Is It the American People and Not a Can that is Being Kicked?

The question for this year of 2013 might be: “How many wake up calls will America need before we are really awake?”

As a young teen, I decided I would sleep until I was ready to get up each morning. That lasted one day. My parents were in charge of our family and as a member of the family I was told there were house rules by which all of us must abide. My parents were not overbearing but they understood the principle of childrearing and the importance of making sure that as a child I understood the limits of my decision making, and that they would be in charge of making the decisions guiding my life. They explained that a time would come as I matured when I would be responsible for my personal decisions.

We seem to be a nation caught up in sound bites, and pithy sayings. Far too often we hear news media types and politicians talk about a “Wake up call.” Every time there is a real crisis or made up crisis, someone will utter the words, “This is a wake up call.” During the last week of 2012 and the early hours of this year of 2013, often I heard people say we have reached a place where we can no longer “Kick the can down the road.” Others continue to refer to what is happening in Washington as a “Wake up call” for the politicians.

Ok, I am awake now and I don’t want to hear any more about kicking a can anywhere. The time is now that something needs to be done to stop the insanity coming from our leadership in this country. As a person who has much interest in what is taking place in the political world and how the decisions made by politicians do indeed touch every one of us, I am amazed in the number of people who remain asleep or clueless as to what is going on around them.

With every new law there seems to be more loss of freedom. With each new day there continues to be a march toward bigger government with the thought that government officials know better how to make our personal decisions than we do. We need less government, not more. We need more personal responsibility not shifting of responsibility to government. Too many times I hear people say they are too busy to see what the government is doing. One major matter needs to be understood by our government, and it is, they are not my parents. Government is also not my nanny. The big government crowd wants us to know they are in charge and they will direct everything about our lives and make decisions for us.

From where I stand every time I hear a government official use the term, “Kicking the can down the road,” I feel like I am the one being kicked with over regulation and taxation by the government.

Do you think our country is headed in the right direction? Tell us in comments. 

Follow Ray Newman on Twitter — @RayNewmanSr.