Presidential Politics is Local Politics

My family and I spent a great weekend out with my sister and brother in law and their five kids out in New Salem. It’s a beautiful area out by the Quabin Reservoir and a majestic place to visit when you want to see life as it was restored in old time New England. The kids were supposed to tent it for the weekend but the weather screwed us over till the last night. Call me a jerk but I couldn't picture a memory for my girls without a scare from yours truly as a wild animal out in the woods of New Salem. I grunted like a wild pig and almost laughed out loud as my nephew ordered out to identify mylself. I scratched at the tent on the lower corners and started to growl and Reid came up to bat to confront the attacking animal. At the ripe old age of thirteen he was the man in charge defending his family. At which point I growled loud and grabbed at the screen as he tried to unzipp it. As the kids laughed I was in serious trouble as the Mom's came racing out. Long story...

My Sister in law Jean is a Godsend to the restoration of the community and has been one of many driving the restoration of the buildings in the town and for that matter bringing New Salem back together again. Her heart is in the right place and that is building a community and fostering a common goal that brings all of the people of New Salem together. Old Home Day in New Salem would not be what it is without all the hard work everyone in the community puts into it. Trust me, it was a great family event. We had a blast, got some home made honey from a real life bee keeper and some interesting residual products made from honey. The girls were able to ride in a fire truck in the parade, and we all enjoyed some great conversation with family and locals.

We didn’t talk politics but we did talk life. Life meaning how we are all handling the events of our lives given the economy. It’s happening everywhere in America and our discussions probably were not far from the conversations you had with your families over the past weekend. Gas prices are killing our food budgets, we are stretching funds to pay the utility bills, we don’t drive unless we have several errands at the same time, we just don’t spend frivolously anymore. One thing I came away from this past weekend was local commerce supporting local people. From now on, when I see a farm stand I intend to stop and buy from them for my vegetables and any other products they have that I would have bought at the huge grocery chain store. I don’t know where the vegetables came from at the super dooper grocery chain, but I do know that the local farm stand is selling their hard work. At least I hope they are.

Jean and David are the most Liberal people I know but they are also Conservative thinking people. I love them both. Here in New England that is almost a given. Yankee blood is driven into your soul over the long cold winters and saving a dollar, managing your dollars is just something you do. At least in western Mass anyway.

What stirred my thoughts to write this post was the local community and supporting that first ideology. I sat back at the dinner table when my wifes sister Jean went on about supporting local farmers meant supporting the local hardware store, the local store that bought the milk from the farm, the local farm that supplied the eggs to the store and the list went on and on. A loud sounding bell went off in my head and it was right there in front of me and I never saw it before.

What with WalMart importing everything from all over the world and selling it cheap, in the big city of Worcester, not such a big city but the example works, I’m screwing myself over and my neighbor that works at XYZ company that makes product here, buys raw materials here, pays to ship raw materials to the factory, pays a living wage here, then pays to ship the product to the end user here in the USA! I as a person need to stop thinking that cheaper is better and saving one dollar on a product is better for me. It isn’t cheaper and that fact is seen loud and clear by all of the highly educated friends you know and love that are out of work and all they qualify for now is retail sales associates. MIT and Harvard degrees do not matter in this economy that has been created by the current leaders of this nation.

Our Federal government needs to reinvent itself where American’s come first again and that is not going to happen under a continuation of George Bush policies. Governor Deval Patrick has taken the lead in reinventing Massachusetts economy by going green and endorsing the technology that will pay off in the long term for all Americans. In doing so he is securing our higher education background that is a huge contribution to our local economy. In his efforts to go green Governor Patrick is also making this state a leader in the desire of all of our nations people to get off the OPEC monkey that has been holding us back for far too long. Governor Patrick has tripped the light fantastic and in doing so many other states should follow his lead. For the time being the brightest of minds in new energy will work in Mass and that is what good government is all about. Creating a growth industry and nurturing it till it can stand on its own. Change comes slow and when it kicks in new jobs will be created nationwide that will drive the next economoy.

With all of that being said, who do you think will really play a part in changing the way we all think in America? John McCain or Barack Obama?

You decide in November.

Papamoka

Newbie Homeowner… Not today buddy!

Not that the cost of gas will prevent you from ever owning a home if that is your hope and dream, stagnant wages will. While the cost of living is going through the roof along with CEO bonuses and mega billion profits per quarter at the oil companies the average Joe is supposed to say “Oh well?”.

Is it just me or does the main stream media not get it? Our jobs are going everywhere but here and everyone in the media is smiling as if there is nothing wrong. Good paying middle class jobs are flooding out of every state because it is cheaper to move the plants and machinery out of America and that is the bottom line that pays the CEO’s. Every single corporation in America is looking to go cheaper and that answer is offshore and out of America. Yes, it makes good business sense but if it is at the expense of all your neighbors is it the right thing to do? If you think like a CEO then it is always a good thing to do. Cheaper labor cost means a greater profit. End of discussion.

When our nations job providers do not offer wages to provide for home ownership then that is the end of the American economic engine. Kiss Home Depot, Lowes and any other home improvement stores goodbye! Then again that may be a good thing when they put more products not made in America on the shelves to sell. Over at MSN Money they have this interesting piece and I urge you to click on the post!!!

Average Joe still can't afford a home

By Bankrate.com

One of the worst things about today's real estate market is that there doesn't seem to be any silver lining in that big black cloud.

Normally, you'd think dramatically falling prices would make homeownership possible for more moderate-income families.

But even with homes more affordable, the median price in many markets is still out of reach for a median-income family, according to "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," a study by the Center for Housing Policy, or CHP, in Washington, D.C.

Comparing housing costs in 210 metropolitan areas with the wages earned by workers in 60 occupations, the study found that homeownership is often unaffordable for workers in each of the five-fastest growing occupations -- registered nurses, retail salespeople, customer-service representatives, food-preparation workers and office clerks. Registered nurses, who typically have high salaries, were unable to purchase a median-priced home in 108 of the markets. - MSN Money

I think I should be clear that I honestly believe the housing market is in a tumble it has not seen in decades or even half a century or more. One of the things I know about economics and how an economy works is that housing is the basis for all indicators.

When I owned my home, I put tons of money into that house. From new windows to the latest and greatest technology on heating the hot water. New doors went up on all of the bedrooms, new floors went down in the kitchen, the bathroom was overhauled with a water saving toilet, and the yard was rebuilt to allow a swing set for the kids to play on. Renters don’t do that and can not do that.

We lost our home when a child’s illness had us faced with ten months of hospital medical bills and I’m not sorry for it. My child is well now and that is all that is important to me. Our home was just a materialistic thing that we built around the family. All of the conveniences we added to our home was just that. Something that made our lives easier. We did what we had to do in order to survive and we lost just an address. My baby is still with us so I don’t look at it as a total loss. It was just a house but she is and will always be my baby girl. That is my personal perspective but this issues is bigger than that. The housing crisis is real and it is at our front door as a nation. Some folks call people like me an idiot for making stupid decisions financially but you would never want to be in my shoes when I made them. Hind sight is wonderful if you never lived the tale or circumstances.

It should bother you that our nation is moving in a direction that is lazy or easy. Where once we were a nation of innovators and experimenters on how to do things better we have been sold out by our corporate leaders for the almighty dollar. In some respects I can understand why one individual would condescend to the principal of making the most money for his family but at what cost does that sell out come to his neighbors? Lately it is pretty high.

When American business people realize that the dollar they get by selling out American jobs is hurting their nation then they just might have a clue. Till that time comes you can watch as all the manufacturing jobs go out of our nation and your job is no longer relevant. They call it outsourcing and good for the bottom line. I call it death to the American economy. Either way the bonuses go out to the top executives. Maybe your MIT engineering skills will come in handy to mow their lawn? Skim the pool or do day care for their kids while they go off shopping.

Buying a house on a salary or pay that requires you to ask if the customer wants fries with that is not how you pay for a home.

Not everyone in America will make anywhere near the big bucks of even the middle class but if the loss of hope of ever owning a home is gone then our nation is a failure. That then would be a tribute to the people that have sold all American’s out.

If this were a baseball game the owners would have sold all the players before the game was even over…

Papamoka

Cross posted MichaelLinnJones.com and to Bring It ON! and To the Center

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