Tag Archives: Politics

Equally Free to Choose

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I’ve been thinking of a title for my personal political party.  I started with Republocrat – the name captured the fact that both parties have some things right.  Now I’m thinking the “Equally Free to Choose” party.  For it is here, under the platform of “Equally Free to Choose” that Americans, regardless of political party affiliation, tend to agree… and it is under this platform that our reform efforts must be focused today.  It is an idea that inspired the Democratic-Republic party of our very beginning.  “Equally Free” describes the mantra of our Democratic party, and an idea out of which many great leaders emerged – people like Grover Cleveland, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.  And Freedom to Choose – it continues to inspire our Democratic party today.  It is this exact idea, “Equally Free to Choose,” that founded the Republican party, as we fought and bled to ensure that all men are free to choose their future – and that slavery is abolished from our land.  “Free labor, free land, free men.” – 1856 Republican Slogan.  “Equally Free to Choose” – it is the principle that inspired such greats as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.  This notion that we are all free to choose – this is what I view as American, what makes us who We are.   Our great leaders of the past all knew that for us to become the best US, for us to form a more perfect union, we must all, every one of us, be free to choose in life.  This idea could unite us again in our day if we could but rediscover ourselves.

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln

If our nation could but pause for a moment in time… if we could then look at both our past and our hopeful future, we might once again recognize who we are, see where we are, and remember what we are doing.  We all have to do this sometimes – stop and remember what we are doing.  It’s why we have checklists in my line of work – people are forgetful.  In my home life, I set out downstairs in an effort to grab a flashlight from the junk drawer, warm up a bottle of milk, go to the garage for 2 more electrical caps, grab my phone off the counter, call and check in for work tomorrow, go back upstairs, give the bottle to Colton, and then over to the ceiling fan with the flashlight and electrical caps.  But somewhere in the garage after I wiped up the spilled juice and fed the dogs, as the bottle is heating up and as I’m walking over bike helmets, skateboards, and re-stacking the goodwill pile, I stop and I say “Ok, now what am I doing again?”  This is what America must do today, so as to remember our purpose and our mission.

Freedom to Choose America, that’s what we are doing.  We must take a pause in life and remember this Truth if we are to unite again as one People.  Our mission, what we are in the process of doing right now, is ensuring that we are a nation and a people in which we are all equally free to choose.  It is the why, how, who, and what we are.  It is everything that Thomas Jefferson and our founders envisioned when they wrote our Constitution.  It is the reason we exist and what our first president, George Washington, and his fellow patriots bled to ensure.

“To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not.” – Thomas Paine

     All of mankind is equally Free – that is the reason for our birth, the endgame that unites us, and the cornerstone of American society.  And here is a corresponding truth:  Freedom equals Inequality.  For if you are free to choose, than you are free to choose wisely and poorly.  You are both free to excel and by extension free to fail, for one cannot exist without the other.  In America, we help those around us who are struggling because we are free to do so and because we are good people who choose to do so… not because we have a federal government program that taxes our successful and redistributes their wealth to those who are failing.  This is why federal entitlement programs divide and destroy us, they attempt to remove both the personal freedom to “choose to fail” and the freedom to “choose to give” from our lexicon.  And we need those freedoms in America — because we need those in life, that’s how a man or woman grows, that’s how we are meant to live.

This is what We realized nearly 12 score ago when we created this great land, and this is what we need to realize again in our day.  The environment in which mankind functions best as a species, the one where We reach the absolute potential of our existence — it is in a limited-government environment, where one is both prepared and challenged to succeed.  An environment in which, if ever you choose to respond with good character, honest work, and strong determination, you will excel.  For no other environment is better for Us.  That’s why our country was founded – our forefathers had seen the great light, and that’s what our country needs to return to today.  This is the grand bargain, the answer, the solution:

Our government provides an equal environment in which we plot our course… Our drive, courage, and good fortune determines our heading… and Our God-given soul provides the necessary means, mentorship, and assistance to others like us on the journey.  That is how we are meant to work, how we were created to live.

“The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” – Thomas Paine

That’s how we survive, thrive, and excel.  We embrace a government that ensures our freedom to choose, and we try to be the best person we can in our community.  We are a society in which the government ensures freedom, the community promotes charity, and we freely let everyone peacefully pursue their vision in life – that’s who we are.

Freedom to Choose, that’s my political platform.  “All of mankind is equally Free,” let’s never forget that.  Its why, even in the face of abortion of the innocent, we preserve the legality of a woman to choose not to have her baby.  We know that in order to embrace a society in which people are free to choose, they must be free to do something that we would never do.  Instead of trying to legislate what we deem as good choices, we attempt to promote what we believe is the right choice through mentoring, education, and love – that’s who we are.  For Life and Liberty go hand in hand.

“The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” – Thomas Jefferson

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Uh-oh, he just said ‘abortion.’”  More than any other issue, abortion pits Liberty and Life in a justifiably highly charged environment.  Whatever your views, I support your freedom to have them.  But as this is not meant to be a paper on the topic of abortion, as I understand we all have strong opinions on this fundamentally important issue, and as I am not trying to dissuade you from any of your beliefs, let me just offer a quick story and then press on.  Because as important as the abortion issue may be, it is by no means our only defining issue – for America has plenty of issues for government this day.  Quick aside on Life and Liberty:

I have a best friend, I lived directly across the street from him for over 5 years, who I hang out with regularly, and who is a staunch Republican.  His daughter babysits my kids, has two kids of her own, and she is getting married to their father this summer.  Yes, they’ve been living out of wedlock since high school, they have two children, and they will marry for the first time in a few months – I am excited for them.  And I remember, some years ago now, when my friend told me that his daughter, just out of high school and on her way to college, was pregnant.  I remember talking to him about his daughter’s life situation and choices – it was wearing on his soul and I wanted him to be able to voice his feelings.  Now I have my ideas on abortion – I think anybody who sees a sonogram of their unborn child knows that something in there is alive and beautiful – they can see that a precious life is forming.  But I kept my thoughts to myself, and I asked him what his were.  He had similar views on abortion and said that, although his plan was for his daughter to go to college, marry, and then have kids, he believed that was no longer an option.  He couldn’t imagine terminating a pregnancy, he hoped that she would not abort the pregnancy, and he was determined to be the best Grandpa he could be… but the choice was hers.  You know the end of the story, she chose to keep her child, her son now plays with mine, and she gets married this summer.  But this isn’t a story about abortion, government aid, or taxes.  I brought up this story because I was at my friend’s house the other day, we were talking politics, and this difficult issue of abortion surfaced in the conversation.  My friend said something that I felt was as “American” a statement as one can make, and it made me ponder for some time afterward.  He said, “I personally believe that Life begins at conception.  And I am pro-Choice.”  Life and Liberty, we must treasure them both.

For other issues affect America and our politicians in Washington DC should be focusing on them… and choosing the right answer.  They should be running a responsible government and balancing our budget.  That’s what we need to talk about America – how do we provide a secure working environment through government regulation that promotes equality in opportunity and ensures freedom of choice?  We need to rediscover ourselves, answer this question, and promote the right political answer for our great nation.

“History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.” – Thomas Jefferson

I personally voted for Ross Perot back in 1992 because I knew, even at 22 years old, that we needed a balanced budget for long term health.  I voted for the Republicans under George W. Bush  in hopes they would usher in responsible but limited government to balance the budget and minimize government intervention in our daily lives.  I felt we needed to bring a hatchet to our government welfare programs.  But instead, Republicans focused on a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.  The Republican party, borne out of a “free men” slogan and the notion that all who were created equal must be treated free and equal by government, now sought to divide the community through federal legislation.  “Freedom to Choose” means just that – a freedom to choose yourself and how you are going to live, and a realization that others must be free to do something that we would never do.  I don’t know why our Creator made us left and right-handed, black and white, homosexual and heterosexual, and I won’t know in this lifetime.  But in the desired endgame of “All of mankind is equally Free,” I know that I embrace our differences.  The churches can handle who can and cannot marry – this is not an issue for our Federal government.  After the constitutional amendment push faltered, then came the Iraq war… and more “Reaganomics” even as our debt continued to balloon.  Instead of a Limited Government whose costs were supported by our successful, I was given a Value-imposing Government whose size was expanded, whose tax base was shifted more to the lower and middle class, and whose wars went unfunded and unsupported in the international community.  And to make matters worse, a Government which completely failed to respond in the one place that it was supposed to, an obvious mortgage bubble causing an impending financial collapse of our banking system.  Even history’s biggest proponents of limited government recognize the need for government to interject in the banking arena and to impose taxes to balance the budget.

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.” – Thomas Jefferson

So I abandoned the Republican party… or more appropriately, I discovered that they had abandoned me.

I voted for the Democrats under Barack Obama in hopes they could end the wars, perform the necessary cuts to our Government Welfare programs, and modify our tax code so as to return to a time of balanced budgets and responsible, limited government.  President Obama’s foreign policy has been in line with our all of mankind is equally free principle, but domestically our debt and government programs have only expanded.  America will no longer have foreign policy decisions to make if we bankrupt ourselves from within – and I assure you, we are doing just that.  Instead of a Limited Government whose costs were supported by our successful, I was given a Tax and Redistribute Government whose reach was expanded, whose welfare programs were extended, and whose debt was made monstrous.  We must remember that Freedom to Choose means that there will be inequality.  In the endgame of “All of mankind is equally Free” we will have hungry, we will have drug abusers, and we will have unemployed – for people will choose differently and experience different results.  Personal welfare resulting from your personal choices is a place where our limited government should not get involved.  Rather, this is where our soul, our goodness, our character interjects.  For those of us who succeed in this life, those of us who through hard work, luck, and the Grace of God are able to excel in the American experiment, we owe it to ourselves, our Creator, and our fellow man to help in our communities as well as to fund the American experiment for our next generation.  Even history’s biggest proponents of government intervention recognized the need for government to stay out of the charity business and not impose taxes to redistribute wealth.

“It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy

So I abandoned the Democratic party… or more appropriately, I discovered that they had abandoned me.

We can unite again America.  If our nation pauses for a moment, takes some time to reflect… and then asks our self, “Ok, now what are we doing again?”  Maybe then We-the-People can rediscover who and what we were created and meant to be… we can remember the answer to the question – “Freedom to Choose” America, that’s what we are doing.  This principle is why we embrace the United Nations in foreign policy even when it disagrees with us – because we embrace the notion that all of mankind is equally free to choose.  Although our heart aches when people suffer and our nation trembles when neighboring countries act in defiance of America’s core values, we respect the Freedom of Choice whenever possible and refrain from trying to impose our will.  So long as a country is not attacked, we peacefully do our utmost to guide the world, through example and good will, to what we believe is the right choice.  That same principle is why our federal government stays out of personal affairs, defers business to the private sector, and does only that which is required to set a level playing field – because all of mankind is equally free to choose.  Although our heart aches when citizens suffer and our body trembles when neighbors act in defiance of our core values, we respect the Freedom of Choice whenever possible and refrain from trying to impose our will.  So long as our family is not attacked, we peacefully do our personal utmost to guide the community, through example and good will, to what we believe is the right choice.  A limited Government, a small standing army to defend ourselves, and an unwavering platform of free speech, free religion, and equal opportunity – that is who We are.  We must collectively embrace the Freedom to Choose in government policy and individually embrace the Need to Give in personal life decisions.  That is who we, as a nation and as an individual, were created to be.

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Yours in Faith for a better America and a better World

The Elephant in the Living Room

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I used to get frustrated with our political system, our political parties, our political process, even the individual politicians.  “What a mess!” I would say.  Then, to see if perhaps I was missing something, I made it my mission to get smart on the issues.  Initially that didn’t help, the more I discovered about the issues, the messier our political discourse seemed.  You see, I had yet to see the Elephant in the Living Room.

I would look at issues affecting our nation, I would see the common sense solution, and then I would wonder why our politicians couldn’t come together to implement the proper answer.  Politicians would push to lower income taxes – and it seemed some were always pushing to lower taxes, even when the economy was up and our debt monstrous, a time when we should pay our bills, these politicians would still be looking to cut taxes.  I would ask, “Why?  Do they really think that lowering taxes and going more in debt right now is the proper answer for us?”  It seemed like an honest question and a valid criticism at the time.   I would look into Keynesian Economics, listen to experts, and try to form a proper opinion.  “If anything, we need to raise income taxes and pay our bills at this juncture.  We can’t push this debt onto our children!” I would say… but I had yet to see the Elephant in the Living Room.

When Congress would argue over who should pay the brunt of our tax bill and many would argue for an elimination of tiered income tax and a shift to a flat or sales tax – I would ask, “What?  Do they really think that putting the same tax burden on everyone is good for us as a whole?  99%-1%, is that what they really think is the right answer for America?”  My heart was with the Occupy Wall Street movement and the plight of our hard-working and struggling Americans.  I didn’t realize that the 1%er’s heart was also with them, but that they had acknowledged that there was an Elephant in our Living Room.  Somehow, I still had yet to see the Elephant.

And, after the financial debacle of 2008 demonstrated that we obviously needed better regulation of our banking industry and Richard Cordray was thankfully selected to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – as politicians fought to prevent his appointment – I would ask “Why?  Do they really think that less government regulation of the banking industry is what is needed to prevent these bubbles?”  It made no sense to me – for I still hadn’t noticed the Elephant.  My fellow Americans, my fellow Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, I now see the Elephant in the Living Room… and now all of it, all of you, every single bit of it, makes perfect sense.  I understand the Truth:  We need to get rid of the Elephant, and then we can once again address our nation’s issues.

“He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.” – Thomas Jefferson

With crystal clear clarity, I now see not only where our nation is, but I see how we got here, I see what we must do to break free, and I see why we will wander around aimlessly until we do so.  I see why we used to be united as one country, and I see why we are bitterly divided today – I see the Elephant.  I realize what we did wrong, and I understand that today’s political result is simply a reaction to that erroneous heading.  We have discovered so many things:

– That Democracy, Liberalism, and Freedom of Religion are paramount to any society

– That our tax burden should be accorded as envisioned by our 16th Amendment

– That our Government has a duty to better regulate the banking industry, a lesson we have learned multiple times, particularly in 1907, 1929, late 1980s, and 2008

– That government regulations and policy should seek to promote a strong middle class and that a large wealth gap is not in our collective self-interest

But I also see the Elephant now, the place where we got it completely wrong, and I see why, without confronting this Elephant, none of our other issues can be effectively addressed.  You see, we once believed that government’s role to promote the general welfare should be limited to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”  Then we expanded government so as to play an active role in ensuring that our nation had no homeless, no poor, and no hungry – we decided to test the theory of “Limited Government” envisioned by our founders.

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson

Now that I see the Elephant called Government Welfare, now that I understand that, in many ways, the political maneuvering is only about the Elephant, our entire political process takes form.  The drive to shift the tax burden away from our wealthy to a “fair” tax is a reaction from the workers who see their monies given to the non-workers.  The steadfast determination to prevent universal healthcare is a reaction from those who understand that government is already too involved and are fearful of more government intervention, even if this time it is in the right place.  The push to eliminate inheritance tax is a reaction by our successful to become their own stewards to help society, as they see the government is ineffective and bureaucratic.  The vast flows of money into our political process, the Tea Party’s insistence on keeping taxes low, the reluctance to balance the budget and “lock in” this wrong answer, the Occupy Wall Street’s reaction to the 1%ers, the filibusters, all of it, are simply reactions to the Elephant – they are what naturally occurs when our nation strays off track.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” – Winston Churchill

We cannot attempt to compromise, debate, evaluate, criticize, or accommodate until we first acknowledge and address the Elephant in the Living Room.  The political stalemate, the unimaginable debt of 15 trillion dollars, the impending bankruptcy on the horizon – they are not the root cause of our problems, they are symptoms and reactions to it.  If We, as one People, are ever going to proceed on our proper course to prosperity, We must address the Elephant in the Living Room.  We must acknowledge and admit that Government Welfare is a philosophy destined for failure… and reject it summarily from our Vision.

“The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher

My fellow Americans, we must acknowledge this Truth and re-chart our course.  We were One nation under Franklin D. Roosevelt and FDR was the initiator of the “New Deal” – but I submit to you that FDR would never advocate our present heading.  His “New Deal” was meant to be a temporary heading change to get us through the Great Depression, not a permanent course to get us to our destiny.  His Vision for America was never this, I assure you.  If FDR had known his “New Deal” would usher in an “Unconditional War on Poverty,” would be the impetus for the creation of government programs intent on creating a “Great Society,” and if he could see the Elephant that is in our Living Room today, he would be leading the charge to kill the beast.

“It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

My fellow Americans, I believe it’s time to admit that we’ve taken a wrong turn.

“Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” – Thomas Jefferson

The “War on Poverty,” the experiment of government intervention to create a “Great Society” – these were noble and inspiring quests, and we were right to try them.  But the experiment of government intervention is just that, an experiment.  We aren’t supposed to blindly assume that, because we tried it, they must be sacred truths that are forever a part of our DNA.  Not even FDR, the initiator of the “New Deal,” had that in mind.

“One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment… If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.” – Franklin D Roosevelt

I implore you America, for the sake of all of US, let us now examine the results.  We continually evaluate the results of our “War on Terror” and rightly question choices and directions to see if we are indeed marching toward our desired end state.  We look at the facts surrounding the “War on Drugs” including our enforcement methods, penalties, drug usage numbers, monies to cartels, monies spent on enforcement – all in an effort to see if we are achieving our goals.  We are able to see through labels like the “Patriot Act” and “Jobs Bill” and instead, examine the legislation on its merit.  Can we now do the same of our “Great Society” and “War on Poverty” experiments?

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” – Winston Churchill

For too long now, our political discourse has discouraged the honest evaluation of our system.  Instead of answering questions and engaging in an honest search for the Truth, we put words in the questioners’ mouths, make assumptions about what they believe, call them names for “believing” the assumptions we made about them, and move on to the next topic.  The advocates for a policy shout out the answer, say “yes it’s true,” call the nay-sayers names like bigot, racist, or idiot, and then tell them to tune into the other network.  But my fellow Americans, this will never get us to our rightful destiny.  For us to move forward, we must not label those who question our immigration policies as “racists,” those who question whether or not we should have higher tax rates on wealthier Americans as “class warriors,” those who want to alter the pledge of allegiance as “Godless,” nor those who question government intervention into welfare programs as “heartless.”  This kind of labeling is counterproductive and insulting, not to mention often times flat out wrong about the individuals posing the questions.  We must pursue the Truth.

“I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.” – Thomas Jefferson

So now let us ask ourselves, has it turned out right or do we need to change course?  It’s been more than 40 years that we have been engaged in our “unconditional war on poverty,” and it is high time we reviewed our tactics.  With a debt of 15 trillion dollars, we owe it to ourselves and our children to ask, “How is it going?”  It’s time to put Government Welfare Programs – Social Security, Food Stamps, Section 8 Housing, Unemployment Insurance, etc. on the table, shine the light on their results, and knowing what we now know, honestly ask ourselves:  “In what environment does Man best excel?  Is it an environment where the person is forced to ask for help and a community responds?  Or is it an environment where the community is taxed and the recipient files with the government to receive his or her payment?”

“Take a method and try it.  If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

My fellow Americans, I submit to you that Government Welfare Programs for able-bodied Americans are not in the best interest of our society and must be terminated.  I am not heartless, nor does such an opinion mean I advocate the Republican platform – I do not.  It is simply the discovery that is revealed as I take an honest assessment of the last 40 years’ “War on Poverty.”  Please do not label me and shut down at this point, we need to be better than that.  Like you, I believe we need to help those in our community who are struggling, so let me make a case without immediately labeling me as some rich guy who doesn’t care about our less fortunate, for that would be untrue.  I work every day just to pay my bills, and I do care about those less fortunate than me.  I just whole-heartedly believe that America is on the wrong course in her efforts to “help” them.  I believe our refusal to talk about this, to even acknowledge this Elephant in the Living Room, is creating disastrous ripple effects throughout our society.  I believe we need to stop the experiment, we need to see the Elephant for what it is, so that we can once again resume our journey of discovering what policies truly create the “Great Society” we all seek.

“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

The fact is that poverty rates have not gone down as a result of our “War on Poverty.”  Poverty rates in 2007, at our “low” just prior to our economic collapse, were 12.5% – whereas 30 years earlier they were 11.6% (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/historical/people.html).  This is not some fluke 30 year look back – the answer of “no benefit” is consistent as you examine the data.  There was an initial decrease in poverty rates as the Civil Rights Movement finally gave us equal rights and opportunities, and the Labor Movement gave us better pay and managed to shrink our vast wealth gap.  These were great advances to be sure, but these were, and still are, our only advances toward eliminating poverty.

The empiric result of all of our government programs, the spoils of our “War on Poverty,” is not a decrease in poverty at all.  If anything, the result is an increase of it.  Please, those of you who argue that government welfare programs are good additions to our country’s Vision, present me the metric you use to reach your conclusion.  Defend your position with something other than “I care about the less fortunate” because so do I, and I think we help them much better through private charities, non-profit organizations, and community outreach programs.  I don’t think government welfare programs are helping us – quite the inverse, they are slowly and systematically destroying us.

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” – Thomas Jefferson

Tell me how many Americans died of hunger in 1963, before our “War on Poverty” began, and I will tell you how many Americans who are currently enrolled in our food stamp program died this year due to diabetes and obesity.  Please America, I implore you, ask yourself the honest question, “Are our government programs accomplishing their intended purpose?”  There is no shame in answering a question truthfully.

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” – Abraham Lincoln

My fellow Americans, if we can but see and acknowledge this Truth, if we can kill the Elephant in our Living Room, we can once again set course for our destiny.  We can set out to limit our government to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – Healthcare, Military, and Education.  If we can but remove Government Welfare Programs from our Vision, I believe we can also find unity in raising income taxes to balance the budget, implementing universal Healthcare for all citizens, and improving our Education system for our children.  If we can learn to, once again, serve our needy at the local level (where they are best served) by non-profit organizations (who best serve them), we can begin to heal as a society.  We can once again embrace a common vision for a better America and a better World.

Yours in Faith.

Saving America: From Bankrupt and Broken to Solvent and Strong

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$15,000,000,000,000 dollars worth of national debt… meaning a family of 5, like mine, owes over $250,000 in government debt – as does yours.  $2,500,000,000,000 of social security obligations – government’s bill to me and my children now $300,000.  And that’s before we even talk about future Welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid obligations, the burden our baby boomer’s retirements will place on the system… or the rest of it.  Our credit rating has been downgraded and soon we will be struggling to pay just the interest on the debt we’ve accumulated.  To pay our bills, we raise taxes on our employers, causing the outsourcing of jobs and the worsening of our economy.  How long are we going to proceed on this course and pretend like everything is just fine?  How long are we going to pretend that we can advance in darkness?

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” – Carl Jung
 
Now is the time America.  Now, 2012.  This is the year we must vote in our proper course forward – we must re-engage politically and act.  We must step outside of the Republican-Democrat box, step outside of ourselves even, and ask, “If I were that country, if I was more worried about me as a whole than about any of my individual members, if I wanted to treat my members fair but, first and foremost, ensure I was healthy for years to come and shepherd my next generation to reach their potential, what would I do?”

I recently embarked on this mission, a quest to discover the answer to this fundamental question.  I abandoned my pre-conceived biases, ideas, and opinions, threw away what I’ve heard, turned off the TV, and accepted the God-given premise that it isn’t about me, it’s about us – We the People.  Then I gathered only what I could read, learn, investigate, and determine, opened my mind to contrary viewpoints, and sought to discover the truth.  I believe that, in this process, I have re-discovered America’s Vision… and with that, our proper path forward.  I submit the following two discoveries:

1)  We are not meant to have federal government social welfare programs that tax the working to pay for others – this runs counter to our vision and is not what was intended for us.  We’re supposed to help the needy through community, charity, mentorship, and giving – not through government programs.  This is the Truth that we must all see and act upon.

2)  We are not meant to have a federal “fair” tax, where our system’s tax burden is shared equally by all – this runs counter to our Vision and is not what was intended for us.  We’re supposed to ask our wealthiest to pay a larger share of the burden and have a middle class – not a 99%-1% large wealth gap.  This is the Truth that we must all see and act upon.

“Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion.” — Thomas Jefferson

My New Year’s pledge is to continue this journey and engage the political field of my beloved country –  I urge us all to do likewise for our country needs us.   I am ready to investigate and find the full story, even if the discovery of the truth reveals that I was once mistaken.

“Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson
 
 
We are at a crossroads in our history.  We can continue down this path toward bankruptcy and despair or we can choose a different tack, the right tack.  I believe it is time for We the People to get back into government.  Our great country needs us – our political system is broken, our debt is monstrous, and our future is dim.
 
Thankfully, our forefathers provided us a path out of the darkness, a constitution allowing a vote from the People.  Our path forward will not be an easy road, but it is the only one.  Most all of us will see our established standard of living decrease, but a standard realized by accumulating debt is a facade from the outset.  If you, like me, are disillusioned with the status quo, if you are looking for a solution-minded candidate to lead our nation back to solvency, if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and fix this great nation, then please join me in a quest to save America.
 

Yours in Faith for a better America and a better World.

“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.” — Thomas Jefferson