Just One Man's Opinion

I typically don't use this blog space to spout off on how the world could be better. (I know it would if I was in charge!) And I don't get to political. I vote for the person I feel will do the best job (sometimes that's a hard choice). I don't vote for a party or any certain beliefs or agenda. So I try to keep the content in this blog light or helpful to the reader.

But there are things that have happened in recent days that I feel like commenting on. (This blog is a nice way to get things of my chest.) Here goes:

AIG

Well, what can I say. I feel like most Americans that there is no way that any bonus should have paid out to employees in a company that received a bailout with taxpayers money. With so many tax paying Americans out of work or in foreclosure or have already lost their homes, why is $165 million being paid out in salary instead of helping AIG get back on their feet? Performance? Retention? For a company that was knocking on the door of bankruptcy? You have to be kidding!

This is what Americans get so upset about. Somehow, whether we liked it our not, our leaders decided that the best thing for the country is to help AIG survive. That somehow our economy would be better which I'm assuming means we would all be better for it. (even though none of the leaders thought it was a good idea to bailout the average American)

OK. We bought into it. Make it work. Get us working again. And save our homes. But to slap us in the face with this bonus crap is just to much to take.

Congrats to Congress for passing a bill today that would tax these bonuses at 90%. How legal is it, I don't know. But at least Congress is trying to make it right.

I hope we don't have to go through this again the next time we bail out something.

Drunk Driving

In a nearby community, 4 teenagers were wiped off the face of earth thanks to some drunk driver. The 4 kids were not doing anything wrong. There were just guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The very wrong time.

The victims were doing the usual teen things. Going to the mall, getting a pizza, riding around and having fun. They were smashed by a drunk driving a full size van. This drunk driver had a suspended license due to drunk driving in the past. She had trouble with the law before. If fact, the police were called to house she was at earlier in the day where there was a domestic complaint. The police warned her not to drive.

But she didn't listen.

And now four innocent lives are gone.

What happened is tragic. No punishment the drunk driver gets will ever be harsh enough for the murder of 4 kids. And preaching about drunk driving doesn't work. This will happen again. People should be able to go out, have a couple of drinks and drive home in a responsible manner.

But most of the time, a drunk driver doesn't believe they are a danger. They believe that they are able to handle driving and are in control. We know this isn't true. And the hope is, that a cop pulls them over and busts them so all they hurt is themselves.

It didn't work that way for the teens that lost their lives and for their families and friends who now will suffer for the remainder of their lives.

I don't what the answer is. I can't imagine my children being involved in something like this. I'm hoping more people are more aware when thinking about driving if they are drinking.

Maybe the picture of the teen's smashed up car should be put in every bar in town as reminder of what happens when a drunk gets behind the wheel.

But I have a feeling that wouldn't stop everyone from drunk driving.

I just don't understand.