It's Definitely NOT Free - A Labor Day Tribute

Hi folks, Ghost Writer has had plenty of time to work up some angst around circulating through the "general" public. In turn, I am celebrating Labor Day with my tribute to those of us that pay taxes. If you work but get all of your tax money back at the end of the year, thank you for contributing to FICA and taking a shot at being a productive member of society. If you work and get very little of your tax money back ever, this is our time to comisserate. I was watching a series of commercials about "Free" services including immunizations, health care, food, and housing. The Accountant on my couch clearly indicated that they aren't free. Now I know the participants don't pay, but all us do. Nothing is ever truly free, but I posit that something can be considered free when it is given freely out of a sense of charity with no expectation of a return. When we pay taxes we are compelled to do so. We also expect a return for the compulsory investment, whether it is a standing army to protect us or government involvement in managing foreign relationships. In the end, our money was not given freely and it feels very wrong to see dollars used for a growing portion of the population that does not contribute,as opposed to promoting the common defense and financial security of this union. "We the people" implies that all of us are putting something into the program. We are a union of states, so this great republic can use it's collective bargaining power for the benefit of the constituent parts. Instead our financial contributions, taken from the fruits of our labor, find their way to the support of governments that cannot clearly be linked to a trade or security advantage equal to the combined power of the 50 members of this great experiment. As I celebrate Labor Day and think of the loyal civil servants we support in the form of our standing army and foreign services teams, I applaud the sacrifice of people working hard, in dangerouse places, far from home for United States. Any distate I have for how our money is used belongs on the shoulders of our legislators. The representatives of the people responsible of the "executive" functions of the business of the U.S.A. Again, I ask that we start treating these folks like the executives of any free enterprise business in the country that has championed free enterprise more than any other. If the executives are botching the work, get a chief to align the team and then play corporate politics in the board room. We have done ourselves a tremendous disservice by playing corporate politics in the media with our CEO leading the charge to drive his agenda. I'm not saying that these guys leave us out of the loop; I'm saying don't air the mechanics of our decisions to our trade partners. The difference lies in ensuring the we know there is a disagreement with simple language like "we are not coming to an agreement" instead of saying that the opposition will cause the country to be imminently bankrupt, in spite of our tax paying labor, and the Chief Executive is powerless because of the mean legislators from the opposing party. Our leader identified himself as impotent to the whims of our executives and painted the executives as immovable blocks to the prosperity we want without any understanding if it is the agenda we want. Today, Detroit, one of the hardest hit and slowest growing bastions of labor lost, received an earful of promises that ring hollow. In a city with declining population therefore declining government support (not free)and a meager but growing list of improvements driven by the businesses that told the government to "pound sand" instead of taking stimulus the last thing we need is promises to become what we were. As a country of progress built on the hard work of our people, the way we were is not the way ahead. Our land still holds huge resources, among them a great and varied people, so let's get aligned with the moving target of industry and service and go back to kicking everyone else's butt. This is a celebration of what all of us working people from the entry level production worker to the company President contribute as members of the labor force. Go labor!