It Was Wrong Then, and it is Wrong Now

It was wrong when Vanity Fair published the picture of President Bush as the Joker and it is just as wrong and disrespectful to whoever is publishing this picture in L.A. of President Obama. I don't find it amusing and think that all those making light of it just because it was done to President Bush are hypocritical. I wholeheartedly disagree with most of Obama's major initiatives but he is still my president and I will respectfully disagree and oppose him without resorting to these type of tactics.

Missed But Not Forgotten

Today was my little brother Dave's birthday. It has been 5 years now since he passed away. Every year we have a family get together and everybody lets a balloon go "up to heaven" to Uncle Dave can get them. The kids love it and all (well almost all) let the balloons go together and without complaint. Gage took his own sweet time but finally let his go as well.





After that we all got together and watched a video of him growing up. Thanks to D.Case for putting that together and all the memories that it brought back. After that heart breaker we took the boys by the cemetery. Love that guy. Miss him a ton. Missed, but never forgotten. Happy Birthday D.

Need Beta Testers

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I want to create a political social network to better organize grassroots politics. I have teamed up with some folks at Independence Caucus and have started working on a social network. I'm looking for 5 beta testers for the site. If you are interested go to www.ipoliticom.us and sign up. Please fill out a profile and make sure you set the info in your profile according to your privacy desires for each field. From kick the tires, search for some groups, see what features are currently present, and which features you would like to see in the future. I'll open up a group for suggestions.

John McCain and Campaign Finance Reform

Tired of my political posts already? Too bad :)

Did you know that 90% of the bank bailout money went to only 23 banks? Did you know that the following received 65-70% of ALL of their campaign contributions from those same 23 banks (and the lobbyists, and their affiliates, those banks hired)?

Senator Bob Bennett(R)
Senator Harry Reid (D)
President Barack Obama (D)
Presidential candidate John McCain(R)
Senator Lindsey Graham(R)
Senator Chris Dodd (D)

I hope that makes you as mad as it makes me. Do you remember my post on a political social network to effect some change on politics nationwide?

After that post I was contacted by some folks from the Independence Caucus. The original website is weak on design but strong on content. It is currently being re-worked from a design perspective, but the movement is starting to catch on. They have over 700 members now in 33 states and are organizing nationwide to implement change in House and Senate races nationwide. These are strong grassroots organizers that have had some pretty amazing success.

Will you take 10 minutes and read this letter and watch their You Tube videos? It will be time well spent.

If you want to get involved, let me know and I'll put you in contact with them.

Following the Money Trail

I have recently exchanged some e-mails and met a group that is tracking the flow of money into individual politicians campaigns and digging deep to how these same politicians voted on issues that were tied to these lobbyist groups.

Now I don't have any more time than most of you, but I'm going to try and but in 2-3 hours a week and help contribute to this research project. No special skills required, we're going to use some existing websites and have a series of spreadsheets set up.

If anybody else is interested leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you.

Grass Roots Social Network for Politics

The recent events of congress have really made me upset. I stand by my statement that the recent "Stimulus" bill will go down as one of the worst pieces of legislation in history. The fact that we had a President promise that ALL bills would be made available to ALL members of congress at least FIVE (5) prior to a vote and watching Congress UNANIMOUSLY agree to making sure the "Stimulus" bill would be on the internet for the public to view 48 hours prior to a vote and then see it available for a mere 10-12 hours prior to a vote is maddening.

It is time WE THE PEOPLE take our country back. Republican, Democrat, Independent we are all losing our vote. Here is just one example:

The freshman congressman from Colorado admitted that his constituents called his office and by a 4-1 vote OPPOSED the legislation HE decided to pass. That is not representative government, that is power brokering at its best (worst).

This is legislative malpractice and it is time we do something. Here is my idea:


Build a Grass Roots Social Network -- independent of party affiliation. Here are the main components:

Profile:
Anybody can have a profile. On your profile you specify what your interests in politics are--aspiring candidate? political consultant? interested citizen? People will be able to state their political affiliation. In a profile there needs to be links to where a person can weigh in on issues that would like to an issues page. The profile page would provide a place where a person could say who they are supporting for which office, all the way from local to state, to national politics.

Interactive Components:
There needs to be all the interactive components of most social networking platforms...chat, private messaging, vote for somebody's ideas, and I would like to see something where users can vote to "nudge" somebody into politics. We get stuck with idiots in all parties because not enough people are taking the time to understand the political process to help get the right candidates to run for office.

Candidates:
Once somebody is verified as a candidate they will be added to a database that can then display all of their supporters, where they stand on major political issues, and a platform for them to lay out their campaign platform and publish policy statements. Current politicians should have something that displays their voting record on specific issues.

The candidate section would also have areas that would allow them to display where their campaign needed help; yard signs, phone calls, social media management, etc. This would help provide somebody that might not be as well connected politically to be able to establish a base of support to try and build the team needed to make it through an election cycle.

Politics 101
I just got into politics in a much more involved way last year thanks to the help of a man much wiser than me. He showed me the ropes, explained how Utah holds its primary elections and pulled back the curtain to explain how we get the candidates we do (through the state conventions) and that if you arent' involved in that process you may not have a voice in who the candidate representing your party in the general election will be.

I would like to see a place where people could explain the political process in their states and local communities and the best answer could be voted on (like Yahoo answers does) and then that would become the primer for those interested in politics in that area.

Tag Clouds
Tag clouds would be on each page of the site to display what are the hottest issues. What are people talking about on a certain issue, regarding a certain candidate, or on the website in general.

Donations
If you decide you want to donate to a candidate that has a profile on the site, the social network could be integrated into sites like Slatecard that help support candidates. I'm sure there are a dozen other websites like Slatecard that could be integrated into a site like this.

Take Action on Current Politics
This would be a section that would present all the major issues and then provide information on how to reach your local or national politician and allow you to weigh in on what is happening in YOUR country.

Getting involved in politics as a state delegate this past year has really opened my eyes to the political process in our country. We ALL need to be more actively involved, we can make a difference, we just need a vehicle to help that happen.


I watched as Jason Chaffetz was able to beat two men that all the political experts said would beat him soundly. He is a passionate man that had a message that resonated with voters and he continues to take that passion to Washington D.C. and is making his voice heard. It isn't all about who has the best name ID, who has the most money, or who has the best political consultants, because he had none of those. What he had is a massive amount of campaign volunteers that got behind him and supported him until he was elected. We need more people like Jason, and our current way of finding these people has proven to be ineffective.

Change is something that resonated loud and clear all throughout presidential politics. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both used it very effectively, people continue to feel a need for change.

If you agree with me and would like to help me get a project like this off the ground let me know by leaving a comment. If you like the idea and want to steal it and build it, go for it, just invite me when it is done.

Sorry for the long disjointed rant. Such is the mind of a busy entrepreneur. ;)

Priorities - What is Really Important

Reality check today. My son Tate told my wife that he couldn't wait until Friday. Why, because it is almost your birthday she asked? "No, because dad snuggles me on Friday".

Wow. Do I feel like a jerk. Tate wants me to lay down with him every and snuggle before he goes to bed. I always fall asleep whenever my head hits the pillow so I've told him that I can only snuggle him on Friday nights when I don't have work to get done and don't have to go to work the next day. I had no clue it was that important to him. Guess it is time to adjust my priorities. It won't be much longer before he wants nothing to do with his dad. So if he looks forward to it that much, so what if I don't get that extra work in.