PLATELET RICH PLASMA THERAPY: FIVE WEEKS

Week five and time to visit the ankle Doctor for a checkup. He questioned me closely about how long I was non weight bearing on the ankle and how long I wore the ankle brace after going off crutches.

Then he yanked and twisted and poked my ankle to see if and where it hurt. The bottom line is that it still hurts some but not as much as it did before the procedure. I told him that I have not yet done any exercise on it such as swimming or exercise bike. He said I could start that stuff but not to do any running or elliptical etc. Still no golf until February 1.

We talked about what is next from a treatment perspective. He still thinks it will get better to some degree. The main problem is getting my foot in a position with orthotics so that it does not put strain on the tendon. Well, no luck there. He asked if I had done the orthotic at his office and I had. But, I said that I gave up on the adjustments after two tries.

He didn’t want me to give up and even said that further adjustments were on him. Did I have the orthotic with me, he asked. I got them out of the car. He looked at them and said that he agreed with me; they were not right and he would get the adjustments made. I am waiting on a call in a couple weeks.

So, I am going to make my own adjustments to existing pairs of orthotics and off the shelf inserts. I think I have enough knowledge to cut and paste pads etc to make something that works. That is my project for this weekend. No, I am not a podiatrist but did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night!

Bottom line is that the ankle is better and will keep getting better the more I can get the foot in the position that does not strain the tendon. The sooner the better on that. I can actually tell if a shoe or orthotic or insert irritates or makes it feel good.

Another appointment in February.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA THERAPY; FOUR WEEKS

Yes, it has been four long weeks of being on crutches (three weeks) and wearing the ankle brace and or walking boot (one week). I have missed some good golf weather and golfing experiences with my golf buddies. In addition, I have missed swimming and working out.

On the plus side, I have gotten some books read and many office and home projects attended to. Everyone has been very nice to me, wife included! In fact, she has gone beyond the call of duty by attending to my needs. I owe her big time.

The ankle is feeling better each day. I am now wearing shoes but no brace or walking boot. It seems like I can walk and move around better as times goes on. I am not trying to push it by doing a lot of motion exercises however. In fact, the Doctor told me not to do any of that.

I go back for my five week appointment next Wednesday and I will do a report at that time. I am hoping to get the go ahead to swim, lift weights and ride the exercise bike. He has already told me not to swing a golf club until February. If the ankle gets well, I can deal with that.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA: DAY FOURTEEN

Well it has been two weeks since the procedure. Two weeks on crutches and one more to go. It seems like the longest two weeks in history and especially the last week.

This of course is due to the dental adventures. The root canal was finally wrapped up this past Tuesday. More Novocain and more drilling. The good news is that I don’t have much pain but the bad news is that the tooth now needs a crown. I have made the dentist’s mortgage payment this month for sure.

Back to the ankle. If I can hang in there on the crutches through Thanksgiving and through next Tuesday, all I will have left to do is wear the walking boot for a week.

I have to admit that some weight has been put on my left foot from time to time. Not anything constant however. Please don’t tell my doctor!

Not much else to report on the ankle. Family is coming in for Thanksgiving and I hope that everything will work out ok with me having to still be on the crutches. I haven't been much help to Candy in getting ready. I am sorry about that but things are in pretty good shape food and housewise.

So, another report next week after I ditch the crutches.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA: DAY EIGHT

This has turned out to be the root canal from hell! What? Isn’t this supposed to be about the PRP ankle procedure? Yes it is but the tooth issue is outweighing the ankle issue right now.

My ankle is about the same; using the crutches and the walking boot. No real pain at this point but of course there has been no “ankle activity”.

The tooth is a different story however. I last reported that the dentist did a root canal on this past Monday. Little did I realize that he only completed part of the process. The tooth was drilled out on Monday; of course after numerous Novocain shots. But the holes or canals were not filled up. Seems like there was an infection problem.

So I went back on Tuesday for what I thought would be the end of the process. Little did I know! More drilling after more Novocain shots! Not only does my ankle look like a pin cushion but now my jaw also is a pin cushion.

Ok, I gut it out and we will be done in this second session. But, when he is finished he said to come back in a week for the finish. What is going on here? The canals are still not filled up with the final filling. We need to wait longer for the infection to go away. I have been on antibiotics and mega pain pills. I am supposed to keep on taking them until both the pain and infection go away.

Man, this is way more than I signed up for! I am sure this is small potatoes compared to the problems others are having in today’s world so I am thankful for that but it does hurt a lot. The pain pills don’t do too much really and especially at 3 in the morning the pain comes’a’pounding in my jaw.

More to come later,

PLATELET RICH PLASMA; DAY FIVE

Today was the first follow-up visit with the Doctor. It was scheduled for 1:10 PM. However, this turned out to be the day from Hell! Do you want the whole story?

Here we go. I woke up this morning around 4 AM with a pounding pain in my left upper jaw. The culprit was the second from the back molar. Very sensitive to touch; even if my tongue touched it. Hurt a lot.

I did have a dental appointment scheduled for Tuesday but seeing how today is Monday, I wasn’t going to make it until then. So in addition to going the foot doctor, I got a root canal today as a bonus. Now the tooth hurts a lot still from all the drilling and Novocain shots. So when people say “that was as much fun as a root canal” they mean that it really was not much fun. No kidding; I am lying in the chair stiff as board waiting on the pain come. That my friends is stress.

Back to the foot doctor. He took the bandages off and guess what? I had thought he did about 4 injections. Well, there are nine little holes with scabs where the injections went in. This is in addition to the three holes where the nerve blocks went in. My lower ankle looks like a pin cushion!

The prognosis is to stay on crutches for another one to three weeks; as long as I can stand it. Further, he gave me a walking cast to wear from now until one week after I give up the crutches. Then, I can start swimming and doing the stationary bike. No elliptical or treadmill machines however. Upper body weights will be ok then as long as I am sitting down.

The bottom line question for me was: when can I swing a golf club? Bottom line answer was February one; my birthday. What a present that will be! So no golf from November 10 to February 1; basically three months. Since it took me about a year and a half to get here, I guess that is ok.

More entries to come later; tune in on the same channel.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA THERAPY; DAY THREE

Dear Diary,

This is the third day after the procedure. I am still on crutches; yes, I know the Doc told me I would be on crutches for two to four weeks. But, it seems like a long time since Wednesday! I am pretty bored actually. The main problem is not being able to be outside and enjoy this beautiful fall weather we are having.

I can get around pretty good but the problem is that I can’t take anything with me. For example, want to take a drink from the kitchen to the den? No can do. Want to take a book from the den to the bedroom to read at night? No can do. I have to have someone help me do little things like that. In my case, it is my lovely and devoted wife. She is being very nice to me and I will owe her big time when this is all over.

I also need help taking a bath. The doc said no showers since I am not to stand on the ankle and have a wrapping on it. But, something has to give. I mean the body odor can become pretty bad to me even if it is my own smell! So, we put a trash bag on my lower leg and put a bungee cord around it to keep the water out. Then I sit on the side of the tub and swing my legs around and lower myself with both arms. After that, we just soap and rinse like you would when normally taking a bath.

We went out for lunch yesterday and a friend took me out to lunch the day before so I am getting out a bit. Thank goodness the weather is beautiful and not rainy or anything like that. I am getting to read some books and catch up on the magazines. At church we are “reading the bible in 90 days” so I have caught up on that as well.

So, it is not all bad and I hope that the procedure actually works and the ankle gets healed up! Further, that my wife still loves me when it is all over.

I go back to the Doctor on Monday so another entry in the journal will come out then with an updated prognosis.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA THERAPY

This past Wednesday I had the injection. What is it? PRP is a relatively new therapy for repairing connective tissue in the body. The blood is drawn from the patient; put in a centrifuge and all but the platelets and plasma are separated out. This is what is injected into the wound. It is supposed to promote quicker healing of the damaged area.

In my case, I have had an inflamed tendon for about one and half years. It resulted originally from playing tennis. I knew that something happened when it happened. But I kept on playing. The next morning my ankle hurt like a sprain or maybe it felt like I jammed it.

So, I quit playing tennis but kept on playing golf. If you are a golfer, you know that golf puts a lot strain on the left side; in particular the knee and the ankle. I am such a dummy. If I had just taken a month off from every activity, maybe all this would have been unnecessary. We will never know however.

A year and a half later, I still am not playing tennis and cannot walk the golf course anymore; I have to ride. Even then, after playing my ankle hurts.

I have been reading about the PRP therapy and it seems to get good results. However, it only seems to be done in CA and FL for the most part. It was hard to find a Dr. in this area who does it. The orthopod that I was seeing for my ankle said it was too experimental and they don’t do it. I think maybe they just aren’t on the leading edge of medicine.

I did hear about a Podiatric group here in Richmond that is doing it. Made the appointment and yes, I was a candidate. The tendon was inflamed in several places and PRP might help. There are no guarantees. And guess what, my insurance company will cover the process! How about that! I guess my orthopod needs to catch up if even the insurance companies are covering the process! I will be on crutches for “two to four weeks”. Holy Cow Batman; that is going to be hard to do. But, sometimes the pain is worth the gain so let’s do it is my attitude.

They do this in the outpatient operating room. I had mine at Johnston Willis Hospital. Everyone there was professional and personable. Just a great experience.

If you want the gory details here they are. First I was given three or four numbing shots in my lower leg above the ankle. That hurt quite a bit. Simultaneously blood was taken from my arm. Then about 20 minutes later I was wheeled into the operating room. The Doc came in with the platelet rich plasma and started giving me the shots. Normally, it is one injection. However they had done ultrasound in the office the day before and had determined that I had about a 6 to 8 inch area of inflamed tendon. This time he gave me about 4 injections of the PRP. Each time he stuck me, he would wiggle the needle and moving it about to get the stuff all over. On about the second or third shot, it hurt and hurt a lot. Then he gave me more numbing stuff. So the last couple shots didn’t hurt but I was expecting it to. Thus my body was a stiff as a board waiting on the pain to come from each shot.

Finally it was over. Really only took about 20 minutes although it seemed longer.

Now it is Friday and I go back for followup visit Monday. I hope to get the wrapping off and get instructions as to physical therapy, activity etc. I don’t expect to be playing golf again until January; tennis a little later. Walking I would hope would come sooner rather than later.

I will put out a report after the visit Monday.

ELECTION DAY: IT IS TIME TO VOTE!

Ok, what planet are you living on? Have you not been paying attention to what is going on? Have you seen the shift to socialism in our country? Have you been observing what Congress has been doing or not doing?

Just in case you don’t know, let me fill you in on a couple things.

The Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year. Congress has been trying to address this issue but decided it was just too tough to deal with and adjourned for their “fall break”. They might get to it, along with a lot of other issues, when they come back. This is an example of them not really wanting to address what needs to be done.

Another example: did you know that Congress and their many many overpaid aides are not required to comply with all the insider trading rules that the rest of us in this country have to comply with. This should be an outrage. The Wall Street Journal, in the October 11, 2010 issue, has documented a number of occurrences that would normally be insider trading violation issues except for the fact that the potential perps were Congress people and/or their aides. How much more aloof and out of touch can they be? How could a law like this get passed in the first place? This should tell us that things need to change.

Not to mention that Congress has their own elitist health care plan and retirement plan.

Do you realize that there are 536 people in our country that decide everything that happens? We the people don’t decide anything except the election of our 100 Senators and 435 Representatives and 1 President. We have a unique opportunity in this upcoming election and ones after that. We can change out all of them over time.

I urge you to vote in the upcoming elections. This is the greatest country in the world however all great civilizations rise and fall. If we don’t do something, we could be on the downside of greatness. Our debt is too high and getting higher due to rising annual deficits. No country can keep on doing this.Look at what is happening in Europe. France and its long time socialism are having major fiscal problems. They are trying to raise their retirement age from 60 to 62 and the people are going nuts. Can you believe this; they don’t want to work past age 60 and they want the state to take care of them. Where do they think the money comes from?
Same thing is going on in Great Britain. They are having massive cutbacks and the people are raising hell.

That is what happens with socialism; the people think that money comes from the government and is unending. They don’t want to work and have lost all initiative.

This could happen to us if we don’t do something about it.

THE TIME IS NOW. Vote for a change in Congress. We need term limits. We need people in congress who will really represent what the majority of the country wants and not what will benefit them individually. We need Congress to have the same health care and pension plans that the rest of us have. We need to reverse the socialistic trends that we have embarked on. We need to reward entrepreneurship and initiative.

GET OUT AND VOTE!

IMMIGRATION: MY THOUGHTS

What is this: another blog or article on immigration? How many more do we need? Opinions are like toes; everyone has at least one and some have ten. And everyone feels they are qualified to comment on the subject. Same for me; I have opinions on everything including immigration; just ask me!

What makes me the expert anyway? You don’t have to be an expert to have an opinion; just look at our US Congressmen and women. They aren’t experts in anything and really don’t know anything about anything and they are running our country! We need to get them all out but that is the subject of another blog posting (coming soon to a computer near you).

So, here is my non-expert opinion on the subject. I do have some qualifications; just for the record. Both my parents “came over on the boat” from Lebanon and Syria. Growing up in an immigrant family in a decidedly “American” hometown gives one a perspective on this that others might not have.

Both of my parents and their “old country” friends wanted to assimilate in the American culture. They came here legally! They became citizens. They got involved in the community and its organizations. They started businesses. They worked hard and supported the country. They learned English as quick as they could because that was the only way to communicate and it helped them earn a living and helped them in society.

Sure, they didn’t forget about the old ways and customs. They could still speak the native language and would lapse into it once in a while. Especially when they didn’t want us kids to know what they were saying!

But the point is: they became American in every way. In short, they assimilated themselves into society.

Today, it seems like everyone wants to be a (name the country)-American. What is this? Aren’t we all Americans, with a (name the country) heritage? I am not a Lebanese-American; I am an American with a Lebanese heritage.

Furthermore, I will bet you didn’t know that many immigrants are coming here illegally. No kidding! Does that make them aliens? Yes it does, by golly. You can divide the immigrants of today into two groups.

Those that come here legally seem to want to assimilate, become citizens, learn the language, support the government and communities, etc.

Those that come illegally seem to want to stay under the legal radar. Just work and send their money back home or bring their families here and continue to stay under the radar. However, they want to take advantage of our hospitals, school lunch programs, and other social welfare benefits.

We have to find a way to stop this problem of illegal immigration. I have no problem with any one coming here legally. Bring them on. That is how all of our ancestors got here in the first place.

So for me, the Arizona law is the way to go. Is it profiling? Well if the objective is to not have illegal immigrants from Mexico or any other country (yes, even the Middle East), then you need to use that profile to identify them and see if they are legal or not. How else can it be done?

Since the Federal Gov won’t do it, then each state needs to pass its own laws. However, the Federal Gov needs to do this. We need to elect new Congress people who will get this done is the answer.

What do you think?

45TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION?

Okay, the question is: do you go or not go? My 45th High School reunion was held this past weekend in Huntington WV. It had been in the planning stage for the last five or six months so the date was not a surprise. The only other high school reunion that I have been to was the 20th. Somewhere along the way, during about 8 address changes, I got lost in the system.

As far as attending, I could think of many reasons not to go and many reasons to go.

As far as not going:
· It was a six hour drive one way;
· I needed a hotel room for two nights;
· There were other things going on in my life and that of my wife that needed to be done;
· Will my wife have a good time; really, should she even go?
· Am I going to know or remember anyone?
· Will they remember me?
· Will the normal cliques show up that happen in any group of a graduating class of 550?
· Etc, etc?

On the side of going:
· The first night’s gathering was going to be held at a location in which my deceased father had his business so that would be a good reunion in and of itself;
· What other opportunity would there be to relive old experiences with people I grew up with from kindergarten to high school?
· Having made the effort to be found, how could I now not go?
· Maybe some close friends from that part of my life would be there;

So, it was time to “fish or cut bait’ so to speak. Just send in the money and block off the weekend and go! That was it. Go and have a good time and see what happens.

What I can tell you is that all my positive expectations were exceeded and none of the negative ones materialized!

I had a wonderful time. I have never hugged so many women in two nights in my whole life! I even hugged some of the guys!
We were able to go back into time and relive old experiences and happenings. It was so great to find out what happened to people after high school; learn about their kids, their careers, and their travels in life. Everyone one was so nice to everyone; there didn’t seem to be any exclusionary activity going on. My wife, bless her heart, was a good sport about going; she even found a person that she went to high school with (the wife of one of my buddies). I think she had a good time, given the circumstances. The organizers out-did themselves with the logistics, food, and handout booklet. About the only problem going on was trying to hear what someone was saying given that the music was kind of loud.

Am I glad to have made the effort to go? Absolutely, no question about it! Will I go to the 50th high school reunion? Absolutely, no question about it!

If you get the opportunity to go to your high school reunion, you should give it a shot. Might be glad you did!

WHO CAN WE BLAME FOR THE OIL SPILL?

Yes, we have a major disaster going on the Gulf of Mexico, other wise known as the Gulf of Oil!
Yes, it is the result of an accident and or negligence or acts of ignorance.
Maybe it is the result of criminal activity in the form of willful ignorance of safety regulations.
Probably not is it the result of someone purposefully trying to cause an oil spill such as this.

However, our U.S. Attorney wants to prosecute someone or some entity for criminal and civil activity. In a press conference, U. S. Attorney Eric Holder said there is “a wide range of possible violations”. He also said authorities aren’t “clear on who should be ultimately be held liable”.

What? So we think that there might have been some criminal activity and we don’t know who did it but think someone might have?

So, the government is on a witch hunt to find the perpetrators! What do I think?

Well, one of the main things you do in business as a good leader is to solve the problem before you start assigning blame! Think about it. If you have a problem, you need to fix the problem and in order to that, you need everyone’s focus to be on fixing the problem not on trying to evade blame.

Sure there probably is some blame to go around. Might even be some non compliance with government regulations and even with BP’s self imposed rules. However, doesn’t it make more sense to get everyone focused on stopping the oil leak before diverting attention to assigning blame?

Yes, we know that the Obama administration is quick to hand out blame and not take responsibility for anything. I did hear Obama, in a speech, take responsibility for this disaster. Wow! Should Attorney Holder go after Obama? I don’t think that is going to happen.

Yes, let’s get this leak stopped. Let’s use all our resources to get this done. Then, we can find out who and what might have caused this disaster. That is what good leadership would do. We haven’t really had a good leader as President since Ronald Reagan, is my opinion.

What do you think?

WHEN IS AN APPOINTMENT AN APPOINTMENT?

Have you ever made an appointment to get your hair cut? Gone to the barber shop (or hairdresser if you are a “girly man”) and had to wait while the barber finished cutting the guys hair who just got in the chair?

Ever gone to the Doctor for an appointment and then been seen an hour later?

Ever gone to the Auto dealership for a service appointment for an oil change and had to wait an hour before they took your car in?

WELL, I HAVE DONE ALL OF THESE AND I WILL BE YOU HAVE TOO!

Kind of makes you mad when this happens. Why did you make an appointment anyway? You wanted to get in and out and rather than wait, you called them and set up a time, probably days or weeks away from now, so that you could get your business taken care of in a timely manner.

I have to tell you that I have “fired” my barber when this happened twice in a row. I also ask the front desk at the doctor’s office if I have to wait longer than 20 or 30 minutes: “is doctor so and so running late today or did you forget about me”. If he isn’t running late, I usually get called in 5 or 10 minutes. Sometimes, the docs really do run late but shouldn’t they tell you about it. I have had one doctor office that actually did that.

I will only go to an auto service department that has given me good service. I fired the last one that kept me waiting too long and then tried to sell me services that they had already done several months ago!

You have to speak up and look out for your self when this happens. That is the only way things can get better. Be sure and let the vendor know that you are dissatisfied. The customer and/or patient do have rights i.e. a “customer or patient bill of rights”!

Let me know how you have addressed these issues.

I WAS JUST WONDERING WHY……………

If the new Health Care proposal is going to cost over a trillion dollars, how is it going to reduce the deficit? I have yet to see an explanation that is understandable that explains how this will happen.

Can someone tell me why Goldman Sachs is being put under the gun for the mortgage meltdown and for trying to make money for their shareholders? Did they make all these people take loans that the people knew they couldn’t pay back? Did they induce the public to sign false statements about their income and job stability? Isn’t this just another example of people and government trying to blame someone else for their problems? Why can’t we just stand up and take responsibility for what each of us do?

Why is the President now establishing a “deficit reduction” committee? Right after he and the Democrats just spend trillions on the new Health Care bill. I can tell them how to reduce the deficit if they would just ask me! Instead I will vote out everyone who is coming up for election.

Why do the Democrats really think that they can tax the ones who make money and give to the poor and that this will solve all our problems? Are you kidding me?
Here is a very appropriate clipping on this, from 1931 no less:

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another
person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to
anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody
else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work
because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other
half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is
going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of
the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."*

Adrian Rogers, 1931*

Don’t they know that capitalism is what makes our country great? once again, and you have seen this from me before, we need to vote the Democrats out this fall and consider voting out ANY incumbent!

STOP THE OVER-TAXING OF PROFITS!

Everywhere you look, there is talk of taxing profits! From Barack Obama, from Nancy Pelosi, from Barney Frank (two of the most farcical and stupid members of Congress), from most of the Democrats; all they can see with their greedy eyes is taxing and regulating their way to prosperity.

Are you kidding me? Did they ever take ANY economics courses in College? Did they ever look at the historical patterns of surpluses and deficits in this country?

With the exception of war years, we have had surpluses most of the Republican years and deficits during the Democratic years. We need to make an exception for the George W Bush years however. The cost of his wars in combination with the recession has resulted in huge deficits. Now these deficits are being grown by the Obama administration.

Everywhere you look you see more and more taxes proposed. Tax the banks because they are now making money. Tax the hedge funds. Tax the options industry. Tax the insurance industry. What the heck, let's raise taxes on those few people who still have jobs and make money by eliminating the Bush tax cuts!

Not only create more taxes, but let’s restrict bonuses! Bonuses make people work harder and figure out how to make even more money for their company; and themselves too! But hey, that is what capitalism is all about. We are not a socialist country yet although that is what the Democrats want us to be.

Let’s give everything to everybody and those that can make the most money can support those that don’t want to work so hard. This seems to be what the Democratic motto is.

What they are trying to do is stifle the creativity in business that results in more people being hired! What? I thought they wanted to hire more people? Only if they will support the rest of us.

Not exactly, what they want to do is to hire more people to make things. Well folks, I have news for you. Our competitive advantage in making things went away a long time ago due to The Labor Unions and due to lower labor costs in other countries. Our competitive advantage is in finance and business services and technology and innovation. If we stifle the ability of our companies to innovate and create and if we remove the financial incentives for them to do so, then we will die. As surely as other fallen societies in history, we will fall from dominance to being dominated.

What can we do? We can defeat every incumbent Congressperson who is running for re-election this fall. We need to get them all out and start over. Especially defeat any Democrats running for re-election. We need to get our country back to running on innovation, initiative and capitalism!

TIGER, WE NEED YOU BACK ASAP!

It was a good tournament this weekend. I am talking about the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. It did come down to the final hole and Ben Crane made a par for the win.

But, ho hum, I smell boring in the auditorium! No real excitement to see. Nothing that would resemble the heavy rumbling of a Tiger Charge. Not even a Lefty charge or even Ernie or Vijay.

Ben Crane? Who? Is he the new Messiah? I don’t think so. No shred of magnetism there.

Not even Lefty accusing Scott McCarron of slander could generate much excitement.

Tiger, take care of business and get back out on the course. We need to see you pull shots out of your rear, make unbelievable putts and chips, and demoralize your opponents.

Conquer the sex addiction thing just like you conquer everything else and Get Back Out There! They all need you and for goodness sakes, we need some excitement when watching golf. It is all so boring now. No one has your pizzazaz!
Come on back, your fans await you, the King

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

Did the see the results of the senatorial election in Massachusetts this past Tuesday? You would have to be on Mars not to know what happened.

Yes, the Republican won in this overwhelming Democratic state. With the heritage of Teddy Kennedy looking from on high, the Dems went down in flames. Somewhat like Teddy driving off a bridge with Mary Jo!

Was this a fluke? Was it a mistake? I don’t think so. It is the people saying that they are tired of the same old stuff; that they are tired of the “political machine” deciding what happens; that they are tired of the Democratic agenda!

Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid and every other incumbent take heed. You are on the way out if you don’t listen to what the people are saying. They want more help on the economy, they want their country to quit spending money it doesn’t have, and they don’t want a new health care plan that will bankrupt the country! And they certainly don’t want more or higher taxes! Furthermore, they are wondering why you have such great retirement benefits including healthcare and the average American does not.

Are you listening? You better pay attention to the Mass. Election where a relative unknown Republican won against the Democratic machine. Just this past November Republicans won in Virginia and New Jersey. You better pay attention!

The people are speaking and you better listen!

LET’S BLAME THE BANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

Have you noticed the headlines lately? Anything pop up that is a common denominator? You would have to have not read any papers or magazines nor watched any TV to not see what is going on!

Congress and the White House are blaming “the banks” for all our current financial problems. Why not blame them for all the crimes, financial and otherwise, that take place?

So, if it is “their” entire fault, let’s tax them to make up for their dastardly deeds.
The White House wants to tax the banks to make up for all the money that was given to other industries and companies. Didn’t most of the banks pay back the money they got? Didn’t they pay interest and dividends while the money was borrowed?

The answer to these questions is YES. And now we want to throw additional taxes on them as punishment and to recoup the funds that were given to other companies that have not paid back the government.

This sounds an awful lot like socialism to me. Do we want to destroy all semblances of initiative in our country? Capitalism has made this country great. It seems like the government really wants us to be a totally socialist country. The Healthcare proposals fit right in with that. So does this current proposal.

We as citizens have to fight this. We have to “unelect” in each of the upcoming elections every incumbent Senator and Representative that is running for reelection. We somehow need to impress upon our Congress men and women that their job is to represent the people’s wishes and not to enrich themselves with power and money at our expense. Things like a raise every year and ultra-good healthcare insurance and lush travel expenses are examples of how they rise above the plights that many of us are faced with.

We somehow need to impose term limits on these positions. We can’t have them serving for 15, 20 and 25 years.

I don’t know how to get that accomplished but to start with I know what I am going to do. I will vote against all incumbents, whoever they are.

What are you going to do? Let me know.