Starting during President Johnson’s term, our country tried spending our way to becoming a very compassionate country. Over three decades, our government invested 5.4 trillion dollars in welfare payments in our “War on Poverty.” The investment would have been worth it, if it had worked, but it didn’t eliminate poverty.
In fact, the results of this type of government-run compassion have been devastating, creating a debilitating dependence on the very programs that were designed to help.
Ronald Reagan said it well: “Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”
Compassion should be measured by how many people no longer need government programs instead of by how many are served by them. We need a safety net, not a hammock. As our first Republican President Abraham Lincoln said, “The worst thing you can do for those you love is the thing they could and should do for themselves.”
We've gone from protecting the unfortunate to supporting the irresponsible. In fact, some politicians seem to want to keep citizens dependent on government. They hate poverty so much that they reward it!
Unfortunately, whatever you reward you get more of! So if my response to your entry-level job is to raise your minimum wage beyond its market value, you’re more likely to stay in that dead-end job. Why go to college or learn a new skill if you can get enough money settling for a job with minimum skills?
Republican support for capitalism is a form of tough love. It fosters competition because it cares enough to challenge you to better yourself. A free-market economy rewards achievement and not anything less.
That’s why Democrats say that Republicans are mean-spirited. Their claims remind me of our years as parents when our son would complain about how mean we were when we would in any way set limits or discipline him.
As parents we didn't expect his approval, but we knew that in time he'd respect us for preparing him for life. We cared enough to teach him early that in a competitive world you don’t get everything you want just because you want it. We showed him our love, but we also let him know that he would experience the consequences for his own choices. If he didn't save his money, he wouldn't have money to spend. If he got in trouble in school, he’d be held accountable not excused.
In America, all citizens are guaranteed “the pursuit of happiness,” not happiness dumped in their laps. But after listening to Democrats, you’d think every American is entitled to happiness, healthcare, welfare, high wages, and a secure retirement whether they’ve earned it or not.
And, of course, who is supposed to pay for all these entitlements, those greedy, "rich" Americans who already pay most of the taxes!
Will Rogers said it years ago, “I remember back when a liberal was someone who was generous with his own money.”
For far too long, a very expensive, intrusive government has been taking money from some Americans to do the “caring” for all of us.
Instead of reaching into our own pockets to support charities, we elect politicians who will pay for our charity by reaching into our neighbor’s pocket. That unfortunately allows too many citizens to say, `I don’t have to love my neighbor; that’s the government’s job!”
Gerald Ford summed it up well, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
Join me in voting Republican. Care enough about all hard-working Americans to let them keep more of what they've earned and encourage people to give to charities that make a difference where it counts instead of expecting government to do that for us.