Monday, October 18, 2010

Go Vote, Wisely

We are living in a truly momentous time. On November 2, you will cast one of the most important votes of your life. Don’t stand on the side lines scared of where the country is headed. You are part of the solution. This is truly important.

Don’t be confused. This fall’s key issue is not about the economy. Surely, it is disheartening and discouraging to be out of work and trying hard to make ends meet. It appears that there are two choices: believe that jobs are yet to come because of the stimulus program or the promise of yet another one, or believe the stimulus is not going to employee you in any of the never-really-was shovel ready projects. Providing for one’s family is foremost on the minds of Americans who carry that responsibility. But don’t be fooled, this is not what November’s election is all about. It's much bigger.

Too much is at stake. America is an exceptional country, threatened by an ever increasing federal government. As the government gets bigger, the citizen’s liberty becomes smaller. Nothing illustrates this more than when the individual works for themselves. That is liberty. When the government takes more and more of your wage in taxes, it curtails your freedom. You have less and less left to spend as you see fit. Therefore, your decisions, your choices, your freedoms are diminished. Instead your money goes to the government to be redistributed.

Staggering debt, increasing payments to government workers and their pensions when the private sector is squeezed, the use of czars to increase governmental power usurping congressional constitutional responsibilities, and the use of executive powers to threaten passage of burdensome cap and trade laws are crushing your freedoms. It is out of control and ever growing. With Social Security, Medicare, and debt service projected to comprise 90% of GDP by 2020, how are we to afford mundane services like the defense of the country and border security?

Today, the bottom 50% of wage earners pay just 3% of collected income tax. Real America is no longer vested in themselves, but into a system of perverse behavior. When participation in the income tax becomes a minority enterprise we create a moral hazard. We are creating and our children will inherit a bigger government with ever shrinking tax base. Do you really believe this formula can be sustained? And when it does crash, what will you have but your sold liberties?

We can’t dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities any longer. It is time reexamine what our government is suppose to do for us. That is as little as possible.

The strength of our country is based on three values that are under attack.

  1. It is God-centered not secular.(Do you believe it is wrong and unconstitutional for students to be told, "God bless you" at their graduation?)
  2. It is E pluribus Unum, from many one.(Do you believe bilingual education for children of immigrants, rather than immersion in English, is good for them and for America?)
  3. And it is liberty. (Do you believe the government should fine its citizens for not purchasing a consumer product?)

When you vote on November 2, please consider your candidates’ beliefs. It is not about their platform on tried and failed litmus issues. It is about preserving our exceptional country and the liberties provided to all. It’s time to slash the tyranny of big government and the lurch to the left.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Nuts!

I now add a new skill to my resume, the ability to make acorn flour. The application of this skill won’t land a corporate job in Human Resources with any company other than NOLS or Outward Bound. And even that is doubtful.

Last week when visiting my sister the bombardment of acorns on her deck, barbecue grill, the roof, backyard, neighbor’s RV etc., resembled a siege. The pinging non stop. Ventures outside seemed full of peril. And all those nuts had to be good for something more than cute leprechaun craft figures with painted faces. I gathered a bucket load and toted them back to New York.

Mom always claimed the nuts were poisonous. Actually they are not, but the tannins contained within the meat make the little nut about as bitter as a New York State Gubernatorial race. The nut is edible, but if something tastes that awful, then what is the true definition of edible?

Acorns have long been a favorite nut, because of the memories. One of my earliest recollections of the little nut with the cute tam-like cap was on McGregor Mountain. It was a family outing with Uncle Harold and Aunt Doris who had come to visit from New Jersey. In the short walk through the woods to the place President Grant once lived and to where the silent sentry cannon stood amid tall oaks, I discovered the origin of trees. Yes, they came from little nuts. I could hold a whole forest in my cupped hands. But my discovery of a forest-in-hand waned when I was told the nut was poisonous. What a bitter pill to swallow after such an amazing discovery. Squirrels and worms could eat these things presumably because they were immune. More like they would starve otherwise.

Knowing the resourcefulness of the Native Americans, I could never imagine that such an autumn harvest couldn't be used for anything more than pig or squirrel bait. And indeed, I was always right.

Yet, I was never compelled to make flour because I don’t bake much and when I need flour, I stick with the Gold Medal. Now with too much time on my hands and a sense to prepare for the day of doom when economic markets collapse and governments run amuck, I’ve decided to acquire skills that would entice others to pick me for their survival team. Or maybe one day CBS’s Survivor will cast a show in the Adirondacks and I can wow national audiences with my wilderness prowess that doesn’t involve a bikini.

Meanwhile, Dad’s electric bill will be July-high from the hours of boiling the tannins out of the shelled nuts and more hours drying the meal out in the oven. Will I now whip up a batch of acorn raspberry muffins the size of cat heads? Guess what my sisters are getting for Christmas?