Birthday Season

All of the males at our house have September birthdays so today I decided on the phrase 'birthday season' to explain these two weeks of our lives. You know when you find yourself speaking about the same thing at different times to different people and you end up repeating yourself over and over? Like today I was at a shower and when people would ask me about my kids, how old they were, etc it was only natural to mention that today is Dallin's birthday and next week is Adam's and by the way my husband's was a few days ago. Eventually you get the best wording down or if you're cool like me you can coin a new phrase and throw it in each time you're speaking to someone new. Someone might think you are awesome enough to make up new phraseology on the spot when you'd actually been working up to it for a few previous conversations. You'll make friends like crazy.

Bet You Didn't Know...

...that the first time I registered to vote I registered as a Democrat.

Surprised?

You see, I'm not generally one to do something just because that's what everyone else is doing. I'm a bit of a rebel in that respect. So even though most of the adults I knew and respected were Republicans I wasn't going to follow just for the sake of following. Nearing my eighteenth birthday I looked into the parties and decided that I liked the Democratic party--mostly because of the concern for the individual. I liked the idea of helping those in need and giving to the poor. And, I must admit, it seemed kind of cool to register Democrat although my friends were most assuredly going to register Republican.

It didn't take too long before I realized that my values and ideals definitely were more aligned to the Republican party. My beliefs in protecting the traditional family, the sanctity of life, and the right for religious freedom were particulary on my mind. So I switched. In time to vote in the Republican primary in September of 2000. That meant my time as a Democrat was a mere six months.

Hopefully that doesn't come to haunt me if somehow I ever ended up running for office as Republican.

Photo credit here

Let's hear it for the boy

(Boy meaning Mark)

Guess what guys, it's Mark's birthday today. So give him a call or something and tell him that you think he's cool. Or, you can celebrate his birthday by voting today, especially if you are voting for Russell Pearce if you are in district 18--that would make him happy.

And feel free to leave some comments here about why you think Mark is so awesome. Because he pretty much is. Right now I am thinking about some of the things that I love so much about him but I am debating whether or not to list some of them for fear of the jealousy.

A note to Mark:

Honey, you're the tops. It was great to spend a long weekend with you--our first real break in about three years! No studying to do. How sweet it is. Love you. Hope you have a great day.

~Marily

Too Poor

Today I saw the bumpersticker, "I'm too poor to be a Republican."

Point well taken. Thank you for illustrating Conservative economics. What you're saying must be this: "I'm too poor to pay for all of my own expenses, so I hope the democrat politicians will get me as much of other people's money as possible." Well, that being said,

I can't afford to be a democrat.

And here's a better bumper sticker slogan for you:

Primary Election Sept. 2nd

Hey friends! Mark here with my very first entry. The subject? Politics, of course.

The only thing that could possibly be more exciting than my birthday, is to have an election on my birthday! I love this stuff (and if Marily's not careful I could accidently turn our family blog into a political one). Anyway, below is how I intend to vote on Tuesday (we'll only cover the contested races)

Marily and I are registered Republicans so here are the candidates available to us:

CONGRESS: DISTRICT 5 (I'm still registered at my old address)

LAURA KNAPEREK

This is the HOTTEST race in the entire state. There are several strong candidates looking to put current Rep. Mitchell back where he belongs--out of office.

Knaperek is my top pick. A former state legislator, she has a strong record of supporting good government. And she's part of United Families!

I like Mark Anderson a lot--he's done a great job representing me as a state legislator. He'd also do very well in Congress.

David Schweikert would be third on my list. He's a smart guy, is running an effective campaign, and I believe upholds good principles.

STATE SENATE: DISTRICT 18

RUSSELL PEARCE

I could write pages about this race, but the bottom line is this. Pearce has a rock-solid record of advocating lower taxes, reducing government waste, and fighting illegal immigration. He also understands economics, and has been a supporter of legislative measures that would reduce healthcare costs and improve conditions in hospital emergency rooms (without increasing taxes).
What about Kevin Gibbons? I know Gibbons' brother Chris, whom I like and think highly of. So I presume that Kevin is a decent guy as well. But after Kevin loses this race he is going to deserve every bit of disgrace that is heaped upon him for being part of such a deceptive and destructive campaign. There is so much wrong here it's hard to know where to begin.

Let's start with who is funding the Gibbons campaign. There are a few names of familiar Mesa citizens on the list, but then the geography changes. What's with all the donations from Yuma? Not that there's anything wrong with Yuma farmers. But this is a race for a Mesa representative. And then there's the money from fast food restaurant owners Magruder and Levecke. What do Yuma farmers have in common with Phoenix fast-food businesses? If you answered with "a propensity for hiring illegal aliens" then you are correct! All together, less than a fifth of the money being spent to attack Russell Pearce comes from voters within District 18.

The most telling detail, however, may be how many thousands of dollars donated from Democrats, including former state chair--Mr. Democratic Party himself--Jim Pederson! Why are Democrats so interested in this Republican primary?

But what about those bright yellow signs that tell us how Gibbons has "Strong Republican Values" and is interested in "Protecting Our Borders"? Guess what, those signs are paid for by labor unions--i.e. Democrats.

So let's put this together, shall we? The same folks touting Gibbons' "Republican Values" and strong border policy actually support Democrat values and open borders. As Elmer Fudd might say, "Something scwewy's going on awound hewe." You know there's a problem when Democrats are lecturing Republicans about "Republican Values". These Democrats support Gibbons precisely because Pearce has strong Republican values and wants to protect the borders. The Gibbons campaign is deceptive.

But if the Gibbons campaign were merely deceptive that could be forgiven. The more egregious error has been that the Gibbons campaign has made all sorts of outrageous personal attacks on Pearce. Gibbons is not trying to debate Pearce on policy; he's just trying to destroy Pearce by falsely portraying him as a Nazi wife beater. These types of attacks are why there are so few good people willing to run for office.

To be sure, Gibbons himself is not the criminal mastermind here. He's just the pawn. But this anti-Pearce campaign has gone too far for Gibbons to escape responsibility.


STATE REPRSENTATIVE: DISTRICT 18

(pick two)
CECIL ASH
KANANI HENDERSON

Ash has the right position on all the big issues of the day, and because he has been a volunteer for United Families International he's an obvious choice.

It was hard deciding between Henderson and Ron Middlebrook. Middlebrook sounds like a great guy and I agree with the basic principles and values he outlines on his website. But so does Henderson. What I think sets her apart is that she offers a few more specifics on policies she would advocate. For example, instead of simply saying she opposes wasteful spending, she suggests "that the budgets for the state and all agencies it funds to be placed online in a uniform and user-friendly format." For education she says that "one of the first steps is to increase teachers' pay to levels that award them for their merits."

I have nothing agains Middlebrook and would be happy to support him in the General. I like Henderson because she is young, thoughtful, and most importantly has the right values to guide her.

Steve Court? Weak on immigration. Kevin Gibbons donated to his campaign.


CORPORATION COMMISSION

(pick three)
JOHN ALLEN
KEITH SWAPP
JOSEPH HOBBS

This race is a little harder to pick a winner because I don't know as much about the corporation commission or these candidates as I should. But the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers has a scorecard that may be a useful starting point. I would stay away from Wong (a Napolitano appointee) and McClure (too liberal for me). I think the others could do a respectable job.

John Allen, however, is my first pick. A former state legislator with a stong record, he also displays an understanding of economics and has some specific ideas about improving the commission, such as updating the record-keeping and paying the attorneys more.

I like Swapp and Hobbs because their statements reflect a real understanding of good economic principles. Specifically, that government mandates are expensive and that we should look for inexpensive sources of energy, not just the politically correct ones.


COUNTY ASSESSOR

KEITH RUSSELL

Although I like to vote against incumbents (have to keep them on their toes), my gut feeling is that Russell has done a fair job and will continue to do so. A friend has this to say about Russell: "Keith Russell is the only candidate that has experience. He is a certified appraiser with over 30 years of experience."


CONCLUSION...
Those are my thoughts, folks. Feel free to share other information or call me if you want to know what else I know about these candidates that I didn't fit into the blog. 480-338-1596.

A letter to the Maverick

Dear Mr. McCain,

Until now I have kept my mouth shut. You are definitely not the candidate that I would have liked to win the Republican nomination. In fact, I would have been excited to vote in the general election for pretty much any of the other candidates that you somehow won out over. But you, Mr. McCain, I am not excited to vote for you. And I am not alone. I am convinced that nearly the entire Republican party feels this way. We are not excited. Yet, we will vote for you because we have no other choice. And you know it. You are taking advantage of the real conservatives because you know that nothing in this tangled planet of ours could get a conservative to ever cast a vote for Barack. And so we must vote for you. What else is there to do? It's like the choice between jumping in a mudhole full of leeches verses jumping in a pit of quicksand. Yeah, the leeches make us cringe but the quicksand will choke the breath out of us.

So I have kept my mouth shut until I heard about your choice for running mate. Just shoot us while we're down, why don't you? It seems as if you took every criticism you have ever found against Barack and used those items as criteria for choosing a running mate. What were you thinking? Inside my hopeful heart I had assumed you would actually choose a real conservative that would turn your ticket into something that I could at least swallow. But no, and again I feel taken advantage of.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when you aired the commercials about Obama being a more of a celebrity than a good choice for president? I was right there with you! I mean, does it somehow make you more qualified to be the president of the United States if you and your wife can pull off a fist bump?! Why is this news? But now with your choice of running mate we have to hear about the beauty pageant runner-up and her poor children who were named after her favorite encylopedia articles.

Probably I'm jumping to conclusions and need to actually do some research about her, but I'll just start by being rash.

Sincerely,

A Real Republican,

Marily Smith

A note to my three readers: I apologize. Not to McCain, but to Sarah Palin. I got just a little bit of news from what I read off the Yahoo homepage, not exactly the best resource for getting the whole story. Mostly I was annoyed with McCain, and I jumped to conclusions. I think I expected the worst. Fortunately, I once I heard Palin speak and learned more about her from better sources I was impressed and pleasantly surprised. Sorry. I'll expect more from myself from now on.....

RecipeZaar

I thought I'd post about my favorite recipe website, RecipeZaar. It has some great features and I've found a bunch of tasty recipes on there. This is now my go-to place when I am looking for a new recipe. There might very well be better websites out there, but this is what I use. Here are some of our favorite finds off of this site:

Kung Pao Chicken

Mongolian Beef

Egg Drop Soup (I didn't add salt when I made this with canned broth.)

Manicotti (I used 1/2 pkg spinach instead of a full package)

Chicken Skewers This peanut sauce is great. Try it even if you don't think you'll like it.

Artichoke Dip Very tasty.

I am always looking for new yummy recipes, especially if they are pretty quick to make. Let me know if you've got something to share.