ALL FOR ONE? I DON'T THINK SO

I’m beginning to wonder what the present administration doesn’t understand about the word… ‘United’ as in the United States of America. According to the dictionary, the word united….means.. . “to join, combine, or incorporate so as to form a single whole or unit”.

You wouldn’t know it by what is going on at this time. It seems to me that everyone is looking out for themselves and some are getting better deals than others, and I’m not just talking about the specials at Wal-Mart or the local diner. No, it seems to me that the folks running this country are cutting deals to buy votes from our congressmen and congresswomen in order to get pieces of legislation passed. Look at Louisiana for example; according to the reports I’ve seen they are on schedule to receive something close to 300 million dollars for one vote. Nebraska senator Ben Nelson managed to get his state exempted from the cost of Medicaid in exchange for his vote.

Now this morning, we learn that if you are a member of a labor union you will be exempt from paying taxes on any health benefits which might manage to get enacted. One for all and all for one? I don’t think so.

So just how does this work? I didn’t think one state could get more federal benefits than another…or more preferential treatment than some other state. How can a labor union member be exempt from paying taxes that I have to pay just because they are a member of a union? If this seems fair why not a church or an association or a bird watchers club? Why don’t I become a union? I could be a union…seems to me I could be a union of one. In fact I might just look into starting a union for all of my friends. I don’t see why we couldn’t do this. I bet a lot of people will want to join my union.

All kidding aside, it looks to me like the votes of our elected representatives are being sold out to the highest bidder for whatever price it takes to obtain the vote. If we keep going in this direction then each state will wind up with some exemption or special funding of some sort or another which makes our nation more divisive not more united. How long will it be before we get to the point where each state has a different federal tax or a enhanced federal program with more payouts than others? Will we be looking for senators and representatives based upon their ability to lead or negotiate the best deal? If it’s the latter than used car and siding salesmen should get their resumes polished up since their skills will be in high demand.

Following this slippery slope will lead us into more and more class warfare, something we don’t need at this time. We need to get people back to work and restore true hope, not make believe pie in the sky hope. There is no money machine in this country. Printing money non stop will not solve our economic problems. Giving perks and special consideration to various members of our society is just plain wrong. Everyone and their brother will ultimately want something better for their own special group which will lead to unequal programs going only to those states with the strongest and loudest voices. This is no way to run a country. This promotes anger between our citizens.

There’s a word to describe paying something for someone’s favor…we all know that word…. prostitution. Which just about describes the actions of those selling their votes doesn’t it? I’m surprised we don’t have a television series called something like.. “The whores of DC”. They’ll get around to it one of these days, trust me.

If this keeps on going, all of us will want to head to Omaha and become a member of the meat packers union. Better yet, maybe I can come up with some idea which would enhance our state…like exempt us from paying any federal fuel tax or cutting our personal income tax rate 10 or 15% because we’re nice people. Sounds good to me and I’m certain our legislators can push this through with a minimum amount of effort.

Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com