What the Presidential candidates need to know

First of all, Obama, stop waffeling. Your stand on anything blows in the wind. Even if you don't become President this time, take a stand and stick with it, people will respect you more. Hillary would be your best choice for vice president. People, don't vote for Obama just because he is black. Read any one's web site the is running for any office. Know who you are voting for and why.
FMLA needs to be amended to include siblings.
Shutting down NASA for five years will cost tens of thousands of jobs, Mr. Obama. In Stanly county, NC. the Michelin plant is the last large manufacturer, since thanks to NAFTA all the textile plants closed, and this plant makes the Space Shuttle tires. So 600 good paying j0bs, gone. Did you know that when you promised Louisiana more jobs, that the components for the next Space Shuttles are being made there? More good paying jobs in Louisiana lost. Not including thousands of jobs in Florida and Texas. Contractor jobs, tourist industry driven jobs. Shut down NASA and turn the unemployment ranks on it's ear. Does your staff know this? No, because I asked them.
What will happen to the space over our heads if we aren't up there for five or more years? Ask the military.
For the rest of you, what did we get from the Space Program? Hmm, let me hit the highlights. Cell phones, medical telemetry, medical diagnostic PET and CAT scans, contacts for vision, corningware to cook in, asbestos free fireproofing, weather satellites, Doppler radar, Kevlar body armor, so many things we use every day. Not including military superiority that keeps us free.

McCain, did you know that 25% of the mortgages in this country are owned by unmarried women? And women are the most vulnerable to loose their homes, mainly because we still do the same jobs and get paid less then men. Too bad you can't get Hillary as your running mate. Also, there are 196 million single people in this country. According to the Today show.

Welfare reform. How can someone get SSDI because of "stress". Or even Diabetis, without complications? If you aren't even on any prescription medications, why should you qualify? And on the flip side, when a person is on SSDI because of a chronic illness, such as cancer, and can work from time to time, why does Social security make it so hard on them? When someone worked for a few weeks last year, their doctor, employer, and they had to fill out tons of forms. They are threatened with losing it. It certainly would make me think twice before I worked again. You should encourage work, because every month they work, they don't draw money from Social security.
Children over 16 should not get welfare, they are old enough to work, and should. The rest of us did, and paid our way to school as well.
Encourage young women not to get pregnant and young men not to father children. Welfare is full of young mothers. Give them money to go to college instead. It's cheaper.
Don't let illegals qualify for welfare because they come into the country and have a baby here. Welfare should only be for citizens, and if the baby is a citizen only because they are born here, then they get aid and know one else does, not even the mother. So the baby would get food and supplies, but not the whole family. This will encourage parents to become citizens, and stop the swelling of welfare ranks because of loopholes in the system. Don't give drivers licenses to illegal aliens. If you do then terrorists will have access to valid ID.
Streamline college. why take two years of fluff courses, take two years of courses you need for your major and get a BA in two years instead of four. Use grade school for a good base of knowledge and culture. You end up with more people with a higher education because it costs half as much and takes half the time.
Separate FEMA from Homeland security. Anyone applying to FEMA now faces two background checks, instead of one, which during Katrina, caused an 8 week delay in getting people in the field. Give FEMA employees benefits. Didn't know that did you?
Disaster on-call employees, or DAE's only get pay and per diem. And only when they are deployed. In large disasters, FEMA employees have to drop what they are doing and be gone from home for up to 18months. No employer will hold your job that long, so you loose your health insurance, 401K, etc. Also, they can go years between deployments. Which is why most FEMA employees are retirees. Over age 65. They do great work, but 100 hours a week is hard on anyone. They need an age diversified base.
Here's how you do it. FEMA employees will have the option of buying health insurance and participating in a 401K plan, just like other federal employees, using the same providers. When they are not deployed, they have the option of continuing to pay for the health insurance out of pocket, but at the group rate, just like someone on an unpaid leave of absence does now. They can contribute to the 401K by paycheck deduction, or bank draft when not deployed. This way they have coverage, and more folks can become on-call FEMA employees, and be there, when we need them. And taxpayers will save, because FEMA DAE's are only paid when deployed.

Well, I have to go, blog you folks later.