stever2258's Blog

While not my original story, on the eve of this election, this is one of my favorite stories about how a young liberal gets a reality check from dear Dad.

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of "the redistribution of wealth."  She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"  She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."  The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

 

We don't live in a perfect world.  And thus we are faced with choices, at times, none of which are appealing.  In the Presidential election, that's where many of us find ourselves today.  It would be tempting to sit home on election day, but that's just not right.  Anything can happen between now and then.  But if McCain ends up leading the ticket, swallow hard, but pull the lever for him to prevent a far worse outcome.  Having a choice at all is better than having no choice, as in dictatorship.  We'll keep fighting for our values and implore the President, our Congressman and Senators to support our values regardless of who they are.  It may seem like a sad day for conservatives.  But the truth is that it is our values that are important and we will stand for them regardless of who the President is.  The best thing we can do is be vocal in supporting and advancing our values even when they are unpopular.  That's what liberals do and have learned to do well.  They have also done a great job at trying to silence conservatives and make us look and sound out of touch and insensitive/intolerant.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  And rather than letting these folks set our agenda, we must stick firm to our values.  While governing and politics often requires compromise, there are some of our values that we just can't compromise.  On those we must stand firm.  On others, we can try to work with them.  But history unfortunately has proven that when you give these folks an inch, they take you a mile.  And they will never give conservatives an  inch.   In the end, we believe conservatives still make the best candidates for our country and pray for the future of our nation whenever it's in the hands of liberals or left-leaning moderates.  So join the frustrated Americans club today, but please vote in November.    And pray...

Well, we know where the priorities of the Commonwealth lie.  For those of us who opposed bringing gambling to PA., this is just the beginning of the evidence about how much power the gaming industry has and will have over this state.  Everything else might rot, close and shut down, but the slots will stay open for sure.  Shame on the governor and the legislature for ever approving gambling in the state.  It will bring in tons of revenue, I'm sure, but the other things it brings with it to the state are far worse.  And you won't see your taxes go down.  They'll just find more pet projects to spend it on.  All this while our infrastructure continues  to deteriorate.  It already takes years to get a bridge replaced because this state never set money aside to improve and fix our infrastructure as it deteriorated.  Of course, the bridges and roads around the slot parlors that need fixing will be done immediately while the infrastructure in the rest of the state rots.

The real truth about slots and Act 72 is already beginning to sink in.  So much for all the added revenue to our schools and lower taxes and tax increases only for the average inflation figure.  Now the state is going to grant 210 districts exemptions from the rule so they don't have to let the voters decide on it in an election as was promised and required.  The education system in this state is a bottomless pit of taxes with no accountability.  And Act 72 and slots don't look to be the magic formula to end this trail of tax and spend history any time soon.  We should be ashamed to see how much the taxpayers pay toward education in this state and how little we get for it in many of the districts across the state, particularly urban districts.  If it were up to me, I'd turn the whole educational system over to private enterprise and remove the government from it altogether.  Can you say vouchers?