4 and a half days

I can not take it anymore. I can not take the political ads. If I have to watch Wedding Crashers, The Longest Yard, The Pacifier, Crimson Tide or any other movie on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, Encore or any other movie channel, then so be it. I have done it for the past three weeks I can do it for another 4.5 days.

The he said this in 1979 and the she said that, and he took from here and she gave to there, and the he doesn't own that dog. He golfed and he let education go down the drain. She wants to raise taxes to the he votes with Bush and we are nothing like Bush. The Dems this and the Reps that. The negative ad campaign has turned me off from all candidates. Each and every one who has made a media buy - I am not voting for you. I was going to vote for some of you, but not anymore. I think I may even change my affiliation to Green.

What are the issues for this election" Stem cell research? Taxes? Smoking in public? Abortion? Slots? (OOPS - that one has yet to come up.) Adoption of 3rd world babies? Land conservation? Seafood conservation? Fuel emissions? Cost of oil?

Granted everyone has their own issues. Some of us have so many hang-ups, Christmas trees are jealous. But what are the real issues. They can be anything that we want them to be. Why should we have politicians dictate to us what is important. We elect them - their issues should be our issues – right?!? Yes, Yes, I know - how naive of me.

Well since the politicians are informing us what issues they are running on - maybe they might want to know what issues might be important to the voter base. (ok it may be a little self centered because I do not assume to speak for anyone else.)

Taxes: Keep your hands out of my wallet. I work hard for my money and you should to Mr. or Ms. Politician. I think you should take all of your special interest money and give it to the Treasury to help pay off the deficit, whether it be state or federal. We will probably pay it off faster then continuing to jack up the voter base taxes.

Abortion: Just exactly who to you think you are telling me what I can and what I can not do with my body. The last time I checked you were not paying my medical insurance and the doctor / patient confidentiality was in effect (unless you tapped the phone line). I have never had to make this choice - but it would be mine to make. Not some person on some hill in some robe or some person in some capitol building in some suit. Or some person carrying a sign shouting atrocities to people who have to make that decision. Mr. or Ms. Politician - what I do with my body is none of your business.

Stem Cell Research: All for it. Mr. or Ms. Politician it could be you or one of your family members it could save. Let them at least try. You never know, in death there could be life.

The Horse Industry / Slots: Find ways to allow the horse industry to grow. Put slots in and stop fighting over the money. In the fine state of Maryland, lottery money is for the Stadium Authority to build and/or I guess payoff the stadiums. So why not let the slot money go to the horse industry? Because is should go to education? Educate people to have a vocation in the horse industry. Educate people that horses do not eat lettuce.

Land Preservation: Mr. or Ms. Politician God isn't making anymore land. Do your best to preserve it and conserve it. I do not know about the rest of the world - but I do not need to see any more McMansions on quarter acre lots priced at $1,000,000+. Which means you might have to forge relationships with people who care about land preservation and let developers who want to make a buck fall by the wayside. But should you take a kickback from the developer - make sure you give it to the Treasury to pay the deficit.

Education: Let teachers teach to teach their area of expertise; not so students can pass a standardized test. Pay teachers a decent wage; in a lot of ways they are raising children for parents who view school as a babysitting service. How do you make education better? You make better parents. Because it all starts at home… So find a way to hold parents accountable for their children’s actions. Mr. or Ms. Politician, the some children in school right now have no concept of accountability or repercussions for actions. They are the people who are eventually going to be taking care of this country. Some are very hard workers and want to learn, but they are the select few. For the sake of this country – find a way to better the education system. Do not pass children because they may be left behind. Maybe they need to be left behind.

Cost of Education: If an individual wants to further their education - I am all for it. But it should not cost over $20k per semester for a state run school. Schooling is expensive. Books, computers, clothes, spending cash, club dues, the list goes on and on. I think one way to maybe limit or offset the cost of say books, is to stop allowing professors to force students to buy the brand new text book that the professor just republished and it is the same content as the previous version, except for one paragraph on page 65. (I have actually had to purchase a $250.00 book under these circumstances.) Maybe have corporate sponsors for students. Sort of like a paid internship, except the corporate sponsor pays the school tuition. Company gets the molded employee that they want, the school gets the money they want.

I do not profess to have all of the answers or any of the answers for that matter. There are a lot of people out there who are brighter then I am and who are better equipped to provide a solution. These are the things that I find to be important. Maybe some of these things are important to you, maybe they are not.

Four and a half days and I can watch something other then movies again!