I DON'T REMEMBER

I DON’T REMEMBER

We all hear this said by friends, mates, co-workers, politicians, and others we look up to and admire. The only problem is, they do remember yet chose to say they don’t.

Now I know this is different from I do remember, or, oh yeah I remember that, but when someone says “I don’t remember” and it’s of concern – something is amiss.

When I write, albeit a novel, screenplay or TV script, I must remember all the characters, locations and who was doing what where when and how. The whole project would get dumped if I forgot or didn't remember it all.

If I’m directing a film, I need to remember each scene, each location, how people looked and talked, which scene goes where, all the characters and what they said and did. I even have to remember promises made, who made them and why they were made. On top of all that, I must remember where each scene I shoot goes in the final film and remember to shoot it so the marriage with another scene is seamless.

I better have an answer and an explanation if the producer or studio asks me a question. Many of my friends and colleagues have lost jobs forgetting something critical that was missed or never shot. It’s too late to correct if the actors are released, or the locations are torn down, or eliminated. At the studio level, regardless of what various producers or directors to if their efforts fail and films produced lose money, the man at the top eventually gets replaced. It is, after all, the one and only boss’s responsibility to spend the studio’s money well, behave in a manner that provides profits and creates a product the public wants to see and actually goes to see it. Sometimes the leader gets replaced darned quickly when a few films fail.

Men and women working with equipment, records, books, financing and other occupations can’t afford to forget much of anything pertaining to their job or work. In some cases, one forgotten move could cost a life or limb, so it’s best to remember every significant move made.

In the military or foreign service we must remember how to protect them if something goes wrong. This activity cannot be given to people unfamiliar with the territory or potential threats. Leaders appoint those who know a great deal and can be trusted to make correct decisions. If lives are on the line, certain positions require someone who will do everything in their power to save lives and not buckle under pressure. Still, this appointed person answers only to the ultimate boss, the leader. When we vote we sincerely trust the chosen leader to lead our country faithfully, correctly, efficiently, honestly and trustfully. After all, the people’s trust and safety depend on them, right?

Failure here is like having a dentist forget which tooth he was working on and drills into a perfectly healthy one or, God forbid, pulls the wrong tooth. It’s best if he or she remembers what they were doing.

Doctor’s can’t seriously say; “I don’t remember” when in the middle of surgery or are asked about a health issue or pending operation or treatment. It’s just not done or acceptable.

A husband or wife can’t get away with “I don’t remember.” Forget what the issue is, we just don’t say this without an argument or worse.

All this brings me to the point I’m trying to make. We hire, or as news reporters constantly remind us, we elect those who represent our best interests. They say all the time “This is what the people want,” or “This is what the public at large want,” or “This is why I was elected.” Ah, they all say this, right? It doesn’t matter which party, it’s a standard line they all use. They do what we, the people, want them to do. After all, we elected them. In short, we hired them to do an extremely specific job. THEY work for us, not the other way around.

When we expected change, the change expected is for the whole of us, everyone, right? It wasn’t designed to appeal only to the politician we hired, or elected. Remember … he or she works for us? That means all of us, regardless of party. The job of a politician is to do the job he or she was hired to do and no other. That said, the politicians who represents us should perform and accomplish the very things we put them into the office to do. They should vote for things we want, changes we hope for, and improvements that will make our lives better. They weren’t hired, or elected, to stick their nose in other business. The first thing on their agenda should be for our best interests. They must also learn how to compromise to get things done.

We all understand one single principle. We have one leader, one person who speaks on behalf of all others under him or her, one person who runs the whole show. All of those who work for, under or around them answer to only one. There is one leader, one chief, one person who guides all others in public office. They all answer to him. He knows about everything going on. He is the one responsible. He can’t forget one thing. He’s never out of the loop. No one dares make a move without his approval. In some countries when a person dares to defy their leader they are prosecuted, jailed or worse shot and killed.

So, to be straight and understood, the leader’s role is to lead, function with control and have a hands-on of everything that happens for him and for us. After all, we did hire, or elect, him, right? We put him in office because the belief was he would do his job. He would hire smart key people to head up various departments, venues and portions of the overall job he couldn’t possibly do singlehandedly. We, because we believed in him or her would trust that those chosen to do their jobs, would do them in the professional grade expected, be honest, forthright and have an open policy about all they did. We should know about everything our leaders do and don't do. Short of disclosing national security secrets, we have the right to know. If they did these simple functions there would be no lies, cover-ups, or putting personal issues ahead of the job. In each case, we would expect nothing less than a hands-on job that would provide security and peace of mind.

“I don’t remember,” isn’t acceptable dialogue is it? I mean, we didn’t expect to hire, or elect, a person who wasn’t hands on, who didn’t know what others were doing for us and yet had his approval, did we? Remember we still have one boss, one leader, one person who approves everything and over-sees it all, right?

We want the truth when people run amuck, spend our money foolishly, vote on things we don’t want and never did want, or pour our money into businesses the country doesn’t own or operate one hundred percent of. If anyone does foolish things or endangers anyone regardless of party or affiliation, they should be replaced. If someone can’t do their job, they shouldn’t be rewarded or given a raise, they should be fired as would be done in any other business in the world.

We, the people, have a truly outdated tax system, and it was run aground. If it were a ship, it would have a massive hole in her hull. The vessel would be taking on large amounts of water that would eventually sink it. Our taxes should be simple, printed on one page, be flat and fair for everyone, and more importantly, totally eliminate an internal revenue system that has forgotten it’s most prestigious issue … they work for us, right? Once this gets done it will raise more revenue and reduce the national debt faster than any other proposal. The national debt has risen from 9 trillion to 17 trillion dollars in only four years. For those who aren’t good with numbers, our national debt will have doubled in five short years.

If the public, that’s all of us regardless of party, feel we have been wronged, they, the whole of the organization should and needs to be replaced with a better system. After all, we didn’t hire them, or elect them to put fear into us did we? Wait, did we lose control here? Do they now look at us as though they are our bosses? Oops. That’s not how it works, is it? We the people, that's all of us, hired everyone that’s in public office to represent us. If that’s the case we should be able to get rid of them, fire them, replace them and look for a better solution. We should not tolerate those who do wrong with rewards, or those forced out of a job poorly done only to be given a better one with a raise in salary. What about those who lied or twisted the rules? Why should they be given a raise? Short of death, most if not all civil servant jobs can't be fired or replaced even when they are wrongdoers.  What kind of a mess do we have that allows such behavior right beneath our nose? We hire people and then have no right to get rid of them when they lie or make our lives miserable. Aren’t we the precise people who hired them? Wow, talk about things going wacko.

“I don’t remember. I don’t recall. To do that, for me, I depend on others. I didn’t have anything to do with that. Or; I didn’t make that call.” This kind of irresponsible behavior doesn’t work anymore because we're sick of hearing it. We hired a leader, voted him into office, and he should know how to manage everyone under him, right? Didn’t the leader handpick most of those working in key positions? What do we do when we, the people, have been wronged or lied to? What are we to do now?

Does anyone care? Have we become so blind it doesn’t matter anymore? Has politics really taken away our vision, our future and freedom? Has it all been lost? To the outsider, we, the nation, have become a flock of sheep, followers to the cliff’s edge. We have created such a mammoth debt it’s scary, and how we pay it down even scarier if something isn’t done to curtail it. Even the greatest country in the world can run out of money and no longer be able to pay our bills. We can only print so much currency before the dollar becomes worthless to the global market.

What has taken place isn't a coincidence. If you are naive enough to believe it's cool, and one side won the battle, there is lots of swampland you should buy in Florida as a solid investment. Don't think for a minute if one side can do this to society and get away with it, the tide will eventually turn, and the other party will be in control. Retaliation is possible, which would potentially have results so horrible that even the most open of minds would view the events as the end of time and freedom as we know it. Like a spreading cancer, the wicked needs to be cut out now, stopped before it gets out of control, and the critical needs to be replaced with new blood and new thinking that will involve all of us. We have allowed ourselves to be bullied into believing things are right, and only a few are wrong. That's not even close to the truth. When we hear it's too bad what has taken place and everything will be done to make sure it never happens again - we need to take a long hard look and realized this is nothing but a sneaky way of saying I screwed up, let's brush it under the carpet, move on and hope no one else makes the same mistake. People who say this are part of cancer that needs to be removed. We need to come together and do it now.

It’s not all doom and gloom it’s just a wake up call. I hope we never reach the point where a phone call to 911 goes unanswered. It has nothing to do with one party or the other, they, the politicians are to blame, and democrats, republicans, independents and those not affiliated with any of the above are all to blame, but sadly that blame belongs on our shoulders because we put all of them in office. We hire them to protect us, put up safe guards, spend wisely, hold the runaway trains in check and be there for our rainy day. That has not happened. The Congress can’t pass a bill without adding piles of junk to it. It's pathetic enough, the Senate can’t agree what color toilet paper should be in their restrooms. How can they create an uncomplicated bill or law meant to cover one single purpose? Isn't that the idea, their leadership will benefit all? The whole of our government pass bills without reading them and then later try to explain why they did it. We hired them; we should have the right to fire them. It’s one man’s opinion, but I hear a lot of grumbling coming from every walk of life. Race or political-party has nothing to do with the problems. It’s the problem that has become our problem. The hate, one-sided decisions and anger need to be put aside – for a long time. Let’s find solutions. Let’s learn how to get along before it’s too late.

William Byron Hillman © 2013

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Let’s Sue ‘Em http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M9E790

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Quigley’s Christmas Adventure http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANVNQ6G

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part I: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056WR6I6

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II: http://tinyurl.com/d7mtspu

APRIL: http://tinyurl.com/7gt9prd

Bad Rap: (Coming June 2013)

IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR

IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR

Our world is full of impulsive behavior, and it makes one think how many lives would be saved if we, the collective society, took the time to recognize the issue and create some early preventative ways to stop and learn more about it? Just about everyone has an impulsive urge from time to time, but most know how to manage it. Sadly, many don’t.

A few years ago a friend asked if I would like to accompany him on a visit to a state penitentiary. A childhood friend of his was spending the rest of his life behind bars for murder and I happened to be writing a screenplay with a similar situation. I told him I would appreciate tagging along and arranged for all the permits, approvals and paperwork needed for the visit.

I must share, there is nothing like hearing those steel doors slam shut behind you. I make movies and help create sound effects, but nothing can match the real thing. We met in a cafeteria, which surprised me even though there were lots of guards all around us. I thought I’d be sitting at a bench looking at a guy through a glass wall. No such thing at a real prison. Many convicts sat around with their visitors, and for a minute or two I forgot we were at a prison.

As we chatted, the man we were visiting explained to me why he was there. He had one of those impulsive behavior moments. He got angry, and the anger took over and got out of control. Before he could control his emotions, another man was dead. He hated the guy but didn’t mean to kill him. Up to that single moment, he had never been in trouble. He didn’t use drugs, liked a glass of wine or a beer but had never been drunk. The more we talked I realized I was sitting with a man found guilty of murder in the first degree who prior to the time of the crime had never been arrested for anything, and was for all practical purposes, a normal guy.

We had lunch and a very comfortable conversation developed. The guy we were visiting introduced us to two of his cellmate friends and, at first blush, I thought they were both extremely nice guys. Easy casual conversation until we started talking about why they were incarcerated. The smaller man was athletically built and talked about how easy it was for him to climb walls, go up the sides of buildings using his fingertips, and how he mastered the art of burglary. He started when he was a teenager and then graduated to bigger, more daring acts, and larger crimes. Of course, they all came with some risk, and that led to him terrorizing an entire affluent neighborhood. He stole millions of dollars in artwork, jewelry and other collectibles before someone tried to stop him and was severely beaten. Because of the instant choice, run or fight, he made the wrong decision. That impulsive beating slowed him down enough to get caught. The man he robbed almost died. I asked him why he did it, and what he planned on doing when he got out. He laughed. All his crimes were impulsively done without planning. He said he was an artist, had several of his paintings in galleries before he was arrested. He had paintings in the prison store where his artwork continued to sell well. When he said he only had two more years to serve, I assumed being an artist he would go back to painting. He laughed. “No,” he said, “I now know what mistakes I made. Next time they won’t catch me.” I felt my head nodding while the brain didn’t comprehend a word he said. I made a note to check the prison store before we left.

The other man suffered as well from an impulsive moment. He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He had a fight with his wife, stormed out of the house when she said she was leaving him and drove around for hours. He took a gun he kept in his trunk and walked down one neighborhood block knocking on doors. When total strangers opened their door, he shot them. He wounded three and killed a dozen people before the cops arrived. In less than an hour, his impulsive behavior changed the lives of many. He too had never been in trouble before. He told his story without remorse. He was sorry, but no other emotion was expressed. He said what was done was done, and afterwards it didn’t matter. He was serving multiple life sentences and would never be released. I was silently horrified. I know we all have impulsive moments. Parents get angry with children and even say things later regretted and do it frequently. Impulsive behavior happens every day in every walk of life. The difference is almost all of us know when we’re losing it and are able to pull it back and control things before they get out of hand.

Impulsive behavior is simply giving in to the moment rather than recognizing the need for thought. I was sitting with three men who lost control for the first time in their lives and created the ultimate nightmare for their victims, the surviving families, their families and themselves. Before we left the prison, I had to visit the store. On the shelves, we found beautiful painting by the famous night burglar, and intricate, detailed woodworks from the man who killed all those people. My buddy's friend had studied law and served other inmates with legal advice. I couldn't help but think of three wasted lives all brought on by impulsive behavior.

In watching and reading about some of our world events, happening all around us, now and seemingly every day, you have to wonder “what if” things had been thought out first? Can we change impulsive behavior? Is there any treatment? Are their early signs, any childhood reactions that might warn us? It’s way beyond time we start looking for a solution. Children are impressionable. Put them with the wrong person and they can easily be molded into something they’re not. What do you do after they change? Is it too late? Do we just give up?

How many fabulous minds have we lost? How many doctors, musicians, writers, politicians, teachers and scholars have been swept away because of impulsive behavior?

We know a bully starts early in life. He starts with some issues, usually to prove something, or that he can be dominant over someone else, and it festers from there. Many bullies out grow their attitudes and are able to function and move on. Many do not. Some of those who bully, end up doing horrible acts against society. Could they have been stopped? The sad answer is yes. Many behavioral issues can be corrected if caught early because there is usually a better way of dealing with issues if they are thought out.

I’m a filmmaker/author and know I don’t have all the answers. I write stories about situations. Some are stories that contain subject matters like crime, violence, humor, family, laughter, animals and love. I mix it up on purpose, so I don’t get caught writing about one subject, theme or genre.  While there is a gray area on solutions, one thing I know is the problem exists, and we need to do something about it.

Our society has become cold and uncaring. We are in a hurry, and it doesn’t seem to matter if we have someplace to be as long as we get there first. We’ve misplaced love, the simple act of hugging, and the warmth and joy a smile creates. Parents forget to say, “I love you,” to wives and children every morning and every night. If they are still alive, we forget to call our moms and dads just to say hello. We push God away because we don’t want others to think we have become fanatics, after all, to believe in God is dated. Many governments need to take God away from us because they fear we might wake from a bad dream and turn the clock back a little bit. When times were sane, travel was safe, and it was okay to leave the front door unlocked. Going to a church, a synagogue or temple brought peace to our hearts, souls and homes. God was good. In short, we have lost our way, and that peaceful feeling that once existed in our minds has been replaced with worry, stress, anxiety, medicine, and ugly behavior. We have become an impulsive society. The goal of becoming successful is slipping away from the hope we once had.

Some say, "What difference does it make? Get over it and move on,” but moving on isn’t the answer or solution. The need to want more for family and self is not only important it’s imperative for our survival.

As my grandfather used to say, “It’s never too late” and he was right. Life is good if we learn to live it. Time is precious if we learn to use it. Love is great if you can see it with both eyes. Hugs are meant to comfort and share the electrical part of our heart and mind. Family is something we all need. Living in the South reminds me of how much I missed growing up in the big city. In the South, like in the country anywhere, God and family come first. To help you, a total stranger will bend over backwards, and in the South, paying forward is the norm. In the big city, it’s a dogfight. Everyone is looking out for themselves, and they tend to forget there are others around them. We lose touch with our inner selves and forget how to live and how to help others live their lives. Many of us have become tainted, careless and distant. We have forgotten how good it feels to help a stranger. We don’t wave to the people driving by because it’s embarrassing and so we miss that large and happy smile when they wave back. In the big city people walk with their heads down, mind their own business and live a quiet empty life. No one wants to rock the boat. Stress and fear seem to be the rule and that’s a sad way to life.

All of that can be changed with a little thought. Each day we live, each moment that passes never comes back. There are no do-overs in real life. Many of us make mistakes and in some cases there is no taking them back. Impulsive behavior is not the way life should be. Life is well worth thinking about. Thoughts can be wonderful and a saving grace.

I try to work on my life every day and hope you will try to do the same. It goes by quickly.

William Byron Hillman © 2013

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Let’s Sue ‘Em http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M9E790

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Quigley’s Christmas Adventure http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANVNQ6G

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part 

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II

APRIL

Bad Rap: (Coming May 2013)

FAIR SHARE

FAIR SHARE

I keep hearing the words Fair Share, and have come to the conclusion most who use this term have no idea what they are talking about.

For some reason, this term has been used as a political object, but when you analyze the use of the term the answer is utterly amusing. If I may be bold enough, here are a few examples.

1.              FAIR to me means: “It is just to ALL parties, equitable and consistent with logic and being direct and to the point. The key word, “all” speaks volumes.

2.              SHARE: Means to take a part, or, more to the point, participate in a portion of the whole.

3.              A Fair Share would amount to everyone’s participation in the whole and, therefore, guide to  what an equitable amount would be.

4.              Participation in the whole is unique in theory because that would suggest everyone would experience a collective collaboration to assist and help each other.

When my grandfather was a young man, he agreed to rent a farm that happened to have a house on the property. He had no job or money, so in lieu of paying rent or buying the property, he agreed to run the farm, sell the crops and share the earning with the landlord. In short my grandfather became a sharecropper.

So what is a Fair Share? Children need a fair share with love, time, teaching, hugging and preparing them for adulthood. This is expected of parents, so that's a fair share, right?

Where does the experience young workers starting out come from? How about we create a fair share department to educate those who need to learn, launch the business doors and welcome new blood in, even those who need a little more time to develop their skills?

What about the young woman growing up in a man’s world? Isn't the female work force entitled to their fair share of salaries paid? What if she’s better than her male counterpart, wouldn’t that make her a candidate for receiving a larger share of the fair share earnings pool?

Young filmmakers, in a business I love and work intensely to keep current, have to learn by trial and error almost every new concept we put on film. Most of us start at the bottom.

At times, we are so far to the right or left we feel as though we’re standing in the alley searching for the door to the world so we can enter. The odd part of the film industry is, you work, learn, have co-workers who give their share of knowledge and therefore you develop, take chances, have a support team behind you and end up earning your fair share of the standard normal. The standard expected is unique in the entertainment industry because you realize what is normal for you and then find a comfort zone of which allows you to share your knowledge with others.

In the real world, you know, the one we live in daily? We raise our children to honor and respect others. We tell them to trust, behave, listen, and love one another. We ask them to share their toys with siblings, and clothes when outgrown. We learn to share books, rides, and instructions. We help fellow students to excel, and we love competition. We learn all of this early on in life, and then we grow up, and nothing is the same. Why? Have you ever asked yourself why we have to grow up and leave all that fun behind? It’s because the fair share slowly slips from our fingers.

Evaluating the Fair Share concept, someone is at fault. Whom do we blame for having to grow up and face reality? Whose fault is it life gets so complicated? We can blame mom, and dad, or grandpa and grandma, but it’s not actually their fault. We can blame the bosses of the world, but in reality they work for someone just like we do. So whom do we blame?

Politicians! It's their fault, isn't it? I mean, they make the laws and then they break them. They spout the truth one moment, you know, the reality we want to hear? Then they turn around and do the real truth, what we don’t want to hear. Regardless of party or alliance, with or without religious belief, with or without sexual orientation, it has to be their fault. We’re on an endless road going nowhere, unless, of course, we get hold of what a Fair Share means and then actually live by it. The politicians, who, by the way, work for us, do not honor or participate in the Fair Share mandate. They exclude themselves from conventional insurance and vote to give themselves a lifetime retirement fund, and I don’t know anyone who has ever been asked if that is okay. I think they should participate in the fair share program. Right now we have a bunch of people who like to argue and solve nothing. That’s not giving us a Fair Share of running the government we hired them to do.

We need to create a Fair Share that will benefit All of us, not just a few. It doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out if everyone paid something on a sliding scale, it would trigger an enormous amount of money that currently doesn’t exist.

I love the country I live in and have never complained when tax time comes, and I must pay my share in taxes. That’s not to say I haven’t used deductions, but there always seems to be an number I owe at the end of the day. I believe we all owe our country something. We owe because life here is exceptional and therefore I came up with a creative idea of what a Fair Share should be.

First, every taxpayer should pay something? Not maybe, but a minimal amount and let’s just call it an trade for the privilege of living in the country. What if the country was a large farm and like my grandpa, all of us were the farmers? What if we paid a fee to maintain the country, the freedom to travel and experience our daily lives? Wouldn’t that amount to a Fair Share?

I know quite a few wealthy people. Some pay taxes and some have never paid a dime. The funny part of saying that is, I know many others who aren’t wealthy but do the same thing in paying no taxes. These people, all of them collectively who pay nothing, owe their Fair Share.

Remember, fair means all, share is to provide or pay a portion. At the end of each year, every single adult should pay something, right?  I know there is an argument that slides up the ladder of logic, and I can hear them screaming that some can’t afford to pay a dime. I don’t agree with that either. I believe in my heart everyone should and can pay something for the privilege of living here.

So you start this so called Fair Share Mandate, why can’t we start with say Three Dollars ($3) a month as a first tear on the sliding schedule. Everyone can afford $3. I mean that's only $36. a year for an unbelievable privilege. Doesn't that sound, right? From there, a sliding scale would be created, $5 for some, $10 a month for others and so on. Every dollar levied and collected would be based on gross income solely, before any deductions whatsoever. The more you earn, the more you pay up to a point. This would go for corporations to, and all companies with offices or headquarters in this country. A set minimum would equal a fair share from everyone regardless of how much they make.

This would have nothing to do with deductions or other safety nets we all have and enjoy, this has to do with the crops (or freedom if you will) that we enjoy throughout the year and the rent that’s required for using them. It is for the privilege of living here, but as it is most don't pay for it. Oh wait, yes the actual taxpayers who pay taxes do pay for our privileges, all of us. Sadly those who pay nothing end up with the same gifts as those who pay for them. That’s not a fair share.

The wealthy can’t pay for everything. That’s not fair either. Those who aren’t wealthy, but have the desire to become wealthy, need to keep their dream alive, but like anything else in life that privilege should have a minimum fee so the Fair Share would be paid by everyone.

There are a lot of extremely well educated people who could figure out the exact numbers, so no one in particular gets hurt. If everyone paid something the national debt would melt away, and our freedoms  improve immensely. If every tax return ended with this minimum fee, I believe all of us would feel as though we did our part, however, small it might be.

I hear politicians from all parties talking about how they speak for everyone, but that’s not true. They speak for a handful, and that’s a long way from all of us and it’s not just.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to pay higher taxes either, but there is a reason we all need to participate in the wellbeing of our country. Every country needs this wisdom. What’s the old saying, “There are no free rides.” Well guess again. Last time I read a study, it stated over half of everyone living here paid nothing and to me that’s a free ride.

We will end up with a flat tax eventually, but that is probably miles down the road and around the bend. Wouldn’t it make sense to set up a minimum tax, so all paid their fair share? Come on, $3 bucks a month is affordable, it is. It’s one less pack of cigarettes or giving up a coke or a few cups of coffee. It’s doable.

Until the day comes when we actually elect people who can think for all of us by doing the right thing for all of us, something needs to be done now. When I look at the list of stupid things the government spends our money on, it makes me sick. Shame on us for allowing someone to do this and say it’s on our behalf. Shame on us for not speaking up and demanding the fair share should be for everyone.

At times, we are like the blind leading the blind, and we accept whatever is said to be the truth. Participating in a Fair Share program would eliminate cheaters, would stop those taking a free ride at our expense and force the responsibility of everyone to participate in keeping the country sound and maybe to get us out of debt. It doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out if everyone paid something, it would create a substantial amount of money. A resource that currently doesn’t exist. With a constant and continuous stream of expected revenue, it would improve our lives. More importantly, this would be a fantastic thing for all of us when the constant flow of new revenue reduced the national debt. I’m just saying … a fair share should be fair.