How Much More?

http://www.boston-tea-party.org/pictures/picture1.html

What it was like at the exact moment that the early colonists decided that they'd had enough. More than enough...too much. What must they have felt like when they finally decided that it was past the point of talking and the time had come to do something....something radical...something that could get them in trouble but something to make their point? When did they at last decide that the government had overstepped its bounds and become too oppressive to tolerate?

When is it out time to stop talking and act? Have we reached it yet? Are we close? Have we missed our window of opportunity? Is there even anything we CAN do to finally be heard and understood? Do enough of us care?

I've been thinking about the current state of our nation a lot of late. I am not one of those people who prefer to bury their heads in the sand and not pay attention. I prefer to be informed, but even I am tempted to just tune it all out. I'm tempted to turn off the news, to never check another internet news story and to quit listening to talk radio altogether. I don't care the source, I'm just overwhelmed by it all...and yet I know that doing so is not the right choice. In fact, I believe it might even be irresponsible to stop caring, even when that is exactly what I wish I could do.

I watched the news this morning as I was getting ready for my doctor's appointment. I listened to Rush on the way home from my errands. Generally, I can put a positive spin on what is going on, but lately, I don't see much good that can possibly come from what is happening in our country.

Some people are trying to put a positive spin on our current political events by saying that the elections in 2010 could very well shift us back towards conservatism, but I am not convinced. Not only am I not certain that this will be the case, but I highly suspect that it won't matter much either way. We can put a huge conservative majority in Congress in 2010, but the damage to the country will have already been done. Much has already happened that will greatly harm our society, and as anyone should know, once a government program is put into place, it will never leave. It will only grow.

Candidate Obama told America what he intended to accomplish as president. President Obama has moved very quickly to push legislation through (aided by the Democrat majority in Congress) to do exactly what he promised. President Obama and the liberal left have an agenda and they are moving with great speed to accomplish their goals. The agenda is clear. We are rapidly headed from a Democracy within a Republic to a Socialist government where hard work and success are punished and the welfare state is forced upon us, little by little, until so many people are oppressed that there will be virtually no way out. We will all be forced to depend on a centralized government for our every need...for food, housing, health care, jobs, banking....and it's happening now.

Already, the government is trying to nationalize our banking system, it is the owner of the vast majority of mortgage companies, it is trying RIGHT NOW to implement universal (government mandated and controlled) health care coverage, and workers who are successful in their jobs are being punished in the form of higher taxes, when they already pay far more than their fair share of the load. There is almost no incentive, even now, to be successful or to make it on our own. After all, why bother trying when you know you will only be punished? Why not sit back and enjoy the benefits of being handed everything for doing nothing?

The news is not only depressing, but completely frustrating and anger-inducing. Andrew and I pay our mortgage on time, every time. We bought a house that was well within our means, and we VERY carefully considered what we could afford and what we couldn't. Andrew works his rear end off, every single day, in a very demanding job so that we can make our mortgage payments, and have health insurance and food and clothing. He makes daily sacrifices so that we can meet our responsibilities. We pay far too much in taxes, but we always pay them on time. We take care of ourselves as millions of other hard-working Americans have done before us, and now we will be paying for other, most often very irresponsible, people who didn't bother to live within their means, work hard or sometimes even try to take care of themselves.

That makes me angry.

I'm angry that my husband is now working not only to take care of his family...his responsibility....but he is now also supporting the family that took out a huge home mortgage they absolutely knew they had no prayer of affording, never made a payment, and now can't understand why they are about to lose their house. He is working to pay for food stamps for the single mother who never bothered to have any self-control and had 4 children out of wedlock, with at least one or two deadbeat "dads", who "can't" work because daycare is "too expensive" and besides, why bother? If she has more kids, she knows she will get more welfare...so why not have a couple more? Sure, her life isn't comfortable, but she never has to leave the house and go to work, so it's not all bad.

I'm angry that even though we can and do pay for our health care, because some people choose not to get an education and then work at minimum wage jobs, and therefore have lousy health insurance (or none at all), we will soon be forced to be under government mandated and controlled universal health care. And so, just like in Europe and Canada, now we will all be subjected to substandard medical care; we will wait in months-long lines and hope that we don't need any kind of treatment that is not cost-effective based on our life expectancy, because if we cost too much...well, we can't have that, now can we? After all, our lives are only worth so much to the government, right?

.

I'm angry and I feel like no one cares. I'm angry and I don't know what I can do. I know I'm not the only one, but I feel alone, as I hear more and more people falling for the lies of the liberals who want to impose socialism on America. I think I've reached that point where I'm ready to throw my own Boston Tea Party. I think I know how those early colonists felt...like they were being squeezed in a vice, like all that was good about their lives was being stolen by the government, like all their hard work made no difference, like they were out of options and they just couldn't take it any more.

I don't want to take it any more

Maybe it's time for those among us who are successful (meaning we don't depend on the government for our food, homes or health care) to simply stop paying taxes. Without our tax money, the government can't do what they want, can't simply force us to go along. And besides, there aren't enough jail cells to put us all in....so what can they do? Maybe there's a better way, but no matter what, I think it's tea party time once again in America....before it's too late.