Hi DA:

You advise"
"The answer ... the red shift. Which indicates that the further away things are the faster they are receding. Just like what you would see if you were in the center of a balloon full of dust watching it being blown up."

When you have print on a balloon and blow it up the print expands with rest of the balloon. If you want to confirm that result in the universe you should find the distant galaxies expanding along with the universe. Is there evidence for that? I have looked for some unsuccesfully.
jjw