This past Monday, I was a guest on Wake Up! with Doug Kosarek, an Orlando-based talk radio show. His question of the day was, "when did you wake up to your conservative values?" almost comparing it to when Christians are born-again. There's no doubt that many people have distinctive memories of when they finally realized that the government was not on their side! Was it a traffic ticket? Or a dispute with a neighbor? Or when you received your property tax bill? How about the first paycheck you got and the shock of what you took home versus what you calculated based on hourly pay?
Well, I'm one lucky chick because I grew up in a household that seemed very aware of the invaluable freedoms we have in America. I'm a second generation Army brat from both sides of my family. You could say that pride in America flows through my veins! My grandfathers, my father & my uncle all fought to keep American values and principles alive, not to strengthen our government.
Growing up, it was always a joke about how much we "got paid" compared to what we actually "took home". "Just wait and see," my older brothers would warn. My mom was an entrepreneur who started several successful businesses throughout the years. After a career in the Army as Finance Officer, my dad moved onto business management at the University of Florida. Our household understood how taxation discouraged work, growth, spending, saving and caused huge headaches for about 4 months out of the year.
In the 1943, our government enacted the income withholding tax. This single act of taxation changed the landscape of our great country and literally shackled Americans to the Federal Government. In one stroke of the pen, no honest, hard-working American will ever bring home an entire paycheck again (until we enact The FairTax). We can fill out cumbersome forms and look for any deduction in hopes that we recover some of the taxes paid come April 15. Little do most Americans know is that we don't get back our entire tax spending! On top of it, we pay corporations taxes with our own post-tax dollars! We're completely getting the shaft and we've become too lazy to worry about it.
Wake up, people! NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!
To get back to the original question, I was born thinking the way I do but it's always being refined. Refer back to my post on the 2-party system and understand that while I was born with conservative principles, my freedom is valued most - which includes freedom of speech, the right to bare arms, freedom to marry, choice of abortion or freedom invest money without penalty of taxation. (Oh, and I love the Constitution and the entire Bill of Rights) Conservative, to me, is fiscally related, not socially.
This email forward is worth the read:
He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.
And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.
He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?
The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.
While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.
It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,
It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?
Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.
He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
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