Something for Nothing… and Sometimes Even Less – OPINION
August 31, 2010
Sometimes it is hard to get excited about living in Northern California. Though I love being here I have begun to have “battered conservative syndrome”. Residing in the area has certain perks. We are in relatively warm weather most of the time yet near the snow if we want winter activities or surf if we want to see the ocean. What I am talking about is not our wonderful mountains, sea and weather, it is the people… liberals, to be specific. Everywhere I look from advertising in print or on television or bumper stickers on the backs of beat up Honda Civics, etc., all I see are liberal platitudes about environmental issues and slogans of peace and love.
Question: how does having the word “peace” stuck on a bumper sticker achieve the goal? Shouldn’t these people be going to countries where human rights are in jeopardy? I say, “Shut up and go do something.” But I digress…
On three out of four corners of Camino Alto and Blithedale and the south bound freeway exit in Mill Valley we now have various races of homeless people begging for money. One of these days I am going to buy an hour of one of the more coherent of them and find out how much money and services they are getting from all the welfare programs available to them; federal, state, county and city. I’ll bet it’s a lot when you add up subsidized housing, food programs, health programs, etc. These people are in their situation, not because there is no opportunity in the US. It is because of other problems like mental illness or drug and alcohol abuse. Very few of them are there because of life circumstances, and of those, rarely do they find themselves permanently in the ranks of the homeless.
Don’t get me wrong. Many of us have problems. Every third commercial on the conservative radio stations is about legally discharging debt while keeping the goodies that got them there. Tax attorneys are advertising about how they can get the government to forgive all or part of a tax liability. Nobody seems to have any responsibility any more. It’s sad when you think about it. Even during the depression, people took make-work jobs because they were too proud to receive hand-outs. Oh, if only that sentiment existed today. Now the Obama government is talking about forcing lenders to forgive any home loan that is underwater where people are unable to pay their mortgage. What about those of us who are struggling to make our payments to keep our credit in good stead? It’s catastrophic what will happen to the housing market if Obama does this as his October surprise. Talk about chaos!
In the meantime, many of us are banging our heads to secure new employment or renegotiate contracts to keep the work we have. How long before we too give up? After all, why should we pull the cart while so many freeloaders are piling on? What’s our incentive? After all, aren’t we conservatives the bad guys even when we are paying the bills to keep the lights on? And what happens when the rest of us stop pulling and jump in the cart with the rest of the country? Do yo think those rich people running Congress and the Senate will have to start putting money in to keep the scam going? Will it be government workers who are now being paid more than their private sector counterparts? Doubtful. Government will probably just print or borrow more money.
But wait! Don’t jump off the bridge yet! Here’s why I have hope. Most people in the United States don’t want a handout from the government. The prevailing sentiment is that we still live in the greatest country in the world, even if the news media is telling us otherwise. Tea Parties and other protests are continually springing up all over the country put on by people who don’t normally go out and do this. All predictions for the elections in the fall say Republicans (mostly conservatives) will win handily.
A word of caution: winning the election is just the beginning. Once elected, we must insist they govern like conservatives. Will this happen, or will the old “John McCain” return? Right now I see 4 Republicans who stand in the way of real victory: Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Of course there are others like Charles Grassley who could throw a spanner in the works. But make no mistake; the shift is starting to happen. And that gives me hope.
FedUpEditor
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