Analysis for Critical Thinkers

-Choosing to NOT vote for a candidate because he is black is just as bad as voting FOR him because he is black. Nominating a Supreme Court justice because she is a female or because she is hispanic is as reprehensible as picking anyone else because of their ethnicity or gender. It all makes more sense though when put into the perspective that in politics, style is more important than substance if it can make people want to vote for you. Unfortunately, the positions of President and Supreme Court Justice are too important to be selected by such trivial matters as political correctness.

-There is only so far that a President can go into his term that he can still blame the former President for all of the country’s woes. While it is easy to keep reflexively chanting that everything is still Bush’s fault, critical thinkers can see what is really happening. The Democrat congress controls the purse strings in this country – as they have since even the last years of President Bush’s term in office. Spending record amounts of money that you do not even have has never been – and still apparently is not – the way to solve financial problems.

-One cannot be called generous or noble if you are using someone else’s money. President Obama has been described as having a “big heart” presumably because he wants to help people by giving them other people’s money. If I go to a restaurant to eat dinner and I choose to force the Smith family to pay the dinner bill for the Jones family, the Jones family will think that I am being noble. The Smith family will not.

-What polls may show to be a “good idea” should not decide public policy. We don’t need polls, we have a Constitution.

-If I decide that I should seize a portion of your assets, perhaps you may disagree with the idea. What difference should it make if I can come up with solid reasons – including facts, figures and polls showing how much better I can manage your money or how much better the world would be if I seized your money? Plus, if you go against the idea, I can always call you names in the newspaper such as “greedy” or “evil” and ultimately seize your assets anyway.

-Lying seems to be okay as long as the liars still promise to give you stuff. Truth and sense seems to become less important if the prospect of something for nothing still remains. It is perhaps easier for some to defend a plan that promises to take care of you than it is to take care of yourself. Being dependent is easier – yet less rewarding – than being independent and responsible.

-It is interesting how so many people assume that “The Government” is so much more capable in running everything from busnisses to health care than the private sector. They forget that both draw on the same pool of prospective employees. But which is more likely to do an efficient job? Choice “A” – the so called “greedy” private sector who must perform well in order to survive or Choice “B” – Big Government who need not compete against anyone since they can force all to pay regardless of quality. When a bank or car company is failing – it is mind-boggling to hear people say that it is time for “The Government” to take over  – as if it is some sort of mystical master of business management. Whether you choose choice A or B, you should at least have the choice.

-Imagine if a new store opened in your town and you had to shop there regardless of the price or quality of products. In fact – even if you did not want or need the products, you still had to buy from that store for the rest of your life. If you refused to buy from them, you could be arrested and/or your house could be seized. Not many people would likely support such a store. Yet this is how public schools, social security, government health care and Big Government in general are set up. Rather than demanding personal choice, people seem to be rallying behind such a setup – if you go by what you see on the entertainment news channels.

-The fact that so many people feel so strongly about a particular candidate becoming President underscores just how much influence they feel that a President has on their lives today. In reality, the President of the United States was never meant to have that much to do with the lives of the average citizen. The position was invented merely to establish the leader of the Executive branch of the Federal Government – whose powers were strictly limited by the Constitution. The Federal government was established to represent the states in the dealings with foreign countries, to organize a defense against those that wish to harm any of the states, and few other limited and enumerated functions. Further, the Constitution was written expressly to prevent the Federal government from becoming the Big Government that it has become today.

-There are nearly one thousand Federal agencies that each have their own rules and regulations that control virtually every aspect of your life. An interesting topic of discussion is trying to name any possible activity that you engage in that does not have some sort of Federal regulation that dictates your actions – along with the penalties of disobeying them.

-The National Weather Service actually gives warnings to use caution when driving due to the possibility of slippery roads when icy conditions are forecast. On very hot days, they advise to “seek cool areas” in order to prevent heat exhaustion. What have we become as a nation when we need a Federal agency to advise us of such things?

-I have talked to people who are totally ignorant of the U.S. Constitution. As a result, they take one word or phrase out of context and make it mean whatever they need it to mean for their argument. There are politicians like this too. They remind me of people who do the same thing with the Bible. They feel that they can justify any position based on a single quote and insist that they must be right since it is “in the Bible.” So often, people would rather take the easy way out by quoting either the Bible or the Constitution without ever reading it or understanding the context – and then become beligerent when they encounter someone who has.

On February 10, 2009, 14 year old student Ty’Sheoma Bethea wrote a letter to Congress describing the terrible conditions at her school in South Carolina. In the letter, she urged Congress to approve President Obama’s stimulus package so that her school district may receive much needed funds. The letter received much attention by some newspapers and ultimately made it to President Obama himself, who wound up inviting young Miss Bethea to sit beside him during his February 24 presentation to Congress. Subsequently, a furniture company from Chicago wound up donating  $250,000 worth of furniture to the school district.

Miss Bethea is to be applauded by us here at T&S – along with the generosity of the furniture company. This shows how a young lady, trying to make her life better, takes actions that improve her life and the conditions in her community. This also shows how private companies and individuals can step up and exhibit the generosity that Americans are known for worldwide. As Miss Bethea said in her letter, “We are not quitters.” What is unfortunate however, is how Miss Bethea was exploited by President Obama as a political tool to help push for his dogma of Dependency on Big Government.

The principal of the school that received the donation, Amanda Burnette, was reported to have said, “In one sense, it makes me sad because I feel like this is something that our state should be doing for our children. Private money shouldn’t have to be used to fund public education.”

It is sad that private money has to be used to fund public education. But after this incident, many questions remain.

Why must private money be used to fund public education? If you are a taxpayer, you must pay for public schools whether you use them or not. How was this money managed such that the district would require a private donation to replace 40 year old furniture?

Why do people who spend public money such as Congressman and Presidents and school boards fail to realize that this public money is really in fact, private donations anyway? Perhaps if you order somebody to donate something, you feel more noble than if that somebody made the donation freely and without your involvement. Every tax dollar spent is somebody’s private money that they were forced into donating to causes with which they may disagree.

Why is it that 14 year old girls, principals and so many other people at large believe that when they need something, their initial thought is that they should write to the government? Instead of wishing that Congress or the President or some politician somewhere will force people to pay more taxes so that you can get stuff, why not just ask other people? This is really a community-minded approach. Imagine that you needed furniture for your school that you could not afford. Rather than ask the government to force someone to make a donation to you, why not just ask a furniture company what they could do for you? Or go door to door in your neighborhood? Is it considered “begging” if you ask a furniture company for a donation? We know that it is not considered begging when government orders a furniture company to donate money or products to you. Maybe it is just easier if Big Government intervenes for you.

Why are people offended when a problem can be solved without government intervention? Must government always be the savior that we all depend on for all of our needs? When did this notion all start?

If a public school cannot be maintained despite mandatory donations from every resident and business in the district every year whether they use the schools or not, should we not look at alternatives?

Why do people think that the Government has some mysterious bottomless pit of money that can be dispensed upon request? Notwithstanding the recent move toward simply printing more currency, their is a finite amount. This amount comes from the so-called “private sector”! Yes – only individuals and private businesses supply the entire sum of the money that the Government spends. Big and “greedy” businesses so demonized lately are the backbone to funding any folly of government.

It is amazing what “we the people” can do for ourselves without the help of Big Government.