Americans, We Need to Speak Out

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...


Two hundred thirty three years ago these words laid part of the foundation of what has become the greatest nation on the earth.


It isn't perfect yet but might get there someday if we can learn to live and work together as we can and should.


But lately, we the people, whether out of frustration or apathy haven't made our voices heard.


Too few people are making choices for all of because they are making the noise and so our leaders presume that is what the people want. We the people need to speak up or the few will make the rules.


Currently there is an effort to push through a national health care plan.


While the rhetoric sounds very altruistic and it seems like a wonderful thing to do, it will destroy us in the long run if not sooner.


Our founding fathers created a nation that allowed the individual to be self reliant. Our lives, under the form of government they provided, can be self determined to a degree almost unheard of anywhere else, at any time in history.


This has allowed those with the creativity, drive, and ambition to see the problems in their lives and the lives of those around them and overcome those problems. Many have used these talents to create wealth and opportunity for themselves and others.


While some have abused the opportunity and hurt or inhibited others in the process of using their ideas for self enrichment, I believe most have been responsible and honorable.


This self reliance has lead to a nation of great diversity and great potential. Because of the chance to excel, grow and improve ourselves. Because of our freedom to try and succeed or fail, we have developed much of the technology that makes our lives what they are, or can be today.


The health care plan that I am hearing proposed at present will do much to destroy that potential for growth.


While most are not out to hurt others as they develop wealth, they are, at least to some degree, driven by selfishness. They want to improve their lives and increase their wealth. While it would be nice if everyone were motivated by providing for the good of all, the fact is much of the drive to succeed is, at least to some extent, self centered. Focused on the personal enrichment of the individual and perhaps including their own family and possibly friends.


The current health care plan would punish the achievers by taking money from them to pay for others who can't or won't put forth the effort or take the chance to make their own wealth.


If our government starts providing health insurance and other privileges to everyone then those who try harder to create wealth will lose their motivation. Why should they try to increase their capacity or wealth when the government just takes it away to give to someone else?


And if the government is going to provide everything we want, why should we go out and try harder? This type of plan would erode the self reliance, the self determination that has made our nation so great. It would demoralize those who would have otherwise stepped up and invented the next great something to make the world better because there is "no profit in it." It would reward mediocrity and discourage excellence and progress.


By removing the motivation to try harder, to be better, the government would weaken us as a people and as a nation.


The most the government should do is provide the framework in which the people can provide for themselves. They should make efforts to prevent those who would take advantage of others or who would prevent others who are willing to work from improving their lives. But they shouldn't just give it to them because some have more and some don't enough. There needs to be accountability, consequences and responsibility.


Sure some will be left behind. It is sad fact of life. But if it is because they don't care enough or are too lazy to get out and do for themselves it is their fault and they need to suffer the consequences. Why should the ones who work harder to improve their lives be punished because others won't.


For those who can't because of health or injury reasons, sure we should be willing to help them out. And most would be happy to pitch in for them.


And when it comes to the government passing laws, when they pass a law, it needs to apply to them too. Until then, they do not and cannot represent "we the people." If they are to represent us, they need to be one of us. Not some elite club that lives on a hill with a gated community that leaves the rest of us out.


So "we the people" need to speak up. We cannot wait for someone else any more. We need to write to our leaders, our "representatives" and tell them what we think. If they don't hear from us, they won't know what we want from them.


We can’t afford to wait. If we don’t speak now, we might not be able to afford the payments.

More thoughts for President Obama:

I am very disturbed by a continuing trend in our government.

You campaigned with the promise that there would be change but I am seeing more of the same and no real substantive change.

More partisan bickering. More threats veiled or otherwise to those who don’t cooperate with the “party”. More excessive spending. More breaking of campaign promises. More corruption, favoritism and cronyism.

In short, the game has not changed. Just some of the players have changed.

You are trying to push through a “national” health care plan.

And yet there are already reports of groups who will be exempt. Groups who will not be required to take the “public” option.

Until there is a plan presented that is truly universal you will not have my support.

If there is to be a national health care plan, then it had better be good enough for everyone or it isn’t good enough for me and my family. From the lowest member of congress up to the President, it is time for those who are spending my future and my children’s futures to live with the laws that they are passing.

If you are going to pass health care, you had better be the first one to sign on. And you should be followed closely by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the members of Congress and the Whitehouse staff.

When the Congress of the United States and the President of the United States start leading the call to action and change, instead of sending the rest of America out to live with the changes they have legislated with conditions and exemptions for themselves and their “special supporters, I will believe they are sincere with their calls for change.

They create and manage a social security system. But they don’t have to live off of it as so many American citizens do and so it is failing. Would it be having the same problems if those who designed and maintained the system were dependant on it as are so many others?

If the members of our government were dependant on Medicare and Medicaid, do you suppose that there would be such significant problems with those programs as well?

Do you suppose the American educational system would be in such dire straits if the President and the Congress were required to have their children attend the same public school systems that our children attend?

Our “leaders”, who lead by words but not by deeds, who claim to have our best interests in mind have no idea what our interests and needs are because they have created one set of rules for “we the people” and another set for “they the leaders.”

I say leaders and not representatives because as long as the current system of rules is in place, they do not, they cannot, represent the average American citizen.

They have no idea what we are dealing with, what our lives are like and what a mess they have created for everyone else.

Until they step out of their isolated world and have to deal with the consequences of the laws they pass, just like “Joe the Plumber” or “Bob the Builder” or whoever else you care to consider here, they cannot and do not truly represent us.

So President Obama, it is time for you, and the Congress to step out into the real world and live with the consequences of what you are doing to the rest of us.

Then and only then, will there be change we can believe in. Then and only then can you truly represent the people of the United States of America.

A thought for President Obama,

I presume you have heard the old adage of “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he can eat the rest of his life.”

Too much of what is happening or being planned by you and the congress fits the category of “give a man a fish.”

This nation was founded by, and grew to where she is because ordinary people faced problems and overcame them. This has built, strong people and as a result a strong society and a strong nation.

The people of America have learned from their challenges and excelled. And through it all, we have helped to make the world a better place.

There have been problems to be sure. There are areas where we as a people and a nation still need to find the solutions for day to day challenges. There will be new challenges to overcome and learn from.

But if the government, as appears to be the current intent, steps in and tries to solve all the problems for everyone, that growth and learning will cease. The best and the brightest will atrophy and our nation will be weaker for it.

Take the butterfly as an example.

If you see a butterfly struggle to escape from its cocoon, it seems to slow, to painstaking to watch. It leaves you wanting to help it get free of the prison it is fighting to escape. And you could. With little effort, in seconds you could free the butterfly and save it from all the pain and struggle. You could make it so much easier for the butterfly to be free.
And by so doing, you would kill it.

The butterfly requires that struggle to develop the strength to survive once it is free of the confines of the cocoon. Without that struggle, it does not develop the strength, the capacity to survive on its own.

If government steps in and “solves” all of the difficulties that we face as humans, it prevents us from developing the strength, the skills to survive on our own.

If government grows too large, does too much and protects too much, some part of us, as humans dies and makes us less able to grow. It makes us less able to cope. It makes us less able to meet the challenges that face us as we go forward.

I know that you feel that you are just trying to help. You are just trying to make things easier.
But consider more than tomorrow. Consider longer than next week, next month or next year.

Don’t, by trying to be kind, leave us less able to survive in the future.

Are we going to do it again?

I am a bit puzzled.

President Obama recently commented about how after 9/11 folks got in too much of a hurry and made some poor decisions.

He said they didn't consider all the possible options or consequences of their actions.

Where the heck does he get off with saying something like that!?

This from the one of the folks who pushed a stimulus bill through the process so fast that no one had time to read the bill! Talk about not considering options! No one even knew what they were voting on!

And then when the AIG bonuses showed up in the mix, everyone claimed surprise and shock!

Of course it was a surprise! You never gave anyone time to look at the contract for crying out loud.

While our new president claims to be for the people, claims to want to be open and transparent, he's not.

While his specifics may be different, he is just like the rest of the politicians that currently reside in Washington DC.

He spends too much, he promises what he can't or won't deliver and he says one thing and does another. Or twists the meanings of what he said to meet his circumstances.

It is sad to say but I don't have a lot of faith in any of our elected officials in DC.

There is no one there who represents me. No one there has to worry about education for the children, health insurance, or where does the next house payment come from.

Until the "royalty" in DC has to live by the same rules that "we the people" do, they cannot truly represent us.

Slow down on the health care!

Stop trying to rush this stuff through!

Your intentions, while appearing noble are going to cause more harm than good.

Take some time and look before you leap with future changes and expenses. We can't afford your ideas!

What I didn't know about air travel

I recently returned from a trip to Phoenix to visit some of my family.

I had a borrowed piece of luggage as one of my checked luggage items.

It hadn't ever actually been used yet as it was part of a set.

Delta Airlines charged me $15 per piece to handle and transport my checked baggage.

When the luggage came onto the carousel in Salt Lake City, it was following the feet that held the case upright when resting.

It seems to me that if you break it, you should fix it or replace it. Especially if you charge a fee for the service.

That is what I will have to do with the mangled piece of fabric, fiber and plastic that they returned to me.

But airlines, it would appear, are special.

They say, we won't be liable and so they aren't. Their justification is the rest of the airlines do it this way too. They must think two wrongs make a right?

They can charge for a service, provide poor service and damage your property, still charge you for the service and yet not make the damage right.

Wouldn't that be handy?

I want to do that with my part of the national debt! At least with that one, I didn't have much to do with it.

Unlike the luggage where Delta broke it but still won't fix it.

Be warned. If and when you travel, consider your luggage to be a disposable item.

The airlines do!