Thank God You Aren't Joe the Plumber

Have you ever seen such intense media scrutiny over something like Joe the Plumber? All he did was ask a question. Of course in doing that, he was able to do something that 2 million fawning members of the media couldn't do. He got B.O. to accidentally tell the truth. I don't want to spread my wealth around. I worked really hard to get what I have, and I don't think that I should be obligated to pass that around, thank you very much. I don't have a problem helping someone. I really do think you should help people whenever you can. But I also don't think that the government should do it in my place. I'll decide what to do with my money, and I'll do it a lot more cost effectively than even more government taxes and regulations, I'm sure. This reminds me of when Walmart has those meetings in the back office and they have a presentation from someone from Big Brothers,Big Sisters, or one of the other fine charities that Walmart contributes to. They put you in that small room with all the others and make you feel like a heel if you aren't interested in contributing to a handful of charities that someone else has hand picked. I made the mistake of asking where my money would go once, because I had read that part of the money from one particular organization went to Planned Parenthood, an organization that I would not donate to under any circumstance. I was berated, and told that once I gave money to them, they would decide what to do with it, and that I didn't need to really be concerned with that, they were all good causes. I did not give that year. Instead, My husband and I did what we always did every year. We found an organization that had an Angel Tree. We looked over the tree and found children whose ages matched the ages of our children. Then we took our kids out Christmas shopping, and explained that there were children that wouldn't be able to have a Christmas without our help. When my older son asked why Santa wasn't helping them, I told him that even Santa needs a little help now and then. We spent the day shopping for clothes for these children. We also bought them things that they didn't ask for, some toys that would hopefully make their day a little better. It made us feel good, but the best part was watching our children realize how much they had to be thankful for, and start to see the beginnings of generosity in them. It was wonderful. So think about what is going on, you only have 4 more days to decide who is going to do the thinking for you. If you like to think for yourself, you just might thank me later.