Well, the past week has been fairly uneventful, save for one special event... Bride and I got to sponsor two lovely young ladies for Confirmation in our Church. It was a beautiful service, and the sisters we sponsored were two of a few dozen youngsters who were Confirmed by our Monsignor...

My Beautiful Young Bride was selected as Teacher of the Year at her school. That was the best news I've had all year!...

And then my wonderful mood was crunched by a Clinton.

...so I caught part of Hillary Clinton's interview with Bill O'Reilley this week, and she really ticked me off (not that liberals don't do that on a regular basis, but this was moreso than usual). When discussing the current high price of gasoline, she made a comment that we Americans have not changed our driving habits and that "We've got to change the way we behave, the way we drive. We have not paid attention for more than 35 years as to what's been happening to us..." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353759,00.html, transcript from the O'Reilley Factor interview.

Well, if I had a chance to ask the Smartest Woman in the World a question or two, I'd ask:

1. Mrs. Clinton, I drive 300 miles a week to work, 60-mile round trip daily, because that is where my company transferred me to work from my prior office location. I drive a car that gets better mileage than any vehicle you are driven in (since I sincerely doubt you drive yourself). I go to work and then I go home, nothing else. Exactly what behavior am I expected to change? I know! Perhaps I need to get up three hours earlier and ride a bicycle 30 miles to work... after I drive our SUV to the store to buy a bicycle. But then, if everyone stopped driving Congress suddenly would not be taking from the American people as much in taxes from gasoline sales and then you all in Congress would raise our taxes to make up the difference. We can't win...
2. Mrs. Clinton, Senator Kerry a few years back said he was in favor of increasing the taxes on a gallon of gas by 50 cents. Since he made that statement, gasoline has actually gone up five times that amount. Don't you think he would be ecstatic over that increase since it was higher than the tiny amount he advocated?
3. Mrs. Clinton, you said, "you know, in the last seven years, the typical American family has lost $1,000 in income. Their energy costs have gone up $2,000. The average tax cut that they got out of whatever he was doing was $600. People are net losers under the Bush economy. They were net winners under the Clinton economy." (Same link as above.) Actually, Mrs. Clinton, thanks to you and your secret attempt to usurp the nation healthcare in '93 my personal health insurance costs tripled and my coverage plummeted. And, aside from gasoline my energy costs have not gone up $2000 (I cannot count gasoline because that is a necessary cost to remain employed). The tax cut I received was far more than $600, because the tax cuts dropped us a tax bracket and my wife and I will be moving into a higher tax bracket because of the expiration of the present temporary tax cuts. So, I will be doing the same job next year that I am doing this very day, and I will have to pay the government more in taxes for that. And, because my wife and I work hard in the private sector, something you have know knowledge about, we are making more now than we ever have in our lives... a track record that will end starting next year when our net income goes down because of a greedy Congress.

The interview with Bill O'Reilley was far more comprehensive than this; I simply pulled her comments that directly impacted me personally. I certainly recommend you go to the Fox News website linked above to read the whole interview and/or watch the video. Next week Senator McCain will be on the Factor and I will fairly address his comments that would impact me personally as well.