I need a little help here.  Can anyone tell me what “Country First” means?  I am no dummy and am not a Rhodes scholar either, but for the life of me I am confused by this mantra. I have marketing skills and I’m an American - so I’m hoping that anyone who lives in the country already ascribes to putting our “Country First.”  Why is this suddenly a new push? Doesn’t our current President already employ this idea with every decision he makes? (Never mind answering.) And as a recent USA TODAY article pointed out..what does this say about those who put God or Family first?

This “Country First” thing does raise some questions for me. Does this only mean that we need to keep our country safe from terrorists? Or that we shouldn’t outsource jobs to other countries? Or that our democracy is the only democracy that should be honored?  Or how about this one…That we shouldn’t have fair and balanced news?

I would much rather see a slogan that says “People First.” Who cares where they live is my feeling. And I’m not being un-American by saying this. For if we keep this top of mind, then all of our decisions will benefit America and other parts of the world and not only big business.

For here’s some ways that we can help America-and quite frankly several of them would be firsts!

-Solve our health care problems (make sure that anyone who needs medical attention can afford it, this includes dental and vision too.)

-Make sure we invest in creating more secure jobs in this country and clean up the bonus structures for some of the obscenely paid CEOs.

-Get our troops home!

-Invest in alternate fuel or use others like natural gas.

-Clean up our political structure. Oh for a politician who wasn’t pressured to side with contributors.

-Have our government work together for the good of the country and people and not choose their party sides.

Let’s put people first! And a great example of that recently was the Summer Olympics.  I’m sure you marveled at every gold winning performance despite what country the person was from. So if we’re helping people by cleaning up our air, we’re putting America first and the world also benefits.

I do believe we need to protect our country from attacks, but I believe we have that covered.  We are doing that…I have to admit that it’s a pretty sad day when one of our parties has to remind us that somehow in Washington D.C. they’ve forgotten to keep our country first-whatever that means.

Feel free to comment. I’m sure this one will bring in some great debates.

Have a good Friday everyone!

Peace out.

Sorry to keep hammering this home. But the first thing I saw this morning atop my google news was

Jobless rate at 5-year high

By Glenn Somerville

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.1 percent in August, the highest in nearly five years, as employers cut payrolls for an eighth straight month and a decline in labor markets accelerated.

The Labor Department said on Friday 84,000 jobs were lost in August, significantly more than the 75,000 that economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast. In addition, July’s job losses were revised up to 60,000 and June’s to 100,000 from a previously reported 51,000 in each month.

Analysts said the bleak hiring data showed a weakening economy that likely will oblige the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for an extended period.

“The economy is clearly deteriorating,” said Gary Thayer, senior economist for Wachovia Securities in St. Louis. “We’re also seeing weakness around the globe so there’s less reason for the Fed to focus on inflation and more reason to focus on getting the economy back on its feet.”

Yes, indeedy.  Things are getting worse each month! This is all leading to another post. See above.