The Candidates

Seems the Presidential race is is full swing and has been now for several months. Is it me or are they starting earlier and earlier? Before you know it people will be announcing their Presidential aspirations a month after a new President is sworn in. After all, you gotta build up that big ol' war chest.
Seeing as I generally vote Republican I'm going to dedicate this blog to my view of the current field of candidates.

Rudy Guliani. Rudy has created quite a buzz around his ability to gather support. I see him as the leader on what we need for a strong defense and military. I also like his ability to be tough on crime. He has a good amount of experience albeit with a mega-city and not any state experience. What I find lacking in Rudy is his stance on abortion and his liberal leaning tendencies. Lack of a firm immigration policy and his personal history could be the issues that make me look elsewhere. He's tough, but is he conservative enough with budgets and Constitutional rights.

Mitt Romney. Mitt has a lot going for him. I like his fiscal responsibility and business sense. He would make a great leader for our economy and would hopefully reduce government waste and spending as well as put us back on track. We need someone like Mitt to keep Congress' spending under control, because frankly they can't do it themselves. Mitt doesn't seem to have strong foreign policy experience and his past dealing from the left only to move right could be something that gives me pause. I like Mitt, but can he be more than 1 dimensional. He also needs to find a way to address the religion issue. I don't have a problem with it, but it does seem to pop up regularly and he needs to find a way to put it to rest.

John McCain. John is a wild card. He has strong qualifications in foreign policy and experience inside the beltway so he knows his way around. He also has valuable inside knowledge of Congress. But he comes from Congress and as such I haven't heard too much from him about how messed up they are which to me means he is complicit in the out of control spending spree. He also tends to break from the Republican party at times when he shouldn't and doesn't when he should. There's a reason he's not doing so well. He's his own problem.

Fred Thompson. I was one of the many who awaited Fred's jump into the race with high expectations. I am very disappointed. Fred's lackluster start is only fueling the controversy around his previous Senate record and rumors of his "lack of enthusiasm". He has a good pitch, but needs to refine the substance of his pitch and get more detailed. His folksy approach will only go so far. He had gravitas before he entered the race but seems to have been unable to maintain that perception. He could turn it around but he better get a plan and start getting out there. His MIA status on the campaign trail is hurting him.

The other candidates are so far behind (I should include John McCain in that group) that to vote for them at this time would be an effort in futility if you really intended to have your selection become President. That could change as there are a few that could be promising such as Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee but until they gain some traction we'll just focus on the main players.

Here's what I would like to see in a candidate:
Fiscally responsible. Reduce spending, cut taxes or hold them, get rid of earmarks and fund the most important issues such as Education, Defense, Housing, Social Security, Medicare, Infrastructure, and Children's Health care.
Secure our borders. Improve and modernize the military. Build foreign coalitions and relations. Pursue restructuring of the United Nations to clean out those with dismal human rights records and histories of corruption until they change their ways. Otherwise withdraw from the United Nations until action is taken. (I'd like to see how well they do without our tax dollars going to supporting the corruption rampant in that organization).
Reform the tax code. Reform Social Security. Reduce the size of government.
Reduce the national debt. Improve trade and encourage and assist nations who are struggling to jump start their trade. Equalize trade agreements. If you tax our goods coming into your country we will tax yours accordingly. Ban partial birth abortion. It is a cruel procedure that goes against everything we should stand for with the exception of if the life of the mother is in jeopardy.

So where is my candidate? I really don't know. I'm sure that I am in the same boat as many others this election cycle. There are parts of each that I like but not one has all the parts assembled into one complete candidate. Perhaps this is why the Republican membership is so fractured.

Air Travel Delays

Delays and the Airline business are as synonymous as peanut butter and jelly without the fond memories. As an airline employee who has intimate experience with the day to day operation, I can attest that the delays are getting worse. I can also attest that a big reason is the antiquated Air Traffic Control System we use in this country. I can watch on our radar sites as aircraft are rerouted around storms and taken the long way around storms. Once an aircraft is in the air it is directed by Air Traffic Control centers into what could be called airborne highways to a predetermined point only to be redirected to the next "fix" as it is called, until they reach their destination. It's like driving your car around a bunch of detours and construction zones and not using 60% of the other streets along the way. This take you miles out of your way to get to where you are driving. By utilizing only the predetermined sky-highway routes aircraft are forced to take the long way more often than they should. The airlines don't have any choice. Think about it. Would we want to delay you, use up more fuel and make all the flights after you late if we didn't have to? We are using a system that is from 1960 to route aircraft through our skies in 2007. Are you still watching a TV from 1960? Driving a car from 1960? The system needs to be replaced. Analog to digital. Ground based to satellite based. Radar blips on a screen to GPS. Until congress gets off it's butt and appropriates funds for this change you can expect that the delays will only get worse and the system more taxed. Meanwhile the airlines take the heat from the traveling public for delays that, for the most part, are beyond our control. The government has been collecting billions of dollars in taxes from the airline industry and our customers but have yet to fulfill the promise of an updated air traffic control system. It's time they put our money where their mouths are.

Boblo Boats

In today's Detroit Free Press news online the front page has a picture of something that brings a flood of memories back to when I was a child. The Detroit Boblo Boat Ste. Claire. She was one of a set of twin sister paddlewheel steam boats that used to ferry hundreds of people a day from stops along the Detroit River to Boblo Island, an amusement park located in the middle of the Detroit River. The only way to get to the park was by boat. Her sister ship is the Columbia. The boats are 97 years old so when I used to ride them they were already over 60 years old but what a majestic ride they gave us. Looking at the pictures brings back vivid memories of riding on these boats, the wind blowing through the decks, the smell of the water and the low chug chug of the steam engines driving the paddles around in the back of the boat. As kids, once we were aboard and away from the dock we would explore the decks and watch over the railings at all the people out on their own boats or the shoreline as we steamed on by. Our parents would relax while the kids would have free reign to go where ever they wanted. There was a souvenir shop on board but not much else. The ride was about 45 minutes to an hour but was rich in memories. I can still hear the sound of the chugging engine and the cool wind as it blew through our hair. The seagulls would form a chain behind waiting for any food that may get tossed overboard. Of course we were happy to accommodate them. My Uncle Pat took us several times and for a while it was his time to spend with us. We only saw him a few times a year but he sure made an impression when he did visit those summer months!
The decks were always freshly painted with a battleship gray paint and the railings and supports were painted white. The upper deck was open to the sky but sometimes it was a little to cool to stay up there. Once at the park we spent the entire day on the rides and playing games. Some of my favorites were the Comet, Antique Cars and The Log ride. We played all day long running around the park without a care in the world. We didn't worry about strangers or injuries or anything that is so prevalent in today's society, we just had a great time. I didn't realize how strong those memories could be until I saw the photograph taken from the deck as she is towed upriver. It's almost as if I was standing right there again on her deck as she sails up the Detroit River.

History, rerun or a new direction?

As I watch today's events unfold between the war in Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan, the war of words in Iran and North Korea and the full blown, throw down Ultimate Fighting in our very own congress I ponder if previous generations had it so good? During WW II, were there vast numbers of the population who were concerned that we were making the wrong decisions on going to war? Did they believe that it was a war of our own making due to our policies toward Japan and Germany? Did they stage protests and rallies to draw attention to their beliefs? Were there members of congress who voted to go to war but then after a year or two stated they were misled and that the war was a mistake? Did the parents of children back then worry that their kid may grow up in a world ruled by dictators and oppression?
I see many similarities between the Nazis and current day radical Islam and if we are not careful the outcome of today's war could change our world for worse. Both believed that the Jewish people were the cause of today's problems and should be wipe off the map. Both ruled with iron fists, intimidation, death and fervor. Both believed that their vision of the world was perfect and both had the intent, capability, and passion to do whatever it takes to bring about the changes they sought through violent means. Are we able to learn from our past? Given the outcome of WW II perhaps we should pray that we would be doomed to repeat it. Seems that our stomach to do what needs to be done is no longer as strong as it was back then.

The great immigration debate

Seems to me that this new immigration reform coming from the island of Washington DC has all the markings of amnesty even though the proponents of the bill are loath to admit it. Those against the bill don't seem to realize that we actually need a majority of the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that many of us wouldn't consider. Neither one of them understand what it will take to make immigration reform be a true reform. The general populace doesn't have any faith in governments' ability to stop border crossings, track illegals, and create an efficient means to enact the part of the plan that calls to monitor, catalog and verify the eligibility of anyone looking to be hired. The track record of the federal government is not a good one in terms of securing our borders. They are also known for the wasteful spending on programs that fail to perform the function they were paid to perform. We had immigration reform back in the year 1986, and yet we need another reform bill. If we secure the borders first, thus reducing the influx of border crossings, and then look at a comprehensive bill deciding what to do with the current illegals in the country, the general populace may begin to soften their stance on allowing the current immigrants a path to becoming residents. Only when the leak is plugged can you fix the plumbing. Securing our borders is not only to stop illegal immigration, it's to provide safety to our country for those who desire to kill us. It would perhaps also have the byproduct of showing the public that maybe, just maybe, the government can do something productive and, I believe, provide a way for the restoration of the population faith in our elected leaders.

The fools on the Hill.

I just read that the US Congress (Led by John Conyors) is trying to pass legislation that will allow the US government to sue OPEC countries for price fixing and they blame the current spike in gasoline prices on the high cost of crude. Their logic is that since the OPEC nations have reduced capacity and output of crude by 1.1 millions barrels a day, this has been the direct cause of the spike in gasoline costs. The problem with this theory is that the capacity reduction started several months ago yet the spike didn't occur until just recently. The real problem is that we are dependent upon oil from other countries, have limited our ability to drill and produce oil on our own soil, and haven't built a refinery in the US since the 70's. Allowing the building of new refineries, opening drilling in off shore areas that have proven reserves, and encouraged conservation and innovation to find new sources of energy would reduce our dependence upon other countries and thus bring down prices. Supply and demand. It's simple. Streamlining the refining processes and reducing the number of distilled products could go a long way to controlling fuel prices as well as bringing our energy needs under our own control. But noooo, congress decides that it's better to blame others for our inability to fix the issues. Do they really think that sueing other nations will work? Why would another nation allow us to have jurisdiction over them? They won't, but congress lives in a fantasy world where they believe that they have domain over other countries. How did we ever elect these fools? We are being made to be the fools for electing them.

The real truth?

I was reading where Michael Moore believes that President Bush was the reason he was being investigated for taking a group of 9/11 emergency responders to Cuba for medical treatment supposedly due to not having access to quality care here in the U.S. Of course travel to Cuba has been illegal for decades but apparently he doesn't believe the law applies to him. Also, if you were going to be charitable enough to take some well deserving people somewhere outside the US for medical care, why wouldn't you take them somewhere known for it's advanced medical care like Switzerland, Norway, Germany or even Canada? Why? Because it wouldn't have suited Michael Moores' purpose of trying to smear the current administration. His credibility is nonexistent on his latest project. If he really were concerned about the welfare of the people he took to Cuba for health care he would have taken them to a country that has better care than Cuba. But then, that wouldn't have made such a good story.
Footnote:
Does Michael Moore really believe that The President of the United States has the time or interest in making problems for him? Michaels' paranoia and delusions of grandeur could make a case for a visit to the clinic for some anti-delusional prescriptions. Of course, he could always get them from Cuba.