headed in the right direction!

I agree with Tyler, who wrote his recent commentary about our current recession.  He points out that when it comes to tough money times, it's a sensitive subject. I'm from Michigan and just moved to Texas in August 08. With the auto industry being such a large part of the MI economy, last year I witnessed the recession like few in the country had to. When I received the opportunity to come to UT, I jumped that second. The economy effects so many people in many different areas of life. Everything in MI was depressing, several people I knew were out of jobs, and were panicking. With knowing how the recession was effecting Michigan back then, and hearing and seeing the improvements in my family and friends lives recently, I also agree with Tyler that the administration is doing a good job. Too many people expected an unrealistic automatic change, and that is just not possible. More people are getting jobs and you can see the effort from Obama and his administration. I believe that with time we will make a lot of progress, have faith in our leader people- this is just the 'beginning of the end'!

'It's not Monopoly money'

Well, no wonder we are in a recession.   In an article posted today I read that The House of Representatives passed a spending bill for $550 Million. This $550,000,000 will be spent on 8 jets, to be used for government travel. Really? Really. I can not believe that in these tough times that this is what The House of Representatives thinks is most important to spend money on.  It makes me so angry, and to quote Sen. Claire McCaskill, “the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach”. I completely agree. The money isn’t pretend money. This is our country, and were going through a really hard time financially. I understand that the safety of our government is important, but that is over the top. The Obama administration did not even request half that much. The original request was for 4 jets, costing $220 million, and The House more than doubled that request.  They obviously did this because instead of the original jets being just for senior officials, now there would be more for other members. Luckily, for once some part of our government has their head's on straight- The senate democrats and senate republicans along with the pentagon, are against the bill. From March to July, 21% of our country saying they were deeper in debt rose again to 27%. With factors like that, one would think that all parts of our government would care a little more about how we spend our money. That however, would mean that they are not selfish, greedy people.  The more and more I learn, the more and more I worry that very few of our leaders do truly care about our country and our lives instead of just their own.

In Government, Not Everyone Will Be Happy-

I agree with the overall message of the Pleasing People Gets You Nowhere commentary. Although, Im not in agreement with that statement. I think that being there for the people around you and doing things to insure that others are happy IS the right thing to do. Pleasing people is how more people should approach each day. However, in government- being well liked, and making people happy isn't the best way to make a difference. Being a people pleaser in politics is superficial and has no long term effects for bettering our nation. It is still very important that you care about the citizens and that you relate to them, because it makes us more united, but there must be a backbone to it as well. Edmond  Burke once said, "Your representative owes you not his industry only, but his judgment, and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." I personally think that this sums up what the author of the commentary was trying to say. Being a good leader does not always mean agreeing with the public. We elected our government because we believe that they have skills that we do not have, which better them to make choices on our behalf. We need to trust that they are doing their job with the nation as a whole in mind. Like the author says, we can not expect our leaders to make everyone happy, it is just impossible. So instead of getting bent out of shape about maybe disagreeing with how a certain issue is being handled, trust that it is the best for this great country as a whole.