Wednesday, July 27, 2011

My America 7.27.11

"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done."
C.E.Stowe

In the days and weeks, months and years that have passed since I started taking an interest in my country and where it is going, I have been stumped.  Yes, stumped.  I do not understand the lack of common sense amongst the "elite."  You know who I am talking about, the hand picked playboys with the fascinating Yale, Harvard or Oxford educations in Washington that think they know what is best for me in every area of life from what I eat to who my doctor should be.  They seem to know exactly how I should live, parent my children and what my interests in life should be.  Yet, they cannot keep their own lives together.  See Matthew 7:5, click here.

Consistently, they pass laws that will "make my life better."  In the process they take 10 and give back 8.  With that kind of math, eventually there will be nothing to give (oh wait...does national debt ring a bell?).  For all their talk about making life better for everyone, they are making most people miserable and poor. 

In the past, Americans have banded together to do the hard things.  During the Great Depression there was communityPeople gathered harvests with neighbors, gardened as a community, and shared what they had to give.  You don't see that anymore...because the government wants to take what we have to give and "give it to those in need."  I would like to pick my own charities, thank you very much. 

Obviously our voices are not reaching Washington.  That has been more apparent than ever with the budget deal that is going on.  First of all, you do not just "slow down" on spending when you are in a bind, you CUT spending.  What do I mean by cut?  Well, let's see here, defund is another good word.  Instead of taxing the people and businesses like the King of England our Founders and Revolutionists left behind...try curbing your appetite for power and be happy with what you have.

So, would you like to see my top ten list of what I would like to see in government spending cuts?  Here it is:

1. Un-Constitutional Departments such as the DOE and the USDA (and many, many more).
2. Government Owned Corporations need to be sold to the private sector such as Amtrack (NRPC).
3. No public servant (such as Congress or the Senate and including but not limited to local government) should make a salary higher than the lowest paid military personnel...their lives are not on the line like our soldiers.
4. Pull our troops out and bring them home.  The intent of the military was and should be to defend and protect our borders...that is only with the Navy and the Marines (do your research).
5. WelfareIt is time for American families to take care of their own again.
6. Foreign AidThe people of the United States should have the right to send money to whom they wish...and not for purposes the government deems worthy, but rather to charities, non-profits and causes that the people want to see funded with their own hard earned money.
7. Universities, Colleges, and other higher education institutions. 
8. Government "Option" Charities.
9. Government Elite TransportationThey can drive their own car and take a commercial plane just like everyone else. 
10. Other Wasteful Spending...

"Yet, politicians still insist that no hard choices need to be made and that hardship and pain-which have always been part of the American experience-are somehow no longer necessary (unless, of course, you are wealthy).  When asked to explain why hardship and pain should not be borne by all, they simply shout louder: "The wealthiest one percent"; "George W. Bush"; "Pay your fair share."

Now, of course I would not propose that our government make the hard choices if I did not make them myself.  Our family has cut, cut some more and then cut again.  We work hard...really hard.  I have listened to the stories of my Grandparents and the Great Depression and the rationing of WWII and have taken that all to heart.  America needs to come together to get this debt gone.  We the people did not get us in the red, but we the people are going to get us in the black again if we can all come together.  What is it going to take?  At the very least, common sense.

I want to hear from you...what are some ideas that you have for Common Sense in America?  What can we as individuals do to espouse Common Sense thus proving to the Feds that, yes, we can still govern ourselves?



"I can never fear that things will go far wrong where common sense has fair play."
~Thomas Jefferson

Top Ten {Tuesday}