Better or Worse?

Yesterday, as I drove through the hollers of north western West Virginia, I saw a beautiful sight off in the distance. A few fields over, visible only because the leaves have evacuated the trees, were a flock of wild turkey. They were on the edge of the wood, jumping up and down, performing some kind of pecking order ritual. In my younger days I'd have pulled over, pulled my camo's out of the back, grabbed my shotgun or my bow and proceeded to practice the skills of my ancient ancestors, reviving the hunter/gatherer art that man used to use for survival. But I was in a rental car, out of state, older and without all that equipment I always held so dear.

As I drove further I crossed into Pennsylvania and began to see cars dotted along side the highway, seemingly abandoned. Then I realized they were in the wood hunting. I saw two of the hunters emerge, dressed in their fluorescent orange hunting attire and thought back to the turkey. The government has mandated that now we, hunter/gatherers, wear a reflective plastic fluorescent suit so we can be safe in the wood from being shot by each other, making it pretty much impossible to blend in during a stalk, or even stalk as the plastic is about as quiet as the movement of a bag of potato chips. Then I pondered, just who are they really protecting? I've not done the research but I'd be prone to believe there are less hunters injured or killed annually than there are football players in a season. Where is the government regulation there? Or better yet, why has the government stuck it's nose into the safety of hunting? Where in the Constitution does it bequeath that power to legislators? I'm sure Daniel Boone or Davey Crockett are turning in their grave.

I wasn't done on my journey through government intrusion. As I drove further on I decided to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a toll road I gladly paid my admission for because it shaved time off my trip. After depositing the government impose tax money into the toll, I came upon a sign for construction. It was funded by the Community Reinvestment Act as boasted by the sign,(stimulus money). My mind began to wander, as it often does and question, where is the accountability? The toll I paid was money designated to keep the turnpike in repair, so why are the rest of the forty nine states asked to give their tax money to keep the Pennsylvania Turnpike in repair, when a fund was set aside, fueled by the tolls from those who actually used the road? What about the Federal tax money collected on the gasoline and diesel purchases, also designed for road maintenance?

Then came the kicker, I deplaned in Orlando, Florida, a liberal leaning population center and saw the rarest of sights. There right on the side of the road was a sign asking voters to vote YES on proposition 4. Let me keep you up to speed, proposition 4 is about as popular in Florida as a skunk in a perfume factory. It is suggesting the voters let the consideration of growth planning be put on the ballot for the whole state. Basically it's trying to subvert our state government from the founder's principles of a representative Republic, to the mob rule of a democracy. Instead of local growth issues being solved at the lowest possible level, you know the people it actually affects, it opens it up for special interests to abuse our voting system, and the kicker is, they can't tell us the price tag of this referendum. It's been tried and failed in St Petersburg, and that's the beauty of the system. If bad legislation is enacted in a community, you can either change it, or move. If the whole state is infected with this law, it complicates the moving thing. I just struck me funny the proposers of this unpopular bill, would concentrate their efforts on the liberal urban areas, hoping the volume of voters there can change the will of the rest of the state.

It was a great day to be a conservative out touring the country. I got to see first hand the usefulness, waste, mishandling of our money, and the treachery of government in one twenty four hour trip. Ask yourself before you vote this Tuesday...Am I better off now than I was two years ago? Has government intrusion enhanced my life? Is the government the best steward of my money and trust? Then cast your ballots accordingly!

God Bless!
Capt. Bill