Being Poor and Hungry

As struggling students, my husband and I often ate mustard and onion sandwiches for dinner.  Our parents experienced the Great Depression and grew their own food.  Today, there are food stamps.
I’m not challenging the idea that hungry people need help to get by sometimes. I'm also not saying that being poor is easier now than it was then. 
I'm just saying that in today's culture of abundant government programs, there is less incentive to become self reliant--and that's not a good thing.

Graduation Day

Today, our granddaughter, Rachel, graduated from high school.  When her mother graduated in 1987, the world looked to the U.S. for strength and leadership.  It is my hope that next May, when graduation time is here, our country will be steadily moving toward resuming its leadership role in the world of nations.  With Mitt Romney as president, that hope can be a reality.

Reading The Amateur - Part 2

What I get from The Amateur is that a president can't govern well while thinking of himself as a savior.

The Amateur--Kept Me Awake!

I decided to listen to Edward Klein's bestselling book, The Amateur, while driving to family cemeteries on a Memorial Day road trip.  This "stunning expose' . . . by former editor-in-chief of the New York Times . . . pulls back the curtain on one of the most secretive White Houses in history (and) . . . . reveals a callow, thin-skinned, arrogant president with messianic dreams of grandeur supported by a cast of true-believers, all of them united by leftist politics and an amateurish understanding of executive leadership."
The Amateur isn't one of those tedious political books--it is alive with reports taken from interviews of people in the know, both friends and foe of President Obama.  
There was no danger of me falling asleep at the wheel!

Go To Your Room

I'm confused.  As U.S. citizens and voters, we elect a president and members of Congress and expect them to do their jobs.   Lately, all we see and hear coming out of Washington DC is squabbling, shaming, blaming and gaming.  In the meantime, a minimal standard of performance should be a law requiring these people to propose and pass a budget before they get paid.

What's Wrong With Being Rich?

Come on--doesn't everyone want to have plenty of money?  So perhaps we're a bit envious when people with wealth know how to grow it, manage it and share it.  As one insightful person observed:
"Apparently I'm supposed to be more angry about what Mitt Romney does with his money than I am with what Obama does with mine."

My Mom's Project Room

My mother kept a tidy home, but she was the only person who could make sense of her project room.  Her hobbies included sewing and crocheting--baby booties, pink panties, wedding dresses and everything in between.
Mother's project room reminds me of the federal government.  When the common people look inside, they can't figure out what's going on in there.  There's a couple of big differences, though.  Creative products came out of Mother's project room regularly and meeting every deadline imaginable.  When they did, everyone could understand and appreciate what was going on in there.

The Bible is Not PC

So the Bible is not exactly politically correct these days, but well . . . was it ever?

On the Side of History

I keep hearing that those who favor same-sex marriage are "on the side of history," but which side?

Freedom Vs. Not Freedom

Freedom:

• Citizens are smart and capable.
• They get to choose.
• They understand that choices have consequences.
• They take responsibility for consequences.

Not freedom:

• Citizens are not smart and not capable.
• They do not get to choose.
• They do not understand that choices have consequences.
• They are not responsible for consequences.

19 Cents a Gallon

In 1969, my husband, Dan, worked for a corner convenience store that pumped gas for 19 cents a gallon during a local gas war.  Forty years later, in January, 2009, the price of gas was $1.79 a gallon.*  The other day, I paid $3.77 a gallon for the lowest grade of gas. It's been three years and five months since Obama's inauguration in 2009.  Big changes were supposed to happen.  And they did.

*U.S. Energy Information Administration
http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/gaspump_hist.cfm

Packing a Lunch

I liked America better when I felt competent to pack a child's school lunch without checking government specifications.

Memo to Congress

A budget is what you figure out before the purse comes out, not after.

Being Self Sufficient

In a perfect world, able-bodied, adult citizens would be self sufficient, and children would be progressing toward that goal.  Of course, in 21st Century living, all of us participate in global interdependency.  Back in the day, accepting "welfare" from the government in any form wasn't a condition to which citizens aspired.  Now, it's common practice for citizens to seek and to be proud of dependent status for everything from food stamps and handicapped parking stickers to welfare and unemployment checks.  I suppose I'm one of those people because I am 65, retired, and receiving Social Security and Medicare.

Never Milk That First Cow

When my mother got married, my grandmother gave her this advice--never milk that first cow.  My mother relayed the message to me when I got married.  The idea is to be careful before offering goods and services that could become an expected norm later.  

I think of their wise advice often.  I wish proponents of big government would consider it before obligating future generations to expensive and expansive social experimentation not addressed in the Constitution--especially when our grandchildren and those yet to be born are the ones who will be obligated to do the milking.

Ya Gotta Vote

According to Scott Evans (KTVB.com), yesterday's turnout of voters for Idaho's Primary Elections was the lowest ever at 23 percent. Evans' suggests reasons why Idaho voters stay away from the polls. Whether those reasons are legitimate or not may be relevant, but not that helpful when it comes to outcomes. A declining trend in voter participation allows fewer voters to wield more power because ya gotta vote if ya wanna say in who runs things and who doesn’t!

Thanks to Poll Workers

I served as a poll worker in Idaho's Primary Election today--a first for me.  I never knew poll workers are on duty from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. or that poll workers do more than smile and greet voters with a brief script.  I could say more, but it's late, and I'm real tired.  What I learned today is that next time a poll worker thanks me for coming to the polls, I'm going to return the compliment!

Beyond Marriage

On July 26, 2006, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community published;

BEYOND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE 


A NEW STRATEGIC VISION

FOR ALL OUR 
FAMILIES & RELATIONSHIPS 

(http://beyondmarriage.org/full_statement.html)

The vision includes, among other things:

·      “Separation of church and state in all matters, including regulation and recognition of relationships, households, and families.”

So . . . if implementation of the vision came to pass, would laws of the state compel churches to marry LGBT members to each other?  Or would churches and the state be separate in their "regulation and recognition of relationships, households, and families?"  Is it "hands off the churches from the state" or "hands off the state from the churches?"  Or both? How could this work?  I don't get it.  

Happy Mother's Day!

A Mother's Creed

I am a mother.

I link humanity’s past to its future.

My moment in history is today.

As a precious pearl in the strand of time,

I add love and light and luster to the timeless

Thread of life that fastens me to generations past.

My task is both common and noble.

I share it with peasants and queens.

I will not belittle my part,

For I have a title role in the play of life.

My words and deeds, though small, will one day

Eclipse those of governments and kingdoms.

For I am a mother . . .

I link humanity’s past to its future.

               -- by Renee Hawkley --

Back to the Bucket

When returning to a well for water, individuals and societies benefit by understanding which wells still have fresh water to offer.  The buckets of socialism and big government are dry.

Women Who Work

Hilary Rosen's statement that Ann Romney’s opinions should not be considered because Ann “has never worked a day in her life” failed to revive the lifeless argument that only women who have earned certain status in the mind of the beholder are worthy of influence.

Let's suppose there are women who actually don't perform work of any sort.  Of course, some women cannot perform work due to disabilities.  It still comes down to one vote per woman.  The woman whose opinion can be discounted is the woman who chooses not to exercise her right to vote.

. 

Downsizing

U.S. citizens lead the way in super-sizing everything from opportunities and lifestyles to debt and waistlines.  After all, beautiful people on screen tell us, "We're worth it."  

Really?  

Of the billions of people on the planet, what makes us worth all the goods and services we somehow want, "deserve" and are therefore entitled to—even though there is no evidence that these supposed entitlements can be paid for or provided?  

Where does it end?  

It's time to look in the mirror.  It's time to be honest about what we see there.  It's time to downsize.  It's time for Mitt Romney.

Life Isn’t Fair

My nine-month-old grandson has no idea how lucky he is. 

Fortunately, his every need is anticipated and met.

Unfortunately, as a U.S. citizen, his fair share of the national debt on this day is $50,106.

Fortunately, he doesn’t have to think about that because he’s not a taxpayer.

Unfortunately, the fair share of his parents (per taxpayer) is $138,334.  

Fortunately, voters have an opportunity to reverse the direction of the debt in November.  

Unfortunately, one candidate wants to increase government programs (and the debt).

Fortunately, Mitt Romney is more invested in our grandchildren’s future than his own.

Democrat or Republican?

OK, this is not a trick question.  Which of the following three presidents made these defining statements under the Democrat banner? 

“The buck stops here.” (Harry Truman, 1945-53)

“Ask not what your country can do for you . . . ask what you can do for your country.” (John F. Kennedy, 1961-63)

"Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy." 
(2008-2012)


You're right!  
All three were Democrats, and how the ideology of defining statements made by presidents who were Democrats has changed!

While We Slept

Last night at midnight, the U.S. Debt Clock registered the national debt at $15,701,159, 201,779.  This real-time clock mimics the physical one located at Times Square in New York City.  When I checked the clock again this morning at 7:30, the debt had escalated to roughly $15,701,768,604,027.  I say roughly because it was impossible to read the numbers on the far right since they were climbing approximately $100,000 every ten seconds.  In less than eight hours, while most of us slept, the national debt went up $609,407, 248.  We will do better with Mitt Romney as president.

Under One Roof

Ann Romney recently reflected on fond memories of her family all "sleeping under one roof."  I wonder.  Since U.S. citizens share the same sky, is there "one roof" we can all agree to sleep under?  Perhaps that "one roof" is the roof of freedom.  Once strong, our roof of freedom now totters, leaks and bears a weight of debt that can crush all of us.  The roof of freedom must be rebuilt on time-honored principles by those who have the willingness, the ability, and the guts to lead.  One such leader is Mitt Romney.