I had a stimulating conversation with a man today concerning politics. He has worked most of his life with politicians and now on a very important issue for our safety. He professed to be a staunch Democrat while I have always professed to be a Republican. It occured to me while we were talking that there needs to be a Middle of the Road party for the conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans. It sounds like an oxymoron, I know, bear with me and I will explain. When someone states that they are a Republican we assume that we do not care about the the rights of others, we don't believe in helping others with less than ourselves and we do not believe in abortion. When I think of a Democrat, I think of someone that believes in making the United States a socialistic country, that the rich should take care of the poor and the government knows how to take care of us better than we know how to take care of ourselves. I suspect that the "Tea Party" is attempting to be the middle but I don't really know, I stopped listening to them when Sarah Palin became their mouth piece--not a fan. I believe that most Americans would love for our country to get back to our roots and our government needs to accomplish the following:
1. Job creation by making it feasible for companies to be profitable while creating those jobs in the United States. Federal funding does not create viable long term positions and there is so much beauracracy I wonder if it really makes a difference where it needs to--sell the American dream to American companies and make them want to support our country.
2. Worry about the issues that should be political issues not the ones that are moral issues. In my opinion, abortion should not be a political issue it is a moral issue!
3. Offer programs that allow people to get back on their feet do not create programs that make it more worthwhile to sit at home than to be a productive member of society.
4. STOP protecting and enabling criminals. If they are habitual, they will not change and do not let them out to harm more people. Pedophiles should be chemically castrated--I'm sorry they are evil and we continue to let them harm children.
5. All humans are created equal--whether they are homosexual, of different religion, or from another country--please remember that, treat them that way and respect them.
6. Strive to promote democracy with all nations but do not impose our values and beliefs on them.
7. When you decide that we need to write a big check to fund a program, a country or a cause--pretend that YOU are writing the check out of your own personal inheritance or hard earned checking account and I bet most of the programs will go away.
8. Sometimes the most important part of change is education. Health care starts at home and we pay for health insurance for risk management. You can't buy health insurance when you are sick--you have to buy it when you are healthy and there needs to be some viable proof that you will stay that way. People will still do things that they know will make them ill--why is it our responsiblity or the medical communities responsibility to take on the burden of their health care if they didn't plan for emergencies or try to take care of themselves? We need to regulate the pharmaceutical companies and health litigation to bring things back to an affordable level. Doctors are human and humans make mistakes--we've become so sue happy that the burden of the litigation insurance makes health care unaffordable and once again that's another blog topic.
I watch many politicians and they seem so plastic that I wonder if they remember what it's like to be a regular person but that's an entirely different blog. Vote for the person that you think believes in the same things you believe in. Don't be swayed by all of this political advertising. Don't be swayed by the marketing machines and charisma. Take some time, consider the truth and please exercise your right to vote.
I'd be that newly-created party of which you speak. Voting for me is a bit of a guessing game as I see parties as a label and NOT necessarily indicative of the man/woman and his/her principles much of the time.
ReplyDeleteBut, I must disagree on the habitual offender point. Many offenders are wrongly imprisoned -- their habits spring from problems that ARE changeable, fixable, able to be rectified. It's not everyone but the percentage is larger than people think.
And, when I think of social programs, I think not always of the adults who benefit, but of the children who are not able to make their own decisions and are at the whim and mercy of the adults in charge of them. Until I was able to take charge of my own life, at great cost, much of my childhood was funded by the government. I'm grateful. I'm doing my part to pay it back, pay if forward, pay with interest!
Very nice blog entry. Timely. Personally, I can't wait for November 2nd. I want my home phone to QUIT ringing! And I'm dying to see a few more M&M's commercials as opposed to the battling banjo ads. UGH.
Glo--not sure what you meant about omitting a word. Unfortunately our criminal justice system is overloaded and many who evaluate aren't equiped to make the right call. How do we wean the people who merely need help vs. the people who are just mean and evil? People are a product of their environment--you have flourished despite hardship unfortunately many don't. The challenge is that most government programs do not result in positive results or a solution for the long term. As you know, I usually speak in general terms. There is always an exception to the rule but unfortunatley those exceptions can't over-ride the need for change.
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