I find it funny that the Presidential candidates are now turning to the financial crisis that America is experiencing and each candidate is promising to be the hero of our financial crisis. Just the week before each candidate was promising to rescue every person from Hurricane IKE.
No matter the issue or topic especially the one that the country is dealing with, the new President is promising to be our hero, whether it be: Education, Health Care, Abortion, Economy, Taxes, Social Security, Gun Control, Drugs, Civil Rights, Jobs, Energy & Oil, War, or Foreign Policy. No matter the issue/problem they are going to promise to fix it and say whatever it takes to get them to the oval office.
Then what happens, they made thousands of empty promises and are any fulfilled? Are any of these promises that they made over certain issuse solved. Do we remmber any one President for making the US better regarding one of these issues, if so, why are there all these issues that we are still dealing with?
I don't want to sound like a ungrateful citizen because I do love this country, I just periodically wonder if we are heading in the best direction?
I believe it all comes down to money. Sure this is easy to say now with today's headlines, but those that know me, know that this has been my number one issue regarding the US government and how they handle themselves. It seems that each candidate in the past, foremost at election time, tip toe around the national debt issue becasue it has become too big for them to solve the problem. And it is a HUGE PROBLEM!
Check out the following sobering link for the national debt clock:
At the time of this post, the national debt is $9,650,033,000,000.00 That is 9.65 Trillion dollars which is equal to 9,650 Billion dollars or 9,650,000 million dollars. (basically 9.65 million million dollars, if that makes sense to you).
See a problem yet? If you don't you should realize that each year the US government (with our taxpaying dollars) pays over 300 billion dollars in INTEREST on our national debt (money that goes down the drain). In 2006 that payment was over 406 billion dollars. We spend about 61 billion on education, and 56 billion on transportation, nice comparison to money that we send down the tube huh! (
http://www.federalbudget.com/)
The recent government intervention for Fanni Mae and Freddie Mac along with AIG and Merril Lynch all puts the brunt of these financial rescues on the taxpayer. What message are we sending to citizens anyways? We let these huge companies that have many high end salaried workers screw up and we forgive them and bouy them up by placing the cost on the taxpayer. That is very nice for these people I will admit, but it appears we are over the edge.
Next time I go to the bankrupt court for not paying my $51 water bill, I will suggest to the court that we have the government interceed and have the 240+ million Americans flip the bill. No wonder the DOW is plunging 500 points a day!
Why should I even have a 401K?
I came across a website that actually has a documentary film that came out August 2008 called I.O.U.S.A. It is a documentary about the financial "CRISIS" of the United States of America. I would love to see the movie but it has only come to select cities thus far. I recommend watching the trailer at the following site:
http://www.agorafinancial.com/iousa.htmlI do not like the fact that our government is leveraging against the taxpayer's future and the taxpayer's childrens futures as well. There inappropriate leveraging will be paid by me and my kids and grandkids. The government should lead by example, then maybe the citizens might start saving more than they spend! Could our government even imagine being debt free? Is it attainable?
Some worry that other countries we lend money from might someday own America! Then what? We go to war because we won't pay our debtors because we can't keep our credit cards in our pockets? To see who owns a percentage of America visit the following link:
http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txtWith all this in mind and the upcoming elections on the line I can't help but realize what the past democratic president did to the national debt when he took office in 1992. If Obama can do what Clinton did to the national budget than he has my vote.
Note that the national debt actually began to reverse under the Clinton administration.
I will leave you with the following quotation from a news report titled "Global Agenda: Armageddon"
"It is actually possible to make a valid case for each of the decisions taken by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke (and rubber-stamped by Mr. President) over the course of the debt crisis, since it began in July 2007. But taken together, they show a consistent pattern of: a) being reactive rather than
proactive; b) acting in a sporadic manner, without having thought through what their wider implications were; c) the absence of an overall plan to address the widening, deepening and intensifying crisis; d) failing to communicate effectively with either the markets (Wall Street) or the general public (Main Street) - let alone the wider global community"
May we all strive to be proactive about our own personal debts and strive to make good financial decisions!!!
Pull Your Head Out.....
.JPG)
Here is the arch under construction, it is being cast in place with the form travelers seen in the pictures. As the arch is constructed segment by segment, a stay cable is attached from a supporting tower above. You can see the first stay cable attached to the arch in the picture. 
Another view of the arch, looking straight down at the arch from the bridge deck above.
.jpg)
The schematic above shows how the arch will be constructed. Note that all the cables and their supports (towers above the deck) will be removed once the arch has been connected in the center. The arch from cliff to cliff is 1040 feet. The bridge deck is approximately 900 feet above the river below. Yes there will be a pedestrian walkway out to the center of the bridge. 
