The Pledge for a Real Leader

Saw this on an AOL article comment earlier, and I agree with it 100%. Wanted to repost it here and let others know that THIS is what I'm going to use as a basis for my campaign platform! This is what a real leader needs to be concerned with!


My pledge....­......

-I will not vote for any bill that includes the continuati­on of the wars in the middle east or invading other countries in that region, or the interference in any country that is not directly affecting U.S. concerns
-I am for the public option and will do my best to see that it comes about.
-I am against maintainin­g the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, corporate tax loopholes, and corporate subsidies and will vote to end them.
-I am for the total reform and protection of all entitlemen­t programs.
-I am for real financial reform and consumer protection­.
-I am for a jobs bill funded by the federal government to repair and rebuild the US infrastruc­ture that would create millions of jobs.
-I will not agree to decrease investment in education.

This is the way to make America a better country for all. Thank you for your support!

Paying out the nose for fuel

Gas prices. Who isn't discussing them lately? I've seen gas go from $2.90 to over $3 in under a week. This is insane! I'm talking the cheap grade stuff, not the high end top octane fuel. When is enough going to be enough? Either find a safe way to drill the Gulf, a safe way to get at the Alaskan oil, or figure out some way for Texas to pony up some more. You can't tell me we don't have a stash somewhere, and we need to hit it up and soon.

I know I'm not the only one with a commute to consider, and I'm not about to lose my job due to gas prices. Between me and my husband, we were spending roughly $1000 a month just on gas to get to work. Not counting gas for church or to go to the library or anywhere else. Our main expenses on gas are strictly related to work.

I know that there are serious environmental concerns when it comes to drilling the areas I mentioned, and the Gulf is still healing, but there simply has to be some way to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, or everytime someone in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or Libya gets hemmorhoids, we're going to see our gas prices go up!

Thoughts, ideas, concerns are always welcome, either on here, or you can email me at cmcgillforpotus@gmail.com

The State of Education....or is it de-education?

Being a teacher, I have a unique perspective on how the state of the education system is in this country, especially in lower-economic areas, since I've taught in them. The education system is royally screwed up if you ask me. Too much money being allocated for sports and not enough to basic subjects such as Reading, Writing, Math and Science. When there's more attention paid to "Friday Night Lights" than there is to academic decathalons and educational achievements, then there is a serious problem.

Granted I know that there are things like the National Spelling Bee and a variety of academic competitions, but they don't get the press coverage that the state football championship games do. They likely won't, unless a change in the way this country thinks occurs!

Be more concerned with how your tax dollars are being spent in the classroom than they are on the football field, basketball court, or golf course! Push for better textbooks, more school supplies, more opportunities for teachers to train in areas that this country needs to excel in, like science, math, technology, and for improvements in the basics as well.

Quit worrying so much about teaching to a standardized test that isn't fair to Special Education students, and instead work on fostering a creative environment that gives teachers the ability to give all students an avenue for their creativity. The environment of educational regurgitation that we currently have is putting us further and further behind our economic competitors, such as China and Japan.

Push for educational reform, and that means letting the unions support their teachers, who are abused enough in the classroom as it is, in too many places. I speak from personal experience on this one, trust me. Teachers have so much on their plates, and so much information is out there about what a teacher's schedule is-my personal favorite is the absurd idea that we get summers off....we don't. We spend summers training and updating our education, to try and give our students the best possible education possible.

I welcome any and all questions and comments, and hope that together, we can begin forming a more perfect union...which we definitely need. Hope to hear from you soon!

-Carrie

A little about me...

Just so those who end up reading this blog know something about me, I figured I would throw out a basic profile of who I am. So here goes!

I'm 33 as of this post, born in Lexington, Tennessee, currently living in Arkansas. I'm married to a wonderful guy, Greg, who's the most wonderful, supporting spouse anyone could ask for.  I have one sister, Amanda, and one brother, Charles, and my mom, Connie. My father, also named Charles, passed away 10 years ago.

I'm a teacher, currently teaching at a psychiatic residential facility. I've also taught in 3 public schools, including at the high school of one of my favorite political figures, Bill Clinton. I don't think that many teachers are paid enough for the bullcrap they put up with (disrespectful students, not enough resources, being forced to teach to a test that doesn't prove anything about realistic intelligence). I have been a proud member of a teachers' union, and will continue to support them, as they supported me during a particularly trying time in my early career.  I think that working conditions need to be improved for teachers, which is something I will cover in a later post.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Education from The University of Memphis, and a Master's in Education from Henderson State University. I love my job, and I think that going into the political field will help me help a much more wide scope of people than just the ones I see in the classroom.

I am not perfect, nor do I claim to be. Financially I've screwed up a few times, who hasn't? My credit score isn't perfect, I owe student loans that I'm still trying to figure out a way to pay, but my mortgage and car payments are always paid, and my utilities, even if the electric bill is sometimes late. I'm not the neatest housekeeper, my house is sometimes more of a mess than not, but I try hard to keep things at least under control.

I'm an avid book collector, but no firm count on how many I actually have, it's probably more than I think I actually have. I love music, good television shows (CSI, NCIS, True Blood, most anything on the History Channel), movies, and spending time with friends and family whenever possible.

I think of myself as religious, even if I'm not the most regular church attendee, Episcopalian by denomination. I think that there are many paths to God, and to each his own. I don't agree with religious zealots, those who kill in the name of any religion, or disrespect funerals to try and promote their religious agenda. I also think of myself as somewhat of a pacifist, despite my family's military history. My father and brother are both Marines, one uncle was in the Navy, one was in the Army. I don't think that violence is always the best way to solve things.

I'm an open minded person, who enjoys meeting and talking to people from all walks of life. I welcome any questions and comments, and I hope that this blog will develop into a jumping off point for a new way of thinking for regular Americans, those who want to take this country back to prosperity and respectability, and have real leaders with real leadership.

This Country needs a change, now!

This country is in a hell of a mess. Overspending by ego-inflated party politicians, not enough concentration on problems here at home, and more and more people out of work. It's ridiculous. The federal deficit is so high that every person in America would have to contribute over $100K EACH in order to pay it off, which we know won't happen.

Despite the current administration's campaign promises to "change" things, all that's happened is more spending and more troops and resources being sent overseas to help nations who don't send their resources to help our poor and needy. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping the unfortunate around the world, but at what point do we stop and say "wait a minute, we have plenty of problems here in the U.S. that need solving, let's focus on our own for a bit instead."

We can't continue to be the police force for the world, and walk into 3rd World countries like we own them and start blowing things up. Eventually it's going to come back to bite us in the ass. I recognize the need for a military force to defend our country, but we spend too much time messing around in other people's backyards to notice what's going on in ours.

We need to think realistic spending, realistic budget cuts, and reforming some current social problems to cut out this welfare mentality that way too many Americans have. Instead of "gimme, gimme, so I don't have to work," how about "work hard at whatever job you can find and take some pride in yourself and your country?"