not better off here. It's amazing how those in the military complex are, but the rest of the country has to deal with rising unemployment. While the folks here that are military families have to deal with long unknown periods away from their loved ones, wouldn't it be great if they didn't?
Pride in this country is problematic. Keep in mind that UBL is in Afghanistan. Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. Heck, many of the hijackers on the planes were from Saudi Arabia. People tend to forget these little facts.
What concerns me the most past Bush's tenure in the White House is that our borders aren't that well protected. In many cases, the reserves were responsible for that, but hey, they're a little busy right now. Ships aren't being inspected all the time, isn't that a scary thought.
It's also easy to blame the latest folks in congress. Remember they inherited a mess from the Republican congress.
With whomever comes in, I would like a safer country please. I would like us to help out countries where we can, but, we don't need to run Iraq, they need to run themselves.
I agree with this. The military always does well during times of unrest. My husband was in the military during the Reagan years, the Cold War, and military buildup. It was a FABULOUS time to be a soldier because they were loading up the military with benefits, higher pay, etc. Financially, I always felt fairly secure when my husband was in and we were enlisted. We were extremely lucky back then that there was really no combat and I'm not sure that if he was in right now I'd feel nearly as good about things.
As for my own personal situation--on paper, yeah it looks like I'm doing well. My income has increased 100% since about 1995. Back then, if you told me I'd be making what I make now, I would have thought I'd be walking on easy street. Funny thing is, I'm not. I make a ton more money but I have so much less discretionary income. When I lay it all out it is because the cost of living is so much higher now than it was then. My mortgage payment is the same as it was in 1995, the amount I pay out for car payments is EXACTLY the same, my kids are no longer in daycare (which was a huge payment back in 1995) but they have other expenses that probably equal what I used to pay in daycare, so that's all equal.
So why don't I have any money?
My commuting costs have gone through the roof. It used to cost me $2 per day to get to work--it now costs me $8 per day.
My medical costs for my son's condition (which he's had all his life) are outrageous. Mine have also increased a significant amount.
Food. I won't even outline that as it's been discussed on other threads. VERY high.
These are the three major areas that have eroded my income. Oh, I guess taxes too because, on paper again, my income is high so I'm taxed high, yet I live in an expensive area so the high income is meaningless.
Back in the early to mid 90s, I took an 8-10 day trip to Disney every other year. I paid for it myself with no problems. Somewhere along the line I ran out of money and took a break. The last two times I went with my family have been at the urging of my parents who wanted to go with my kids and, luckily for me, footed most of the bill. Otherwise I would not have gone. And I'm still confused most days as to where my money has gone.
