There were, when I counted, 40 people there. 21 of them were homeless (now I’m not going to get into the debate on homeless and if it is personal fault or government fault) eating the free food that had been donated to the protesters and 6 were cops making sure it didn’t get out of hand. Out of the 20 or so actual protesters there, they all seemed to have different opinions and issues they were protesting against.

I addressed the issue of the Tea Party and that really lit a fire. They made statements on how the Tea Party are terrorists and how the Police doesn’t treat the tea party with such hatred as they do them. Well, this is when I had to bring up the difference in public example the two groups present. The Tea Party, for the most part, organizes in a controlled and respectable manner, unlike many of the Occupy protesters, whom defecate and urinate in public, destroy restrooms in public places and have complete disrespect for the law. At this point it was brought to my attention that 45 protesters in phoenix had been arrested a few nights before by Phoenix Police and that, according to the two people I was talking with, for no reason. Well this is when it is great to have facts. I “reminded” them that the park this occurred in was closed and that they refused to leave after the posted closing time. I also brought up that for two hours, the Phoenix Police department attempted, with verbal commands, to advise them that the park was closed and that if they did not leave they would be arrested for trespass. I asked if you are all innocent and peaceful protesters, why did you disobey the posted hours and not take the initial advisement of the Police? This is when I was told that the Police should have no right to tell them when or what to do… Again, and these people want Socialism?? Do they think it’s bad now? Just wait…..

Now, I really don’t think that in the beginning the original Occupy Wall Street protesters wanted or expected bad things to happen. I think they were upset with the Government Bailouts and the fat checks the CEO’s of those bailed out companies were making, and rightfully so they should be upset. But it went from something good to something bad in a matter of a couple weeks and now, the disorganization, the hatred for Law Enforcement and the many different fractions of this nationwide movement have turned it into nothing more than a free place to camp for a bunch of homeless and out of work people and an open platform for Socialist and Anarchist to cause a disturbance. Their original voice is not being heard and the cost accumulating to tax payers is enormous. The tax payer is not getting a bailout, but yet they have to front all this money to cover the problems the occupy movement is making. If anything, it has become nothing more than a hypocritical, unorganized group of people who are upset over something and want something that most of them don’t even understand.

In the United States, state and local government have primary responsibility for education. K-12 students in most areas have a choice between free tax-funded public schools, or privately-funded private schools

Public school systems are supported by a combination of local, state, and federal government funding. Because a large portion of school revenues come from local property taxes, public schools vary widely in the resources they have available per student. This means if you live in an area with a high poverty count and low property tax, the public schools in your district could face a lower level of education, based on resources and funding available. I feel the federal Government has not taken a big enough roll in the public education system and maybe, the whole system, should be reformed.

I think a new format should be built in where the local and state areas put all education funds in to one area, than the federal government comes in to round that off. At this time, the funds are than evenly distributed to the public school districts for the purpose of funding public education in that state. Should a child be neglected the right to a decent education because they live in an area that has minimal property tax or has a high rate of poverty? Should that same child, in the same public education system, not have the same education as a child from a wealthy area? I look at what the next 10, 15 and 20 years brings and when I see the education our students are getting, it scares me. This is the future of this country. They will lead us to where we go and the government has let them, and all of us, down by not providing a decent education.

This will be a 5 part series on Public education, K-12, and will consist of the current statistics on education, the funding procedures and also my plan on how this could be resolved and help to offer every student in the public education system a chance to succeed.

With all the talk about raising taxes on the wealthy, a possible flat tax and the need to raise revenue, it really got me to thinking. How many people actually pay taxes? I mean, actually end up contributing to the tax income.  We all pay our federal tax with every pay check (well the majority of us do anyway) and yet at the end of the year, how many of us get more back than what we put in? For the ones who get the EIC and the big tax returns, it’s basically like they loan the Government money throughout the year, than collect at the end of the year with a high interest rate.

Now I understand, when we receive a pay check, we end up paying a payroll tax but come on, is raising taxes really the answer? Let’s start with a cut in spending. I think every common sense American would agree that we waist some serious money, as a country, on wasteful spending. Instead of building a “super committee” to review all this upcoming stuff, let’s build a super committee to go over the budget and eliminate all the crap in it. Let’s cut off aid to countries that protect or support terrorism (just saved billions), let’s cut off aid to the organizations that want to fill a rat full of anti-freeze just to see the effects, let’s cut off spending on some of the extreme payrolls for staff members and let’s cut off bailouts all together.

Why should the American people have to suffer with higher taxes in order to try to put a dent in some of the wasteful and useless spending the Government does? I agree, we as a people need to take some of the responsibility, I mean, we did elect these idiots and have left many of them there for years. But I don’t think we should have to suffer for their ill advised actions on some serious money.

I also think we should get a full account of the money. Where do these billions of dollars actually go that get put in to some of these classified and untraceable expenses? And why are there only a handful of people who have the right to even look in to them? I do believe that a super power needs secrets just to stay ahead of the game, but when it comes to the billions and billions of dollars that are untraceable, I think a line needs to be drawn.

Let’s Cut excess and unnecessary spending, Cap many current spending accounts, and Balance the budget and spending with what we have left. We should not have to raise spending for at least the next 10 years and if we could cut back on some of this spending that is going on, we would be amazed at home the deficit would start to turn around. Common Sense Politics should not be a party favor, but something that goes all around the table.