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| Q. How many liberals does it take to change a light bulb? A. 15,000 It takes 2,000 liberal scientists to redesign the light bulb first, to make it more environmentally friendly, 3,000 liberal lawmakers to pass state and federal laws to force you to use the new light bulb, and 10,000 liberal government bureaucrats to over regulate and over complicate the light bulb's usage and disposal. Yes, this joke is an Andrew original.
Change We Can Believe In by Andrew Lawrence Barack Obama is right. America needs change. Change we can believe in. Once upon a time, America was a great and kind nation, the modern day Promised Land, whose streets were paved with gold and whose coins were made of precious metals. Today, America's streets are paved with tar and its coins are made of tin. Once upon a time in America, pocket change was made of gold and silver. No more. Gone are the days when American pocket change was really worth something ... America once had a $20 gold piece. Made of gold. America once had dollars made of silver, a silver dollar could buy 3 gallons of gas or 4 packs of cigarettes or a quart or two of beer or a couple of loaves of bread or 6 McDonald hamburgers. Once, Americans carried 50-cent pieces (half-dollars) made of silver, that was so weighty and so big they would tear a hole in your trouser pocket or weigh down your purse. Once, America was the land of the 25-cent piece (quarter), made of silver and alloys, and that quarter could buy 2 Cokes or 5 packs of gum or a get you into a Saturday matinee at the movies (2 movies and a cartoon). Once, America had a dime (10 cents), made out of silver and alloys, which could buy lots of penny candy or a Coke or a candy bar or a comic book. Once upon a time, America had a nickel (5 cents) made of silver and other metals, a nickel that could actually buy something useful or fun. And, last but not least, once upon a time America had a beloved penny made of copper, a penny which could actually buy something instead of only being used to pay some of the sales tax on what you buy. Once upon a time, long before Barack Obama ran for president in 2008 with a campaign slogan of "change we can believe in", America HAD change we could believe in. In our pockets. Pocket change. Pocket change. Pocket change made of precious metals. Pocket change that was worth something. THAT'S the kind of change we can believe in!
article November 2009 America, A Nation Of Immigrants
Or A Nation Of Wimps?
by
Andrew Lawrence History shows that America is a nation of immigrants. Unless you or your ancestors are Native American, if you live in America you or your ancestors are immigrants. My grandparents were immigrants. My grandparents came to America from Russia, from a city near the border with Poland, prior to World War I. They came to America to escape German occupation, religious persecution, and death.
My grandparents, Harry and Anna, landed at Ellis Island in New York. They spoke no English. They had no education. They had no money. They were among the poor, the tired, the huddled masses, yearning to be free. They came to America with only the clothes on their backs. They did not care, they were coming to America. They traveled by ship thousands of miles across the seas to America for one reason: freedom. My grandparents, Harry and Anna, landed in New York, were processed at Ellis Island, and were allowed to enter the U.S. They made their way from New York City up the Hudson River to the Albany area, where, as new American immigrants, they settled and began their new life. There they met up with their sisters and brothers, sister and brothers from the old country who had also escaped religious persecution, war, and death. Harry and Anna did not have much; they had family, they had freedom, and they had each other. In America my grandparents learned English. They learned the customs of their new country. They embraced the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom to live their life without undue interference by the government. They embraced their new country, America, a remarkable country where anything was possible. Soon, in America, the land of opportunity, my grandfather and his brother started a grocery store. They worked long and hard. Harry was not afraid of working hard in America, because he knew he could reap the fruits of his labor. In America, unlike in Russia, Harry was no longer afraid of the government taking away his business, taking away his hard earned money, or taking away his freedom. Or his life. In America Harry and Anna were free. Harry and Anna now lived in America and they appreciated every minute of it ... for the rest of their lives. They became American citizens. They were proud to be American citizens. Proud to live in America. And ever so grateful for the opportunity to live in America, ever so grateful for their freedom. In America, their individual freedom and liberty was guaranteed, by the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Anna soon became pregnant and gave birth to a son. My father. In all, my grandparents had three children, two boys and a girl. As American immigrants, above all, Harry and Anna wanted their children to have a good life, a better life, an American life. And Harry and Anna realized that, in America, opportunities to have a good life come from education and hard work. Harry and Anna made sure that their children went to school, received a good education, and they made sure that their children understood the values of work and family. As a result, Harry and Anna's children, my father and his sister and brother, first generation Americans, prospered. My father went to college. He worked his way through college playing the piano. His sister became a professional singer. His little brother went to Julliard, America's premier school of music, on a scholarship, and became a professional musician in New York, on Broadway, where he played six instruments. This, within one generation of Harry and Anna coming to America. This, within one generation of coming to America with no money, no English, and, once they got here, with no help from the government. This, within one generation of coming to America, taking advantage of freedom and making their own opportunities. My grandparents understood what freedom and opportunity was. They thanked God (and America) for their freedom, worked hard for their opportunities, and never expected anything from the government, other than the promise of freedom.
I never once heard my grandparents complain. They never complained about America. They never complained about anything. They never had much but they had enough; they had family, they had each other and they had freedom. And they always felt blessed to be living in America. Since Harry and Anna had something to compare America to (religious persecution, war, and death) they understood fully what America offered - freedom and opportunity - freedom and opportunity to those who valued it and used that freedom and opportunity to make something of their lives. Harry and Anna made a life in their new country, America. They made a family in their new country, America. It was, to them, a good life. The best life. Because, in America, they had freedom. Was their life easy? No. Was their happiness guaranteed or subsidized by the government? No. Did they proceed to build their life anyway? Yes. That was many many years ago. Harry and Anna are gone. Their children, my father and his sister and brother, are gone. I am a second generation American. And like previous generations in my family, through education and hard work, I made my way through life. In America. Where freedom rings. And where the government, under the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, cannot, and may not, dictate how you live your life.
In some circles today, right here in America, it is popular and politically correct to believe that America is a bad place, a bad country, a mean and arrogant nation, where freedom and opportunity no longer exists. They are wrong. Just ask any immigrant, anyone who came to America for freedom and opportunity. Like Harry and Anna. And, if Harry and Anna were alive today they would tell you that America may not be perfect but, considering all the alternatives, America is by far the best place to be. There are those in America who think it's a good idea to replace freedom and opportunity, achieved through education and hard work, with government controlled socialism. This idea of socialism is fundamentally un-American. Socialism is un-American. Socialism is for wimps. We, in America, are not wimps. In America, we do not run to the government and have the government solve all our problems. In exchange for giving up our freedoms. No matter how hard something may be, no matter how impossible it may look, if we want or need to solve our own problems, we, in America, figure out how to solve our problems and how to overcome our own obstacles and then we go and do it. We do it and we get it done. Just like Harry and Anna. The idea of the government taking over America and taking over your life, restricting individual freedom and opportunity, is fundamentally un-American. And dishonorable. It dishonors my grandparents. It dishonors my parents. It dishonors me. And it dishonors every hard working American and their immigrant ancestors. Socialism in America? Harry and Anna would be ashamed.
article November 2009 77 Million Baby Boomers To Lose Medicare Benefits by Andrew Lawrence 
baby boomers get the boot The U.S. government, led by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, want to cut medicare benefits to baby boomers. There are 77 million baby boomers in the United States. Baby boomers have been forced to pay in to medicare for over 40 years and now that baby boomers are approaching medicare age (65) the government wants to change the rules, renege on their promise of medicare benefits and cheat 77 million baby boomers out of something they already paid for and are entitled to receive. Your wages withholding includes: The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax includes two separate taxes. One is the social security tax and the other is the Medicare tax. What medicare benefits will be cut? No one knows and the government is not telling. If the government has its way, will medicare coverage cost baby boomers more money out of pocket? Undoubtedly, even though we already paid for it, in advance. If medicare benefits get cut will your doctor refuse to treat you under medicare? If the government cuts payments to doctors by too much your doctor may refuse to treat patients who are covered by medicare. That may leave you with no doctor, having to pay a lot of cash out of pocket or forcing you to seek medical treatment from poor doctors or from a neighborhood clinic. Why is the government planning to cut your medicare benefits? The government is planning to cut your medicare benefits in order to save money. The government is planning to cut your medicare benefits in order to save money so they can spend it somewhere else, undoubtedly somewhere else where it does not benefit YOU. We, as baby boomers, are entitled to our full medicare benefits. We paid for it, in advance, and now the government doesn’t want to give it to us. We, as baby boomers, should be outraged! If you pay for something, and don’t receive what you paid for, isn’t that fraud. Isn’t fraud a criminal offense, a crime? If the government cuts medicare benefits can we have the government arrested and thrown in jail for fraud? Not likely. So, what can baby boomers do about the proposed cut in medicare benefits? If the government tries to renege on its promise to give us what we paid for, every baby boomer should call and/or write their Senators, Congress persons and the White House and demand their FULL medicare benefits. I have already done this, by email, with the subject heading “Don’t You Dare Cut Our Medicare!” And 77 million baby boomers can vote, we can vote the government who wants to cheat us out of our medicare benefits out of office, at the next election! Do you want to get your medicare? All of it? Do you want to get what you paid for? Do you want to get what you are entitled to get? In the 60’s we baby boomers protested, we sat in, we marched. Our slogan was “Power to the people“. We baby boomers still have that power; and we have education, we have money and we have 77 million votes. Just because we are older, we are still Baby Boomers, and we can still kick butt. When it comes to preventing the government from cutting our medicare benefits, benefits we paid for and are entitled to receive, we baby boomers have a lot of power. Use it or lose it.
 Andrew Lawrence is the author of 6 non-fiction books which make you smarter, richer and happier. Books include Glimmers Of Hope. Free excerpts available at: http://GlimmersOfHope.net Glimmers Of Hope. Buy it. Read it. copyright 2009 Andrew Lawrence. All rights reserved. | |
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