New year -- new way of doing things

Hi neighbors. Merry "last week of the year!" I hope you had a nice Christmas and are looking forward to a bright new year.

It's true that our economy is in trouble, our troops are in battle and there are a lot of people in the world who don't seem to like us much.

But on the bright side --- we are in America -- the greatest country on earth. Here in the land of the free we can determine to make a difference and to change things if we choose.

With bad news on the television 24 hours a day, seven days a week, maybe it's time we turned off the television and started forming our own opinions of what's wrong (and right!) with America.

We have all heard conflicting opinions from many political and economical "think tanks" and most of them just make a lot of us feel hopeless.

But there is hope. We are all in this together and we can work our way through this. We HAVE to work our way through this because things will continue to change. How they change is up to us American citizens.

Now is not the time to shrug and say "Oh it will all work out and be OK." We have to act, individually and collectively.

First we have to back off and view our government from a wider angle...one that goes back a few decades. Somewhere along the way we gave law makers too much power; particularly to make laws that benefit them more than us.

Being an elected official on any level from city to federal, should not be a lifetime job. There should be a set number of terms any senator or representative can serve in each capacity.

Shaking things up every two to four years can stop the "same ole -- same ole" attitude from taking root. There should be fewer lawyers in Congress and more small business owners (including family farm owners.)

Lobbyists should write out their desires and needs and leave a copy in triplicate on the elected official's desk; not plead their case over a three hour lunch or while on a private jet.

Federal money used for grants and research should be accounted for to the voters; not just the committee that deemed them necessary.

The heaviest burden of providing foreign aide (including that to Iraq) should be shuffled over to the gang in the United Nations. China should have to give aide to other countries with starving children.

We should get ourselves in gear on hunting down and laying claim to oil reserves in the polar regions before Russia and China get their flags planted and become "territorial" about the whole thing.

Distorted trade treaties where we take a beating just to be nice should be reconsidered. We can no longer afford to be simply "nice." Too many governments view our concept of "being nice" as their concept of being weak. We have to be smart -- long term consequences smart.

America first? Yep, it's about time. America right or wrong? Nope, let's do it right as best as we can. We are still the good guys.

We have to remember that big government is also big business and a business cannot forever run in the red without going under.

There must be an accounting to the voters of what our government does and why it does it. We should know what our government spends and who profits from the spending.

It is true that the federal government publishes tons of reports on every thing anyone has ever done, said or e-mailed.

However, reading 20,000 pages a day can be a bit overwhelming for most of us. Maybe elected officials should send each of their voters an e-mail or letter of some type at the end of each session showing what was voted on, how they voted (and why) and, oh yes, how often they showed up to vote. We deserve some feedback don't we?

Of course, as with any job we all have, when you are "laid off" your benefits stop.

We have to get involved. We have to make demands of our government.

But we also need to make demands of ourselves. Stop being spoiled! And don't say you are not spoiled. Almost all of us are! We have to think necessity -- needs -- not wants when shopping. We have to buy American made!

Until the next time friends remember we are in a hole. But most of us have shovels! Let's dig our way out. It takes a plan, effort, concentration and commitment. We can do this!