Commentary

From the dentist’s office where an elderly woman voiced concern about the behemoth proposed government health care plan to the driver’s license office where I had to present my driver’s license, my passport, my social security card and my current voter registration card to have my perfectly valid expiring driver’s license renewed – everyone wants to share their concerns about our government. I turned 47 on August 13 and never before in my lifetime have I observed among the people with whom I come in contact on a daily basis this uneasiness to complete and utter disbelief to an almost debilitating sense of fear.As I have said so many times, I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or a Martian, if you were elected to represent the people, you darned well better be representing the people. The people aren’t happy, despite what we hear on many national media programs.

The people are ticked off.

A recent Sunday morning television news program featured congressmen from both “sides of the aisle.” The subject: national health care. The week before, thousands of people from grassroots communities across this great land had come out in force to voice their opposition or support of a national health care plan at town hall meetings held by those D.C. lawmakers representing the interests of constituents in those grassroots communities. I was in the kitchen snapping green beans from our garden when I heard a well-known senator from an eastern state tell the program host (with a straight face) that what people are saying at town hall meetings is not representative of most Americans. I dropped my beans and walked around the corner into the living room to see the man on television and listen for a clarification of the comment he made. There was no clarification, just a reiteration of the comment and the expected and disappointing follow-up comment that he will do what he believes is best for his constituents when he gets back to Washington.

I said to the man on TV, “Why have a town hall meeting if you aren’t going to listen to us?”

The second man was so busy stumbling over himself declaring his commitment to and his voting record of bi-partisanship that I picked up a green bean and threw it at the television.

I received an email last week that many of you have probably also received by now. In a nutshell, it is a story told by a teacher about an election for class president. Candidates were nominated by class members. The first candidate had specific ideas about how to make the class a better place and promised to do his very best. The second candidate had a more concise speech. She said, “If you vote for me, I will give you ice cream.” A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn’t sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn’t know. The class really didn’t care. They wanted ice cream. She won.

Sadly, many Americans are like those students, choosing elected officials at the county, state and national level based upon campaign promises of ice cream for everyone. I personally do not believe I have the intrinsic right nor does the Declaration of Independence or the United States Constitution grant to us as American citizens the right to food, shelter and/or health care.

The American Dream is a state of mind, not ownership of property. My yardstick for measuring success differs greatly from that of my friends who live and work in Chicago or Indianapolis or Terra Haute. You cannot mass produce or divide equally among the people something as awesome as an individual’s hope and dreams. Our forefathers laid out a plan to give us opportunity. It is through our own hard work and planning and hours of commitment that we are able to achieve the American dream.

Forget the “free” government ice cream because the cost is much more than you and me and generations to come can afford to pay.

Give us the freedom to be prosperous and we will grow the ingredients and make the ice cream ourselves.