Seniors

These remarks are to the Senior Citizens. However, those that have not attained that magic age may discover a truth not known or forgotten. Incidentally, I refer to not yet seniors as SIT’s - Seniors in Training.

The reason the message is to seniors is because you have lived longer, seen more, experienced more and made decisions that you did not want to make. Many of you have children and perhaps grandchildren. You understand how it feels to impact the life of someone you love more than your own. The years have brought the joys, the sorrows, and the regrets of having to take an action that scared the daylights out of you. But, with time and experience you learned how to make more good decisions and fewer bad ones.

In 1968 we were introduced to a new term in our society. Tough love. Merriam Webster defines tough love as ‘love or affectionate concern expressed in a stern or unsentimental manner - as through discipline - especially to promote responsible behavior.’ We have come to think of this as dealing with a rebellious teen or perhaps intervention for an addiction. It is hard to live sixty years or more and not personally know of a case of tough love or even many.

While it is natural to view tough love as being harsh on the one needing help, it often is tougher on the one taking the action required. As the definition states, love is the cause for discipline to promote responsible behavior. As many of you know, it often does hurt you more than the one you love when you have to use discipline.

Today, you and I are faced with a tough love decision that cannot be avoided. Reality is that many have ignored or avoided the inevitable but time has run out. The United States of America must have tough love or it will become as doomed as a drug addict.

I love America. I know that you do too. The question is, how much? In tough love, the one that loves must be willing to go the distance at whatever the cost may be to instill responsible behavior. Our government has behaved irresponsibility for many years - Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The norm has been to tax and spend with little or no accountability to the citizens from which the revenue is taken. There are so many examples that we surely could not number them of government waste and absurd spending.

We now find ourselves in a vicious debt cycle that is spiraling this once great nation into bankruptcy. Tax and spend has been the rule. It has been said that the golden rule is, "he that has the gold, makes the rule." But, that’s our gold they are spending.

"What can you do about it?" Those are often the first words uttered if you mention the situation we find ourselves in. "I’m just an old man or woman, in many cases in poor health, with little or no money," is what I hear all the time. You can argue that you have put in your time, paid your taxes and did the best you could with what you had. You can say that now it is the young peoples problem. Isn’t that what your predecessors said when you were young? Ladies and gentlemen, if that’s your position, then there is nothing you will do about it. But for those that have one good fight left in them, we must take our country back.

There must be a balanced budget amendment. Anyone knows or should know that you can’t borrow almost half of every dollar spent and expect to survive. Government spending must be controlled with "pork barrel" politics thrown out.

There have to be laws to limit terms in Congress, put government employees, including Congress and the President, under the same health care plans as ordinary citizens with no benefits when they leave office. As it stands today, there is no motivation to empathize with ordinary citizens like you and me.

We must have restoration and protection of funds for Social Security and Medicare. Fraud must be stopped and severe punishment administered for those convicted of the crimes.

English is the National language and we need a law proclaiming it as such. While we should try to accommodate some languages, it is they that should have to press one.

Our borders must be secured and illegal immigrants deported. No more anchor babies - when a person is in our country illegally, their offspring are not ours to support.

This great nation was founded upon Christian principles. Unless we get back to those guiding tenets, we will cease to be. You cannot remove the foundation from a house and expect it to stand.

Can these things happen? Yes. Will they happen? I only know that they will not without a fight. It will take a commitment to stand up and be counted. Letters, phone calls and personal visits to government leaders is what it will take. Remember, "united we stand, divided we fall?" If the seniors in this country stand, then the answer is yes, we will restore America.

And if you are hesitate, because you have been cowed so long that you believe you can’t do anything, I remind you that Patrick Henry said, "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

PMO
©2011