Animal Rescue

There are millions of animals in need of caring people to provide homes or assistance. This can range from a rabbit to a horse, with cats and dogs getting the most attention due to their large numbers. Yes, there are numerous organizations and thousands of people involved in and committed to the rescue and relief of homeless animals and I applaud those individuals. More needs to be done since these numbers grow by the day. You can adopt a homeless animal from the many welfare organizations across the country or if you are unable to adopt, donate to one of these organizations or volunteer some time to help one of these locations. Shelters deserve your attention since those animals will be destroyed after a certain time period. Any search engine or phone book will provide lists of possible sources for you to research and contact. In regard to donations, research before providing money and be sure that particular organization uses the majority of their funds for the animals and not for their salaries. There are plenty of good organizations, but you can’t escape the fact that greed creeps into just about all aspects of society. Animals aren’t able to be involved in the decision process related to their life and circumstances, so caring people need to provide or assist in locating a good loving home along with showing respect and compassion for all animal life.

Election Process

Now is the perfect time to address the election process utilized for the Presidential election. Past elections have shown that popular vote doesn’t matter. It is time for elected officials to change the process and allow the President of the United States to be elected by popular vote. The convention and delegate process is not appropriate for present time. Efforts are needed to streamline this drawn out and at times boring method. If necessary, the convention could still be utilized for party platforms, policy issues, etc. The election to place an individual in the highest office in America should be decided by the majority of registered voters casting ballots (even though that is a small percentage of eligible voters). There are many more aspects of the political process that should be changed, such as campaign contributions, pork barrel spending, and lobbyists. Those issues also require attention, if there was only some way to open the eyes of politicians to the fact that Americans desire for them to get off their lazy rears and listen. Balancing the budget should be a much easier goal and is attainable. This non-action may be the result of citizens being reluctant to voice their opinion or feeling that it does no good since politicians seem to only listen when the sound is from one of their large campaign contributors. Lower the salaries of congress, cut the massive benefits, put controls in place and make an attempt to have elected officials that desire to work for the people and not the money. Make it undesirable to spend millions for a job that pays much less. Wake Up America and voice your opinion.

Television Advertisements

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission together should take a serious look at their combined oversight of advertising. It would seem that big corporate advertisers have taken control of how they present ads with no concern for the consumers. There are too many television commercials with fast talking disclaimers and unreadable small print along the bottom of the screen. Any advertiser should be required to make all aspects very clear to the public without any confusion or misleading aspects. Drug companies should not be allowed to advertise drugs without clarification regarding why this drug would be prescribed and possible side effects should be very clear and understandable. There appears to be an extreme effort by advertisers to skirt the requirements and push the envelope as much as possible. Maybe it is time for these two commissions to band together and exercise stronger judgment when it comes to protecting the consumer. Currently, the corporate greed for revenue would appear to be the main reason for misleading, confusing, and downright outrageous advertising.

FDA

The safety of food in the U.S. has been in the headlines numerous times. Recently the amount of salt in processed food was the topic of conversation. It seems that manufacturers load us up with sodium. Also reported in the news was the fact that the same food is sold in other countries with less sodium, sometimes one-half as much. It is hard to understand why the manufacturers continue operating in a way that seems to imply health issues are not at the forefront of the process. I know, the manufacturers state that they are constantly monitoring the situation and the FDA state they are monitoring, but why lower the sodium content in one country and not others. If there is a health concern, that concern should be taken seriously everywhere and not just in one location. There were scares in the past involving salads and meat. I realize we are supposed to have the safest food supply, but sometimes you wonder if all these highly paid people are asleep at the wheel when it comes to really paying attention to content and processing of food. Reading labels helps, but there are still areas where you need to depend on the FDA for oversight and protection. Once again in government, as in business, someone has to watch someone else to be sure they are doing their job.

Inflation

The state of the U.S. economy apparently depends on what statistics you are using as a guide. A Cox News Service article (11-24-07) states that economists assure us the inflation rate is about 2% and the government says food prices are up 4.4% compared to last year and inflation is low. They do not consider fuel and food in the inflation rate since those items can rise and fall dramatically. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics in October show that gasoline was up 23%, bread up 16%, coffee up nearly 10%, and orange juice up 28% from last year. I happen to believe the average consumer takes those items into consideration when measuring their own inflation rate and how to juggle finances to meet the needs for the month. The games played with statistics are ridiculous. I find the unemployment statistics suspect, since they do not show anything but new claims and do not consider people that have run out of benefits without locating a new job. Only considering new claims does not provide a real view of the unemployment picture and the effect on the economy. You can utilize statistics to support different views depending on how they are manipulated, but the public should not be on the receiving end of misleading information from their elected officials.

Social Security

The social security system is broken and if all the indicators in the press are correct and there will actually be a shortfall in the future in regard to payments, then the time is at hand for the political establishment to make changes. The time is now, not at election time. There can be simple changes such as raising the cap so the wealthy pay more into the American system that made them wealthy. This includes the political establishment making an income that dwarfs the average individual income in this country. Yes, they may complain, but the tremendous growth in the gap between the wealthy and the other class of people in this country demands that action be taken to correct the situation. The number of people in this country that will depend on that small income is growing at a rapid rate and will not decrease due to numerous problems in society today including the way the business world no longer takes an interest in employees and their future. Loyalty to and pride in the real individuals that make companies successful disappeared long ago and shows no indication of returning to the workplace. Then there is the corruption factor where benefits are being paid to individuals that have no right to those benefits. The time is now to address the numerous problems.

Mortgage Mess

The nightmare involving mortgage delinquency, foreclosures, financial stocks decline, and homes that can’t be sold, is the result of actions taken by certain groups. This is not the first time the American society has experienced a severe economic disruption and I’m sure not the last. This could probably be tied to higher ups in government, but the bottom line is the mortgage lenders and the individuals that signed the dotted line for these loans are the most responsible. The mortgage lenders were making loans that should not have been approved under any circumstances. The individuals applying for those loans knew better and should have looked at a more realistic and affordable price for a home. The market was also loaded with those greedy individuals and groups thinking they could cheat the market. As far as using tax dollars to bail these people out, no way! They created their own mess and they should clean it up themselves!