Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The party of 'no" versus the party of "gimme"


I hear it all the time. Republicans are the party of NO. They vote against Obama's programs in Congress just to be belligerent and make him look bad. Or are they just being a concerned parent?

To me, the spending issue is more like the difference between a parent who is too lenient and a parent who practices discipline. There are a few different definitions of discipline but the one that strikes at the heart of it is "training to increase strength and self-reliance". Parenting is the hardest job in the world. It takes great inner strength to say no to your child when you would much rather just see them happy. It would make your life so much easier to give your child anything they wanted. Teaching them to earn their way and watching them struggle to do it takes a lot of faith, courage and heartache. But it prepares them for the real world.

Our government is the lenient parent. It needs to be the disciplining one. It's sure easy to say yes to all the groups looking for handouts. Not only does it give you a warm fuzzy feeling, it will probably get you elected. But it creates many a disincentive and many a "spoiled child". As you parents know, once you have said yes to unlimited spending on a child and then try to reign them in, there's hell to pay. You can see this happening right now to our government. When is the last time you heard about a government welfare program being discontinued? We never seem to terminate one to add another. We just add it on anyway. And the debt continues to skyrocket as more groups line up at the treasury trough.

The party of no? I think after November 2nd it will seem more like the country of no.  Or, to put it another way, parenting at its best.

2 comments:

Cindy Brandd said...

D'accord. Look what the brats are doing en France...in every city over there...damnit, I want my five weeks off and my pension to start at 60, even though I don't have a job! I'm too busy hurling bombs sur la police.

Big Al said...

Right on Cindy Lou. That is a perfect example of what I am saying in the blog. Socialism rearing it's ugly head again! Thanks for the comment.