GO VOTE!

"It is imperative that American Citizen's become alerted and informed regarding the threats to our welfare, happiness, and freedom. No American is worthy of citizenship in this great land who refuses to take an active interest in these great matters. Stand up for freedom. No matter what the cost. It can help to save your soul. And maybe your country. May God give us the wisdom to recognize the dangers of complacency, the threat to our freedom, and the strength to meet this danger courageously."

--President Ezra Taft Benson

Obama on Freedom of Choice Act

Obama said that one of the first things he will do as president is Sign the Freedom of Choice Act (which would remove all restriction on Abortion). He believes when he is president that he will be able to appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice, which will likely overturn Roe Vs. Wade, allowing abortions at anytime.

Here's a video link about it:
http://americaschoicenow.com/

Obama's 30 minute ad

Here's an article about the ad:

Obama's prime-time ad skips over budget realities
By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 29, 9:18 pm ET

Quotes from the article:

Obama's assertion that "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by "eliminating programs that don't work" masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it's not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.

THE FACTS: His proposals — the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more — cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged — although not in his commercial — that: "The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."

Republican Party Document Review Committee

Message from our Legislative District 61 Chair:

It is my belief that the work of the party also consists of support of our party documents. Many individuals have expressed concern over different parts of the bylaws.

Our district is a pro-active district full top notch citizens. Some of those extremely smart people also happen of political activists. We would like to form a committee of interested persons to review the Party Documents together. If you have not been contacted and would like to be involved, please email me.

We welcome all views and opinions. This will be a working committee hopefully with individuals who will engage in conversation and study of our documents to stir the best ideas.

This committee will meet just days after the elections.

Vote for John McCain

I am not a great writer. I am not articulate and charismatic. I am not an expert on economics and foreign policy. I am not privy to U.S. Intelligence information. I am not a war veteran. However, I am an American. I love my country and I want us to continue to do our part to save our freedoms and build this great nation up.

I am worried about this upcoming presidential election. In our current economic tailspin, I am even more saddened that Mitt Romney didn’t get the Republican nomination. This is the area of his expertise, however, I will move on…

I do not like either of the 2 main gentlemen running for the office of President of the United States. I really do not like McCain. He bullied his way to where he is. I think he’s been part of the government problem, but I’ll admit, that I think that about anyone who has been in politics over 10 years. It’s been a hard road for me to think that I will vote for him, which I will.

The reason for writing this is more to express my thoughts about the other candidate. I have had so many people ask what I thought about all this, so I decided to throw it out there. There is indeed something about Barack Hussein Obama. He is very articulate and charismatic. It would seem that his eloquent oratory has truly taken our nation by storm.

I have many family members and friends that are voting for Barack. Some truly align themselves with his extremely liberal beliefs (He was voted the most liberal Senator of 2007). Some are voting for him only because they refuse to vote for McCain. Some are claiming they are voting for him because McCain is too liberal (I really don’t understand this one). There are others, who freely admit, that they want to be able to say that they voted for the first African American President. Then there are those who are voting for him because he looks “presidential,” even his wife, Michelle, wanted him to look more presidential and made him quit smoking in public!

I feel that unless you align yourselves with his beliefs and truly believe that he will be the best candidate to act according to your own morals and desires then voting for him otherwise is extremely irresponsible. Voting is a freedom that we are fortunate enough to have. We should be responsible. Learn about the issues and the candidates, and no, getting all your information from your TV does not count!

After McCain gained the Republican Nomination, the only reason I could find to vote for him is because our next president will indeed appoint Supreme Court Judges. This will make a huge impact on our rights and liberties. I want to insure that the Judges have a moral compass more aligned with my beliefs. I am pro-life. I don’t like guns, but think that we should have the choice to own them if we choose to. I threw that last line in there because very recently (June 2008) there was a case that could of changed our 2nd amendment had it of passed and the final vote was only one vote shy of passing (5-4 decision). This is a scary thought to me that our constitutional rights and freedoms could so easily be changed by one person, one Supreme Court Judge.

Besides the worry of whom Barack Obama might put in as Supreme Court Judges, I have come up with many reasons or red flags that have me worried about having him as our next President. I will go through these in no particular order. He really has done some great things and he has an amazing family tree (I love family history, so I really can appreciate this). I don’t wish to attack any of those things and the only reason I bring up certain things is to point out the inconsistencies in what he said and what is documented as actually happening. I’m sure that I have also made mistakes in my writing, since my facts are only as good as the information received from the research I have done. The point I’d like to make it that there just seem to be an awful lot of things, too many of them if you ask me.

• It’s always a red flag when the media loves a politician, and they sure do love Barrack!
• It’s a red flag when the possible future leader of the free world won’t put his hand on his heart and salute the flag. (A picture of this was published in Time magazine on September 16, 2007 at Indianola, Iowa where six Democratic presidential candidates appeared. It was Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual "meat and greet." Pictured are: Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator Harkin's wife, Ruth. Not seen in the picture are three other candidates who were standing out of view on the right side of the platform, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Joe Biden.) Barracks response: “My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was 2,” Obama said, his annoyance obvious. “During the Pledge of Allegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing.” I am told he did not sing the anthem either, besides does he not watch the Olympics? Even all the athletes know to put their hand on their hearts. They are proud to honor their country.
• I’m not sure that Mr. Obama is proud to be an American. The whole not saluting the flag. He has returned to wearing a flag pin on his lapel, but had refused to for some time during his campaign. He is photographed reading the book THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD, a book about the demise of America. At least I know that John McCain loves his country. He has fought for it and nearly died for it.
• He wants a nationalized Health Care System. This would be wonderful. I like the idea, in theory. The reality is that the government screws up every organization they take over. It will cost the tax payers an absurd amount of money to fund this, which is the reason I brought this up, because Barack claims this won't raise taxes. Everyone I’ve talked to that has had to have medical stuff done in Canada and Great Britain say that it’s a mess. Things you could go to your pediatrician for on the same day you call in, would take about 2 months in those countries. How do you think millions of people’s health care was going to be paid for?
• The Democrats keep saying there were surpluses when Bush took office. I don’t understand how we can have a national debt with surpluses. Obama said in the 2nd debate, “But I think it's important just to remember a little bit of history. When George Bush came into office, we had surpluses. And now we have half-a-trillion-dollar deficit annually. When George Bush came into office, our debt -- national debt was around $5 trillion. It's now over $10 trillion. We've almost doubled it. And so while it's true that nobody's completely innocent here, we have had over the last eight years the biggest increases in deficit spending and national debt in our history.” Funny how it’s congress that approves the spending.
• Barack Obama told a Selma audience that the 1965 March on Selma resulted in his conception. However he was born in 1961.
• While addressing civil rights activists Sen. Barack Obama traced his “very existence” to the generosity of the Kennedy family during JFK’s administration, which he said paid for his Kenyan father to travel to America on a student scholarship and thus meet his Kansan mother. However, Contrary to Obama’s claims, the Kennedy family did not provide the funding for a September 1959 airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the United States that included Obama’s father. According to historical records and interviews with participants, the Kennedys were first approached for support for the program nearly a year later, in July 1960. The family responded with a $100,000 donation, most of which went to pay for a second airlift in September 1960. This was also before Kennedy took the oath of office.
• Barack didn’t even think that he should run for president (at the time Jimmy Carter also agreed with him), “I am a believer in knowing what you're doing when you apply for a job. And, I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket I would essentially have to start now before having served a day in the Senate. Now, there are some people who may be comfortable doing that, but I'm not one of those people." After only one year in the US Senate he announced his candidacy.
• His church, the one that he went to every week for 20 years up until several months ago, preaches hatred against Christians and Jews (no matter their color), and white America. They also didn’t do anything to feed the hungry children in their own city. It’s a great thing about living in America, we have freedom of religion. But it’s hard for me to believe that after 20 years some of the preaching’s haven’t sunk in.
• Barack’s half brother, Malik Abongo “Roy” Obama wanted a Muslim burial for his father at the time of his death, as Obama himself states in his book "Dreams From My Father". Obama admits that Abongo felt that the black man must "liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture." He embraced Islam and changed his lifestyle to shun pork, and drinking and other western trappings. He sees the west as a corrupting force.
• Barack said that his father was a goat herder and a proud freedom fighter. His father was a privileged, well educated youth who went on to be a part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
• Barack says that his family has strong ties to African Freedom. His cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades. When Odinga lost the elections, his followers have burned Christians' homes and then burned men, women and children alive in a Christian church where they took shelter. The current government is pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it and establish Muslim Sharia law. Obama SUPPORTED his cousin before the election process here started. Brarack’s half-brother, Abongo Obama, is Odinga's follower. Barack interrupted his New Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone.
• Barack says that his grandmother has always been a Christian, but in her own interviews she has stated that she does her daily Salat prayers at 5:a.m.
• Barack’s family has an uncommon amount of associations with radical people. People like Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, and Bernadette Dohrn. Also associations with men like Tony Rezko. Maybe these really can all be explained away, but it’s just another red flag.
• Barack Hussein Obama says that his name is African Swahili and that he is half black. His name is actually Arabic and 'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed'. Hussein and Obama are also Arabic. Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75% Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's father was from Kenya, his father's family was mainly Arabs. Barack Hussein Obama's father was 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father's birth certificate states he's Arab).
• Barack said that he never practiced Islam, but he practiced it daily at school in Indonesia, where he was registered as a Muslim. In his book, he states that he got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces. Kristoff from the New York Times said that in February 2007: Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated; Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.'
• Barack once stated that because he lived in Indonesia that he had more foreign experience. He lived there from the ages of 6 to 10 and couldn’t even speak the language.
• Barack says that he doesn’t take PAC money or have lobbyists. He actually took a lot of PAC money and reports show that he has over 50 lobbyists.
• Barack tends to vote “present” a lot (over 130 times). We need someone who will make a decision, not coward behind a present vote or try to cry that you mis-voted when you do vote against what you had told your constituents.
• Barack claims that he has always been against Iraq. First of all he wasn’t in office to vote against it and since he has been in office he has voted to fund it every time.
• Barack claims that without him there would be no Ethics Bill and that it was hard to pass. In reality he did not write or introduce the bill and it only took 14 days, from start to finish, to pass the bill.
• Barack claims that he alone took on the asbestos Altgeld Gardens. What he doesn’t mention is that he was one person in a large group of people that helped to remedy Altgeld Gardens.
• Barack said that his Economics Bill would help America, but it lost 99-0, he even voted against his own bill.
• Barack claims that no one on his campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA, but the Canadian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation that his campaign had with them.
• Barack claims that he passed over 900 bills in the Illinois State Senate. He actually passed 26, most of which were created by a fellow Senator and given to Barack to assist in a future bid for higher office.
• Barack claims that he is tough on terrorism, but he missed the Iran Resolution vote and his friend, Ali Abunimah, supports the destruction of Israel.
• In the last 6 months 292 people were murdered in Chicago, 221 were killed in Iraq. Senators Barack Obama & Dick Durbin, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Gov. Rod Blogojevich, House leader Mike Madigan, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, and Mayor Richard Daley are the leadership in Illinois, all are Democrats, and they are all blaming each other for this since there are no Republicans.
• The Illinois State pension fund is $44 Billion in debt (worst in the country), Cook County (Chicago) sales tax is 10.25% (highest in country), and the Chicago school system one of the worst in country. I just worry about how Barack might try to fix Washington when the state he represents is such a mess.
• In the October 7, 2008 debate Obama said, “Well, we may not always have national security issues at stake, but we have moral issues at stake. If we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in? If we could've stopped Rwanda, surely, if we had the ability, that would be something that we would have to strongly consider and act. So when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us. And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible. But understand that there's a lot of cruelty around the world. We're not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. That's why it's so important for us to be able to work in concert with our allies. Let's take the example of Darfur just for a moment. Right now there's a peacekeeping force that has been set up and we have African Union troops in Darfur to stop a genocide that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. We could be providing logistical support, setting up a no-fly zone at relatively little cost to us, but we can only do it if we can help mobilize the international community and lead. And that's what I intend to do when I'm president.” No matter our reasons for going into Afghanistan and Iraq doesn’t he realize that this is exactly what we are doing for the citizens of these countries? He is telling Bush that he is bad for doing the same things he claims that he will do.
• Another big red flag is that he seems to want to disarm America. He said, “As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with caucus priorities in fighting special interests in Washington. First, I’ll stop spending 9 billion dollars a month in Iraq. I am the only major candidate that opposed this war from the beginning and as president I will end it. Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars of wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development in future combat systems and I will institute an independent defense priorities board to ensure that defense review is not used to justify unnecessary spending. Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal I will not develop new nuclear weapons. I will seek a global ban on the production of missile material and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBM’s off air-trigger alert and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals. You know where I stand. I’ve fought for open, ethical and economical government my entire public life. I don’t switch positions or make promises that can’t be kept. I don’t posture on the defense policy. I don’t take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my soul priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people.” Does he think the most powerful nation in the world has no enemies? He just told the whole world his military strategy. He has no idea how to be Commander In Chief. Even I know that when in battle you don’t let the enemy know what your next plan of attack is. I value my freedom and am so thankful to all those who serve our country and fight the battles in other countries to keep us safe. It reminds me of the words to a song that my kids always sing at their patriotic programs… “Freedom isn’t free. You have to pay the price. You have to sacrifice for you Liberty.” There is much to be said about the war in Iraq. I hate war. I always wish that there was another realistic option. I wish that people would make better choices and lead their nations to greatness, to serve their people, not dictate over them. What a better world this would be if all leaders valued every soul and allowed and encouraged them to be and do better. To me it doesn’t matter the cause… the reason… the he said… the you said… they voted… I didn’t… crap. We are at war with terrorists (somebody who uses violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, to intimidate others, often for political purposes) of all kinds. Terrorists attacked us on our own soil and we had weapons. There are terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. They will be fighting us on American soil if we disarm America.

Sorry this is so long… I’ll jump down now!

Candidates, Issues & Judges

Names in Red are the REPUBLICAN candidates. I also stated my opinion on voting for the issues and judges! Enjoy!

We will be voting on the following:

President of the United States of America & Vice President running mate:

• John McCain – Sarah Palin
• Barack Obama – Joe Biden
• Charles Baldwin – Darrel Castle
• Bob Barr – Wayne Root
• Gloria La Riva – Eugene Puryear
• Ralph Nader – Matt Gonzalez
• Cynthia McKinney – Rosa Clemente

U.S. Congressional District 3

• Jason Chaffetz
• Jim Noorlander
• Bennion Spencer

Utah State Governor & Lieutenant Governor

• Jon Huntsman, Jr. - Gary Herbert
• Dell Schanze - Joey Hobbs
• Bob Springmeyer - Josie Valdez

Utah Attorney General

• Mark Shurtleff
• Jean Welch Hill
• W. Andrew McCullough

Utah State Auditor

• Auston Johnson III
• Clare Collard
• Richard Proctor
• Mike Stoddard

Utah State Treasurer

• Richard Ellis
• Dick Clark

Utah State Senate District 13

• Mark Madsen
• Kenneth Peay

Utah State House of Representatives District 61

• Keith Grover
• Deon Turley

Utah State School Board District 13

• Kyle Bateman ("School board member, Provo Freedom Academy; commissioner, Utah County Planning Commission; 23 years active in business administration; service on numerous nonprofit and for-profit boards.")
• C. Mark Openshaw ("I have four children in the public school system, my wife is the PTA president - I, my family, and our future is invested in the system.")

VOTE - does someone want to weigh in? I'm leaning toward Openshaw.

Constitutional Amendment A – amends provisions relating to the filling of a vacancy in the office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the process for determining the disability of those offices and the exercise of powers when temporarily disabled.
VOTE YES

Constitutional Amendment B – amends provisions relating to a permanent state trust fund. It expands the sources of money that can be placed in the trust fund.
VOTE YES

Constitutional Amendment C – moves the beginning date of the annual general session of the Legislature to start one week later, instead of starting on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and ending one week and one day (extra day because of Presidents Day) later than the constitution already states.
VOTE YES

Constitutional Amendment D – modifies the provision requiring the Legislature to divide the state into congressional, legislative, and other districts, to be no later than the annual general session.
VOTE YES

Constitutional Amendment E – provides an exception to the general rule that would allow the State to invest in stocks and bonds with money from the State School Fund or with money from certain land granted to the state by the federal government.
VOTE – would someone like to weigh in on this?

JUDGES – we are voting whether to retain the judge for another term. Before the judge stands for this retention election, they are evaluated by the Judicial Council. Any judge that you are voting on has been certified by the Judicial Council that this person is qualified for this retention election.

We are the FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
VOTE YES TO RETAIN ALL THE JUDGES

EARLY VOTING

I mentioned before the locations where you can go to vote early. I thought it was worth mentioning again.

Early Voting: Weekdays October 21 - October 31 at the locations and times listed below. Bring your ID and proof of address (utility bill).

• Utah Community Credit Union - Hours 1 to 5 p.m., 1364 North Commerce Drive, Saratoga Springs
  

• American Fork Library - Hours 3 to 7 p.m. (3 to 5 on Oct 31), 64 S 100 E, American Fork

• Utah Valley University, Sorensen Student Center - Hours 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., UVUSA Office (SCI05), 800 W University Parkway, Orem

• Utah County Administration Building - Hours 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 100 E Center Street, Room LL900, Provo

• Spanish Fork National Guard Armory - Hours 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., 2801 N Main, Spanish Fork

Tune In - Presidential Debate

Tonight at 7:p.m. is the Town Hall Debate between McCain & Obama.
The event will be hosted at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is being moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw.

ABC's Match-O-Matic

Just for fun, you can answer some questions and see which candidate best matched your answers.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchOMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

Caution: This is just for fun and must note that this is done by a media outlet (always biased). As a voter, you must be responsible and study the candidates and make an educated decision on who you think will be better for you and our nation.

143 Days

This was sent to me and I thought it was interesting (yes, I know the # of days in now more, but still...):

• You couldn't get a job at McDonald's and become district manager after 143 days of experience.


• You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days of experience of being a surgeon.


• You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the superintendent after 143 days of experience.


• You couldn't join the military and become a colonel after a 143 days of experience.


• You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience.

BUT....

• From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.


• After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World .... 143 days. We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after 143 days, that's all it is - a start.


• AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public is okay with this and campaigning for him. We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United States of America? Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!