Obama says we are a post-Christian nation. Okay, whatever. I won't get into politics, but this nation's Constitution was still founded on Biblical laws. You know what I think is the worst of this? There is no personal responsibility anymore. Today, the Supreme Court ruled that rape of a child wasn't a death penalty crime. Um, that's not what the Old Testament says. But here's my concern, without personal responsibility (consequences) there is no incentive to not do something again. If your teenager stole money out of your purse, would you say, "Oh, it's no problem. Did you like what you were able to buy?" And then, NOT expect him to do it again?
Today, I heard an ad for a credit card debt company and they said, "Do you have more than $10,000 in unsecured credit card debt? If so, it's not your fault." Well, it sorta is. As a college student, I racked up $4k in credit card debt -- but I was still driving a Mustang Convertible. That was a CHOICE! Perhaps not the brightest one, but I took responsibility for the debt. Once I learned that the credit card companies are not your friend.
I'm not without a heart, I think it's wrong, wrong that people can lose their homes to pay for a child's illness, and I think what the mortgage companies did with these outlandish loans to people who didn't understand them is unconscionable. But as oil prices rise because greedy investors invest in "oil futures", and our congress did not regulate this system, I am getting really tired of the world pointing the finger at someone else. I am getting really tired of politicians tickling our ears rather than being men (or women) of honor and doing the right thing. Yes, free health care for everyone SOUNDS great, but if you'd tried to get your son's broken arm fixed at a hospital that is flooded with illegal immigrants, which your taxes are paying for, you might be less enthusiastic.
We had a contractor here doing some work, and when I talked to the working men and how difficult it was for them to make ends meet. For their wives to stay home and care for the babies, my heart just cringed. These guys are working 12 hours a day, trying to make ends meet and they're barely making a living wage, but honestly, the rich people are getting soaked with taxes, and so they aren't hiring as much and these men are out of work.
The responsible people are paying the price for this lack of responsibility and it's a system that cannot withstand. When my DH was making the big bucks, do you know we found it was cheaper for him NOT to work because we paid so much taxes? We could actually save more, and keep more of our money by getting out of the system. That is NOT God's design. And isn't it interesting that Satan can use the world's heart to make Christians sound heartless and the do-gooders spending your money generous? We don't care about the poor? Look at the world and see who is there when troubles come. It's not a government. It's Christians taking responsibility. Okay, rant over.
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Preach it! Sister!
OH oh oh! You have me jumping up and down, but I will keep my mouth for the most part shut and just say ditto:-) Actually, no, I'll add just a bit.
First, I do payroll for a living, and pay people who make *ahem* alot of money compared to what most of us make. I also take out and pay their taxes. So, to hear a politian talking about how we are giving tax incentives to rich people and taxing the poor people, it makes me want to scream. Rich people pay 35% in federal taxes! Poor people pay.... zero??? That's right, I said zero. In fact, in many cases the government ends up paying THEM taxes. Case in point: ME! Now, I dont call myself poor, mind you. I make a decent living, my hubby can stay home with my kiddos and works parttime in the evening. How much taxes do we pay? Well, pretty darn close to zero. In fact this year, I am pretty sure it will be negative taxes so the government WILL be paying me. (3 kids = $3000 child tax credit) So if my tax bill is less than $3000.00 the government ends up owing me! Granted, I have never refused the money or complained. and I really don't use a whole lot of government services (and pay a lot in sales tax here in TN!) but wow, I still feel a bit guilty having the government pay me while others have so much.
Anyway, I could go on and on, as this is a subject I am passionate, VERY passionate about (don't get me started on healthcare) but I'll be kind and shutup. *grin*
Happy Wednesday everyone!!
Well, I came here looking for Denise's post on the ACFW conference, but this is fantastic too!
Preach it, Kristin!
I'm tired of politicians and the media touting the horrible job the current administration is doing in regard to rising costs and taxes and healthcare. They refuse to acknowledge that we're in a depression because of the Democratic congress voted into place in 2006 -- two years AFTER the current administration continued in office.
And look at gas prices. up until 2006, they were averaging around $2.11/gallon. Now, not even 2 years later? Nearly DOUBLE!! Tell me again, who is responsible for this? Politicians in congress who are voting themselves more pay raises while they tax the rich (except themselves) and say they don't and cater to more and more illegal immigrants/aliens while driving up the welfare system and blindly convincing more people to buy into their lies so they can have more control.
We need to take back control and get out of their programs. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and have a plan. We need to be there for each other instead of being wrapped up in our own worlds. We need to bind together and fight this 'devil' attempting to undermine the very foundations of this country. Our founding fathers have been restless, tossing and turning in the graves for years. Let's give them some peace again.
Oh, and btw, your concluding remark about who comes to the aid of those in need....just look at the flooding crisis and disaster in Iowa. You don't hear much on the news about it, with stories of looting and violence and residents blaming the government for not coming to their aid. Not like we did during Katrina. Hmm...let's think about the mentalities of the 2 different areas of this country.
And now, I'm off my soapbox.
Way to go, Kristin. :)
Oh I like everyone else's soapboxes as much as my own! LOL Krista, you are SOOO right about the taxing the rich thing because if they don't have money, they don't pay us underlings, and we don't get jobs.
That's what Reagan called Trickle Down economics. Reagan, where art thou Reagan!
Well, I'm certainly not for the rape of children, but I am against the death penalty. I don't think we want to use all Old Testament law, either. ;)
I don't understand enough about the other economics to comment, I do know that we had it pretty easy in gas prices compared to other countries. Now we are sort of catching up with them. Let's look at the bright side..hopefully it will encourage us to be less wasteful.
Amen!!
I'm hoping that people will wake up and realize that the government can not solve all problems. Actually, gov. many times creates bigger problems!
I think many times we have made an idol of government programs, thinking the program can rescue us instead of looking to God for our help.
I work for a state-funded college grant program and do financial audits and reviews for cases where the families have experienced a recent reduction in income. Probably 90 percent of them have my utmost sympathy in their circumstances and I'm glad to be able to crunch the numbers that make these college students eligible for some free money. However, I am routinely sickened by the people making waaaay more than I could ever dare to comprehend and they have a teensy reduction to their income. Instead of now being ridiculously wealthy, they are just plain rich. They need free money to send their kid to college because even though they make a lot, there's no flex room with their bills. The slightest change to their income means financial disaster because they are living so close to their means. Unfortunately, it's the kids that often suffer for the parents lack of financial planning. I feel for them, but at what point is it the government's responsibility to make it up to them? We should be sending all our young people to financial planning classes before allowing them to take on the mammoth debt of education at an age where most of them have no clue what they want to do or that they really have to study to do it. There. My soapbox.
Kristin, you have a gift of talking about these current issues in a clear, clear manner that is completely sensible. I envy that!
It's true about the tax thing, and if you're self-employed you pay a lot more taxes. I don't see where the tax breaks are helping those who make more $$.
What is sad is that things like earned income credit--someone mentioned this--people with lower incomes will GET money back from the govt. It's sad to think that an annual payoff of a couple grand will placate those who end up living hand-to-mouth. I can say this because I was there one time. We lived paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by. That annual fat check was 'fun.' And I see it in some of the working class around me. Giving a family a couple grand is nothing more than the annual 'dangling' carrot that doesn't really better anyone.
And socialized medicine? Talk to someone in Europe and see how hard it is to get health care and get seen...when you are covered. No easy answers for this one, either. We pay out the wazoo for our excellent health coverage through the company I work for. I don't know if it's much of a trade-off.
Kristen,
You've definitely touched a nerve with me -- big government is NOT the answer to all our ills. I don't want socialized medicine, I don't need more government anything. I work with a nonprofit organization that advocates for abused and neglected children -- I see the "least of these" every day.
These are the children that the world overlooks and, as much as it hurts me to say it, the church overlooks. These are the broken, the abused, the anger, and hurt children of our world. These little ones are the least of these. They are the forgotten children. And we can't expect our government to raise them. They are overworked, understaffed, and burnt out.
Right now there are 500,000 children in foster care in America -- staggering isn't it? This year between 25,000 and 30,000 will grow up in foster care and become of age -- 18, 19, 20 -- whatever age that is in your state. Where do they go? They don't have families. They've lived their lives in the system. Usually moving once or twice a year.
These are the forgotten children -- the children that we have all turned a blind eye to. These are the adults of tomorrow. In the last 30 years, since the country began to actively protect children from abuse, the number of children in foster care has continued to rise each year. We're not doing any better. We need the church to step up and step in.
Whew -- 'nuff said by me.
Oh, and as for the whole rich people thing -- rich people provide all of us with jobs. I want the rich people to continue on.
I'll go back into hiding now.....
It just breaks my heart Mary, and I think about these kids raising other kids! I stopped in a bad part of town the other day to get a coffee, and this mother was doing her nails and letting her son watch the ducks. It was like 105 out, and this kid kept saying, "Mom, Mom!"
She never once answered him. And when he'd done something wrong (he was about 3) she screamed, "Im gonna slap you!" and this awful montage of words, and it just broke my heart. This is the next generation's man!!
What we need is the Fairtax. Check out fairtax.org. Its the only way to make sure everyone pays their fair share. Its basically a national sales tax, but everyone gets a check every month from the govt based on their income to cover the taxes you pay on neccessities. The great thing is anyone who buys something pays the taxes. That means that anyone who is here illegally would pay taxes. Right now they don't have to. Check out the site.
You go girl!
A reader posted awhile back about Obama. It was a link that put him in a different light than the general public had of him.
With the election coming up, does anyone have that link?
Thanks.
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