Will Maranto's World

A few quick Vegas pics

Molly and I on the bridge in front of Hoover Dam:

The Dam:

Communism comes to Capitalism:

A Really good Beer:

An Interesting Video

I thought this was quite interesting.

Best Political Ad Ever

Question

Sorry for the brevity of this post, but something occurs to me:

As we all know, government spending has gone through the roof in the last few months.  We're talking trillions of dollars added to spending.  That's trillions with a T.  The estimates I've heard say that in order to pay off this debt we've incurred this year (to say nothing of our existing mammoth debt), it would cost each family of three $80,000. 

For those of you in the pro-Obama/big government camp, I'd like to know how many of you are ready to pay that back?  If not, when do you expect to be?  Or do you just expect someone else to pay your share of it?  If so, why do you think that responsibility shouldn't fall on you?

Just thoughts and questions...

Turning Point

I'm not going to go on and on about this item.  I'll simply say that I watched the speech below from my hotel room in Tulsa after spending a long day driving and contemplating the road ahead.  At this point our path as a country is at a crossroads.  Even though it may seem like business as usual, I'm fairly certain that the next year's events may be some of the most important for the country during my lifetime, but I digress.  I think the ninety minutes of television below may be the best articulation of the tenets of what has built this country and made it a place where all can succeed.  Please do yourself a favor and watch this if you have not:

Rush Limbaugh: Keynote Speech from CPAC

Awake Is The New Sleep

When I hear politicians running to throw government money at every problem that crops up, I have to wonder: where is this all leading?  While I do believe that some of those guys have good intentions, I don't think that charity is the predominant motivation among our elected officials.  It should be obvious, but I'll state it anyway: there really is no such thing as "government money."  It all comes from somewhere you know...  Is it for some senator or congressman to nonchalantly dole out my money that I pay such high taxes? 

Let me ask you a direct question.  Does anyone out there actually believe that by giving our money to any of these failing financial institutions or (potentially) the "Big Three" American auto makers that your life will be made better?  I, frankly, do not.  I hate that we're going through a recession/depression.  It's never a good thing to have uncertainty in the market, but why should my hard-earned tax dollars be going to pay for businesses that didn't have the good sense to run a tight ship or adapt to a changing market? 

When I was in high school, I worked for my grandfather in the summer.  He was a wonderful guy, but I mention him because he was a farmer who lived through the great depression and a small businessman for fifty years.  He lived through real hardship.  Farmers never had it easy, but there were times in the 1980's where things were really hard.  Did this hardworking man go to the government for a bailout when crops failed or costs of doing business went up?  No, of course not.  So what did he do? 

He did what people in this country did for generations: he worked harder, he tightened his belt and he took out loans from banks and family members so that he could keep working and offset any losses or debts he incurred.  Suffice it to say that people of his generation didn't believe it was the government's responsibility to take care of them from cradle to grave.  How we have changed.  It seems we're at the cusp of universal healthcare (do any of you voluntarily get your healthcare from the LSU Emergency Room?), taxpayer-subsidized bankruptcy bailout and legalizing millions of illegal aliens as "citizens" of our country. 

Why on earth would a country do that to itself?  Doesn't the our very way of life become threatened if things are taken to these extremes?  Why can't we wake up and see where this is leading?  Do you ever think there could be an alternate agenda at work here?  Meanwhile most people are content to go through the motions of life, not worried about the danger to their way of life, their liberty or the freedom of their children.