Tuesday was election day across the nation. Most important were those watching to see if Republicans would win any seats and they did. Republicans won the governerships of Virginia and New Jersey.

It was quite a blow to the Obama adminstration who had campaigned heavily in both states for the Dems. And Republican leadership all across the country see it as a positive sign for next year's elections. As usual, the majority party loses seats in Congress the following election year. Yesterday's elections were seen as a litmus test.

What does this mean for the Obama administration? It means that the party is over. No more smooth sailing as the United States' first African American President. Its time to act like all the rest and fight for what you believe in. People are no longer going to lay down now that the hoop-la is over.

What does this mean for Republicans? As I said in earlier posts, the Republican party will rise from the dead next year. But what party? The party that stood for lower taxes and smaller government (i.e. Ronald Reagan's Republicans) or the party that former President George W. Bush led astray with larger government(i.e creation of Homeland Security) and out of control spending (i.e. two wars).

Either way, the chickens are coming home to roost.

Our wonderful state of California was once considered a paradise, or so I'm told. Now it is a jumbled mess of run away taxes, un-business friendly tactics, and overcrowded prisons. Lack of leadership in Sacramento has led the state into a disarray.

Many have been arguing that a constitutional convention should be had to make certain needed changes. Two changes that are seriously being looked at include changing the two-thirds majority requirement for raising taxes and the intiative process.

Democrats seriously want the supermajority vote reduced to a simple majority. Dems need two thirds to pass taxes and approve the budget. A simple majority only requires fifty percent plus one, which the Dems already have. Republicans would be brushed aside and the sliver of bipartisanship that is still alive in Sacramento, will be gone.

The initiative process also wants to be tackled because of the fact that anyone or any group with a million dollars laying around can put a vote to the public. The initiative was originally created by the Progressives as a way to pass legislation during a time when special interests ruled the legislature. Unfortunately, those same special interests took the intiative process and ran with it. The most notable and recent intiative was Prop 8; the intiative that defined marriage as that between a man and woman, there by banning same sex marriage. Other famous intiatives include Prop 13, the limit on property taxes, and Prop 187 which banned undocumented immigrants from schools and was later found unconstitutional.

In conclusion, the state does need a constitutional convention. Besides the two changes listed above, the state is in a futile mess. Serious changes need to happen in Sacramento. I say change the two thirds majority to a simple majority. Then when Californians are up to the eyeballs in taxes, worse than they are now, we will vote those Dems out of office. The second Republicans rising is coming. And on the intiative process, lets just scrap the whole thing. Throw it in the trash. Lets let the legislature legislate. Just like teachers need to start teaching better, the government needs to start governing more efficiently. Let's wake Sacramento up.  

Next year's elections should be pretty simple. Republicans will commandedly regain control of Congress and the California legislature.

This year's most important issues have been jobs and healthcare. Democrats in Washington and Sacramento could not deliver on either one.

First, the stimulus passed which was going to save the economy from collapsing. And even though Ben Bernanke declared that the recession was over last month, the truth is it is far from over. The recession won't be over until people start going back to work. Early predictions are hoping the job market comes back by 2011. Currently unemployment is at 9.8%. That's 1 in every 10 people that do not have a job across America. California is even worse at 12%.

Second, the idea of healthcare reform has been floating around all summer. I still don't have insurance. We had the townhalls which got out of control, Congressmen and Senators were shouted down, people had guns at presidential events, and the nation was put on edge. Here in the county alone, we had two incidents. There was a fight at the Conejo Valley Democrats meeting and a finger was bitten off at a Thousand Oaks rally. If healthcare reform finally passes, it will be a watered down version of anything we really need.

Both issues are affecting every single American. President Barack Obama and his party have failed to deliver. American's want to see action, not just hear empty talk. Next year the voters will show Democrats the door and I forsee a revival of the Republican party.

Raise your hand if you support off-shore oil drilling.

I am one that will not be raising my hand. The thought of beaches along the Ventura County coastline being layered with a slick substance from an oil spill. Our beautiful beaches closed because they are so polluted it is not safe nore attactive to enter the water. Just imagine the strip of beach from Ventura to Malibu closed and polluted. Think about the numerous animals that will die from the spill.

Think it can't happen. Well it did. On August 21, over a month ago, an off shore rig in Austalia began to spill oil from a broken underwater pipe. Reports say that it could still take "at least three weeks to plug the spill." It has been estimated that between 400 and 3000 barrels of oil are being spilled into the ocean each day.

With the spill taking so long to contain, it is forseeable that if a rig off the Santa Barbara coast had a spill, the oil could seep clear down to Los Angeles and maybe San Diego. That's a lot of soiled beaches.

Almost 40, Brett Favre doesn't let age dictate his life. Favre controls his own destiny and still continues to amaze his fans with amazing plays like the one below. With 12 seconds left in the game, the Minnesota Vikings were down 24-20 against the San Francisco 49ers. Lets just say the Vikings are still undefeated.

UPDATE: So in the comments it was pointed out that maybe I should give you my own opinion on the issue of healtchare reform. So here it is.

My opinion is that reform needs to happen. The insurance companies have too much power over individuals when it comes to receiving healtchare. The fact that the insurance companies have employees whose sole purpose is to turn down claims based on pre-existing conditions is disgusting. While there is discussion about limiting excessive pay on Wall Street, there is no talk of limiting insurance companies abilities to turn away customers who have paid into the system but get cut from it when the insurance company feels a need to.

Next, the issue of the public option which sounds like medicare for everyone. Right now I don't have healthcare. I don't want to go to the doctor, but I do want to go to the dentist. So what should I do. A public option would allow me to be enrolled in a program which would hopefully allow me to go see a dentist. And maybe down the road go see a doctor if I would like. But how are we going to pay for it? I can tell you right now I can't afford more taxes or fees.

And finally, my last issue is with mandates. This is America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. So how are we free when the government forces us to buy healthcare? In California we have a similar situation with car insurance. It is called the Compulsory Financial Responsibility Law. Healthcare reform should not include a mandate. It should be an individual's choice.

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Over the last month the blog has been experiencing some technical difficulties. Posts kept disappearing. Luckily I was able to repost them. This time though when they came back, the lost the comments.

So as I regroup and try to figure out what direction to take this blog, I would like to have an open thread. The discussion will be centered around what your individual opinion is on the issue of universal healthcare for America.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think about the healthcare issue. It has definetly been the biggest topic of the summer with all of the townhalls across the country. Do you want healthcare for all? Are you against it? Why are you against it? Why are you for it? Who do you think will pay for it? Was President Obama lying when he said illegal immigrants would not be covered? Will the country be able to afford it?

"You Lie!"

Those are the words now made infamous by Rep. Joe Wilson(R-SC). He yelled them last week during President Barack Obama's healthcare address to Congress. The outburst did not go over so well and the House decided to "rebuke" the Congressmen for his actions. The rebuke is an official thumbs down from Congress.

Well Rep. Joe Wilson, I give you a thumbs up.

In the freest country in the world, the home of democracy, where we pride ourselves on our first amendment right to say almost anything, why is there so much uproar about a simple outburst? And that is exactly what it was, a simple outburst. Two words. "You Lie."

If our elected officials can't express themselves to the president, then who can? Are they not elected to represent us? And if we feel like the President is lying, then why can't we tell him that. At all the townhall meetings around the country over the last months, constituents have been explicitly expressing their feelings verbally to elected officials. If at any moment in the whole debate to stand up to the president, Wilson picked the best moment. 

There have been worse actions on the Senate floor. Remember when Dick Cheney told Senator Patrick Leahy to "Go F*** Yourself!" a few years back.

Seriously though, maybe Washington wouldn't be so uptight if they let out some aggression in a verbal sparring match occasionally. The British do it weekly with Prime Minister questions.