I had some things going on this morning so as I drove around I listened to the resurrected Imus in the Morning show. My a.m. drive used to consist of Air America until they just turned so vehemently anti-American it can no longer be listened to by any sane person, or I listened to Curtis and Kuby who occupied the spot now filled by Imus.
Imus had a woman from a Bronx organization looking to get donations for a health clinic her group was building and he started the segment by handing her a large check. Imus' wife Deidre was also there as she is helping to rebuild the building occupied by the group as a green building. Deidre Imus runs a non-profit, the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology, that, among other things, consults on, and advocates for, green buildings.
During the segment Dierdre and the representative for the community group were talking about how hard it can be to get donations for the non-profits when Imus asked why the government is not doing anything to help them.
Which brings me to the point of today's rant... why do people think the government has an obligation to dump tax dollars into problems that are better addressed at the local level by community groups?
Leftist and socialist programs have bloated the federal government to the point it is not able to even perform its essential tasks as set forth by the constitution. Private non-profits and faith based groups have always been far more successful at raising funds and helping people that the government. Private groups focus on helping individuals out of their dilemmas while providing them with the necessary skills for self reliance. Government programs foster laziness and penalize success encouraging people to stay un- or under- employed, affecting self confidence, self respect and making slaves out of the recipients.
Last week I spent a few days with Catholic Charities gutting a house in New Orleans. Catholic Charities is one of the faith based/community groups charged with gutting houses so building permits can be issued to reconstruct and reoccupy the houses affected by Katrina. This is the third time I've been down there working with Catholic Charities.
When I was talking with them they mentioned the number of houses they had left to do, and I noted that the number had increased from the last time, the rep reported that NOLA based groups were pulling out of their responsibilities because the city has reduced their funding and those groups don't want to spend "their" money helping to repair the city, even though they solicit and continue to receive donations from around the country specifically for that purpose.
I donate to private charities, I volunteer my time with several non-profits, including my local rescue squad, I also provide free training in various subjects to local emergency squads. I am not saying this to blow my own horn, I am mentioning it solely because volunteering and donating to help one's neighbor is what made, and makes, this a great country. When the government tries to do things more money goes to administering the program than benefiting the program, it creates another bureaucracy that needs never ending supplies of tax dollars, and most importantly... when the government decides who and how to help it forces you to pay (in the form of taxes) even though it may be a cause you personally disagree with.
So while Imus should be applauded for his donation to the charity, his work on behave of autism awareness, and of course his own charity, the Don Imus ranch, he, and all liberals, need to break out of the leftardian "why isn't the government doing more?" mentality. The government is not supposed to be our nanny, nor is it supposed to take care of us like we are their children. It was said best by the last competent Democrat POTUS:
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
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