It was a pretty fun evening in Springville, Utah at the Republican Caucuses.  It was my first time attending the event.  I have often heard of conventions and caucuses in states far away that everyone hears about when picking who the presidential candidates were etc., but for some reason I was always under the impression that the caucus was for party leaders.  Little did I know, the caucus is an event that anyone who is registered to vote can participate in.

In our local caucus it was required that you be registered to vote and declare that you were a member of the republican party in order to speak, vote etc. in the republican caucus meeting.  I went in support of one of my local neighbors to become a chairman of our precinct.  We had well over 100 people attend which was about double the number attending from the neighboring precincts.  It made me proud to see so many people were there to come and have their voice be heard.

This year the Utah Senate seat for Bob Bennett is up for election.  It has been a hotly contested seat this year with many vying for a chance to unseat the senator.  He has been in for a few terms now and his record has shown that he is willing to make deals and do what he feels he has to in order to make things go in Washington.  Many feel that he has compromised the beliefs of our party, state and its citizens and they are calling to unseat him.

During the caucus we nominated a chairperson, vice chair and secretary.  Then we nominated our delegates.  I was nominated for both the state and county delegate positions.  It was neat to be able to share my love of our country and constitution with my neighbors.  Being my first time, I was a bit nervous and did not get out all the things I wanted to say, however it was a good experience and I will be much better prepared next time the elections come around.

The caucus was fun, exciting and a very positive experience.  It was very interesting to be in the environment where everyone has similar beliefs and yet are trying to run for positions while promoting the same platforms (or very similar).  A quick note to all.  Go attend your caucus.  You will have a great opportunity to learn and take part in even more of the election process.

In an article I read today about the new budget and how the government is voting to raise the debt ceiling (which is a joke in the first place) by another 1.9 trillion dollars ( another $6,000 for EVERY US Resident – notice I said resident not Citizen or person who can vote).  Here was a portion that stood out to me:

“We don’t have a choice,” said Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn. “We are on an unsustainable march toward a fiscal Armageddon.”

Obama’s budget projects the government’s debt doubling to $26 trillion over the next decade. It offers few solutions for seriously closing the gap other than promising to appoint a bipartisan commission to come up with a plan to address the problem.

I have a solution for you Mr. President and all members of Congress and the Senate…  STOP SPENDING MONEY YOU DONT HAVE.  Its really that simple.  You work hard, you earn money, you can spend that money.  You dont have the money, you do without.  I know it looks nice to send millions of dollars to other countries in foreign aid, buy lots of new buildings, hire lots of government employees to enforce new legislation that you feel it is your duty to pass, and to sit around at your coctail dinners and enjoy all your nice benefits of retirement for spending 4 years of your life working hard.  However, the other 99.9% of us work for 40+ years to have a retirement, we struggle just to make our house payments and rent and when we dont, we get kicked in the rear on our way out the door.  Maybe it is time to kick MOST of you out the door and send you packing with NO retirement benefits, no extra bonuses and no bailouts.
ITS ECONOMICS STUPID.  As the electronics geek or computer user would say: RTFM – go look that one up.

Thanks to our government I will really never be out of debt. Thanks to Mint.com for making it easy on those who are non-beleivers so they can see where we are really headed. PS This is not a bash on the current president.

Its a bash on THE PRESIDENT, THE CONGRESS, THE SENATE, THE FED AND EVERYONE ELSE WITH THEIR HEAD IN THE SAND!

If anyone operated a business with this much disregard for accounting principles they would be in JAIL according to our laws. Can we please throw the book at our elected officials?

http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/visualizing-one-trillion-dollars/

The original Yes We Can was not the current president of our country.  His take on the subject, also very different.  I beleive we as Americans are doing a great disservice by allowing fear of the unknown to cause our liberties to be stripped from us right before our eyes.  This did not begin with the current administration and crosses all party lines.  Lets join back together as Americans and push our freedoms forward, not move into repressive large government run initiatives.

YES WE CAN

When listening to the debates and watching videos of politicians talking about business owners etc. today I came accross a video of Barak Obama stating that his tax plan would only increase taxes on corporations from 36% to 39%.  At first glance I thought, heck that isn’t so bad.  But then it hit me…. WHAT THE CRAP?!?!?!  A business owner has to pay 39% taxes? This has nothing to do with Barak Obama or his political stance, I am upset about the amount of taxation going on here.  40%?!?!?!?!  How could that be fair for ANYONE.  If I was paying 40% taxes (which by the way when you add up all the taxes I pay for the year with all the taxes that are imposed to me additionally such as gasoline tax, sales tax, taxes on imported goods, environental taxes etc. I probably do pay close to that) I would be outraged.  Why should a business owner be any different.

I have owned my own business before (when I was 12 I washed cars for people and made $6 a car) but since I was 12 and made less than the minimum tax level for the year I was not required to pay anything.  (I think I made about $500 that summer/year).  Not only does the business have to pay its corporate taxes, but the business owner then has to pay taxes when he/she is paid.  That is double taxation and in a bad way.  If I was to own my business today with the taxes as high as they are I would have to think twice about a number of things.  What is my incentive to:

a. start a new company

b. grow my company

c. make a good profit for my company

Thinking from my business background and education (business minor in college at BYU) I thought to myself, business owners only have a few options available when it comes to an exit strategy – sell, go public, etc.  Well, if taxes are 36% or any large number, I would try to make sure my business NEVER made a profit.  How would I do that?  I would reinvest EVERYTHING I could into the business i.e. advertising, marketing programs, sales incentives etc. to make the business grow.  That way I would pay no taxes.  My payoff would come not every year with massive taxation each year, but I would get my big payday one time when I sold the company.  Then I would get hit with a one time massive taxation and invest all of my funds into bonds and other VERY low tax liability investments – here is a quote from Bonds and Taxes – How to Benefit from Tax-Free Income – By Ken Little, about.com:

“Municipal Bonds – Municipals or munis are free of federal income tax and if you buy them in the state where you live, are free of state and local taxes. These are sometimes called “triple free.”

I for one beleive that high taxation offers less incentive for people to start new businesses and is a poor economic policy to promote growth, jobs and the spirit of entreprenurism in the US.  Anyway, this is a bit of a rant, but please think about it.  If you wanted to start your own business and 40% of your profit was taxed would you feel happy about it?  I am tired of working for 4 months of the year just to pay my taxes.  I would much rather work a few months less each year and spend more time with my family.

All I can say is this… Can I play a 5 minute clip from an old cartoon I used to watch?  Is anyone out therelistening?

Click on the link below to watch:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH – Is congress allowed to watch cartoons?

To the Honorable Chris Cannon:

I am very disturbed by the fact that our government is about to bail out the financial sector of our country.  When companies fail, it is due to taking risks, making bad decisions and poor management.  As a tax payer and a true American patriot, I do not feel it is our responsibility to pay for these large corporations mistakes.

I understand that not bailing out these corporations would cause financial problems for the country, but in all fairness, this country is in a bad spot whether or not we do this.  I would rather see the criminals that run these companies go to jail and a few years of hardship rather than postpone and compound the problem for years to come.

The reality is that our US dollar currency is worth less than the paper it is printed on.  We are trillions of dollars in debt (by the way if I ran my company like the government does, I would be in jail – interesting thought) and eventually we will have to pay it back.  Rather than postpone the problem until you are out of office, please try to do the RIGHT and HONORABLE thing for our country.  Please vote NO for any type of government bailout that will inevitably make our country and our currency worth less.

Regards,

James Grierson
www.grierson2020.com

I also sent this same letter to Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennet my two US senators.  To write your state representatives, please go to:

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Congress Representative: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Politics in America has evolved continually since the inception of the first continental congress, founding of this great nation and the appointment of our first president. For years I have watched from the sidelines and seen how the political process takes place in the US and often I have wondered if it is for me. I have always had my own ideas as to how things should work. I am sure you have considered making some changes to the government during your life as well. The big question is: can we put our ideas together and come up with solutions that are plausible, responsible and sustainable.

Plausible – In order to create change, legislation must be put forward that can be supported by all sides – solutions that Americans from all facets of life can agree on and work toward.
Responsible – The goal of this site is to develop legislation that has fiscal, moral and generational responsibility. We owe it to our future generations to forgo selfish desires and convenience now so we can provide them with opportunity, safety and stability.
Sustainable – although we cannot always see what the future holds, the goal of government should be to provide protection, infrastructure and services to the population. Good legislation is not made up of quick fixes, rather it is created by well thought out plans that can meet present and future needs.

I hope that you find my ideas and political musings of great interest and I look forward to interacting with a large group of individuals to come up with big ideas that work.