THE CONSERVATIVE VIEW

BY RUSSELL TURNER

THE TROUBLE WITH CLICHÉS


In my opinion this upcoming election is one of the most important in the history of our nation. Many Americans have developed the misguided idea that our government has an infinite supply of money. The Americans that have developed that idea could not be more wrong. America has been a very wealthy country, but we need to realize that there are limits to that wealth. We have allowed far too many politicians to cater to those who have the belief that our wealth is unlimited. We Americans have developed a bad habit of listening to old worn out clichés, and that bad habit is about to cause us more problems than most people could ever imagine.

The definition of the word cliché pretty much puts it into perspective. From dictionary.com “ a trite stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse “. Being a conservative, I set my priorities based upon logic and hard numbers; my liberal counterparts seem to base their decisions on good feelings and good intentions. For many years I have heard far too many politicians campaign simply with clichés, and frankly I am sick of it. Far too many times I have heard some politician say, “Put me back up there and I will bring home the bacon.” Whenever some politician makes a promise to get more money for some group or for some program, we citizens need to ask a simple question: where do you intend to get the money?

We Americans need to open our eyes and see what this cliché campaigning has done to our state and nation. In my state of Oklahoma, spending is at an all time high and is clearly unsustainable. We Oklahomans are foolishly depending upon the federal government for 40% of that budget. The feds have their own problems; on a federal level the feds would have to come up with 16 trillion dollars just to be broke. Our state employee retirement system is nothing short of a ponzi scheme. If we as private citizens had done what past politicians have done, we would go to jail for fraud; just ask Bernie Madoff.

I care for our state and our nation. At one time our state and country could afford a parasitic government, but that time has passed. We can no longer operate government with feel-good emotions and no spending discipline. We Americans deserve more than a bunch of worn out clichés. I do not like to see anyone use clichés to avoid dealing with hard reality; if we are to survive as a free people it is time we get serious about our problems and stop using clichés.

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