The Parable of the Three Sons (as told by my mother)

Growing up, my mother told me a parable in order to illustrate the importance of not hoarding

money. She taught me that hoarding your money is the greatest sin.*

A father gave each of his three sons equal portions of money and sent them off into the world. The first son invested his money; the second son spent his money; and the third son buried his money in ground. Some time later the father called his sons together and asked about the status of the gift he had given them. The first son proudly reported that through wise investing, he had increased his initial amount. The father was incredibly proud of his son and told him so. The second son hung his head and told his father that he had spent the entirety of the gift. The father explained that he was also proud of him because he had spent the money and therefore helped the economy. The infusion of capital into the market helped the overall well being of their country and countrymen. The third son was pleased to report that he had the same amount that he was originally given. The father asked how this was possible and the son explained he had buried it. The father was gravely disappointed in his son and the son did not understand. The father explained that the first son had invested the money, which helps the economy of their country, and the second son spent the money, which also helps the economy, but he had buried his money which helps no one. The father explained that hoarding money and not aiding in the growth of the overall economy of his community is the greatest sin of all.

*It turns out that her parable is loosely based on the Parable of Three Servants found in both Matthew and Luke but hers has a different twist.

OneUSA

My brilliant friend, John Hawks, came up with an amazing idea- that we the citizens, regardless of political affiliations or leanings, join together to change our broken system.

The way our system stands now, corruption is rampant. As a political science major, I have given much thought to how we, as a country, could fix this system. Sadly, I focused more on political theory than on practical politics in under-grad, so my thoughts tended towards the non-helpful area. However, some ideas that others have come up with that I thought had promise are: getting rid of the primary system and switching our presidential election to a run-off system (thereby giving 3rd parties a shot at winning); of course campaign finance reform (talk about a pipe dream!); and/or term limits. But all of these require, literally, an act of congress.

But John came up with such a brilliant idea that can implemented immediately, without legislation or the polis standing out in the cold or rain holding signs. Taken from his Facebook group "About" page:

This group will attempt to find a civil common ground we can all support. The initial premise is, that while Romney & Obama generated heated factions amongst us, we CAN come together on working to get the idiotic morons out of Congress. OneUSA believes there are four ways to identify a MORON IN CONGRESS:

1. If they ALWAYS vote party lines, they are not Voting for the USA....they are voting only for their Party.....They are MORONS
2. If they won't listen to the other arguments in a civil way, then negotiate and finally compromise....They are MORONS
3. If they claim they want smaller Government except they want Government in control of a Woman's Body......They are MORONS
4. If they manipulate the truth, fail to reveal the truth or lie......They are MORONS.

Help us to develop techniques to recognize MORONIC CONGRESSMEN and CONGRESSWOMEN.

Help us point them out to others as MORONS who need to, at least leave Congress if not our OneUSA!!

If we ALL commit to voting these "morons" out of office, things will change. Will we end up with someone who aligns with us socio-politically? Probably not. However, if everyone agrees to vote out those who only vote their party lines, who refuse to except reason or to compromise, who obfuscate the truth, or who generally act like morons, and we do this regardless of our political affiliations, then the politicians will finally realize who they are truly beholden to: the citizens of the United States of America. If politicians become more driven by fear of not being reelected than by their lust for power, then we finally stand a chance of beating back the plutocracy and reclaiming our country as OURS.

Will you join the movement? Will you commit to stand for truth and against hypocrisy where possible. Come join us in our search for the truth and share accurate information when we find it! OneUSA [https://www.facebook.com/groups/102500953234489/ ]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Our governmental system is flawed. Our founding fathers, in order to prevent tyranny of the majority inadvertently created tyranny of the minority. Because of this, creating bills that can pass congress is a tricky art (and I use the word "tricky" intentionally).

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare", as it is affectionately known, it not a good bill. It began as a great bill but in the process of adjusting it so that it could pass congress this great bill was chipped away to a pile of rubble that barely resembles the original idea. That being said, a pile of rubble is better than nothing. At least with a pile of rubble we have our foot in the door and have set a precedent. If we have nothing, well then, we have nothing.

I have Lyme disease. I was diagnosed with it in 2007. Luckily I was married to a man who owned his own business and we had great health insurance. In a stroke of bad luck for me, in 2008 my husband cheated on me. I almost had to stay married to him inorder to maintain coverage for fear of being denied due to a pre-existing condition. I reiterate: I almost had to stay married to a man who abandoned me while I was sick in order for me to keep health insurance! If it were not for the changes put in place by Obamacare, I would be trapped. That or bankrupt, which would be a much larger burden on society than PPACA.

I look forward to our elected leaders adjusting the Act so that it returns to its originally intended greatness. I pray that it is not repealed, for if it is, I do not know what would happen to me. In my opinion the best way forward is adjusting the current Act and not repealing its flawed form and starting from scratch, for I fear that if it is repealed, Big Money will prevent another bill from passing Congress.