future. This "job" really is a privilege.

What an awesome profession.

Entitlements

A blogger friend recently brought up the discussion of entitlements and I thought I would share it over here.

In the second presidential debate, the question was asked: "Is healthcare a right, a privilege, or a responsibility?" Now, I'm just using healthcare as a lone example, but this discussion can encompass many issues.

Is "X" really a RIGHT? Where does that RIGHT come from? Is "X" not a product of community?

During this political race, there has been a very prevalent theme that stands out to me. The American Dream, and how we all have the right to live it. Of course, it then comes down to which candidate is going to most appropriately help us achieve that American dream. What is this American dream? As i think about it, it seems to be a dream that is very wants based…and rights based.

So, I keep thinking. Are we voting for a President that will be most capable of giving us the American dream? Should we be voting this way? I believe that so many of us are incapable of making decisions that are best for us and what we need. It is no longer about what we need, it is about what we want or are entitled to. That scares me. When I read scripture, it seems to tell me a different story. it speaks of humility and surrender. It speaks of being slaves to God alone. As I understand the power of Jesus and the cross, I understand that I’m not given what I want. I am given what I need. Do we truly realize, as Americans, we are no more entitled to life and liberty that anyone else in this world. But, we seem to live as if we are. And wrapped up in this life and liberty seems to be cars…homes…health care…Fewer taxes. This is what we live for and vote for?

So where does the American dream fall in a faith walk with Jesus? Well, I don’t believe it even exists. Except that we have much and so, to us, much is required. We are so inward focused. Health care is a right? A job is where we find our dignity? Owning a home is the American dream? It would sure be interesting to see who America would become if we held truly our wealth with great responsibility. If we found our dignity and rights, not in things, but in our God.

I think we need to become more “needy”, and less “wanty”.

And for reality humor:

Christless Christianity

This article by Michael Horton appeared in the Modern Reformation magazine. Although long, I urge all Christians to read and soak in the message of this article. Unfortunately, I believe this is the direction of today's church movement.

In our everyday lives, God touches every issue at hand. Whether that be family, work, politics, happiness, sadness, choices, etc; God is there. However, we have moved our focus from "What Would Jesus Do?" to emotive issues that focus on "what can I do to help myself?" In most cases, we do not even recognize the shift. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for evangelicalism; just not the "emergent doctrine" that has crept into the pews of our local churches. It's time to shift the focus back to the lone reason Christianity exists today; Jesus Christ.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

So now people are called to be the "good news," to make Christ's mission successful by living "relationally" and "authentically." Where the New Testament announces a gospel that changes lives, now the "gospel" is our changed life. "We preach not ourselves but Christ" (2 Cor. 4:5) has been exchanged for a constant appeal to our personal and collective holiness as the main attraction. Church marketing guru George Barna encourages us to reach out to the unchurched on the basis of our character: "What they are looking for is a better life. Can you lead them to a place or to a group of people that will deliver the building blocks of a better life? Do not propose Christianity as a system of rules but as a relationship with the One who leads by way of example. Then seek proven ways to achieve meaning and success." I am not at all implying that we shouldn't follow Christ's example or that the church shouldn't have models and mentors. What I am suggesting is that discipleship is teaching others, and teaching them so well that even when we falter as role models, the maturity of their own discipleship will not fail because it is grounded in Christ and not in us.

No matter what we say we believe about Christ's person and work, if we aren't constantly bathed in it, the end result will lead to H. Richard Niebuhr's description of Protestant liberalism: "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through a Christ without a cross." According to University of North Carolina sociologist Christian Smith, the working religion of America's teens-whether evangelical or liberal, churched or unchurched-is "moralistic, therapeutic deism." And the answer to that, according to many megachurches and emerging churches is "do more; be more authentic; live more transparently." This is the good news that will change the world?

Christless Christianity can be promoted in contexts where either the sermon is a lecture on timeless doctrine and ethics or Christ gets lost in all the word studies and applications. Christ gets lost in churches where activity, self-expression, the hype of "worship experiences" and programs replace the ordinary ministry of hearing and receiving Christ as he is given to us in the means of grace. Christ gets lost when he is promoted as the answer to everything but our condemnation, death, and the tyranny of sin, or as the means to the end of more excitement, amusement, better living, or a better world-as if we already knew what these would look like before God addressed us in his law and gospel.

Words Worry People...Case In Point...Barack Obama

With less than two weeks to go in the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama supporters are beginning to bite their nails (and if they haven't, they should be). Do you want to know why the Obama campaign is slowly inching for the finish line?

People are beginning to...get this...THINK!

Yes, that's right fellow bloggers, our American electorate is finally beginning to say, "Mr. Obama, you want to do what with what and your going to do that how?"

It took almost 22 months, but "Obama Americans" who have been entranced by "visions of sugar plums," "Kumbaya Foreign Policy," "Real HOPE and CHANGE," "Obamessiah," 'He changed my life' kinda moments," "Man this guy can really read the heck out of a TelePrompTer" and "Who cares if he's a liberal, inexperienced, do-nothing, candidate? He has pretty promises that make me feel warm and fuzzy all over" rhetoric; have actually started to put words to "what the heck does that mean for me?"

If you look to the polls for answers (a joke in itself), then you would see John McCain and Barack Obama in a very close race. In my personal opinion, the polls are probably even closer than what is being stated in the national media because it's just that; the national media! Have you seen some of the fine print from these polls? Double and triple the number of Democrats being surveyed. That's evidence of a "scientific" poll if I ever saw one.

Trillions and Trillions and Trillions of Dollars...And No Taxes? Gee Golly!

.Aristotle Wouldn't Vote For Obama

The above articles are one of those "what did he say" type moments. I think the numbers and commentary, yet again, speak for themselves.

My faith in the American electorate has returned. It took awhile, but how could it not? He speaks so beautifully and he has a great jump shot

"You mean you haven't seen him dance?" -- Al J. Zira

Halloween/Election 2008

Truth is found in the simplest things...

McCain/Palin Rally

Today, after taking the day off to be with Kayley while Megan caught up on some work, I attended the McCain/Palin Rally at Green High School. This was my first political rally. After listening to a few local politicans, Gretchen Wilson and Lee Greenwood sing, and some local school spirit; McCain and Palin made their grand entrance into the Green High School football stadium.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Obviously, I've heard the stump before, but this was a lot different. McCain and Palin were real. It felt like they were speaking directly to me. For an hour, John and Sarah were one of us. The age turnout was considerably younger than I thought. The atmpsphere was energizing. The whole crowd was patriotic. It was patriotic because of what John McCain and Sarah Palin stand for. It was a moving experience from a political standpoint.

Here are some pictures from the event. I was about 40 feet out from the podium; dead-center. After so much time on the road, the candidates looked fresh. They looked like underdogs with something to prove. They looked like the next president and vice-president of the United States.

Fatherly Boasting

Kayley is soooo smart? Want proof?

At 10 months, Kayley has already been accepted to college...class of 2029.


Walsh is even concerned about her appearance...


But, Kayley does like Ohio State; however, that means she would have to move 2 hours away...so that's out :)


Too cute


Kayley at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk...it was a little cold as her nose shows!

Mark My Words

Is it just me, or does the following quote scare anyone? For all the "fear-mongering" claims the left spews on a daily basis about the right...I think this trumps it all.

And people continue to support these blooters...

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

~Joe Biden~

Follow-Up Link:
Very troubling...
How Much Time Do We Have Before a New War in the Epicenter?

CatholicVote

I'm not Catholic, but what a great video.

Obama's "Tax Cuts"

The Wall Street Journal writes:

One of Barack Obama's most potent campaign claims is that he'll cut taxes for no less than 95% of "working families." He's even promising to cut taxes enough that the government's tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% -- which is lower than it is today.

It's a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%. But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of "tax cut."

For the Obama Democrats, a tax cut is no longer letting you keep more of what you earn. In their lexicon, a tax cut includes tens of billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the phrase "tax credit." Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand no fewer than seven such credits for individuals:

- A $500 tax credit ($1,000 a couple) to "make work pay" that phases out at income of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 per couple.

- A $4,000 tax credit for college tuition.

- A 10% mortgage interest tax credit (on top of the existing mortgage interest deduction and other housing subsidies).

- A "savings" tax credit of 50% up to $1,000.

- An expansion of the earned-income tax credit that would allow single workers to receive as much as $555 a year, up from $175 now, and give these workers up to $1,110 if they are paying child support.

- A child care credit of 50% up to $6,000 of expenses a year.

- A "clean car" tax credit of up to $7,000 on the purchase of certain vehicles.

Here's the political catch. All but the clean car credit would be "refundable," which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to call it a tax cut.

The Tax Foundation estimates that under the Obama plan 63 million Americans, or 44% of all tax filers, would have no income tax liability and most of those would get a check from the IRS each year. The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis estimates that by 2011, under the Obama plan, an additional 10 million filers would pay zero taxes while cashing checks from the IRS.

The total annual expenditures on refundable "tax credits" would rise over the next 10 years by $647 billion to $1.054 trillion, according to the Tax Policy Center. This means that the tax-credit welfare state would soon cost four times actual cash welfare. By redefining such income payments as "tax credits," the Obama campaign also redefines them away as a tax share of GDP. Presto, the federal tax burden looks much smaller than it really is.

The political left defends "refundability" on grounds that these payments help to offset the payroll tax. And that was at least plausible when the only major refundable credit was the earned-income tax credit. Taken together, however, these tax credit payments would exceed payroll levies for most low-income workers.

Come on people, can't wee see through the transparency?

I Am Joe

I am a twenty-five year old teacher, husband, and father who lives in Ohio, and who already has a Messiah; I don't need another who'll raise my taxes in order to "share the wealth." My parents never raised me to have a hand out, and I can make my own way, thanks. And while the mistakes that I've made in my life are mine, they're only an excuse to not listen to me if you want 'em to be.

All These Years Later, Bob Hope Still Has It Right :)

Obama's Tax Plan Exposed...By The Plumber???

In Ohio, a concerned middle-class plumber asked Barack Obama the toughest question he has been asked in 21 months.

He failed the test.

Obama's answer (besides the fact that it was confusing, misleading, filled with empty promises, and was an attempt to play to the cameras) was as close to Socialism as you can get without actually saying the word. Obama even said that he would eliminate the capital gains tax. However, during this presidential campaign, Mr. Obama has vowed to increase the capital gains tax from 15% to 20-28%. How many lies does this guy have up his sleeves?

It took a hard-working plumber to show us the inaccuracies, and frankly the dangerous mindset, of Obama's political mindset when it comes to our tax dollars.

Obama is promising us the moon, but he needs our money to make it happen. His spending plan has trickled into the 1.3 trillion dollar range as of yesterday. Don't believe he will raise your taxes? Look at his record. He hasn't found a tax increase he hasn't liked.

Listen to the whole conversation as Obama rambles on and pulls ideas out of thin air. Need a vote? Make stuff up! Listen especially to his view of "spreading the wealth around."


Listen to Joe the Plumber's take on this conversation. It takes an average man to breakthrough the rhetoric and expose a dangerous political mindset.

Obama's Abortion Extremism

I have brought up the abortion issue several times in previous posts on this blog. If you have read for any period of time, you know my position regarding abortion.

I am unequivocally, undeniably pro-life. In other words, I support human life.

For the first time in our nation's history, we have a presidential candidate that promotes a pro-choice agenda, or as Robert George puts it, a pro-abortion agenda. Personally, I have had discussions with believers and non-believers alike that see this issue as irrelevant, unimportant, a tabled issue, and an unnecessary political burden this campaign season.

This is what our society has conditioned us to believe. Policy issues are bigger than life.

I wanted to post this article by Robert George that does an outstanding job of conveying everything I've wanted to say on this issue.

Please consider ALL options when voting this November 4th. Lives, literally, depend on the vote you cast.

It's a Beautiful Day...Don't Let It Get Away

The Truth About Obama's Tax Plan and Small Businesses

Simple Fact: Barack Obama will raise YOUR taxes.

With over one trillion dollars in proposed spending, the money has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is you and me. The liberal agenda has always been in favor of higher taxes, more government spending, and a bigger more controlling government. Barack Obama is lying to the American electorate, and (according to media polls) half the country believes him. This coming after Obama has verbally supported increasing the corporate tax, capital gains tax, social security tax, death tax, and personal income tax. Obama's record proves this to be true. Change is exactly what we will have in an Obama presidency. However, in these hard economic times, we need our money to stay in our pockets. Not the governments.

Remember that magical number, $250,000?? Obama bases his entire tax plan on that number. For many people in this country (depending on where you live), $250,000 is not a lot of money...personal income or small business wise.

Here is a transcript from a local radio station breaking down the Obama tax plan and its effect on small businesses. I have also provided some links for further research and accountability.

Those of you out there, forget what party affiliation that you have. Forget your ideological orientation. Those of you who own small businesses and those of you who work at small businesses, I want to speak to you directly and in a pure business fashion right to your heart, here. Obviously throw some politics in because lies are being told by the Obama campaign through and through, not corrected by the Drive-Bys, about small business. That figure of $250,000 is key. It is everywhere Obama speaks. It's used all the time when he talks about tax policy. Well, what is a small business in America today? Obama says that most small businesses do not earn over $250,000 a year. That is clearly a lie.

It is impossible. It cannot be true. Your own instinct tells you that. You in small business know full well it can't be true. Now, the employees of a small business might believe it. Most employees don't get to see the books. But if you're an employee of small business, and there are five or six other employees in your small business (and that's a small business) just add up your combined salaries and find out if your small business has enough to pay them. If you're making $50,000 a year at a small business and there are five of you, that's $250,000 right there. If there are three of you and one's making 30, one's making 70, one's making 60, you can see how just the number of employees will get you close to what Obama says is the top of most small businesses.

That $250,000 is key because he wants all of you who don't make that amount of money to think you're not going to get a tax increase. Now, remember, Obama has this new coalition of voters, the 30% to 35% who pay no income tax in this country. Not only do they not pay income tax, they want you to pay more. They have seen the benefits of no income taxes. They've been told they're the backbone of America. They've been told they're getting shafted. They've been told the rich are getting all the tax cuts. They have been told that all that wealth and prosperity out there is being denied them by the rich. They pay no taxes, no income taxes. Federal income taxes. So they're thinking they've been screwed, that they've been shafted. Obama's playing to them, and he's telling them, "Because you've been shafted for so many years by Bush and so many years by Reagan, we're going to get even with the people who shafted you."

That's that magical figure of $250,000, and he's using it in a way that is an out-and-out lie. They have been saying that most small businesses do not earn over $250,000 a year, but the Small Business Administration has a different view. I have a post here from October 7th of this year from Patterico's Pontifications, and it's entitled, "Obama's Tax Plan and Small Business." The genesis for Patterico putting this all together was Obama at the town hall presidential debate saying this about his tax policies, and it's according to a CNN transcript. Quote: "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." Now, "The US Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a 'small business' according to its average annual receipts or the number of its employees."

I know numbers are hard to follow, but this will not be. I want you to keep sharp in your head the number $250,000, because that's the operative number that Obama uses. Remember Obama: "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." Okay. Here. Let's look at the maximum average annual receipts by industry that a business can have and still be classified as small business by the SBA. "Crop production of all types: $750,000." Keep that $250,000 figure in mind because every business that I'm going to list here, every small business is far larger than $250,000 in receipts. Yet Obama says most small businesses do not make over $250,000. "Crop production of all types: $750,000. Animal production except for cattle & chicken/eggs: $750,000. Cattle feedlots: $2.5M. Chicken/egg production: $12.5M."

These are small businesses, according to the SBA. "Forestry & logging: $7M. Fishing: $4M." Did you know that forestry and logging has as many operators that are small businesses? It's a $7 million definition of a small business by the SBA. "Fishing: $4M. Irrigation, sewage, water supplies: $7M." These are various areas. The size of your business -- for example, if you're in housing construction and you're a business is under $33.5 million, you're considered a small business by the SBA. Now, keep in mind, Obama says the vast majority of small businesses don't earn more than $250,000. Let me keep going. "Heavy and civil engineering construction: $33.5M. Dredging and cleanup: $20M. Concrete, framing, and other housing contractors: $14M. Car dealers: $23-29M."

Do you know some car dealers are small businesses? Those of you who work at them do. If you own a dealership or series of dealerships valued in your receipts (these are annual receipts) between $23 and $29 million, you're a small business. "RV, motorcycle, & boat dealers: $7M. Furniture, hardware, clothing & sporting good stores," if your receipts are under $7 million a year, you're considered a small business. "Electronic stores..." They're not talking the Circuit Citys, the Best Buys and all this. If you're a mom and pop electronics store, $7 million is the cutoff line for you to be called a small business. "Supermarkets, gas stations & department stores: $27M." Anything over that, and you're not a small business; anything under it, you are. "Pharmacies: $7M."

Now, keep in mind, 250 grand. Obama in the presidential town hall debate said, "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." The truth is that if he's going to implement a plan that people over 250 grand personally or small business, Subchapter S filing under a personal return, if he's going to have a tax increase on anybody more than 250 grand, 99% of small business is going to get a huge tax increase! The very little guy that Obama claims to want to help is the very guy that's going to get clipped here, because once these taxes go up the first instinct of the small businessman or woman is to survive as a small business.

If your taxes go up and you have an economy like this and you cannot grow for a little while because people don't have a whole lot of disposable income because their taxes are going up, too, what are you going to do? You can't keep paying people if your business is going down. Your job is to have your business survive because you have to go through the up and down cycles. You're going to have to lay people off. The business cannot purposely lose money for humanitarian reasons, for a very long time. If it does, it will go out of business and nobody will get anything from it. I listed for you -- one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14 -- 17 categories of small business. Not one of them would qualify for a tax cut under Obama's plan. There are probably some small businesses that are under $250,000, but they are so tiny.

They are so small. They might be sole proprietorships. There are a whole lot more examples at the link. Most of the industries in the table, such as manufacturers of food, beverages, apparel, print, oil, gas, plastics, plumbing, machinery, computers, on and on and on are considered small businesses based on their total number of employees instead of average annual receipts. Now, in those industries, the cutoff between small and large businesses range from 500 to 1,000 employees per business or industry. Now, I'm going to tell you what. If you have a small business with anywhere between 500 and a thousand employees, I will guaran-damn-tee you your annual receipts are higher than $250,000 --and you, too, are going to get Obama's took us increase.

It is going to be a personal income tax rate increase, for those of you that file on your personal form, Subchapter S, on your personal return. You're going to get your own marginal tax rates go up. You're going to have to a capital gains tax increase. And it's likely that at some point down the road Obama will shore up and raise corporate taxes, in the midst of an economy that all the time all the so-called experts say is going to take a while for it to rebound here. Now the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up almost 600 points now. It's at 581. We're over 9,000 at 9,032, and of course it's (clapping) but why? Because the feds and everybody else has taken over all these banks! So the supposed free marketers on the Street here are getting all happy about socialism and nationalization.

Don't forget, in the midst of all this, we've got Pelosi and Reid and Hoyer planning a special session after Obama wins to start this process of tax increases going to eliminate their lifting of the ban of weeks ago on offshore drilling. They think they've got this in the bag. Obama is running around using this $250,000 figure for every tax increase he's planning because he figures 99% of the people in this country are employees, and they will also believe that their business will not get a tax increase because, "Obama is smart. Obama is suave! Obama is smooth. Why, it's so nice to have finally a smart guy that will be leading and speaking for America." He's lying through his teeth. Now, forget politics here, folks. We're talking about it as if this ever happens, if this actually happens, with 95% or more of all small businesses and the corporate tax, too, going up, we're talking about your standard of living.

We're talking about your quality of life. We're talking about your ability to save. I don't care whether you buy stock or you've decided to put the money in the mattress, you're going to have less of it, and eventually the oil price is going to rebound and go up. It's going to happen. There's something awfully suspicious about that dropping from 130 to 80 bucks two weeks or three before an election. But it's what it is, and of course everybody's putting out this news, "Largest single drop in the gasoline price in history!" It's thirty cents, from 3.80 to 3.30, average across the United States. Now, I have even more on this small business stuff. These numbers get even harder to translate on radio, but it is from the Census Bureau, and it's the receipt size of firms. It's the latest, most recent data we have for this are 2002, receipt size of employer firms.

It illustrates here quite readily that the... Just take this, the 100 to $499,000 figure that I mentioned earlier, there are 2,387,780 firms, there are two million establishments, there is about 8.8 million workers. The annual payroll total is... Well, forget those numbers. If you look at this breakdown and you add up all the firms and all the revenue and all the employment, there is no way that the vast majority of small businesses have only receipts of $250,000 a year! There are a total of 5,697,759 firms (we're discussing here small business), 1.2 million of them have less than a hundred thousand dollars in receipts which makes them sole proprietorships; 2.3, almost 2.4 million are between 100 and $500,000. And then as you go higher, the numbers decrease. But when you add them all up, you find that... No matter how you look at it, is the point -- whether you look at it as number of employees, whether you look at it as receipts -- there's no way Obama's even close to the truth on this.

Patterico: Obama's Tax Plan and Small Businesses
Statistics about Business Size (including Small Business) from the U.S. Census Bureau
MSNBC: MORE $42,000
Wall Street Journal: Obama's 95% Illusion

Walsh Farms, Pumpkin Carving, and Friends

Tonight, we kicked off the spirit of Halloween by going to Amish Country for dinner, Walsh Farms for pumpkins, and then back to the Weaver's for pumpkin carving and apple cider. Fall is our favorite time of year! There is nothing better than hanging around in jeans and a hoodie on a cool, crisp Autumn night. Here are some pictures from the evening:

Kayley was Walsh Farm's "Cutest Little Pumpkin."

Here's Kayley after we picked out her first pumpkin!

She wasn't so sure about the pumpkin carving idea...

But then, she really got into it!

Messy is good :)

Here we are with the finished product (I was the only one who didn't stencil if you couldn't tell).

Kayley checking out her pumpkin...and up WAY past her bedtime!

Then, it was off to check out the cooler and get a drink for Daddy.

Megan and Kristen were picking out the pumpkin seeds to bake.

Andrew is concentrating a little too hard on this pumpkin :)

Kayley...9 Months

Jimmy Carter Say What?

The similarities between Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are eerily similar.

For those of you keeping score, that is not a good thing.

However, personally, if it came down to Carter and Obama I'd pick Carter hands down. Thank God those aren't our choices. Recently, Jimmy Carter slammed the Bush Administration for the current economic crisis in order to throw his "presidential weight" behind the Obama campaign. Here are some interesting quotes from Reuters:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Former President Jimmy Carter said on Friday the "atrocious economic policies" of the Bush administration had caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"I think it's because of the atrocious economic policies of the Bush administration," said the 84-year-old Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977-1981 during a period of high inflation and energy crisis.

"The economic situation is an entrenched problem. It is going to take years to correct what has been done economically," Carter said, adding he hoped Democrat Barrack Obama would win and immediately improve Washington's image in the world.

Jimmy Carter say what? Where, on God's green earth, does Jimmy Carter have any room to talk about financial issues and the presidency?

I can't believe I am actually wasting time writing this, but someone needs to point out to Jimmy Carter that when it comes to Presidents with lousy economic policies, his Administration still takes the cake no matter how bad things have gotten in the current financial crisis. Under the Carter Administration, inflation skyrocketed into the double digits--reaching 13.5% at the time of the 1980 Presidential campaign. Unemployment was at 7.7% nationwide by 1980 and worse in various industrial pockets. Interest rates were at a shocking 21.5%. Any President who is responsible for such a sorry spectacle has no business lecturing successors on how to set economic policy.

Contrary to Carter, "spending, borrowing and tax cuts" have nothing to do with the current economic crisis. As anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows, the current economic crisis was brought about by the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977--signed by Jimmy Carter--along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, all of which conspired to introduce Americans to the phenomenon of subprime mortgages. We thus started down the primrose path to offering mortgages to people at risk of not being able to pay those mortgages back. Mortgage-backed securities arose from subprime lending and while it is tempting to blame a lack of regulation for the emergence of MBSs, it has been conclusively demonstrated that deregulation is not the villain in this story. Indeed, opting for regulation--as Carter, with financial lust in his heart, appears so plainly to do--will have a deleterious policy effect.

I realize that Carter wants to obscure a clear examination of his calamitous economic record by trying to get people to dislike George W. Bush and I understand why Carter is resorting to tired shibboleths as he makes the effort. But that shouldn't excuse Carter's rhetorical dishonesty. Carter's Pavlovian answers do nothing to address the current financial crisis and despite the news of the moment, the economic disaster Carter helped bring about does not even remotely look better over time(Pejman Yousefzadeh).

ACORN

Recently, Barack Obama's personal associations have become a troublesome issue for the Obama campaign. The responses from Obama campaign aides has been comical to say the least. Every day is a new sound clip with a new story that edges around the real issues. However, Obama's most disturbing association (besides a terrorist colleague, racist pastor, and many criminal cronies) is with the group ACORN.

This article is downright disturbing. Stanley Kurtz's article showcases some of the issues inside Obama's ACORN. Unfortunately, the media is just now starting to bring up Obama's past and his personal affiliations and associations. Yes, we've seen a blip on MSNBC or a story tucked away in the back pages of the New York Times, but this is for real.

It took the national media 21 months to "uncover" these stories that are now being reported...sparingly.

Our media is playing politics?? Nahhh

A man at the center of a voter-registration scandal told The Post yesterday he was given cash and cigarettes by aggressive ACORN activists in exchange for registering an astonishing 72 times, in apparent violation of Ohio laws.

"Sometimes, they come up and bribe me with a cigarette, or they'll give me a dollar to sign up," said Freddie Johnson, 19, who filled out 72 separate voter-registration cards over an 18-month period at the behest of the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"The ACORN people are everywhere, looking to sign people up. I tell them I am already registered. The girl said, 'You are?' I say, 'Yup,' and then they say, 'Can you just sign up again?' " he said.

Tom Brokaw

I'm going to be very straightforward here...

I'm speechless. I'm confused. I'm scared.

How can a nation that is superior on so many levels, be so irresponsible in the handling of its own democratic process?

I've seen town hall meetings before. I've seen them on the federal, state, and local levels.

That was NOT a town meeting.

Tom Brokaw, a headline journalist for a network (NBC) that is admittedly...admittedly...in the back pocket of Barack Obama, moderated nothing short of a stump speech. He single-handedly kept the race close. He single-handedly kept the current poll numbers in favor of Obama. Out of over 6 million...6 million!...submitted questions, Tom Brokaw chose questions that we have already had answered.

Where was the people's voice? The character questions? The issues of gun control, abortion, gay-marriage, presidential policy, associations, records, etc?

We now live in a country where the media selects who governs us. They select the issues that matter to us. They deliver us the news we want to hear.

Why I'm scared?

People actually, whole-heartedly, believe it to be true. People have actually bought into the idea that a junior senator, the most liberal and radical candidate to ever run for president (check his easily researchable records and policy positions), will lead us to the promised land.

I pray for America. I pray for clarity of mind and the truth. Neither of which has been given to us or allowed for.

What have we done to ourselves?

My Cousin's Wedding

This weekend, my cousin Amanda got married to her longtime boyfriend, Curt. The wedding was at St. Peter's in Canton and the reception was at the Quarry in East Canton. Megan was a bridesmaid and I had the pleasure of doing a reading during the ceremony. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. Here are some pictures from the night.

Megan, Kayley and I

My brother Cory and I

Cory, my Mom, and I

Cory, my Dad, and I

Amanda and Curt being introduced at the reception.

My beautiful wife

Megan and I

The cake cutting.

First dance as Mr. and Mrs.

Father/Daughter Dance.

My grandparents won the marriage dance. 59 years and counting! Wow!