December 1st, 2008
YAY! It’s been almost a month, and the reality has finally sunk in. YAY! America is a better country today, and I am very proud of our citizenry for seeing through the viciousness of the GOP and coming through to elect just the right man for this time. YAY! Do I sound like I’m please as punch over the outcome? You betcha.
North Carolina was a swing state. I’ve never lived in a swing state before, and we were inundated with negative campaigning from the McCain ticket. I had always thought McCain was an honorable man, but I could not possibly support someone who would say he was opposed to negative campaigning while burying us with negative mailers and robocalls. It was ugly, nasty and mean-spirited. I like to think we’re better than that.
Although I’d never been involved in politics before, I felt deep in my gut that change was imperative. The prospect of Bush’s policies being continued for even one minute past January 20th scared the heck out of me. I honestly can’t think of one branch of government that he and his cronies didn’t break. I can’t think of one branch of government that is working as it should.
I volunteered for the Obama campaign, and I made phone calls. Obama’s campaign was unbelievably professional and disciplined. I never heard anyone say anything bad about McCain or Palin to the people we talked to. Our job was to be positive and to encourage people to vote.
For anyone who is still unsure of the man, I can assure you that he’s okay. He might end up screwing up like so many other politicians, but he’s not Muslim or communist or a terrorist or anything else. How do I know?
He graduated from Punahou School in 1979. I graduated in 1968. The school is a first-rate private school that teaches its students that those who are given great gifts have a great responsibility to give back. This is instilled in children starting in kindergarten, and it is a major component of the school community. Barack was a perfect illustration of this with his work as a community organizer.
Another thing about Punahou is that we were required to attend chapel every week. The school is very diverse with children of all races, nationalities and religions, and they go out of their way not to make it too hard for kids of different religions, but the main undercurrent is Christianity. The school was founded in 1841 by the descendants of missionaries, for heaven’s sake.
The last thing is that my sister used to work for Barack’s grandmother. When you know someone’s grandmother, you get a pretty good sense of that person. My sister told me that Barack’s grandmother was a stern and tough boss, but she was fair. She was highly respected and admired, and she reached a position of considerable authority at a time when women had a great deal of difficulty doing so. Kudos to her on so many levels.
All in all, I trust that our country is in good hands. I’m so very happy that so many of us joined together to do the right thing.
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Categories: Commentary, Government, Politics |
Tags: Barack, Bush, GOP, Government, North Carolina, Obama, Politics, Punahou | 29 Comments
October 13th, 2008
I received an email from a cousin recently that really got me thinking. He owns a small business, and he believes government should stay out of people’s lives. He wants lower taxes and less regulation. He believes people should stand on their own two feet.
But how about the fact that his kids attended public school? What about the daughter who is currently attending a state funded university? What about the miles and miles of roads he drives to get anywhere? What about fire, police and trash removal? Are these the proper functions of government, or should he be paying for his use of these amenities?
To keep things simple, let’s accept those amenities as a given. The vast majority of Americans are not averse to paying taxes for public education, emergency services and roads.
Suppose his neighbor down the street loses his job. His company goes under, and he’s laid off. As a small business owner my cousin has been paying for unemployment insurance for decades. He doesn’t like paying it and thinks it’s an unfair burden on small business owners. Maybe so. I’ve been a small business owner, and I thought it really unfair that my husband and I would never collect on the unemployment taxes we paid on our own salaries. Still, what would you do for the neighbor who lost his job? Should he be on his own? Should unemployment taxes be paid by the entire taxpayer base instead of employers?
As a result of the stress of losing his job, the neighbor’s marriage falls apart. His wife has few skills, and she has spent the last two years taking care of small children. Because her husband is unemployed, he can’t help with child support. Sure they could stay together until things settle down, but it’s getting pretty nasty in that household. Should the mom rely on charity? Donations can be iffy sometimes, so maybe she should count on family members. But what if those aren’t an option?
Oh, I know we all have the image of welfare moms in our minds, but that situation ended quite a few years ago. There are now education requirements and limits on the time someone can collect welfare. And even if our goal is to keep moms off the dole, what about the kids? Is it a proper government function to keep our youngest citizens healthy and fed?
That was a fictional story of a possible neighbor of my cousin. Let’s tackle a bigger issue. If we are to stand on our own two feet and be self-sufficient, if we are to be empowered to make our own decisions concerning things like health care, what protections do we have against the in-house legal departments of companies that do us ill? Is it the role of government to regulate insurance companies? Is it the role of government to inspect our food and drugs to make sure the things we ingest are safe? Is it the role of government to test imports to keep lead out of toys?
If government doesn’t do it, who will? I don’t have the wherewithal to sue an insurance company for denying me the treatment I might need. I know I don’t have a lab that can test for melamine in my dog’s food, and I don’t have the equipment to test my water, spinach, tomatoes and beef. Do you think maybe this is something that all of us taxpayers can agree is something that we should spend our money on?
There is much to think about here. We taxpayers pay for many things, and it is time we define what it is we expect government to do for us. Personally I think we’re all in this together and we have a responsibility to look out for each other. It’s the moral thing to do.
Categories: Commentary, Economy, Politics, Taxes |
Tags: education, Government, health, insurance, regulation, regulations, Taxes, unemployment, welfare | 1 Comment
