MY BELIEF SYSTEM

To provide context for my blog, I believe it's important to share my belief system.

Some of my core beliefs are:

• People, companies, and governments must "live within their means".  That means that: Income-Savings=Expenses. Prolonged periods of deficits don't work for people, companies, or governments.
• Savings are critical to overcome future financial difficulties which will surely arise from time-to-time.
• I saw first hand the effect that pollution had on the town in which I lived.  I support the efforts of the EPA but believe their regulations need to be tempered with common sense.
• I know this will upset my Catholic friends and members of my own family but I believe in a woman's right to have an abortion.   I greatly value life but I also believe that a woman has the right to decide if she wants to bring a life into this world. I don't believe that the government has a role in that decision.
• I believe that we need support programs for the aged, the infirmed/disabled, and those who are unemployed. But, I believe that we need tighter controls on governmental programs which implement our desire to provide a social support system.  As an example, the current abuse of Social Security disability programs is ridiculous. I also believe that our support programs must be needs-based.
• Government should be small.  I have seen the exponential growth of government over my lifetime and the expense of government has significantly increased as a percentage of our GDP.  If our nation is to prosper, that trend cannot continue.
• Immigration laws need to be updated to reflect the current environment.  I have no problem with opening our borders to all non-criminal people.  More on that later.

These are a few of my beliefs that shape my thoughts about our current environment.