Another election and more disappointments.

Hey Gang,
My Sabbatical has ended. I just needed a break. I always need breaks. When you go full steam ahead with so many irons in the fire it wears you down. So I lay low for a bit and reappear.

I know I sound like a broken record but I have at least 4 articles started in my draft folder. I should finish them, even the one about the Euclid Tea Party. It still makes for good reading and is informative.

But right now lets quickly ramble through a few things. Another election and more disappointments. It seems the Tea Parties created a stir but were more like flat pop parties as they fizzled. All our involvement, at least in Ohio, seems to went for naught. Seth Morgan and Sandy O'Brien went down to defeat and so many levies and tax increases passed. I dont understand this.

I discussed this with a friend and we went back and forth. She said it comes down to money to combat the mailers put out by the party. Yes I agree BUT I still don't see how the Tea Party candidates didn't win. I know personally 6 people I swayed to vote for certain candidates and who knows how many other friends and acquaintances I informed that didn't tell me how they voted. Somehow the Tea Party people must not of reached out enough. The crowds were huge at some rally's and just about every town or city had one. Seth Morgan and Sandy O'Brien should of done way better than 35% of the vote they each received. Something went wrong.

As for the tax increases, why do people keep giving their money away? When are we going to hold our elected officials accountable? We have budgets to keep. And quite a few of us right now are barely working and those working full time the raises are coming very slowly if they even come. Elected officials need to do the same. But they won't as long as we keep giving them money. This isn't the end of it, they will be back.

Take Euclid for instance. In the last year, a school levy passed, garbage and light fee's were added, property taxes up, rental fee's up and now a library levy passed. What are people thinking? Sure you may be able to go to the library to take a cookbook out but some of us would just like a meal to cook. Where will this end? You just can't keep raising fee's. It lowers the dollar and obviously people will have less money to spend in the market place where real job creation happens. I have been holding the fort with the rent on my rentals. I don't believe in raising rent on my tenants especially when both are what a landlord dreams of. But somethings got to give.

I still haven't given up though. I am still fighting. I am helping out with at least 3 campaigns, I will be trained on getting the health care petition circulated and the most exciting being on the committee to help the campaigns in Lake County. Soooo if you have ANY issue, for or against something, a question, something you want repealed, something you want passed let me know. I can make sure it gets to the right person. Thats how the American process should work.

The Tea Parties may of failed in getting certain candidates elected BUT they succeeded in their voice being heard. I still have hopes that this election in November can revert the thinking back to sound fiscal and moral thinking. I would even put raising taxes in the realm of morals. All the corruption in Cuyahoga County is a moral issue. Where corruption exists money is squandered and fee's get raised to pay for a bankrupt system.

Getting back to Euclid. Have all the residents in Euclid just given up and want communism so they don't have to vote or participate in the government? Or don't voters educate themselves before voting? How can issues like 26 and 27 pass? Now if you want to pull a petition to remove an official you will need 25% of the previous general election voters instead of 15%. And 27 you now need a "Declaration of Intent" to recall an elected official and only have 45 days to gather signatures. Before there was no declaration needed and no time limit.

Pure insanity. America is voting herself right into full blown socialism.

Lastly Gwen wrote and said she missed my travel stories of the people I meet and fondly remembers the story I wrote of the cat in Texas. Well Gwen dear, I also sadly miss writing about fun times. I miss being out on the road meeting people. I miss my travel lifestyle. Plain and simple I can no longer afford it. It makes me very upset, depressed. And yet when a path is opened to change things back to better times we keep voting for what got us in this mess.

Disturbing!

Carey Masci