Election 2008

We are just about out of time before the 2008 election happens so I thought I had better get this post in right away.  As some of you may know, I am best characterized as a Libertarian politically.  I joke with people that I am borderline anarchist.  The less the government meddles in things the better.  The government ruins everything it touches.  For just a quick example, let's look at two industries:

1.  Consumer electronics.  The government has very little if anything to do with this industry.  As a consequence electronics get better and better and cheaper and cheaper.  Computers, televisions, cell phones etc.  are all getting more and more advanced, an less and less expensive.

2.  Medical Care.  Here the government has meddled and continues to meddle.  As a result, medical care gets more and more expensive, and less and less efficient.  

I could site a number of other examples, but just look around for yourselves.  You will find that it is a rule with very few exceptions.  When an industry is allowed to work without government interference it flourishes.  When the government gets it's fingers in an industry is struggles.

That being said I could not be less excited about either two of the "choices" we have for the Presidency of the United States.  I don't see that there is much of a choice at all.  When it comes to the real issues, they are more or less carbon copies of each other.  They will both expand the size of government, they will both eliminate our civil liberties and neither of them is likely to follow the rule of law which is the Constitution.

I can hear some of you now saying "wait a minute, McCain is against big government.  He wants to 'cut the pork' and even proposed a freeze on all government spending for a year."

Others of you may be saying "Wait a minute Obama is all about the common person and their civil liberties."

My answer to those arguments is that actions speak louder than words...  

First, Senator McCain.  He could have secured himself the election as well as my vote on election day had he opposed the "bailout" of Wall Street.  He claims he is going to cut all of this spending, yet when it came down to acting instead of talking, he stood right in line with his twin brother Barack to add another trillion dollars to the taxpayers tab.

Now for Senator Obama.  He claims to be a strong backer for civil liberties, yet when it came time to act, he stood right in line with his twin brother John to pass the FISA bill (which negates the 4th amendment, the one that protects us against warrantless searches and seizures).  He also supported a new version of the PATRIOT act (he was not a member of congress in 2001 when it was first passed) which is possibly the biggest assault on our civil liberties in the history of America.

As I see it when January 1st comes President G W Bush will be replaced by President J B McBama.  Which brings me to the real purpose of this post.  The following is an action item.  It will put anyone who does it in to the political category number 5 that I talked about in my last post.  Those that know, care, know what to do, and DO IT!!

I have been a member of an organization called DownsizeDC for the past six months or so.  It is an organization as the name indicates dedicated to reducing the size and power of government.  They alert members to legislation that is being proposed and/or coming to a vote in Congress. They provide a medium through which we can easily write all of our representatives simultaneously about the upcoming legislation and let them know where we stand, and how we would like to be represented.  It is a way that we can apply tremendous pressure to the government officials that represent us, and effect real change.  A great example of the power of public pressure is the REAL ID act.  The act was passed in 2005 and in essence required the states to issue a standardized National ID card (we would have to "carry our papers" like they did in Nazi Germany).  A May 2008 deadline was set for all of the states to comply.  Due to public pressure against the act, not a single state to date has complied with the law.  I urge you to follow the steps below to become a member of the DownsizeDC army, and get all of your friends to do the same.

1. Visit www.downsizedc.org 

2. Click on "Log In" in the upper right corner of the page

3. Click on "Register"

4. Fill out the Registration Form

5. Browse the active campaigns DownsizeDC is running now

6. Start writing your representatives.

Stop being acted upon and ACT!  Join Today! 

Throwing my hat into the Blogging ring.

Friends, Family and everyone else who may stumble upon my blog:

Welcome.  I will try to  make this introductory post short and to the point.  I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and family.  I love to see the pictures that they post and read about the noteworthy things that happen in their lives.  My wife Erin maintains our family blog, posts the pictures, and keeps people informed already and, I might add, does a much better job at it than I would.  So, if you are looking for cool pictures of Cyrus, and the latest goings on in the Case family you have come to the wrong place.  Just go to lexanderin.blogspot.com and you will find what you are looking for.  My blog will be a bit different.  Some of you will probably hate it, hopefully at least a few will like it, but most of all I hope that most if not all of you will benefit from it in some way.

Here are a few of the things that you can expect (in no particular order):

1.  Lex Case Academy.  As you may or may not know, Erin and I are planning on starting a private school.  My blog will have a series of Essays entitled "If I Had a Million Dollars."  The essays will detail how the school will operate and show my vision of what it will eventually become.  Although I will not require a million dollars to start the school, it would definitely act as a spring board to arrive at my vision of the school much more quickly.  I will include these essays in my blog to raise awareness about the school, and in hopes that an investor, or group of investors might come across it and see the same potential that I do.

2.  Politics.  It seems to me that there is way to much apathy in America in regards to the politics that run our country.  I think most of us fall into categories when it comes to politics.  1)  We don't care about it.  2) We care, but we don't know the issues we are facing.  3)  We know the issues we are facing and we care but we don't know what to do about them. 4) We know the issues and we care and we think things are as they should be (probably not very many in this boat) and 5)  We care, we know, we know what to do, and we are doing it.  I hope to through this blog get as many people as possible into the #5 category.

3.  Spirituality.  At times I have spiritual experiences or insights that I would like to share with everyone.  I will include those here.

4.  Prosperity.  From time to time I will share a technique or a strategy that will help build wealth.  I realize that given my current financial state it may sound almost ludicrous that I would be sharing wealth building techniques and principles.  I can understand that, and I respect that.  If you skip over these postings I will take no offense.  However, over the last couple of years I have learned a lot, and I hope that my experience and the things that I have learned may be able to help anyone interested to get ahead financially.

Ok, so it wasn't quite as short as I was shooting for, but I hope you will enjoy my blog.  I feel that what I write here will be very important and beneficial.  Please feel free to share it with as many people as you can.  Also, I welcome any open discussion on the issues that I present so feel free to comment and tell me how right or just how wrong I am.  Have a great day!

Lex