Voting down the Debt.

After hearing how much money Mitt Romney has been able to raise before the primary, at least $10 million, it got me to thinking about our voting process and how it could be used to help our country even more.

I thought of a simple plan, all money raised for a political campaign will be used to pay off our national debt. All but 10% of it for operating expenses. That includes commercials, fundraising events, travel, etc. But how could we pull that off? Well, the candidate who raises the most money wins the election. Your payment is your vote. Now of course that leads to a problem of the rich choosing the candidates for our elections, but that already happens anyway with helping pay for their candidacy contributions, and there are already limits on donations, so I don't see as much problem there as there could be.

Also, commercials are so expensive, how could a candidate pay for them with only 10% of what they used to get? TV and Radio companies would be offered considerable tax breaks for giving discounted ad rates on their stations to political candidates. In exchange for the discount they would be able to claim the revenue or discount on their taxes and be given a considerable refund for their troubles.

 Raise the most money, you win. Get your ideas out there about why you are the best candidate, and you raise more money. All the while paying down out national debt.

Based on the 2008 Presidential election contributions (which ran about $1.4 billion), we would be close to paying off our debt in 10 elections. And that doesn't even include any of the House, Senate or Governor races at all! Of course there is a slight flaw in my math, that once we start paying it down, our interest rate payment would be decreased as well, so in essence, including all major elections, we could have our debt paid off in 5 or 6 Presidential elections.

Wow! Is that ever something to think about.

All the best,
Will

The Church, or is it the church to you.

I've noticed a great lacking in our church, and in many churches in the area. Not in just offerings or attendance, but in mission. For that is truly how the first Church was started, by mission. It was the mission of the apostles to spread the word of God and of Christ throughout all humanity. And it was accomplished simply by going out among the people, having a mission, going to help those who needed help.

Why has this seemed to disappear in today's society? People still need help around the world, and while sending money for relief efforts in Japan is a great mission, is some pocket change the only way to help anyone nowadays? Throw enough money at something and it will go away?

There are those that are helping, churches in the south are the first ones to step forward to offer shelter for families during the flooding that still continues it's way south along the Mississippi. And in our local area, many churches have tried to shelter the homeless, but area residents and businesses do not want that kind of people in their area. So much for mission.

In some unfortunate situations, churches have an endowment that they can draw money from to help pay the bills. Why unfortunate, because most times when there is an endowment, the church members know about it, and usually there giving is reduced because they know that there will "always" be money to keep the church open. It's an unfortunate state of affairs, when the only reason to keep a church's doors open, is to keep the doors open.

Mission is the only way to conquer stale air in a church. keep your feet moving and the ground will constantly be clear around you. Follow your path, and you will always be moving.

If you have any ideas of where the world might need some help, or even just some help in your neighborhood...stop into your local church, maybe they are just waiting around for some great idea to walk through the door.

All the best,
Will

Seeing the Light at the End of the Tunnel

I was going to write about the Royal Wedding and why we Americans should or should not care, but something more American has happened.

The announcement was made last night by President Obama that our military has succeeded in killing and capturing the body of Osama bin Laden. Our efforts are nearly over, but they are far from done.

Our military still needs to keep control in the countries that we are in, because I am sure that there will be retaliation. And his forces are far from being lead by one single individual, they are spread out in cells and divided. It's like killing the hydra, cut off the main head, and you still have to cut off the others. But it is certainly glad news that we have taken down the main leader and the driving force of all the terrorist actions in the world.

It disheartens me though that the President that wanted to end the war was the one that made the announcement of our victory. But I digress, as it doesn't matter who made the announcement, but that it was made. For now our troops are certainly that much closer to finally coming home.

And I'm sure our economy will see a rebound from this, for the fear of death around every corner is lifted slightly to let some light shine through.

I congratulate the military personnel involved in this mission, and am glad that none of them were harmed in this action.

Finally, a little light to brighten the darkness, hopefully this will help the entire world to see how much more we should band together to solve all of our problems and differences, rather than fight them out. Because in war, we all lose. For God is on neither side in any war. But he is for the soldiers and he loves them all with all of his heart. And he prays for them to see the error in their fighting, that they should not be at war.

Today America breathes a sigh of relief. And we look forward to tomorrow with hope and prayer.

God Bless our Troops.
God Bless America.
And may God Bless the World.

All the best,
Will