Memorial Day

As we go into this holiday weekend enjoy your friends and family, your burgers and hot dogs, ice cold beer and all of those sales.  Have fun and relax a bit because all too often we forget to do that in our busy lives.  I have no problem with people enjoying the extra time off for this day but, please do not forget the true meaning of this holiday.

Memorial day is not about supporting our Veterans or the troops currently serving.  We have Veteran's Day for that and honestly, you should show your support daily if you ask me.  It's not a day to thank the troops and their families serving worldwide who continue to make sacrifices everyday.  This day is about remembering and honoring our fallen throughout history.  It's about making sure that those who have gone before us and paid the ultimate price are not forgotten.  As a society we must not allow our fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, & Marines to have died in vane.  It is up to each and every one of us to continue living free and making the tough choices and doing what is right in life.  We all must take on the responsibility of teaching our children how to respect our freedoms and not trample on them as the cost was very dear.  This is how we honor them.

Also, we must not forgot those Police, Fire and EMT workers who have died in the line of duty.  These are truly some of the real unsung heroes in my eyes.  They put their life on the line everyday to insure that we can go on living in a safe community, enjoying the freedoms that so many of those military members died to preserve.

I just ask that you take a second sometime this weekend and truly think about all we have.  Put politics aside, forget about left or right.  Forget about the bills, work or how high the damn grass is again.  Relish the fact that you can have a cookout or go to the boardwalk or beach.   But just, if for a short moment, cherish the fact that we live in a free society because of those who paid the price.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

We're sending money where?

This just in.... "The Obama administration is providing $100 million in new Syria aid, U.S. officials said Wednesday, but the money is for humanitarian purposes only and not linked to any decision on arming Syrian rebels."  I can't help but think of the SNL Weekend Update skits with Seth Meyers, "Really?"  Our county's debt is over $16 trillion  and though I realize that $100 million is just a drop in the bucket, Really?  Anti-American sentiment in Syria has been growing there of the past 21 months due to this administrations inaction so, NOW (after crossing the "red line" with the suspected use of chemical weapons) you're going to offer up some hush money? Really?

 This has been such a sore point with me for a while.  Sending billions of dollars overseas to countries where an anti-American attitude is the norm is mindboggling.  I know that every administration sends aid to different countries worldwide, I get it.  But, in this day and age when our country is in such dire straits economically and our deficit is exploding upward can we really afford to "help" others before we help ourselves? Here are just a few statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau that may make us want to reconsider this policy:

·       Approximately one out of every six Americans is now living in poverty. 

·       More than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

·       Approximately 20 percent of all children in the United States are living in poverty. 

·       Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are currently living in homes that are either considered to be either "low income" or impoverished.

·       In Detroit alone, 60 percent of all children in are living in poverty. 60 PERCENT!!!

·       More than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. 

·       More than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government.  And that does not even include Social Security or Medicare.

·       An all-time record 47.79 million Americans are now on food stamps.  (That number is up by about 10 million since 2008)The number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."  If you look at it that way, it's pretty eye opening.

These are just a few numbers from the Census Bureau.  I'm not even going to get into the entire government spending issue.  It is simply ridiculous.  I am all for assisting other countries around the world.  That is a responsibility that has been thrust upon our country since we became a superpower.  However, let's be at least somewhat responsible with how we go about doing this.  At one point we must take a look at the big picture and take care of our own business first.  If not, sooner or later we are not going to have the ability to assist other nations.  

 Now, I know what the typical argument will be here. "It's this guy's fault or he's the one who started this" (this modus operandi has become so old ).  Well, the blame game has gone on long enough.  It's been over ten years since the war in Afghanistan started.  Again, I get it..wars cost money but, regardless of one's position on the wars, it doesn't change the fact that they exist.  Blaming past administrations will only get you so far so, we need to deal with the here and now.  We spend approximately $70 billion dollars in foreign aid annually. Yep, a mere drop in the bucket but, when you're putting American workers on furlough, cutting $40 million per year from defense and over $2.5 billion from education....that $70 billion looks a whole lot different doesn't it?