Political Dirt

You know one thing that really drives me up the wall is the term “the rich” when it comes to politics. Everything is for “the rich” and “the rich” get all the benefits or tax cuts, and why can’t “the rich” spare more of their dollars…. The truth is, when it comes to understanding economics, you have to put things in perspective before you can just throw around such phrases.

For instance…

Who are “the rich”? What demographic and income bracket are these folks falling in? Truly, in most instances, it depends on who you’re talking to and what they’re talking about. In some cases it’s people who make 6+ figures, in others it’s you and me (and I know we’d hardly consider ourselves “rich” in the American sense of the word..most people I know are, in some way, financially struggling) and in others, if you make more than $30,000 a year and have a family of 4 you can also be considered “rich.” It really does no good for people to throw around this term because usually it has no relevance to the situation…read on…

One thing people don’t seem to get is basic economics…and that is, when you tax “the rich” it DOES have an affect on the rest of us. How so, you say? Well, who employs you? Who pays you your paycheck? I’m sure they have more money than you do, and they probably are considered “rich” in some books. So, logic follows that if you tax those folks more, then there’s less room for hiring more people, providing more jobs, increasing salaries, bonuses…etc. etc. (I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty darn grateful that there are some “rich” folks who can employ my husband so he can provide for our family. And I’m also grateful (VERY grateful) that even when things were slow last year, they didn’t just let him go.) Now, who is to say that in a few years if they are taxed beyond their means, that won’t happen to us or to you?

Something to think about. Now I know a lot of us Christians will just throw out the “God will provide” statement…YES, He will provide, YES, He foreknows all we are to go through, and YES, He is sovereign in any and all circumstances, even those beyond our comprehension, but He also wills for us to be good stewards of our resources and (again) I believe one of our resources is our ability to vote for a good leader. (Consequently, Obama’s failure to mention any sort of balancing the budget is a HUGE issue for me….if you were to hire someone to do your bookkeeping it would be ridiculous to hire someone who wouldn’t keep your accounts balanced and in order….so likewise, I consider it an even MORE important responsibility as the President of the United States to take seriously his/her role in handling our (yours, mine, and ours) monies….at least to the best of their ability.

Another note….”rich” doesn’t mean endless supply of money….I know that’s obvious but I figured I’d state it anyway…

Case in point: and I’ll use myself for example…I’ve often thought of hiring someone to help me out with my work. Now, I am not rich as most of you know (I like to keep my Swiss bank accounts secret) and say I wanted to hire a college intern at $15 per hour. That’s not an unreasonable idea for me…but say next year and Obama is elected and taxes go up, then I have less money to work with and to pay a college intern. So $12 an hour is still pretty good you say? Hey, I don’t know what college kiddos make these days, it would’ve been good in my day, but the point is, it actually drives my business down because I have to find someone who will work for less. And business owners who have to do that end up with lower quality of product/goods/service and can’t compete with anyone else and thus you end up with small businesses shutting their doors. But Obama has a solution–as quoted by him:

“In the end, this economic agenda won’t just require new money. It will require a new spirit of cooperation and innovation on behalf of the American people. We will have to learn more, and study more, and work harder. We’ll be called upon to take part in shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.”

(By the way, this quote is in reference to his economic speech made in Wisconsin)

The problem with this for me personally (and most people I know) is that we are already working as hard as we can and for many of us, we’re still paycheck-to-paychecking it. So HOW is this going to help us? How are those of us working two or even three jobs supposed to work harder and sacrifice more? I know most of my friends are working extremely hard to take care of their families and provide…working more than one (sometimes even two) jobs, going to school at night, working nights/weekends extra….so I would personally like to know how this is to be accomplished. I’m not saying we are not wealthy in terms of the world. We are…we are the most economically fat society that has ever existed. BUT (and there’s a big but in there….) we also live in a time where things (food, gas, clothing) have adjusted them to a means that meets up to our economy as well….hence why most people really struggle to live off one income and have the mom stay at home.

This is why this line of thinking hurts small businesses.. For all the preaching Democrats (or rather liberals) do about how bad large corporations are (just thought of something…large corporations are bad but large government isn’t…??? another strange dichotomy…) they sure don’t do anything to help small businesses! And I truly believe that small businesses are what has made our country so great…because you’re taking people and their ideas and innovation and giving them room to grow and blossom their dreams into things that can help the world. Maybe I’m an idealist, but it’s proven true in our country’s history this far….why do we want to ruin it? Why do we want to hurt that? It’s helped in our advancement of medicine, technology, science…you name it and it has helped the world over. When man is free to pursue what God has uniquely gifted him/her to do, amazing things…miracles…happen! At least this is my opinion. And when you relegate everyone to the same playing field and say “you are no different than anybody else” (in the sense of uniqueness in God’s eyes and uniqueness in personality/talents/even in the Body of Christ…not in the sense of being better than someone…obviously no one is better than anyone else) then you squelch that spirit.

I believe that freedom comes when people are free. And this is what the Founding Fathers believed as well…the colonists, those that came over to a new country and risked their lives to BE free….this was the purpose of America.

The secular world (or rather the socialist world I should say) looks at wealth as an evil…but if that’s so then where would our country (and even the world) be? France would be speaking German for one, and I could mention a whole host of other things that would be. Also, does not God USE all things for His glory? Does this not mean wealth as well? I think some Christians have fallen into a trap of socialist thinking that has left them feeling guilty about having something (ANYTHING) that someone else does not have… But think about all the ministries and missionaries that exist and are supported by people with their money. Yes, I will say that I think the church in large part has forgotten some of its responsibilities, but that doesn’t negate the fact that there are tens of hundreds of amazing organizations that have radically changed peoples lives the world over that simply would cease to exist if it weren’t for the generous gifts and donations of “the rich” (and the not so rich you know!) Again, I am NOT saying that as a church we are doing enough…in fact I think a large part of why people are so accepting of the idea of government handling things is BECAUSE of the church’s failure to do so and the failure of its people (us) who are called to minister to others and their physical needs particularly. BUT this does not mean that because of the church’s failure it’s right to give the responsibility to the government. IMO that’s the “easy way out” and not what the Lord would have us do…just my opinion but I really do believe that. Plus, I do believe it’s just plain wrong to give people more power with other people’s money against their will (ex.. taxes for things like, oh heck…well I’m sure you can think of something, there’s so many to choose from) It’s downright theft.

Anyhow….just some thoughts for the day. I tell you what, I’ve got 6 posts drafted already and my brain just won’t quit. I need to find a way to organize my thoughts though…otherwise I’ll drive myself (and you) crazy!

Oh one last note to finish up–a little tidbit of sorts for ya…another strange dichotomy…(I think I’m going to have to start a new category just for these) Democrats.org touts Thomas Jefferson as their leader….and you know what, the guy was a firm states’ rights supporter. He was not supportive of big government in the least and was afraid of government’s potential for tyrannical rule. How ironic that the party OF big government holds him up as their icon…

Another quick little note….someone mentioned to me that they thought my previous post (one of them–didn’t say which one) sounded condescending.  Now most of you know me and know that I do not try to be condescending in any way or manner when it comes to this because that is not my heart in this.  (Truth be told I do think most people could stand a few history lessons, but the reason I am posting about this is because I am so passionate about it and about the body of Christ knowing what is going on in our nation.)  I will not try and coddle anyone (and as another person pointed out to me, people complain because the grass is green) and I don’t promise to not be controversial to some of you, but like I said before, I will not put anyone down because of their beliefs…particularly if they are held with conviction and passion…and not just some You-Tube-media-gotten sound-byte, sounds good to me idea.  (That last part I’m particular about..tee hee….I make all disclaimer to poke fun at you if you don’t know what you’re talking about!)    Kidding…

SO!  Take that for what you will, I read and re-read my posts several times before publishing them and neither I nor my husband thought it condescending, and so I don’t feel I have anything to apologize for, but I just want those of you to know who may be reading this and quick to the offense…this is not personal.  That is why I’m posting this on a blog…so no one can take it personally.   I know I may not be very popular with some of you in writing this, and that’s okay!  I am doing what I feel has been put on my heart and led to do and if the only thing I get out of this is more education for myself and my children, then amen brother!  All the better –I just strongly believe in the importance of the truth having light shed upon it and while I may get carried away, bear with me, I do have a point to make…)

Anyhoo….and now I’m saying goodnight! 

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I LOVE this quote!!! It just says everything!

Anyhoo….a few notes for Friday:

I watched a blurb about Obama on tv the other day where he was being harrassed by a guy for a picture. And you know, not once did he behave inappropriately to him. He was annoyed by him, yes, and he told the guy he was getting to him, but it was done so politely you would’ve thought he was complimenting the guy. (And he did give him the picture.)
The fact of the matter is that he has charisma. And that weighs a lot with people–after all, it’s our nature to base and form opinions on people by their personality. And his personality (from what I’ve seen and heard, which is not everything of course) is charming to folks.

The reason I mention this is because I think we have to be careful with being swayed by the book’s cover. If we want to know what is in the book, we read it, then we make a decision/opinion about it. I feel the same about McCain as well…and truth be told, I’ve read some of that book and I don’t like it! (Which definitely leaves me in a conundrum!) But Obama’s book has a lot more in it that I think people aren’t aware of…I will post more later (particularly on a comment Obama made) but we’ll see if I have time….

On another note…one thing I’ve heard (even from Christians) is that this country was not based and founded on Christian principles. Which totally astounds me because while I know secular textbooks have erased any mention of God in them, certainly Christians have been educated about what the Founding Fathers stood for and believed in. But apparently not. Now, not all of them were believers, certainly…but some of them spoke directly about their relationship, not just with God, but Jesus Christ Himself.

This is one thing I will also be talking about here in the future. I think as Christians, it’s vitally important to KNOW our country’s history, and that will not be taught in a secular classroom. So unless you take the time to read their works and writings for yourself (and teach your children) they will likely end up believing that God was not part of this deal at all. But equally as important is having the SOURCES. People don’t believe things unless they are in black and white (hey, in a world of a bunch of lies and opinions I certainly understand.) So one of my goals with this is to also give you some of those sources and resources… (Didn’t I tell you I won first place for persuasive speech in college?! LOL…)

This is all my dad’s fault you know…he is the one that taught me how to learn and he knows more about history than anyone I know (esp. about the Civil War era, which is his favorite) and he also taught me how to research. I do consider it a gift though, and it’s definitely something I want to pass to my children… But it’s also a learning process for me too, because I am learning through all this as well.

Anyhoo, I’ve got to run for now…