There was only one vehicle there waiting for the children and I could not see a driver in it.  This was not an area where children would be dropped off and expected to walk home.  Due to the extended time the bus was at the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing and what appeared to be an empty vehicle on the opposite side of the road, I guessed that the other parent was talking to the bus driver on the side of the road that was blocked from my view by the bus.

However, as I am sure many of you have had happen to you, many times I have approached a bus only to have the red lights switched on just as I am almost at its bumper.  So I automatically slowed down to maybe 5 miles an hour as I approached, riding my brake in case I had to make a sudden stop.

I got even with the bumper and still no red lights but something told me things were not right.  Sure enough, just as I reached the front of the bus, the bus driver shot out in front of me with five little kids.  Thank God I was riding my brake because it was a very close call.  The bus driver started yelling at me.  I pointed to his lights that were not flashing on the front of the bus either.  He continued to yell. I called the superintendent’s office and told them what happened.

The driver looked to be pretty old, probably near retirement age or past it.  He certainly should know better.

This is the second time in a week I have personally observed unsafe behavior by a school bus driver.  I had to be in Wrightwood the day the phones were out.  I observed a school bus being driven on Highway 2 like a bat out of hell.  I could not keep up with it.  Had my cell phone worked, I would have called it in.

In today’s economy, these jobs should be filled by the creme of the crop.  But it seems like everywhere I go, I witness employees who just don’t seem to give a damn about their jobs or the customers they serve.  It really makes me wonder.

SACRAMENTO–Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) introduced several pieces of legislation as part of his on-going effort to improve California’s business climate and grow the economy.

“We have the second highest unemployment rate in the nation, and a big reason for that is the burdens this state has placed on small businesses,” Senator Dutton said. “These bills will help to keep and create jobs by making California competitive with other states and by easing restrictive policies that add to the cost of doing business. They are also a win-win for employees and employers as they provide greater flexibility to employees in determining work schedules.”

The package of pro-jobs legislation introduced by Senator Dutton includes:

SB 395, which would spur manufacturing and research and development growth by exempting the purchase of machinery and equipment for those uses. California is only one of three states in the U.S. that taxes manufacturing equipment purchases with no credit or exemption. Manufacturing jobs are among the best paid, with an average wage of $60,000. However, since 2001, California has lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs. SB 395 is a modest step towards restoring this vital sector of the work force.

SB 357, would increase investment in California by providing businesses with the necessary certainty that recently purchased equipment would not be made useless by new regulations. Specifically, this bill would prohibit a government entity from establishing regulations that would render equipment obsolete before the equipment had been fully depreciated unless businesses receive a refundable tax credit equal to the equipment’s depreciation value.

SB 367, would allow companies with 25 or fewer employees to more easily adopt flexible work week schedules. This bill would introduce greater flexibility into employee schedules, allowing them to adjust their work schedules to fit their needs. Along those same lines, SB 378 would clarify existing law as it relates to workplaces with approved flexible work week schedules, making it easier for employees and employers to change the schedule if the need arises.

SB 389 would clarify how employees are allowed to take their meal and rest breaks during the work day. Confusion surrounding existing law has led to costly litigation and administrative costs for businesses, and has removed any flexibility for the employee to voluntarily skip the meal or take it at a more convenient time. Eliminating this confusion will make it easier for employers and employees to operate.

“We have more than two million people in California who need a job,” Senator Dutton said. “This package of bills not only helps those who are currently employed be more flexible in the work place, it relieves some of the burdens on small businesses that have restricted them over the years.”

Fox News has reported Commercial Real Estate at an all time low, with 40% across the nation in Bankruptcy or buildings for sale.  Does that mean, people who were Self-employed occupied those offices.  Absolutely! 

Fourteen years ago, when President Clinton signed the Trade Agreements, little did the populace understand the ramifications and job loss this would bring to the United States.  More than 770,000 businesses, holding millions of jobs across the country, has felt its’ effect.  The Economic Infrastructure is in collapse, and proof can be found in the Foreclosure list.  How many have not renewed their Business Licenses?  How many have signed up for Social Services? 

With a $400 Billion Budget for Illegal Immigration, the American Citizen can only wonder why prejudice and irritation has caused the Tea Parties to rise in disgust, when the average family who were Self-employed, are losing their homes to Foreclosure.  One Contractor, can effect 20 businesses; from Plumbers to Electricians, as they no longer make their way to Home Depot or Lowes and private companies selling parts or privately marketed goods.

The people who benefit from a paricular service are not exactly the same people who pay the corresponding taxes, for instance as Social Monies being paid for an anchor baby.  Once they are here, they become our problem.  There seems no alternative, but to accept the results which have emerged from the policital arena.

Can we hold steadfast to the idea that our Constituents are responsible for Human Trafficking, as more than 30 million Nationals from 13 countries feed in to the United States.  We have people coming in from Third World Countries wanting to change our Policies, Laws and Procedures, when they don’t have enough potable water to flush a toilet.  Many of our Constituents come from the “spectre of the power-hungry bureaucrat, eager to expand his empire in accordance with Parkinson’s Law.”  They regard public services as free goods and fail to realize that they must be covered by taxes.  After all, “high spending”, usually benefits a certain group.

This country used to esteem to excellence, but to simultaneously raise expenditures, ultimately calls for taxes to be raised, as well.  There seems to be a cliche’ from the American Economy, that “big business”, “bid Labor” and a dispporportionately “big government” have now reached an alarming expenditure of quantitative question, as this administration sells their ideas through the euphemism of “health care”.  It is a wiener, wrapped in Belgian Lace.  In actually, it is a complicated overlapping network of  taxation.  

Ultimately, there is a limit to what the “traffic” will bear.  To be a true maket for competative goods and services for the United States, our GNP must be include the incentive for Planning and Efficiency.   A place where business can flourish and people can once again sustain the economic infrustructure.  We cannot allow or permit the widespread -unchecked exercise of a monoply in power from a government gone wild with meddlesome intervention.  We must insist on the standards that made America the great country we once knew.  How do we change this???  VOTE, VOTE, Vote.

“With unemployment at 10 percent nationally and over 14 percent in Riverside County, it is clear that the Administration and Congress must act on real solutions that will get Americans working again,” said Bono Mack.  “I welcome this renewed focus on the economy and job creation – the $1 trillion stimulus package, with its waste and focus on government spending, has fallen far short of America’s expectations and has not produced the jobs Americans so desperately need.

“Today was an opportunity for House Republicans to once again let the President know that we need solutions that will help our businesses thrive and create new jobs, without raising taxes or increasing the size of government.  We don’t need more good talking points or political gimmicks – we need jobs and a strengthened economy.

“It is my hope that this marks a new beginning in which the Congressional Majority considers bipartisan input, instead of continuing its dogmatic, closed door approach that focuses on bigger government rather than the American people.  Higher taxes, more uncertainty, pork-barrel spending and burdensome regulations on our businesses will only perpetuate a stifled economy.

“We need pro-growth policies that will create jobs and bring fiscal discipline to Washington now.  America cannot afford the reckless, big government solutions we’ve seen from Congressional Democrats over the last year.  Washington can and must do better.”

Joining her Republican colleagues, Bono Mack offered her support for provisions that will lower taxes, create jobs now and expand access to quality, affordable health care.  Included among the provisions Bono Mack has supported are:

• A fiscally responsible budget (H. Con. Res. 85) that spends $4.8 trillion less than Democrats’ budget over ten years; reduces debt; and lowers, not increases, taxes, helping America’s businesses grow and create jobs.

• Lower taxes, including eliminating the estate tax (H.R. 205), and no automatic tax increases until unemployment is reduced to less than five percent;

• A responsible health care plan (H.R. 3970) that expands health care coverage, reduces costs, and protects the doctor-patient relationship, ensuring better care and coverage for Americans.

• Medical liability reform (H.R. 1086) that will lower exploding health care costs.

• A comprehensive approach to ensuring America’s energy independence, increasing domestic production of energy, expanding alternative sources of energy, creating new green jobs for American workers, and helping promote a cleaner environment.