What we really need

The following was written by my father, Charles Bridges, and edited and expanded by myself.

Our forefathers came to this country to get away from the egocentric rule of Kings and Queens, unfair taxation, and to obtain religious and personal freedoms. They founded our nation on the premise that the poor could have the same opportunity to succeed as the rich and famous. They built roads, bridges, factories, canals, schools, churches, moved mountains, and won over great obstacles. They believed in the Biblical definition that a good leader must be the servant of the people, not that the people owed anything to their leaders.

We became the greatest industrial nation on the face of the Earth. We have had several tests of our faith, strength, and resolve. We have not only survived great wars, but have thrived and funded the rebuilding of the nations we defeated! We always came out on top because we stood together in our faith and hope. But we have given away our factories and our wealth. A substantial portion of our food supplies have to be shipped in from other countries, even though we have freely given of our own bountiful harvests to peoples around the world who would have starved to death.

It is time for our elected officials to return to being the servants of the people and stand up, or wise up, to start working for the wellbeing of this nation! It is time for them to find ways to get our nation back to being self-reliant and debt-free, putting our people back to work on jobs where they can make decent wages and be proud of their work. Stand up for our own country! We cannot keep fighting others' wars. Let's be a peaceful and strong nation once more. Our elected officials are supposed to be the caretakers of our Constitution and look out for the welfare of our children. We are fast becoming a dependent nation, but it's not too late to get back on track. We've let out guard down, thinking that everyone Is good-hearted and kind like us. That thinking has led to 9-11 and the attacks throughout the Middle East. Let's get our guard back up, return our factories, protect our Constitution, and stop fighting other countries' wars. We've lost several wars since WWII, let's turn over a new leaf and start winning!

We need to put everyone to work who wants to work, and set up an environment where our people would rather work than take government hand-outs! Charities are for hand-outs, not the government. If anything, the government should be giving hand-ups not hand-outs. We need to create an environment where American ingenuity, and investment, is once again encouraged to flourish. American ingenuity used to be the greatest in the world. It gave the world the peanut, microwave ovens, internal combustion engines, airplanes, submarines, electricity, telephones, rockets, and computers among many other things too numerous to itemize. American ingenuity flourished most profoundly under times of lesser, or no, taxation. American ingenuity cannot flourish with oppressive taxation that discourages investment. Ingenuity needs investment but the current environment is hostile to small business and investment. If there were unfettered ingenuity, someone would surely create a more environmentally friendly replacement for the automobile, a better method for heating and cooling our homes, and an inexpensive method to transition!

We need to stop worrying about what others have, and start worrying about what we can do for ourselves! Our government needs to start working to encourage companies to bring our factories back and to modernize the few still here. China did not become an economic powerhouse with new inventions of their own, but by copying and miniaturizing American inventions, producing those products using cheap labor that is barely above slave labor, and with no regard whatsoever of the Earth's environment! American inventions should be produced in America! Our government needs to create an environment where new factories are built, and producing the goods we need in the USA, and then things will be OK.

Once elected the politician is no longer a Democrat or Republican, but rather a servant of the American people, until the next election cycle. After the election this November, all of our elected officials need to start living up to our original Constitution and leave partisan politics behind. We need them to start acting as a true servant of the people and keep our country free, strong, and God loving!