For the Children

Posted by Michelle

Over the course of my lifetime, I have heard various politicians advocate the importance of adopting their policies "for the children". Few things can manipulate a group of American adults into supporting spending for something faster than to threaten the welfare of the children if a program is not adopted. After all, most of us want our children and grandchildren to have better than what we had. They deserve nothing less than the best we can afford to give them.

That is a good point to ponder. Our children deserve nothing less than the best we can afford to give them. Is going into debt to a level that few of us can even mentally comprehend really giving our children the best we can afford? What exactly is a trillion dollars, anyway? Is borrowing exponential sums of money from countries with which we have adversarial relationships such as China really giving our children the best we can afford? Isn't China still a communist country with deplorable practices in regards to human rights?

Watching the reckless budget spending and deficits coming out of our politicians lately has made me question what exactly we are doing "for the children". As a mom, I am concerned that we are bankrupting our children before they even graduate from high school. As a mom, I question whether our children will have enough working years left to work for their own retirement by the time they finish working to support the retirements of their parents and grandparents. As a mom, I wonder if I will have to one day describe to my grandchildren the freedom and opportunity that I took for granted when I was a child.

I am not a politician. I have no candidate's political agenda in mind. I love my country, and I love my children. I would like to see our politicians adopt budgets that actually balance. I understand the choices will not be easy, but I would rather cut programs and benefits today than continue to spend money that our children cannot even earn enough in their lifetimes to cover. I am willing to sacrifice today to ensure that the nation our children inherit from us is at least as financially secure as the one that we inherited. As a mom, this is one of the things that I would like to do "for the children". How about you?

The Need for Character in Leadership

I read an article online today about a request that C-SPAN has made that Congress “open all important negotiations…to electronic media coverage.” The CEO of the station is hoping that the public will be allowed to see, with transparency, what is being discussed for the transformation of the health care system. C-SPAN even offered to commit all the necessary resources to covering all such sessions live and in their entirety. Many have predicted that the leaders of Congress WILL NOT open up these discussions for public scrutiny.

There are two things that are curious to me about this. First, why would Congressional leaders not want to give access to the public? And second, why would President Obama not apply pressure by publicly calling for them to do so after saying the following in a January 31, 2008 debate with Hillary Clinton:

“…part of the reason, I think, that they (Congress) have failed is we have not been able to bring Democrats, Republicans together to get it (universal health care) done. That's what I did in Illinois, to provide insurance for people who did not have it. That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.” LINK TO TRANSCRIPT

My concern is that the leaders of Congress and the President want to keep the public in the dark about health care reform because they have something to hide. Keeping negotiations in secret appears to be their standard operating procedure. President Obama’s commitment, if you will, at the debate was to NOT negotiate behind closed doors and to broadcast the negotiations on C-SPAN (the very network that has made the request!!!) “so that the American people can see what the choices are.” It remains to be seen whether President Obama will stand by this commitment.

The answers to these two questions evidence the issue at hand – the need for character in our leadership. First, all the members of Congress are supposed to be servants of the people. It takes the utmost of character to make decisions on behalf of others, when in a position such as theirs, that may not be in their own best interest. Second, when a leader makes a statement, as President Obama did committing to an action, that leader should be faithful to fulfill that commitment. I believe my parents would have called that being a “man of your word”. It is exceedingly important to measure our words carefully and do what we say we will do.

It is my intense desire to be a man of character, and I realize that each and every day I make decisions that will impact who I am. The little decisions reveal my heart’s condition, and my words establish the commitments to which I must be true. I strive to be a courageous man who will stand for what is right and true regardless of its impact upon me. This is not always easy, but I want to be a leader with character!

Will you stand with me?