Excuse Me While I Vent

With the midterm elections coming up on Tuesday, we have some big choices to make. And I have a few questions.

One of the main talking points I'm hearing over and over is the G.O.P. saying that if the Democrats win the House and Senate on Tuesday, they'll just raise your taxes. To which the Democrats reply, "Oh, that's just not true."

Now, I think you and I can agree that nobody wants taxes raised, right? But my question is: at this point, don't we have to raise taxes? At least some? George H. W. Bush ran into this problem in his administration and, while everyone mocked him for going back on his "no new taxes" promise, at least he put the good of the country before his own political welfare.

Love him or hate him, it's called taking one for the team. It's called personal sacrifice.

We're in a war right now that experts are predicting will cost our country in excess of 2 trillion dollars. So, whether you agree with the cause or not, I think you'd have to admit that we have a big problem on our hands now. And, aside from those who are serving or those with loved ones in Iraq, who among us has really sacrificed for this war we're in?

In wars past, people back here at home made real sacrifices, be they in the form of a mandatory draft, by selling war bonds, or by playing the role of "Rosie the Riveter" and helping the effort through hard work in factories and shipyards, making materials and munitions.

I have been asked to do nothing for this war. I've actually been told that if I don't go to the mall, the terrorists win.

Are the Democrats so spineless that they're afraid to say that we, as a country, might actually have to tighten our belts and make a sacrifice or two, not only for our people risking their lives in Iraq, but also for the sake of our children and our children's children?

And are the Republicans so negligent that they keep spending money like Elton John in a jewelry store, comforted by the knowledge that future generations will have to figure out a way to pay this war off?

I just get sick of no one wanting to take ownership for what our government has done. The Republican party and those who subscribe to its' philosophies (yes, the same people who love to preach about "taking personal responsibilty") don't want to be bothered with helping to pay the bill. And the Democratic party just wants to quietly bury its' head in the sand and say nothing, so everyone will like them.

The bottom line is that we haven't been asked to make a sacrifice because the politicians haven't wanted us to constantly be reminded that we're at war. That would be very, very bad for their lucrative political careers.

So, any politician who's not afraid to stop coddling us... any politician who knows that the gigantic elephant in the room may hurt him or her politically and yet still has the bravery to acknowledge it? That's the person I'd like to vote for.

Because, as one of the smartest people I know so succinctly put it, "Rome is burning and we're makin' s'mores."