How much are you worth?

How much money should a 6th grade science teacher make? How about the nurse who took care of you so well during your hospital stay? What about your child's school bus driver? I'll bet you think all these folks are generally underpaid? What about rock stars, professional sports players, Google, Wal-Mart, or Exxon? They are all overpaid right?

It seems as though class envy is alive and well in the good ole U.S.A. I hear comments everywhere from folks making value judgments about who should have and who shouldn't. Oil companies are frequently whipped these days by folks like Barack Obama who want to tax them extra because they make "too much." He apparently doesn't think the $2 billion Google made last quarter is too much though. So in his world, tax the oil companies a lot more but leave Google where it is at. Never mind that oil companies produce the fossil fuels which have catapulted our economy to extreme wealth. Our country's poorest are among the richest folks in most other countries.

What you never hear about in these discussions is the word 'risk.' In life, risk often determines our outcome in many areas. Risk is sometimes rewarded handsomely and other times punished mercilessly. Everyone wants to talk about what people 'should be paid' but nobody wants to talk about the risk the person took to actually earn the money.

How many of you would like to start a business and put your house up for collateral?? If your business fails, you lose your home. Kind of scary stuff. So scary that maybe I should keep getting up and going to work for the person who is taking that risk. I mean if their business fails, they lose everything, but I just go and look for another job. It might be difficult for me, but at least I don't lose everything right from the beginning. Now tell me, if the person who takes the risk of losing his home performs very well, why shouldn't they reap extraordinary rewards with high profit?? Without the potential for high profits, nobody would be out there creating jobs for the rest of us who need them.

If Lebron makes way too much money, then don't go to the games or watch him on TV. Then Lebron wouldn't make a dime. If all those baseball players are way too rich, don't go and watch them. Don't pay $100 for a seat. Don't pay $20 for an autograph. In capitalism, the market decides our fate. Does it always decide the way we would? No. Is it always fair? No. Is it sometimes cruel? Yes. But it is the best possible choice for a people desiring the opportunity to reach their potential and be rewarded for it. And it is the reason why our economy's GDP is greater than the next four countries combined.

I don't want Barack Obama and the libs. deciding who deserves and who doesn't. I like people with money. Without them none of the rest of us have jobs.

How bad is the U.S. economy?

All year I've heard how bad off we are economically, but it this true? If we had a Democratic president right now, would the media be fixated on telling us everyday how terrible things are? Do they have an agenda in getting somebody else elected that is more important than facts?

I was sitting here listening to Barack Obama's "change" candidate, VP nominee Joe "I've been in Washington over 30 years" Biden prattle on for 10 minutes about everything wrong with our country. Barack Obama's been doing the same for months. From their descriptions, all but about 10% of the population is practically destitute. Sure, we've hit a rough spot, and times are difficult for folks. But, in many cases, what is the definition of "difficult" we are using?

*70% of folks own homes. Home ownership has never been greater in our nation's history. Of course, the average home size has doubled in the last 30 years.

*A generation ago, families were lucky to have one car. Now most have two, three, or four cars. And until recently, many of them were the big gas guzzling kind.

*96% of all mortgages are paid on time. Of course, the default rate more than tripled in the past several years as people took out loans for even bigger homes they couldn't afford.

*Americans gave away over $300 billion dollars in charitable contributions last year.

*In 2007, the national GDP (gross domestic product, or the value of what we produce) was almost $14 trillion dollars. That is bigger than the next four countries combined (Japan, Germany, China, UK).

I think many of us are greedy. The next "thing" is never enough. Everybody has to best their neighbors and friends. And for the past 25 years, we've been doing so. Maybe we have to make a few choices now, so we get grumpy and want the government to bail us out. You mean I can't put zero down on a house with a monthly payment that is 40% of my salary anymore? I shouldn't buy trucks & SUV's with near single digit gas mileage? I shouldn't take my kids to watch Kobe Bryant and pay $500?

This country is unbelievable in what we've achieved. Despite the network news media's daily axe grinding, we are still the envy of the world. When they need somebody to step up we do. When they need someone to buy their stuff we do. When they need someone to beat back communism and fascism we do. Let's go back to the days of Reagan and celebrate our republic's achievements. Are we perfect? Of course not. But we are the last great hope for freedom in this world and we should never forget it.