I support FREE healthcare, FREE handouts, FINANCIAL support for immigrants and LAWS protecting the environment

Would it surprise you if I told you I am a conservative?  Sadly, that speaks to how much the modern day media has influenced our society and forced their agenda into our vocabulary.

I am a conservative.  Some might even say that I am a radical conservative, and yet I can boldly proclaim that I support free healthcare, free handouts, financial support for immigrants, and a common sense approach to protecting the environment.  The modern media would have you believe that I don’t care about the poor, the immigrant, the sick, or the environment because I oppose the solutions the government has put forth.  But they are dead wrong.  It is BECAUSE I care about the poor, the immigrant, the sick, and the environment that I want to set them free from government oppression to flourish under freedom and prosperity.

As a conservative, I simply believe that the private sector is better suited to address people’s needs than the government.  A conservative wants the exact same things as a liberal.  The difference is that a liberal wants the government to bring solutions, and a conservative wants the government out of the way so we are free to find the best solutions.

Healthcare

If a loved one were diagnosed with a serious illness and mortality was at stake, would you prefer to send them to a state run hospital like the VA?  Or to a private non-profit hospital like St. Jude’s or Doernbecher Children’s hospital?  Sadly, the VA has been in the news frequently for mismanagement that has led to veterans not getting proper healthcare and some even dying waiting to get the proper care.  On the flip side, caring people and caring corporations have donated millions of dollars to private hospitals that do not turn patients away due to an inability to pay.  And they provide the most effective, cutting edge care available on the market.

In a wealthy country like the United States of America, there is no reason any person should go without the care they need.  If they can pay for it, they should.  If they can’t, others should be free to donate their hard earned money to worthy causes like Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (donate here http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/doernbecher/how-to-help/) so that everyone receives the care they need.

I have a deep felt love and compassion for mankind.  I don’t want anyone to suffer.  The last thing I would ever wish on someone with failing health would be to send them to a government run healthcare facility.  The most compassionate thing you can do to help the sick is not to pay more taxes to a corrupt government, but to give generously to worthy charities that genuinely help the sick.

The truly compassionate person votes for politicians that support non-profit hospitals rather than those that support corrupt and inefficient government run hospitals.

Handouts

I am a huge proponent of giving to the poor.  I LOVE to give to the poor.  Conservatives, however, have been forced into a debate where they are accused of labeling every down trodden person as lazy and needing to pull themselves up by their “bootstraps.”  That is the wrong argument.  While it is true that there may be some true “freeloaders” in society who abuse the system, the reality is that there are genuine needy people out there who have found themselves in hard times and are in need of a handout.  The question is not whether they need the handout or not, but who should be giving them the handout.

We have let the U.S. Government wage a “war on poverty” for 75 years now.  After trillions of dollars spent on government run “handouts” and low income housing projects, poverty has continued to grow rather than shrink.  No one in the section 8 housing “projects” is better off than they were before the government handout.  And even if you disagree and think that section 8 housing is good for people, I would challenge you to try and sign up for it.  The wait for government housing assistance is over 2 years long, and the paperwork required to get “on the list” is stacks deep.  Allow me to stick my tongue in my cheek and say: Government efficiency at its finest.

Think of it this way: Who is better at taking care of people’s needs in a disaster?  The not-for-profit private based Red Cross, or government run FEMA?  (Think back to hurricane Katrina if you have forgotten about FEMA’s capabilities).

Has anyone ever had to stand in line at Social Security?  Or seen the lack of competency in a food stamp program?  Compare that to a local FISH food bank that feeds needy families in a local community or a church group that helps out seniors and people who can’t pay their electric bill.  The government only stands in their way and gobbles up tax dollars that could be generously given to them for more compassionate and effective relief to the poor.

The big question I have for my liberal friends is this:  why do you create organizations and fund raising activities for worthy causes?  Why not have a fund raising group that gives all of the money to the federal government?  If you genuinely believe the government can help people better than non-profit organizations, then stop creating non-profits and stop giving your money to them!  Just voluntarily increase your own taxes and hold fund raisers for the government.  We all know that it would be ridiculous to try and get people to give more money to the government, yet Liberals vote for politicians who will create more government run programs and take more of people’s money away from the non-profits.

I have a deep love and compassion for people who are poor and in need, and so I vote for people who support non-profits rather than those who support corrupt government programs and I give generously to non-profits toward that end.  This is the more compassionate choice.

Immigration

In 2001, my family helped a young lady from Ethiopia immigrate to the United States.  She had waited over 5 years to be selected as eligible in the annual immigration lottery managed by the United States Congress.  Based on U.S. Government regulations, she had to have $20,000 in reserve money or have a U.S. citizen “sponsor” her to avoid the deposit.  So, we officially signed up as her “sponsor.”  After 6 months of paperwork, fees, and health exams, Belaynesh finally came to America and lived with us for a couple of years. 

As an immigrant, she was not allowed access to any government assistance of any kind.  If she had ended up in a hospital without healthcare, we would have received the bill as her sponsor.  If she accidentally received food stamps or government housing, or student financing, or any other government handout, we would have received the bill as her sponsor.  That is how the system works.

In those 3 years, she went to college, learned English, got a job, and saved up money.  She eventually became a U.S. citizen and works 6 days a week at a retirement home in Seattle, WA today.  We love her as family and continue to help her as we would any family member.

I am not anti-immigration.  The United States was built on immigrants seeking a better life.  But when people go around the process listed above, cut in line, and then demand government assistance, voting rights, and free education - it makes me angry and frustrated.  But what makes me even more angry than that, is people who advocate for illegal immigrants without having ever helped a legal immigrant come this country – who don’t understand the process or the struggle of a true immigrant – and decide to call people like me a racist and a bigot because I oppose illegal immigration. 

I have a deep love and compassion for people who seek to find a better life in this country.  Working to help legal immigrants is far more compassionate and caring than fighting to protect those who cut in front of them and take benefits from our system that even the legal immigrants don’t have access to.

The Environment

I support efforts by communities and activist groups to protect the environment from pollution.  I love clean rivers, clean air, and clean dirt.  I love trees, flowers, oceans, and wildlife.  I am even OK with the government being in charge of regulating compliance with such mandates.  I feel that those requirements should come from state rather than federal governments, but that is a debate for another day. 

What I don’t agree with is the idea that somehow man is even capable of changing the global climate. When news reports declare that this is the hottest the earth has been in 200 years, people seem to be blind to the obvious question:  what caused the global temperature to spike 200 years ago when there wasn’t global industrialization?  But if we dare challenge the facts, even faked data, we are called climate change deniers. 

 But even IF that were the case - IF we were so powerful and important so as to somehow change the cosmic atmospheric conditions to heat up our planet, I don’t understand how taxing corporations to redistribute to poorer undeveloped helps the crisis.  How does that prevent the oceans from rising or the earth from scorching?  That is what the United Nations Kyoto Protocol enforces.  A global tax.  How does taxation reduce climate change?  The Kyoto Protocol is nothing more than a prime example of corrupt government officials (this time, global politicians) using people’s love of the environment as an excuse to create a massive global stream of cash that can be skimmed and scraped to feed corrupt pockets. 

If we genuinely believe that the government is the answer to solve our pollution problems, then why do liberals run para-government organizations like Green Peace?  Why not raise the money that runs Green Peace and give that money to the government instead?  Or follow the Kyoto Protocol and give the money to undeveloped countries?  Is it because we don’t trust the government to make the right decisions for the planet?   If we don’t trust them for that, how in the world would we ever trust them with our healthcare, our poor, our sick, or our down trodden? 

I am a conservative who loves the environment, and feel a deep burden to protect it and be a good steward of the resources it offers.  It is far more responsible to support local anti-pollution policies than to give in to global cosmic fear tactics that aim to take even more of your hard earned money.

Summary

I am a conservative who loves the poor, the sick, the immigrant, and the environment.  I love people.  I want the best for them all, and I am convinced that freedom FROM government is the answer to these problems.  The government IS the problem, not the solution to the problem.

The best evidence I have seen of this comes from a book called the 5000 year leap by W. Cleon Skousen.  In it, Skousen points out that the pilgrims who came to America had not seen any significant advancement in the human condition in hundreds or even thousands of years.  They sailed on ships that were the same technology as the Vikings; used plows that were the same technology as the Pharos of Egypt; and treated the sick with medical practices that were eerily similar to witch doctors.  But, within 200 years, mankind developed flight, landed on the moon, discovered germs, perfected vaccinations and surgeries, and developed farming technologies to feed the world.  Why did that happen?  What was the factor that allowed mankind to develop a 5000 year leap in technology in such a short period of time? It was the reality that for the first time in history, men were set free from the bondage of government control.  Free to their own success or failure.  When given that freedom, mankind flourished.  And now what do we want to do with that freedom?  More and more we give control back to government, and shackle the ingenuity and productivity of men. 

If we truly love people, and truly have compassion on mankind, the answer is less government, more charities, and more local freedom.

I am a conservative.  I am full of compassion for people.  I love the poor, the sick, the immigrant, and the environment.  And I firmly believe that the best way to support them all, is with less government.