If you could change one thing...

I think you're right about salaries and government officials. I read somewhere that the average US politician has a net worth of $2.7 million. How in the world can they relate to Joe Average? And what other job allows you to raise your own pay rate? Kids today definitely need more boundries and consequences for their actions. Your hubby? I think unfinished projects is a typical guy thing. :-)

I'm sure you're right about the unfinished projects being a guy thing. Sigh! Guess I'll just have to live with it, or finish them myself. Girlpower! (Actually, I'm sure it's hilarious to watch a 5'2" female swinging a sledgehammer! LOL)

HAHA Yes, that is a guy thing. I must admit I am at least a bit guilty of that myself. I wonder why this seems to be such an issue with us? lol. My father pretty much finishes what he starts, but my grandfather set the example with me. He had oh so many unfinished projects cluttering up the basement workshop, almost every time I stayed with my grandparents I heard all about it the moment my grandma came upstairs from getting something out of the basement freezer!

There are life time caps in some states but not all. And some states only allow you to be on for say 3 years at a time. Its just not good enough. My husband and I bust our butts and some times it still isn't enough, but we can't get assistance because we make too much. I laugh at that!

You have a point about assistance. Some folks make that their carrer. Perhaps there should be lifetime caps on how much assistance one can receive? Reducing class size is another good idea. Your hubby is blessed to have you. :-)

I agree with the assistance thing. It would be nice if you could only receive assistance here if you apply to or ARE a citizen. This would either force people to get on the ball about this or they would not receive assistance, and either way, I think this is how it should be. If you don't care enough about a country in which you want to live to become a legal citizen, then it is not that country's responsibility to support or take care of you. You should show proof that you are doing everything you can on your own and still need a hand before you are eligible for help. If you are lazy and sitting around saying that somebody owes you, then you deserve to sit there and rot. Sorry but too many people get away with that and it is infuriating to those of us who work hard to get what we have. There should be smaller class sizes as well, but that would mean hiring more teachers and possibly expanding the size of the school(s) to make room for more classrooms. Having volunteered at a school before, I have discovered that they DO indeed have the budget to hire more teachers and thus decrease class sizes, but a lot of money is wasted in administrative overhead instead! So very frustrating.

Just want to share that in the Philippines, they had two women presidents, the latest of who is still sitting as president and look at what's happening to the country. Might not be a good idea to have a woman president.

I think having a woman could give government a different perspective. But, I guess that does depend upon the woman. :-) In the perfect world, men and women would both care enough about those they govern that it wouldn't matter which they were.

I think a woman should at least get a shot at the title. Most woman do all the home budgeting and no where money is needed the most so why not put a woman in charge it could be for the better. We run our families why not a country!!

I agree with you on this, Lloyd. I read an article the other day about how much income we could generate if everyone paid 10% of their income to their local government. In my case, that would be to the township. Then if the township sent 10% of what they collected to the county, and the county sent 10% of what they collected to the state, and the state sent 10% of what they collected to the federal governnment...how easy would that be? Then if we insisted that each government spent only the money that they collected and didn't borrow or spend over what they collected, they'd be forced to start operating like businesses and households have to operate. Sounds pretty simple. But...the IRS people don't want to be put out of jobs. Neither do the people who write the tax codes. Or all the people who do our taxes for us. So...will it ever change?????

We do need some more practical things in school today. I didn't realize that it's been years since most schools took out home economics classes and woodshop. It's no wonder than kids don't know how to boil water or hammer a nail anymore. And since "someone" decided that all kids should go to college, there doesn't seem to be much interest in having vocational schools. That's sad.

Public schools ought to not just teach more practical things, they need to bring back daily PE and require continued physical education until you graduate. The obesity epidemic is alarming and when you find out your child goes to school for 6 hours a day and isn't doing at least an hour of physical activity- and then they come home and the school has also piled several hours of homework on them - and then there are family responsibilities and they still need time for friends and a life and to sleep, what are we doing...

Excellent answers, hellcowboy. :-) I, too, wish we could find a way to stop the rise in gas prices and would certainly like to see safer schools.

Thanks alot,I try to do my best when I respond to people,and I bet alot of people would love to see the rising gas prices stop.

You're probably right. Imagine if they were forced to only use what tax money was available.

I wish there was a way to discover the lies of our politicans right away. Sadly, we often have to wait until they're in office to discover they had no intentions of following through with "promises." I also agree with getting rid of homework, at least in elementary grades. I don't think we ever had homework until 7th grade and we did quite well. Of course, we also had recess (2-3 times a day), phys ed almost every day and art and music classes once or twice a week. Oh, the good ol' days. I wonder why it is that sociable women often marry unsociable men. Happened in my family quite a bit.

Eliminate corruption. That's a great answer, and you're right that it's surprising it took 5 responses before it showed up. I imagine the budget could be balanced if the government officials were not beholden to people for favors. If we're to be spending more money in schools, we probably want to make sure there is no corruption there as well. It's nice that the only thing you might even consider changing on your spouse is the length of hair. :-)