Please see my wording, I said “generally”. I suppose there are times it might, but philosophically speaking I think that kind of help should be limited.

It’s not about helping other people. It’s about the government helping people…or mandating our system in such a way that makes us as individuals “help” others via programs, entitlements etc. I do not feel, nor will I ever (after having changed my mind from my former view as a Democrat) that it’s the role of the government to help people or fix their lives.

America is one of the most charitable countries on Earth. I feel, no I know, that most of us would help our fellow man without the need for the government to act as the middle man. And, no, I don’t feel that the government can make us give individually either, just like it can’t make us want to be environmentally concerned via making us pay more for our utilities. That is beyond big brother…that’s getting into the realm of which I’ve spoken before, totalitarianism etc. It’s dangerous and needless.

As a people, if left to our own devices, we are much more than capable of doing what’s right. But human nature falls in there too.

If you care to look, Thomas Sowell talked about his book, “Conflict of Visions” on NRO not too long ago. There are five parts. I personally think they are all really good, but of course watch what you want. The first part is pretty exemplary to my views.

http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=NWMzOWRlZmE0MGFiODRhZTA2ZTdmMmNlNjFlMmUyNjI=

“I’ve said it time and again, government assistance of any kind does not generally boost someone up, but rather keep them stagnant or push them down.”

For every example you have of assistance keeping someone down, I can give you an example of people able to get back on their feet. Do you honestly feel that NO ONE benefits from government assistance? If so, wouldn’t you want to err on the side of helping other people?

I will respond to your question about why I changed my political leanings, since obviously my vows to never post again are completely pointless, lol.

I was a Democrat for a long time, and this is not a slam against Democrats, just a statement about myself, because I was naive. I had alot of social issues that I felt strongly about and felt that the government had to enforce or protect them. I was young. I didn’t have much money or a family, that was pretty much my only political leanings…all socially related. And for years thats what I supported vehemently.

Then I became a reporter and had to cover local government issues and education. I quickly learned the practical applications of taxes, governmental regulations etc. I had to decipher them, translate them for readers and understand them. The more I learned, the more skeptical I became on the effectivness of government in general and very much specifically regarding certain issues I always championed. Back then, welfare was one of them.

I was a little man’s biggest advocate, when I didn’t know any, LOL. Then I had to cover the Housing Authority and other things and came to know the other side of what I had always just felt was one certain way.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve just come to realize that the least amount of reach the government has in my life and yours, the best. There is so much in terms of unbelievable waste, corruption and inefficiency in government. When you are sent to look for these things and you find them, it just makes you sick. I’ve met very few politicians I felt like really had the voters best interest at heart, even locally. There are some, but overall most have their own ambitions at the heart of making them politicians. Once I learned that, I quickly made the leap to less government is better. I can manage my life just fine without the government intervening. And I do wholeheartedly believe that people who are classified as those that “need” governmental assistance would benefit more without it.

I’ve said it time and again, government assistance of any kind does not generally boost someone up, but rather keep them stagnant or push them down.

Obama is the classic liberal in the sense that he sees the government as the sole answer for most social or political ill. If there’s a problem he’s got a program, mandate, regulation, tax, earmark…something…to fix it. And with each stroke of his pen on these pieces of legislation, the less true liberty each one of us as citizens have. I don’t care how much you argue it or feel it not to be so, it is. When government mandates your life, you truly are not free.

If I had my way, which obviously I won’t, the government would have MUCH LESS power than it currently does. Whole sections of federal programs would be slashed if not gotten rid of entirely. I have grown to become a true constitutionalist and think the government’s role really should be strictly interpreted accordingly. It won’t be. But it should be.

Here is the perfect example of why I don’t like Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bueCxeXZAUU

This just angers me beyond measure. How dare he assume to mandate my conscience and my own personal actions. Just because he thinks or believes a certain thing…that global warming will kill us all…he wants to MAKE me do the right thing by imposing a financial pressure?? I’ve got his price signals right here…

Obama will not only act in this way regarding this one matter, he WILL do it on all matters. He knows best and will tell us what to do because of that…in his opinion.

In what area of your life, personally, would you allow such things? Do you want teachers telling you how to raise your kids? Perhaps you would want a grocery store clerk to not allow you to purchase a chocolate cake because it would be better for your health if you didn’t eat it. Or maybe when you go to buy a car the salesman could refuse to sell you a car that had less MPG because you already pollute the environment too much. Is it ok if your neighbor weighs in on what color you paint your house or a friend decides whether or not you worked to much or not enough to go on vacation? You wouldn’t allow other people to makes these decisions for you, but you want or expect the government to? These are just silly examples, but regarding real issues…your retirement, your healthcare, your child’s education, the infrastructure of your city, how businesses are run…you want them to tell you what to do or mandate how they think it should be done?

Obama can be my president sure. But I live in a free democracy, supposedly, and unless I agree to have him mandate to me how I live my life to meet his ends, then I might as well move to China…because that IS what would be happening. It’s not his job as President to do that. It’s his job to protect us and act as our national spokeperson in the free world. I have a state legislature that I feel can govern mostly for me. I have representation, as someone pointed out to me the other day, in Congress to hopefully *yeah right* represent me. Obama, in my opinion, does not have that right. Nor does McCain. But at least with McCain he will protest my personal interests via veto power when the Dems try and pass every bit of liberal legislation they can because he shares my values.

Obama will inact so much more government spending and growth…well, I shudder to think. Carter was a mess, but this will be even beyond that. You can ignore me all you want and perhaps you support government taking care of everything. But if part of you doesn’t, then mark my words, you are about to get a true taste of radical leftist government. You will either hate it or living a dream come true.

It goes back to the basics:

Obama = BIG government
McCain = Less government (hopefully)

McCain resorted to snide remarks and even pouting, where Obama stayed on point, kept his spine right where it belonged and owned the room.

There is no question which one I want representing me when the president meets with leaders of other countries.

finally, in seeking some common ground here, i don’t know but perhaps we’re both housewives, spending most of our time and energy in creating happy homes for ourselves and our family. plus, just from what i read, i think we’re both madly in love with our husbands. which is a blessing you must admit. i like common ground being our level of investment in family. it’s how Americans can live in disagreement with each other without civil war busting out during every election.

since you’ve moved from your “never going to comment on this blog again” to your never going to make another POLITICAL comment again (spoken like a true politician), then i’m sure i’ll be seeing you on here. (again).

tomorrow is election day and i’m watching polls, so if you see fox news interview a poll watcher, and that poll watcher winks at the camera, know that it was a shout out from me to you.

My husband and I are always amazed when we see people clearly voting against their own self interest. Some of the McCain/Palin signs in our town are in front of run-down houses where people are clearly hurting economically– people who would benefit the most from Obama’s tax cuts. Obviously, Bush’s trickle-down economics never made it down this far. But still they support more of the same through McCain. It amazes us.

As I said before (and was taken out of context by one commenter), I think these people are afraid. Afraid of something they don’t understand and have never experienced– a black man in a position of power. And they have been frightened even more by the scare tactics of the Republican party. I saw the most repulsive ad on television last night. It had a picture of an Obama poster with the word HATE in place of the word HOPE and then it lambasted Obama over his connection to Rev. Wright. The same Rev. Wright McCain said he would never bring up in his campaign. So much for his word.

The Republican machine realizes they are going to lose this election and lose it so big they can’t steal it. So they are resorting to the most horrible thing in their playbook at the end–stir up fear so much that there will be a lingering hostility in this country long after the election.