KEVIN WILSON: We are still land of the free, home of the brave

I need to clarify a couple of things from last week’s column.  

I received a call from a constituent who was upset about the Obama cartoon that appeared right above my column in the Daily News.  

They thought that the cartoon was part of my column and they didn’t like it. For the record, I do not submit any kind of cartoons with my column.  It just so happened that the Daily ran that particular cartoon critical of Obama on a day that my column also made some critical remarks on the current administration.

The other clarification has to do with correspondence I received regarding my thoughts that we owed the greatest generation an apology for the way our country is going.  

This particular person said that not everyone agreed that we were heading in the wrong direction and didn’t think we owed anyone an apology.  

I appreciated and respected his comments and want to make sure that everyone reading my columns understands that the opinions reflected are mine and mine alone.  

I don’t presume to speak for anyone other than myself, but I can tell you that if the talk I hear around the district is any indication I think that a whole lot of us are concerned about the future of our nation.  

I have heard grumblings before and seen partisanship at its best and worst but this is different. I can tell by the look in people’s eyes and the fear in their voice that our nation is in peril.  

We are going through times like I have never seen in my lifetime and it scares the Dickens out of me. And, the real scary part is that I am not sure when things are going to turn around.

I am not trying to be cute or funny, but I really would like for someone to explain to me how all this massive government spending is going to turn our economy around. I was always taught that if you were in debt beyond your means then you needed to save and get out of debt. All I have heard for the last two years is that we need to spend more taxpayer money and that will stimulate the economy. How? We cannot be dependent upon government jobs to be the backbone of our economic system. Government jobs do not produce a product or provide a needed service other than to supervise a government program financed by your tax dollars.

I follow the premise that government should exist to do for society what we cannot do individually. That means that government should provide for national defense, law enforcement, public education, highways, etc. (you get the picture). Government provides for an orderly society, but we should not depend on government for the solution to every problem and that is what has gotten us to where we are today. Too many people feel entitled and think that Uncle Sam should be our benevolent benefactor and take care of all our needs. President Gerald Ford in an address to Congress in 1974 said, “That a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” Think about that and what it means. When we are too dependent on government what happens when government (taxpayers) can’t afford to continue taking care of you?

I am scared. Yes, that’s right; I am scared of the direction our country is heading. I shudder to think what kind of nation that my generation is passing on to my children and their children.  

But, I am always the optimist and I believe that there is still hope for America. There is hope when free people stand up and make known their earnest desires for the country they love and I am seeing more and more of that every day. Where free people live there is always hope and the last time I checked we are still the land of the free and the home of the brave.  

Remember that if you need assistance on state matters please don’t hesitate to contact my office at:

Mail:  State Capitol/201 W. Capitol Ave. /Room 413-B/Jefferson City, MO  65101;

e-mail:  ‘kevin.wilson@house.mo.gov’;

phone:  (573) 751-9781;

fax:  (573) 522-9287