Fahrenheit 1102

Once again, an isolated event out in middle America draws the nation’s attention and puts a spotlight on our real underlying problems. In a nutshell, a rural area over in Tennessee was without any organized fire department and a neighboring town offered protection to homeowners for a mere $75 per year. One particular fellow chose not to pay for the protection, and his house caught on fire.

Pretty simple, eh? Well no, no, no, there smolder breath, because the fire department came out to protect the next door neighbor who, as it turns out, did pay for the protection, and watched as the deadbeat’s house burned to the ground. And that’s when things really started to heat up.

This is probably going to come as a shock but, opinions about what the firemen should have done lined up along political lines. Generally, conservatives thought they behaved properly while liberal Democrats thought that the firemen should have extinguished the fire, and pointed out that the remorseful deadbeat even offered to pay up, right on the spot!

I guess the real question here is, “Where do you draw the line?” Indeed, in a time of trillion-dollar government bailouts, just when is enough?

We now have over 42 million citizens receiving food stamps. Is that enough? Apparently not, because people who make $20,000 a year pay no taxes and only get “refund” checks of $5,200. What, no menthol?

We now have an $870 billion dollar “stimulus” program. Is that enough? Apparently not, because President Obama has requested yet another $80 billion for “infrastructure.” (This is different from the original “infrastructure” stimulus request.)

Recent reports show that 89,000 dead people got a $250 “stimulus” check last year. Is that enough? Apparently not, because now we find that several million dollars of overpayment was sent out by our state government for unemployment insurance payment. (No worries … no civil servant lost their job in either instance.)

President Obama claims that Republicans are receiving campaign donations from foreign donors. Is that enough foreign influence? Apparently not, because he doesn’t seem to mind using foreign systems to base how our legal system should function. Apparently not, because he thinks we should tailor our foreign policy on what foreign governments prefer. Apparently not, since he prevents Arizona from stopping foreigners from making a mockery of our borders, and from protecting the jobs and benefits of our citizens.

Once again this year, seniors have been told they won’t be getting a cost of living increase in their so-called Social Security checks. Are seniors who have worked their whole lives and paid their hard-earned wages into a Ponzi scheme getting enough? Apparently so, since we have funds to spend $850 million dollars on a health-care-legislation mandated study to find out if washing the penis, after sex, of a male (I assume) in Africa will prevent AIDS. And, since we have funds for the “people’s” cell phone program, and for all the other surprises we are finding, now that our Democrat Congress finally has time to read the legislation that they rammed down our throats.

When the lifeboat finally reaches capacity, will it be enough to take in the “one more” passenger that sinks us all? Does your behavior matter? There’s going to be some houses burning down as we make difficult decisions. The question is, will they be from choice, or because we no longer have a choice.