IT'S ELECTION TIME IN HAWAII AND...

WEIGHING IN ON POLITICS
...IN MY NON-HUMBLE OPINION....

I'm back up and blogging. I have to say, I'm glad I'm writing again because I have to get a lot much off my chest. I'm pissed.... And luckily it's not about weddings, but about politics. It's election time throughout our nation and lately our airwaves have been getting hit by campaign ads and poltical debates. You can't avoid them. And I swear, blood is about to shoot out of my eyes.

Am I a political person? No. If anything, I'm politically incorrect. But I watch politics very closely as government policies truly affect my lifestyle. Many people label me as a republican, but I'm not one at all. I'm an independent voter who will side with the candidate who I feel best represents me. I do pull more for conservatives though.

So in steps Colleen Hanbusa, our local candidate who is running for a Representative s one of the most corrupt, cunning, and clueless candidates I had ever seen in my life. Watch this short ad campaign video she put together explaining how the financial crisis came to be in her eyes:

HUH? YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS

According to Colleen Hanabusa, she believes, like many other democratic politicians, that the financial crisis came to fruition by two wars, the "Bush Tax Cuts," and the collapse of Wall Street. They keep pounding this message of "Blame Bush for everything, and to elect me because I'm against George Bush's policies." This is pure politics. But more so, her answer in this video tells me that she has no idea what truly cause the financial collapse. I have to say, Colleen Hanabusa is an idiot...and she's on record. Am I being politically incorrect for saying she's an idiot?

Now I'm not a politician, not an economist, just a young businessman, so Collen may cast a little doubt on my economic theory, but here's what I believe what caused the financial collapse. "Americans, of all financial classes, over-borrowed and over-spent." American's decision to over-borrow and over-spend had nothing to do with the Iraq War but was highly influenced by several factors. The two major factors were the federal reserve keeping interest rates too low, and congress pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give mortgages to high-risk individuals. The result... people bought homes they couldn't afford, got themselves into loans that they could never pay off, and once they stopped making payments, their problems trickled up to the bank, which trickled up to businesses, which trickled up to Wall street, and eventually the government. CAN WE SAY TRICKLE UP POVERTY?

How can Colleen come out and say Two Iraq Wars caused this financial mess? Wars don't make people buy more homes or take out loans which they cannot afford. Unbridled greed does. When someone can buy a $600,000 home with no down, that's when greed kicks in. Congress, Barney Frank in particular, created this environment when they pushed for an affordable housing act, and argued that no housing bubble would be created. Democrats were blind to the housing bubble, and in fact defended the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here is an edited video of democrats defending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, when republicans and the Bush administration confronted them on the risk of these companies being forced to give out risky loans.

Democrats like to claim that George Bush caused this housing bubble, but in 2001, George Bush recognized this problem and tried to push legislation to regulate Fannie and Freddie. Here's the video:

There is a reason why 20% down payments were needed to get a loan BACK IN THE DAY. It forced people to save and it got people into a different frame of mind. When congress forced banks to make these no-down loans, well, it changed the entire landscape of purchasing a home. Suddenly, it was easier to get a home than to buy a car. Unbelievable. It was easier to buy a home than to get a SBA Business loan.


POINTING THE FINGER AT THE RICH....WHY?
It's easy to point the finger at fat cats because we are all envious of their lifestyle. But still, I don't think we should be pointing the finger AT the rich. George Bush did give the wealthy tax breaks. But even with George Bush's tax cuts, the wealthy still pay more than their fair share of taxes as their federal and state tax combined income tax totals close to 50% of their income. You never hear that the wealthy pay close to 50% of their income to taxes. Well, it's true! The so-called rich pay more than everyone else...

George Bush also lowered the capital gains tax and abolished the real-estate "Death Tax." Capital gains taxes are not directed toward just the wealthy, but to everyone. Anyone who trades stocks pays a capital gains tax... Even your average-joe will pay capital gains. The Death Tax taxes property at 50% after death, even though that property was 100% paid for by the former owner. Is that right? Shouldn't that be abolished? Not according to democrats.

And how does the rich affect the middle class in a negative way. Just because the rich have more money, does that mean the "Joe-Middle-Class" needs to buy that new $10,000 plasma screen? How does Colleen or any politician explain how tax cuts for the wealthy cause a crisis? If the wealthy have more money, they spend more more money, thus creating more jobs...right? Last time I checked, it's the so called "fat cats" that fund research for cancer, life-saving drugs. They are the ones that fund 3D technology, fund movies, open amusement parks, open banks, restaurants. They are the ones that buy technology when it's too expensive for the ordinary person, thus funding the research so eventually we can afford it. In other words, they provide jobs. Have you ever worked for a middle-class person or a poor person? No.

What Colleen and many democrats doesn't understand that rich people make the middle class and the poor... richer. Wealth trickles down.... And it trickles down faster when rich people are allowed to spend. When I get a wealthy client, I get richer.... I love the extreme wealthy! I'd wish more them would spend money on me.

Colleen, and many of her democrat colleagues are purely pushing the politics of irresponsibility. To them, it's not the home owner who is facing foreclosure's fault that he is losing his home, but the mortgage company, the bank, the fat cats on Wall Street, and George Bush.

THE THOUGHT THAT BILL CLINTON DID EVERYTHING TO CREATE A ROBUST ECONOMY IS... (YOU FILL IN THE BLANK)

Democrats will usually look to the Clinton years and point out that during those times, the economy was doing quite well. Unemployment was low, the stock market was rallying (mostly because of the internet bubble), and people had high paying jobs...well...everywhere. A lot of that is true. But lets take a look at the record. Clinton just took credit for an economic boom that took on a life of it's own when Reagan instilled his economic policies back in 1983. Clinton is like a backup quarterback who entered into the last minutes of football game when his team was leading, took a knee, then took credit for the win. If he were playing football, he's be considered a sand-bagger and duct-taped to the locker room wall.

Here's a graphic I created to explain my point.

• If you take a look at this graphic, you'll notice that Clinton was not responsible for the economic boom. He just didn't get in the way of what started in 1984 by Reagan.
  
  
• The internet bubble was not Clinton's fault, but more so, the result of over-tightening by the Federal Reserve. The market crashed, economy crashed in the last two years of Clinton's term and the reigns were handed over to W. Bush
  
  
• After just 1 year in office, terrorist attacked Wall Street, crippling our financial system. Our economy was still not recovering the internet bubble and we got hit. By cutting taxes, the stock market and economy recovered.
  
  
• Democrats took control of Congress, failed to pass legislation to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the housing bubble burst.

FINAL WORDS:

What we need in D.C. is common sense, not politicians... We need people who understand the simple theories of supply and demand economics. Here is my dream candidate:

1) One that believes that the federal reserve has too much power over our economy and will fight tooth and nail to dissolve it.

2) One that believes that social security is not the answer an American's "secure retirement." Social Security is a ponzi sceme that dwarfs Berni Madoff's scam.

3) One that believes the government's primary roll is to define and to defend it's borders

4) One that believes that taxes should be low for everyone, and success and wealth should not be punished.

So...there you have it. My opinions. Hey what can I say? Am I right, or am I wrong? It's just my opinion. Agree, disagree, love me, or hate me. It's just one man's opinion right? Election season, gotta love it...

Anyway, I'm off to touch up photos. Talk to you all soon!


Steve Young
Proud man of Conservative Principles
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com