I'm a pretty much lifelong Republican, and I'm thinking of voting something else in the next election.

The problem I have is that 90% of the Democrats are just as sold out to the same, or similar business interests.

And I think the country's problems go way deeper than Democrat or Republican. It goes to the root problems of society. Mainly, that people don't care too much for one another any more and greed.

My grandparents and my wife's grandparents did incredible things in the Great Depression to help others. My maternal grandad didn't charge rent during winter months for renters who were employees of his construction business. My paternal grandparents took in a single mom with 3 kids (with 4 kids of their own already) for 3-4 years. My wife's grandparents fed the hobos riding on the train. Is there any kind of love and compassion like that today? I'd like to hear those stories, AND make those people heros to my children.

Especially rich people. One article recently posted in another forum on iWeThey said that the top 1% of the rich basically doubled their real net worth in the last decade, and the rest of us, well we were taken (screwed, f*****, whatever).

So, I would say I'm not terribly happy with the fact that we're trying a whole lot harder to make ends meet in 2003, when our house payment is only $40 a month more than it was in 1989. Basically, I think that even though our income has increased since 1989/1990, inflation for other stuff ( healthcare, gasoline, food, etc. ) has basically made stuff that was 50 cents in 1989 cost $1 today, and most of us didn't get the luxury of having our salary doubled in the same period.

So, now people are asking me to settle for expectations that I'll make LESS in the next decade, not more, but you can bet your booty that gas will be at least $3.00 a gallon (in Texas), a pound of beef will be $4.00, and my electric bill will probably average $400 a month (from $280 a month today). So, how in the heck am I going to sustain a standard of living?

I won't, and it will tick me off. And I'll do what it takes to feed my family, but the greediest in society are about to get one HELL of a pushback!

One big thing I would like to see is people spending their money with small businesses, instead of the mega-corps where the wealth is concentrated.

I was in a store recently, and discovered that some of the best appliances built in America today, are built by smaller companies that care about quality, names like Bosch and Viking. Yes, they cost twice what a GE might cost, but they last 4 times as long.

And when I visited the "appliance clearance center", the room was littered with GE appliances. Even the "high end" Artica stuff was on clearance.

So, eschew the "Big Guys" who advertise a lot, have companies run by MBAs, and care more about the bucks than the customers. That's starting to become my practice, and actually, I'm going to do it more and more.

I want to know the people who sell me stuff, and I expect them to take care of me when things break and don't go as planned. I want to live in a smaller community, and get feedback on who is "good business" and who is "bad".

Glen Austin

I'm a pretty much lifelong Republican, and I'm thinking of voting something else in the next election.

The problem I have is that 90% of the Democrats are just as sold out to the same, or similar business interests.

And I think the country's problems go way deeper than Democrat or Republican. It goes to the root problems of society. Mainly, that people don't care too much for one another any more and greed.

My grandparents and my wife's grandparents did incredible things in the Great Depression to help others. My maternal grandad didn't charge rent during winter months for renters who were employees of his construction business. My paternal grandparents took in a single mom with 3 kids (with 4 kids of their own already) for 3-4 years. My wife's grandparents fed the hobos riding on the train. Is there any kind of love and compassion like that today? I'd like to hear those stories, AND make those people heros to my children.

Especially rich people. One article recently posted in another forum on iWeThey said that the top 1% of the rich basically doubled their real net worth in the last decade, and the rest of us, well we were taken (screwed, f*****, whatever).

So, I would say I'm not terribly happy with the fact that we're trying a whole lot harder to make ends meet in 2003, when our house payment is only $40 a month more than it was in 1989. Basically, I think that even though our income has increased since 1989/1990, inflation for other stuff ( healthcare, gasoline, food, etc. ) has basically made stuff that was 50 cents in 1989 cost $1 today, and most of us didn't get the luxury of having our salary doubled in the same period.

So, now people are asking me to settle for expectations that I'll make LESS in the next decade, not more, but you can bet your booty that gas will be at least $3.00 a gallon (in Texas), a pound of beef will be $4.00, and my electric bill will probably average $400 a month (from $280 a month today). So, how in the heck am I going to sustain a standard of living?

I won't, and it will tick me off. And I'll do what it takes to feed my family, but the greediest in society are about to get one HELL of a pushback!

One big thing I would like to see is people spending their money with small businesses, instead of the mega-corps where the wealth is concentrated.

I was in a store recently, and discovered that some of the best appliances built in America today, are built by smaller companies that care about quality, names like Bosch and Viking. Yes, they cost twice what a GE might cost, but they last 4 times as long.

And when I visited the "appliance clearance center", the room was littered with GE appliances. Even the "high end" Artica stuff was on clearance.

So, eschew the "Big Guys" who advertise a lot, have companies run by MBAs, and care more about the bucks than the customers. That's starting to become my practice, and actually, I'm going to do it more and more.

I want to know the people who sell me stuff, and I expect them to take care of me when things break and don't go as planned. I want to live in a smaller community, and get feedback on who is "good business" and who is "bad".

Glen Austin