America's Return to Independence

In the fall of 2006, my wife and I bought the Old Washington School in Esko, MN. No one would finance this purchase, so we took the funds from our retirement plans. The zoning board and visitors attending the meetings grilled us for about four hours about our plans. They told us what we were restricted from doing, and wanted to know what our five year plan was. Some people at the meeting wanted assurances that no troubled individuals would be there, that there were no recreational facilities, no automotive, … Some individuals, including one board member, wanted us to submit five year plans for the project as well proof of income and ability. By the end of the meeting one of the neighbors threatened to sue us if we didn’t pay for half the cost of a new fence between properties. Her distrust in the sewer system also brought her threat of water monitoring. After a lengthy discussion on the gym, I threatened to withdraw our purchase request if they kept to their demand that the gym not be ...

Obama's pork filled stimulus plan is going to drag the depression on longer than necessary, and lead to inflation. Yes, the 80's is going to be knocking again. The very plan that is supposed to stimulate the economy is actually going to extend the depression. Historically, these spending programs have always failed, doing nothing to help the economy. In fact, this plan rolls out over the next several years and really hasn't really started -- even though now is when it was supposed to be needed most. Countries, like China, have been borrowing money to the U.S. to continue this influx, but they are worried. The U.S. has resorted to printing more and more money, threatening to cause a total collapse of its currency. When the stimulus money begins to take hold the recession may be easing, resulting in consumer/business spending and investment. Add this spending to the governments spending and we have the return of "stagflation." The return of inflation will lead to an...

Our personal freedoms granted to us by the U.S. Constitution is under serious attack from the power grabbing Democrats.  Only our votes can end their agenda. What happened to our liberties and freedoms, as so strongly defended in the words of U.S. Declaration of Independence? We have allowed our government to slowly and methodically scale down individual rights promised by the very charter that founded our country. The demise of our once great country is resting fully upon these very liberties. The aura of defeat and hopelessness now fill American air, whereas freedom, the American dream, and hope used to reign. Oppression kills innovation, creativity, ambition, hope, and the spirit of the truly free. All of us have heard the great words spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, but when was the last time we pondered its great significance. Nothing is more powerful than the passage: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowe...

The building codes are overly restrictive, time-consuming, and costly. Many of the requirements are simply nuisances and provide no benefit of any kind. By the time all of the required professionals are paid, the idea of making money from your venture is greatly diminished. New constructions and many renovations require structural engineers, master plumbers, master electricians, and architects to complete. You will end up spending thousands for designs/plans, that go to zoning boards and inspectors, who review them before issuing a permit. In my own personal case, the building permit itself took two months to get after all of the required paperwork was submitted. This kind of delay can kill a project by itself. Too many people equates to a lot of delay. Projects should be able to proceed in part so as to eliminate delays. It's allowable in the code, but the option is the inspectors'. Unfortunately, we had a building inspector who was only interested in delaying the proj...