Thanksgiving is over now, and I have had time to reflect on all that I am thankful of. My mind instantly drifts to the time I spent living with my mom and dad. I have always had a pretty good life. I was able to spend my entire childhood growing up with two parents that loved each other dearly. My mom and dad are an excellent example of what marriage is really about. Helping each other through the tough times in the lives of one another and always showing love to their children. The love that they showed me and my two sisters was not an endless supply of money, but was instead a steady homelife. Dad would work countless hours either on the road or at the office to provide all of the necessities to his family. We all didn't get brand new cars when we turned sixteen, but instead we were given approximately twenty one years of common sense, compassion for your neighbor, hard work and honesty will get you where you need to go education. I guess you could call it the Stratford Drive University. I am proud to be an alumni! Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't always agree with the course of study that my parents laid out in front of me. In fact, I usually found a way to argue just about every one of them. I did not understand why I could not have a free car when I turned sixteen. I did not understand why I was not allowed to stay out without my parents knowing where I was going. And, I certainly did not understand why my father ever let my little sister start dating. I still vow, to this day, that my daughter will be single until she is retired. My two sisters taught me that looking out for someone else was part of everybody's duty as an honest person. Whether it was picking up my little sister and driving her home when I saw her walking down the street with a boy, or talking to my older sister when times got tough for one of us. My little sister gave me a reason to be a big brother and my older sister gave me a reason to be a little brother seeking advice. My mother taught me that  patience is a virtue when you are a parent. I still cannot beleive that I made it all the way through college without her knocking any of my teeth out. It's not that she didn't want to I am sure. It's simply that making your point through  virtue gets you further. I can still remember as if it were yesterday, walking out of the hospital room after my daughter was born. Simply out of instinct, I walked straight to my mom and dad, hugged them and bawled on their shoulders like a little baby. It says a lot about the bond between parent and child when a moment like that, in front of several people, just seemed like the natural thing to do. To this day, I still say I love you to my mom and dad as well as my two sisters. The words are not simply protocol. We mean it! To my mom: Thank you for being an example to me in days past and future. I admire your strong will and convictions. I love the fact that you don't always have to have the most expensive pleasures in life and admire you like you will never know. I love the fact that you could get ready for work, even though I was asleep in front of the heater on the bathroom floor. Most of all, thank you for raising me with enough patience so that I may also raise my children with a steady hand. I could not have asked for a better mom. Even though you ran onto the field during one of my flag football games! Oh, and one more thing, thank you for acting like you enjoyed it when I made you that nasty looking homeade ash tray. I cannot beleive that was actually a grade school project! To my dad: Thank you for teaching me what a dad is supposed to do. Nothing should be given without certain sacrafices. It was a lesson that will pay dividends for my entire life. Thank you for instilling in me the lesson that everything is attainable through hard work. You have given me a leg up in today's world becasue of your example. Thank you for showing me how to love your wife. Thank you for talking to me when I was having some pretty challenging times. Your advice was priceless and that meant more to me than I have ever told you! You are a great example to go by dad, and I am proud to call you dad. Oh, and one more thing, thank you for  teaching me that it is ok to sleep with your own brother on the couch. George, scoot over. To my two sisters: Oh boy, here we go. You guys are great! I love the fact that you two had to share a 6 by 10 bedroom while I got to hang out in my 6 by 11 bachelor pad. I often think back to the days of passing messages to each other's room with a coat hanger. I enjoyed silly stringing your room and will never forget family band practice. Mel playing the saxaphone, trying to impress that "Fat Matt" guy and me blowing as hard as I could so mom would just tell me to stop. Denise, I absolutely loved embarassing you as much as I could during our high school career. I though that if I could embarass you enough, maybe the boys would just stay away! Mel, you were always so generous to me. You would always let me pick any item out of your room if I would simply leave. Boy, you taught me! Oh, by the way Denise, you do not give the right away to somebody who is in the turn lane on a highway! I love you all!

At what point and under what circumstances does the government owe it to a private sector company to bail them out from financial turmoil? Never! When the government starts to pump money into the businesses of the private sector, they are ignoring the fact that the consumers have already spoken. If a business makes decisions that render them unable to compete in today's market, that is just the way it goes. The business has to make the decision to either make changes that will enable it to compete in the market or can simply close down shop. It is harsh, I know, but it is simply the way life goes. Or at least is the way life used to go. While I do feel sorry for the people that will lose their jobs if the automobile industry fails, life does not guarantee no pitfalls in your journey through it. If we decide to bail out every business that is on the brink of bankruptcy, how will we ever make progressions as a society? The automobile industry has continued to manufacture vehicles that are inefficient when it comes to fuel efficiency and dependence. If the auto industry is not allowed to suffer for their bad business practices, why would they ever make the decision to produce vehicles that the consumer wants to buy? Let's take this philosophy and apply it to another industry. If a burger joint makes a burger that nobody likes to eat, should we give them taxpayer's dollars to make sure that they stay open for the business that they do not receive? Of course not. The burger joint can either produce food that people will pay money to eat or they can close. Simple as that. The consumer "votes" everyday with their dollars. They decide to spend their votes at places that provide good service and great products! As far as the auto industry is concerned, the consumer has decided that they do not want to spend their money on gas guzzling vehicles. They want vehicles that are fuel efficient, safe and come with a decent price tag. Ford, Chrysler, and GM could not or would not provide that, so the consumer bought from someone else. They, in essence, voted with their money and the results of that vote have just came in. To Ford, Chrysler and GM; Produce a vehicle with excellent MPG or one that runs on an alternative source of energy. If not, we will continue to take our dollars elsewhere. At least the dollars that the federal government lets us keep!

President elect Obama says that he wants to shut down the controversial terrorist detention camp, Guantanamo Bay, and bring all of the suspected terrorist to the United States to face justice. My initial reaction is simple. Are you kidding me? Unfortunately, he is not kidding us. He really wants to do it, and my guess is he will do it. Maybe I am just too simple minded, but I can see no possible good coming out of transporting 250 suspected terrorists, who hate America, into the United States. That would be like bringing Osama Bin Laden into the United States so that we could talk to him. Why do it? It makes no sense. He wants to take terrorists, who want to kill us, and bring them into the United States so that we can house them in our own jails? We can't even create the room necessary to house our own criminlals, let alone foreign terrorist criminals. Why give them the opportunity to breathe U.S air? Why give them the opportunity to spread their idiotic rhetoric in our own country? Keeep them in Cuba, where the only Americans they come in contact with are armed military personell who have been mentally and physically trained to deal with them. This is a classic case of what is to come. Mr. Obama is simply appeasing his left wing counterparts. The issue is very simple, I think. Why would you want to bring murderers and terrorits into the country? We already have enough of them amongst us as it is. Why add more confusion and trouble to the situation that has caused us so much pain in the first place? He wants to make sure that the terrorists get a fair shot at justice. Yeah, Mr. Obama, whatever.

Is the current democratic party that is pushing for a multi billion dollar bailout of the automobile industry the same party that was criticizing the republican party for "catering" to big business? Why is it such a bad idea to let big business save their own money, via lower taxes, but it is such a great idea to hand big business billions of dollars in tax money? We will wait for an informative answer Speaker Pelosi. I have a weird feeling we will be waiting for awhile! To me, the answer is pretty simple. The government, when ran by the liberal democratic party, wants to make as many individuals and corporations as possible dependant on the government for money! If we would lower the tax burden on corporations, which in this country is among the highest corporate tax rate in the world, we would be allowing these big corporations to save more of their own money and would not have to give them taxpayers hard earned cash! Seems like a common sense approach, doesn't it? Pelosi says no to tax cuts for the corporate world, but wants to say yes to a multi billion dollar bailout to those exact same corporations. Get real you left wing zealots. Get real!

If you have heard of card check, you should be angry. If you have not heard of card check, you probably voted for soon to be President Obama. For those of you who have not heard of the soon to be proposed law, let me explain. Under the current law that deals with labor unions getting voted into a company or corporation, if a majority of the employees of said company sign a union card, then the company must hold a secret ballot election to determine whether or not a union will be allowed to represent that companies workers. Although I strongly disagree with the presence of unions in most instances, the current law seems pretty fair. Every employee would be allowed to vote during the secret election and the voice of the majority would be the law of the land. At least within the walls of that business. Under a new law that has the support of many Democrats, including the aforementioned Barrack Hussein Obama, once a majority of employees sign the initial union card, that is it. Your company has instantly entered into negotiations with the labor union. There is no secret ballot election. If you were not at work on the day the cards were signed, you have no dog in the fight. Your co-workers have spoken for you. It is hard to believe that in our country, one that Mr. Obama wants to make as equal as possible, some people's voices and opinions will not matter when it comes to unionizing America. When a country fails to listen to its citizenry, we call it a dictatorship. When President Obama advocates not giving all people a say in what happens within their place of employment, we call it change. When a country decides to ignore voting tradition, we call them rogue. When President Obama decides to ignore the principle of voting, we call it reform. If you knew about this law that is on horizon and voted for Barrack anyway, what were you thinking? If you did not know about this law and you voted for Barrack, shame on you!

It's over my friends. The long months of debates, campaigns and family arguments has come to an end. John McCain came up just a little short in his campaign, and soon to be President Obama, you have no idea how hard that was for me to say, has emerged with victory. Once the bitterness and anger subsides, I will look to President Obama for a strong sense of leadership in our countries troubling times. The economy, the war and the belief of personal entitlements are issues that we should all be watching very closely. We cannot allow our country to fall prey to the idea that government should be there with a handout whenever we need it. We must learn to sacrafice for what we want out of life and must be willing to work long and hard for what we desire. Do not let the government talk you in to becoming one of it's "customers." We are too good and have too much pride in ourselves to let that happen. Please, do not fall into the trap that will be laid out in front of you. To those of you who make over 150,000 dollars, or whatever that number should happen to be, I am sorry. I do not want your money, and quite frankly, nobody but yourself deserves the money you have earned. Mr. Obama will most likely govern to the far left, as he has done throughout his time in office. It is up to us to make sure that we govern our lives in the most conservative of manner. We must tighten the belt a little bit more to make sure that the conservative nature of our country does not get lost in this liberal leaning circus. We must dig a little deeper within ourselves to ensure that our children are raised knowing that the only way to get what you want is to work as hard as you possibly can. We will win this battle, as long as we continue to teach our children the moral and ethical standards that our country was founded on. Hard work, pride, dedication, and a burning desire to succeed in life. Mr. Obama's philosophy may force us to change the way that we collect and redistribute our tax dollars, but he cannot force us to change the way we look at life, and he certainly cannot force us to change the way we raise our children. Hard work, pride, dedication and a burning desire to succeed in life.