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Improving America
Ernest Istook
Cựu Dân Biểu Liên Bang
Ernest Istook thuộc tiểu bang Oklahoma hiện nay là biên tập viên kiêm cố
vấn báo Dân Quyền. Ông còn là thành viên danh dự của Tổ chức The
Heritage Foundation tại Thủ đô Hoa Thịnh Đốn.
Ngoài ra Ernest Istook còn
là luật sư cho tổ hợp Foshee & Yaffe tại Oklahoma; số điện thoại: (405)
659-6500. Bài viết của ông còn được xuất hiện hằng tuần trên
worldnetdaily.com và bình luận cho đài BottRadio network.
Cựu Dân Biểu Liên Bang
Ernest Istook thuộc tiểu bang Oklahoma hiện nay là biên tập viên kiêm cố
vấn báo Dân Quyền. Ông còn là thành viên danh dự của Tổ chức The
Heritage Foundation tại Thủ đô Hoa Thịnh Đốn.
Ngoài ra Ernest Istook còn
là luật sư cho tổ hợp Foshee & Yaffe tại Oklahoma; số điện thoại: (405)
659-6500. Bài viết của ông còn được xuất hiện hằng tuần trên
worldnetdaily.com và bình luận cho đài BottRadio network.
Improving
America
Ernest Istook
As I
confess to people, I’ve enjoyed an interesting and novel career: I’ve
been a politician. I’ve been a reporter. And I remain an attorney.
However,
I’ve never sold used cars.
Since I
left the U.S. House of Representatives after 14 years there, my concerns
have been rekindled that Congress is not representing America well.
It’s the same feeling I had when I was elected to go there in 1992, but
I suspended that feeling during my 14 years serving there, hoping to
make a difference.
Perspective
often improves when we’re not immersed in the day-to-day politicking,
and mine certainly has improved.
Through
this column, I’ll share thoughts about our future as Americans and as
Oklahomans.
Oklahomans
enjoy a work ethic and self-reliance that is too rare in modern America
but our government is a major culprit in undercutting those values.
Borrowing
to expand government spending may buy votes now, but it’s devastating to
our future.
The recent
“mortgage bailout” is an unprecedented blank check that will aid
speculators and financiers far more than the everyday Americans it
supposedly is meant to help. Those trying to estimate its cost had to
give up and admit they were guessing. It might ultimate cost “only”
$50-billion, or it might be $500-billion.
That’s an
irresponsible way to represent our country.
Congress is
also the culprit for today’s record-high gasoline and food prices. By
restricting domestic exploration for oil and gas and by subsidizing
corn-based ethanol they have driven down our supply of energy and
diminished our supply of food.
Nevertheless, America remains a land of opportunity, demonstrated by the
many people who come here from all over the world. Starting over in
America is worth more to them than building from the base in their land
of birth.
However, we
have competition. Other nations now offer lower taxes, less burdensome
regulation and a skilled workforce. We cannot sit back and expect
government to give us more while we accept less responsibility for
ourselves and our families.
Those who
created our legacy were determined to leave this land better than they
had found it, rather than consuming all its riches for themselves.
But we have
no competition as champions of freedom. No other nation ever has so
unselfishly devoted itself to basic human rights and liberty,
sacrificing both lives and treasure in this cause across the world.
Whether it was the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq
or elsewhere, the willingness to sacrifice is a hallmark of America.
We are
challenged to apply that same measure of devotion within our own
borders—to be citizens who seek to give back more than they seek to
take.
As a boy, I
was inspired when John F. Kennedy laid down this challenge: “Ask not
what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
We should
heed those words today.
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