Volume IV, Issue XXXIX
The Case for Optimism
Somehow the picture of Bill Clinton Holding the World in His Hands [click to read] on the cover of the 'other' weekly news magazine this week doesn't make me feel very optimistic. TIME presents, by way of Clinton, five ideas that are changing the world.
First he mentions cell phones. More people in an impoverished nation like Haiti have phones than have access to banking terminals. An app. lets people manage their money from their phones even without a bank account. Health services and vaccines are becoming more available according to Clinton. Give a lot of credit to economies of scale in vaccine production but remember also people like Cindy Thacker, who fought to provide decent health care to the children of Santa Cruz. Aids is being overcome, but dirty water still kills unseen scores of children around the world.
Clinton goes on to tout green economies and the sale of carbon credits as economic development. Women are doing better in Rwanda, according to Clinton, but he neglects to mention the return to Sixth Century conditions in 'Arab Spring' nations. He says justice and cooperation are occurring in lands that were in conflict a decade ago. The Middle-East is a very dangerous place right now. Somehow Bill Clinton fails to convince me...
The Real Case for Optimism
By Lynn R. Mitchell (SWAC Girl)
A 22-year-old, the youthful future of America, shared her thoughts about the controversy surrounding Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments at a closed event that was secretly recorded and released to the left-leaning Mother Jones magazine.
Romney's comments, being heralded by liberals as proof that Romney is out of touch with everyday Americans, actually do the exact opposite. They show how in touch Romney is with his understanding and truthful assessment of what is going on with America.
The 22-year-old started working at a grocery store when she was 16 and her experience from that job was part of what helped define her conservative values. With permission, here are her thoughts on the issue:
"Romney saying 47% of voters are dependent on the government in some way or another doesn't seem like a stretch to me, and neither does saying they feel like "victims" who are "entitled" to those benefits.
I used to work in a grocery store on a not-so-desirable end of town, and something like 60-70% of our business came from patrons on some sort of government aid, such as food stamps or WIC. I worked there for just under a year, but I only remember a handful of people who actually seemed like they truly needed the government's help.
Many people on food stamps would have almost $100 worth of beer and cigarettes in their transaction (which they paid for with cash or a debit card). I distinctly remember one customer come through with a conveyor belt full of steaks, chips, sodas, hamburger buns, and of course beer. I told him it looked like he was having a party - and he was. He said he hosted his neighborhood block party every year, and he always bought the food because it was "free."
Some of you may know that WIC tells you specifically what you can buy (i.e. sliced cheese vs. block cheese). One lady and her husband were so mad that they could only buy 1% milk (they wanted 2%) that they threw the gallon of 1% at me (and missed), then stormed out of the store and did donuts in the parking lot. Another time at a different grocery store where I was purchasing food, some guy asked me to buy him cigarettes. In exchange, he'd spend whatever the cigarettes cost on my groceries, using his food stamp card (I declined the offer).
All of this is to say, based on my experience, 47% of voters on some type of government aide does not seem far fetched to me, and a portion of those people that I've seen definitely seem to feel "entitled" to their "free" money.
Yes, Romney's words may not have been eloquent, but so what? Truth hurts. In fact, I found an article that says 49.1% of households were on some sort of government aid in 2011. The Left can get as bent out of shape as it wants, but facts are facts.
A purported Benjamin Franklin quote: "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
47%."
This opinion is from one youthful segment of the population that understands the consequences of an unbalanced economic base. Many others agree. Read more at SWAC Girl [click to read].
It's time for honest dialogue about America's finances. Mitt Romney -- and a 22-year-old in Virginia -- are doing that.
If You Can Work, Please Work [click to read]
By Pastor Chuck Balsamo
"America is treading water (much more than we know it). We should definitely care for our disabled and elderly, but we can no longer carry the able bodied/able minded dead-beats on our shoulders… we are sinking." -- Chuck Balsamo
The Fallacy of Redistribution [click to read]
By Thomas Sowell
"We have all heard the old saying that giving a man a fish feeds him only for a day, while teaching him to fish feeds him for a lifetime. Redistributionists give him a fish and leave him dependent on the government for more fish in the future. If the redistributionists were serious, what they would want to distribute is the ability to fish, or to be productive in other ways. Knowledge is one of the few things that can be distributed to people without reducing the amount held by others. That would better serve the interests of the poor, but it would not serve the interests of politicians who want to exercise power, and to get the votes of people who are dependent on them." -- Thomas Sowell
No comments:
Post a Comment