Capitalism works

The Bush administration is partly to blame for the out of control spending that has contributed to our fiscal crisis. We continue to spend money we don’t have on two wars, however necessary these wars might be, pass unnecessary government bills filled with pork, while sending billions of dollars a year to foreign countries for oil that we have right here in the United States. Spend! Spend! Spend! Spend! Is there any accountability for any of this? On top of that, we are now asked to bail out large corporations and other failed government institutions that are neck deep in debt due to shady business practices of buying bad loans. More government is not the answer here. Government is the problem. Why should we believe that a government, that has shown its ineptness in handling policy time and again, is fit to take on a multi-billion dollar bailout. Capitalism works when we allow for business success and failure. I believe that a workout is the best way to go here. We need to make these companies pay us back. Why should we just give away billions of tax payer dollars to companies that, in essence, took advantage of all of us. And how do we know when enough is enough? Do we bail out every company, every business that can't stay afloat? This is worse than socialism.

Barrack the nation

We've had a pretty contentious debate over the upcoming election on the family website. Doug and I have battled Roger Shanor and Michael Quinn over the last few months; dealing with an argument that is never ending and ridiculous at times. Here is part of my response to Michael's puff piece regarding Obama's resume.

In all seriousness, I believe you are trying to back someone who is just wrong for America; wrong on the economy, wrong on social issues, wrong on foreign policy. Does Barrack Obama have accomplishments? Sure he does. Lighten up! The problem is you are trying to sell a man who is the most liberal politician in Washington, a socialist in many ways, and some are packaging him as something else. We need to examine the recruiters who brought Barrack to the inner city and look at what he actually accomplished while he was there. We need to look at his associations and others who have influenced his life and his policies, namely Bill Ayers, Father Flager and Jeremiah Wright. We need to examine his time in the Senate in its entirety. I understand civics very well and also have a pretty good understanding of what he actually accomplished in the senate, which isn't much. No amount of spin can change that. You cannot vote 160 plus times "present" in the U.S. senate and call yourself a visionary leader. Leaders stand for something and hold themselves and others accountable. We need to examine the success and failures of his entire life because he is running for the most powerful job in the world and frankly, his rhetoric these days rarely matches his record in public or private life.
I’m not voting for McCain because I’m a republican or think he’s the best man for the job. I thought liberals would be less offended and nasty about the republican ticket this year. McCain has probably done more in the last 7 years to help the liberal cause, not conservatives. He’s actually written bills with Feingold and Kennedy that have helped your party. Sarah Palin is not just a beauty queen. She’s been a mayor and governor. And as a female, you liberals should be more forgiving. After all, you are the party who champions females and minorities and considers it a qualification to simply be one or the other.
I’m voting for McCain, in part, because he is not Obama. Barrack Obama is on the wrong side of everything I stand for, everything I believe in. I did not find these beliefs in some University or latch on to them based on political or social winds of the day. I am a conservative based on core principles I have held my whole life. Nothing will change that.
Jeff

Remembering 911

Brian's heart was heavy on the 11th and decided to put his thoughts on paper.

9-11

I remember
the morning of September 11,
standing mute before the television
in an apartment in Laramie,
feet frozen to the floor.

I remember the TV screen --
macabre messenger --
flashing nightmare images
of smoke, dust, and fire,
and the airplanes
that rent Heaven and Earth.

I remember
a remorseless Grendel
rising again from the darkness
against the free and the brave,
snatching 3,000,
carrying them from this world.

I remember
the heroes who ran into the awful breach,
the choking dust,
the hellish smoke --
who entered the very mouth
of Hell
on a mission of deliverance or death.

I remember
Todd Beamer,
the patriot heart
that cried, "Let's Roll!"
and tore down the aisle
to the beast in the cockpit.

I remember,
I remember!
The day God consecrated
another ground zero
in the eternal war between good and evil.

Brian Bailey

Jackson and Colin

Good stuff Maynard!
Jackson at the barn

Jackson thought he could ride his bike down the stairs at home.  Well, he made to the bottom alright, and has the scars to prove it.
favorite time of the day



He's almost ready for high school ball.
Colin with his mom at Kamryn's baptism
Jackson and I at the baptism
with Colin at Lions Park

Vail(the boys)

Colin got most of his food in the right place.

I think this was Colin's favorite part of vacation.

Yes, that is Marc under all that hair.  He was surely getting ready for European-style basketball.

Jackson with his Papa

Jackson sure went through a lot in the weeks prior to vacation; in and out of Cheyenne and Denver hospitals, having received too many pokes for a little guy.  He lost close to twenty percent of his body weight in a month.  We're so happy he's on the road to recovery.

Vail(family)

the girls at a dance festival in Ford Gardens

The games didn't stop for four days straight!

It has taken the Baileys several years to get together in one place.  We have been scattered across several states, even countries in the last decade or so but not this year, not this summer.  Vail Colorado has been a planned destination for the last 12 months and despite many challenges in the weeks leading up to the trip, we all made it.