Spreading the Wealth

While wondering how I came to be a Republican, some memories of my younger years came to mind. I recall my bio-mother, who was on welfare, saying, “Democrats are for the poor and Republicans are for the rich.” In my impressionable mind, her being a Democrat with no job and on welfare, and my dad, a Republican with a good job who sent child support payments every month and supplied my siblings and me with health and dental care, I thought, "Democrats were poor and Republicans were rich." And decided, “I want to be rich; I want to be a Republican!” I suppose that wasn’t the message my bio-mother was trying to convey to me; but it was the message I received because I detested her being on government assistance. She was more than capable of working; however, she chose to receive food stamps and medical assistance. As far as I was concerned, the Democrats enabled her to stay in that perpetual condition of poverty by providing her with handouts rather than telling her she didn’t qualify because she was healthy enough to get a job and take pride in herself and earn her own way. I also remember former President Jimmy Carter on television during the Iran hostage crisis. I hated his pasty white face and that awful southern drawl. I remember asking, “Why aren’t we going after our Americans?” I don’t recall the answer to my question, but I do remember Ronald Reagan becoming our 40th President and lo and behold our hostages were released just minutes after he made his inauguration speech! Another revelation…Iran was afraid of this Ronald Reagan, who stood tall and proud and spoke in a rich, commanding voice. They obviously weren’t too intimidated by Jimmy Carter because they kept our Americans for 444 days, but Ronald Reagan sure daunted them. So, in my mind, Democrats were weak and Republicans were strong. I thought, “I want to be strong; I want to be a Republican!” I registered to vote as an Independent when I was 19 only because it was necessary to become a notary. I didn’t become interested in politics until about 8 years later during the 1992 election; however, I wasn’t able to vote because I was in the hospital giving birth to my 1st son. I’m no political expert; but I do know my convictions and they just happen to correlate with the Republican Party. I want less government involvement and less social programs. I want less taxes or more tax cuts for businesses, because I’m smart enough to know if businesses have more money they will “spread the wealth” and hire more people or even lower their costs. I think a higher minimum wage is stupid. Minimum wage wasn’t designed to raise a family. It’s for teenagers to earn some extra money; moms that want to reenter the work force once their kids enter school; or college students working their way toward a degree. Anyone that is trying to raise a family on minimum wage needs to go back to school and get a brain. I want the government to protect me, therefore, I support a strong military. I don’t want the government handling my health care. The government practically bankrupted social security and can’t supervise its own corrupt colleagues, i.e. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. What makes me think it can properly oversee a complicated matter such as health care? It can’t and it wasn’t designed to. Our Founding Fathers knew the limitations of government so instituted our Constitution. I want the freedom to speak my mind with my gun in its holster as I close my bible so I can listen to my favorite talk radio station. Obviously those aren’t all my beliefs. I just found it ironic that my political convictions began at a very young age and I went the Republican route even though I grew up in a Democratic household where “spreading the wealth” was fully entrenched. From my point of view, having lived it, Barack’s plan to “spread the wealth” isn’t a utopia but another form of slavery.