Brain-Jockey

Are You Smarter Than A First Grader: “Under God” and Other Important Phrases From the Pledge

Written by Audrie Zettick on December 17, 2008

Gotta love the intelligence that comes my way from the back seat, as I drive.

Spontaneously, my son asked “mom, what does ‘Under God’ mean?”  He then quickly followed by asking the meaning of “justice.”  

The irony is that my son was born in and adopted from Ukraine and–according to their laws–until he rejects his Ukrainian citizenship when he turns 18, he has dual citizenship.  I believe he was asking about something that many U.S.-born citizens take as just rote–spitting out the words with little thought to their meaning.  Words than many on the far left would just as soon flush down the toilet in a warping of the concept of diversity and humanism.

Oh.  And the other irony is that my son is in first grade.

 What Does It Mean?

Moms and dads both know that you generally don’t have time to think about the answer to questions from the backseat.  So, after fiddling with the volume on the radio, I composed my answer.  Sure, it was in first-grade “speak” but maybe that’s how we need to teach our population as a whole on this issue.

I explained.  “Under God” means several things.  First, if we are “under” Him than He is over us.  We recognize that there is a power greater than ourselves and our government.  That God has blessed us and expects us to act in a way that makes him happy, by obeying his laws even while we make our own laws.  I also added that there are some people who don’t believe in God and want us not to say his name in our Pledge, but that I disagreed with that.

Justice.  Well, explaining that was a bit tougher and required examples.  I told him that “justice” meant being fair.  (I knew I had to go further, because “fair” and “not fair” to a first grader has an entire different meaning–like sharing a new toy you just received–not “fair.” )  

I explained that justice means more than fair.  It means there are responsibilities, rewards and consequences.  Say, for example, someone broke into our house and stole our things, or hurt someone in our family.  Justice would be finding a fair punishment for them for what they did; there should be consequences.  If someone works hard to provide money, a house and things for their family, it is fair that they keep what they worked for.  (Of course “not fair” to the far left might be defined as not letting the family keep the fruits of their labor–letting the government redistribute it to others, but I’ll leave that for another time–say, 3rd grade).                          

I’m sure we’ll have many more of these conversations in the future, but for now, I think he “gets it.”  I’m delighted he thinks about these things.

Do you?  Are you smarter than a first grader?

By Audrie Zettick Schaller

Obama and the Law of Unintended Consequences: What Might Be Next?

Written by Audrie Zettick on December 6, 2008

Anticipating federal policy changes certain to be on the horizon with a Democrat president and U.S. Congress, I was reminded of the Law of Unintended Consquences.  You know, when policies start out well-meaning but end up having all sorts of deleterious effects.

Examples abound. 

• Welfare payments  Back before welfare reform, a mom on cash assistance was smart for not working.  While there was no mandate to work, if she chose to work–even very part-time–her welfare payment was reduced, sometimes drastically.  If the net income to her family was less, then why work?  The result: not many welfare recipients had work histories, making it even less likely they’d ever be off the  public dole. Similar “we-meant-well” bad side affects of the old welfare policy resulted in more single-parent families, less child support to single moms, and generational reliance on welfare. (Now, in PA, a family on public assistance with a working adult actually has more income and benefits than if no one is working.   Cash assistance recipients can keep their welfare checks for a while while they gain work experience, but the 60-month life-time limit on cash assistance spurs them along). 

•  Cigarette Taxes  (Commonwealth Foundation just blogged about this) People “smuggling” cigs across the border to avoid high cigarette taxes.  (I’m waiting for the “speak easy” smoking rooms, since we just outlawed smoking in restaurants in PA).

• Immigration Reform  Ronald Reagan signed an immigration reform law in 1986 which included an amnesty policy.  It was to be tied to strict sanctions for employers who hired illegal aliens–the deterrent to an influx of more illegals. The result: Ted Kennedy managed to eventually do away with the sanctions…and we have today’s immigration challenges.

• Hawaii Child Healthcare Hawaii had a great idea.  Get healthcare coverage for the remaining children without it, kids whose parents worked but made too much money for medicaid.  They had to discontinue the program after 7 months as too costly—families who were paying for healthcare dropped their coverage for the government-funded program.  

• Nebraska Safe Haven Law–This law was originally intended to keep unwanted infants from being abandoned and, like all other states’ safe haven laws, parents were allowed to drop of their children at hospitals, no questions asked.  But Nebraska had to amend their law to specify an upper age limit, as parents were abandoning their teens.

With today’s issues, I wonder what unintended consequences we’ll see in future months or years.  One or two spring to mind immediately: the FDIC proposal to allow mortgage holders who haven’t made a payment in 2 months to qualify for lower interest rates and Barack Obama’s promises (as shown in the video below) to “not weaponize space,”  not develop new nuclear weapons and “slow development of future weapons systems.” 

A mistake made in welfare policy we can live with for a short while.  Defense mistakes?  Sometimes it takes us generations to correct them…if we can correct them at all.

What else do you think is on the horizon?

Russian hyperbole: Let’s be thankful

Written by Audrie Zettick on November 26, 2008

Igor Panarin, a Russian political punditsky, made headlines via the Drudge Report, claiming that tough economic times in the U.S. foretell a certain breaking apart of the country into regions.  While I can’t argue with his pontificating over our rising debt, his hyperbole only confirms my views that Russian officials and their elite are still so brainwashed by a culture mired in Leninist principles they don’t get it.  While many of us take our rights as citizens for granted, when push comes to shove, we are Americans, not Californians or Pennsylvanians.

Yes, we are going through tough times.  Yes, I’m deeply disturbed over the $7 trillion we’ve apparently added to the national debt in recent weeks.  And I’m worried about the tax burden and quality of life that will be experienced by my kids.  Yet, I can’t imagine living in any other country on earth.

In spite of it all, thankful to be in the U.S.

This Russian hyperbole about the U.S. breaking up reminded me of what I can be thankful for this holiday.  As I’ve blogged before, my family remembers what it was like under oppressive regimes.  I’m second generation American from Ukrainian, Russian and Belarussian immigrants. 

• I’m thankful for the peaceful transfer of power:  We may bicker amongst ourselves, but even in the most contentious elections, we transfer power peacefully (okay, except for the nonstop whining of the liberals the past 8 years).  I’ll suck it up and live with President Obama, at least for 4 years….

• I’m thankful for the freedom to criticize and offer alternatives:  So while Obama may be “my” president (and I respect the office), I will stand in the virtual square and know I can freely offer my opinion.   Here in the U.S., we don’t (generally) poison our critics with radioactive substances and we don’t send army tanks rolling down the street.  We can blog until the wee hours of the night and not worry about the thought police filtering our internet access. (Okay, there’s that Fairness Doctrine issue as espoused by Chuck Schumer).

• I’m thankful for the free market.  In the 1980s, my relatives who came here to visit refused to believe we didn’t stand in long lines to buy bread, shoes, etc.  Stores they saw certainly must be an elaborate set up.  When we went to Ukraine to adopt our son in 2003, it was clear that Ukraine was beginning to break free of government control, especially in housing.  While there, we stayed with our upper middle class translator.  The interior of her apartment was impecable and modern; a glance out her Ikea-clad window provided a view of new-style apartments being built.  But her former-soviet bloc apartment had urine-soaked, graffiti-laden walls; others in similar apartments in Kiev had no flushable toilets or hot water and no electricity in the hallways–a throw back to the days when the government owned the property.   (Government ownership….hmmm…we’d never do that here, right?)

• And, I’m thankful to be free to worship my God, to whom I am truly grateful for every thing and ability I have.  Russia, while it has improved regarding religious freedoms, has some recent regulations on NGOs (including churches) that have the potential to allow the government to dictate activities of the church.  (Ask the Catholic Church in Massachusetts why they closed their adoption program).

Don’t Take These Rights For Granted

While I initially wrote this tongue-in-cheek, it became obvious that our rights are precious and easily lost.  Kudos to the blogosphere and my growing Twitter network for their work in making sure we retain the very things for which I am thankful.   Happy Thanksgiving.