Obamas Out of Touch with Working Americans

Last Friday, President Obama gave a speech during “The White House Forum on Women and the Economy” during which he explained the reason that Michelle did not stay home with their daughters, but went back to work. Their reason? “We didn't have the luxury for her not to work.”

Hold on a second…didn’t have the luxury for her not to work?! According to this news article, in 2005, when their daughters were 7 and 4, Mr. Obama was making $162,100 a year (in the U.S. Senate) and Michelle made $316,962. Their combined income at that time was more than the Presidential salary of $400,000.

But they just couldn’t afford to live on a meager $162,100. There was no help for it. Michelle wanted to stay home, but they just couldn’t make ends meet that way.

Well, now we know – there’s no reasonable way for a family of 4 to survive on $162k per year. Our most brilliant President thinks so. Those of us who have somehow managed to do this must be truly incredible people. No doubt we have horribly scarred our families by not being able to afford multiple Hawaii vacations and country club memberships. How do we ever make it without such basic necessities as caviar and designer clothing? We surely must be living below the poverty level.

Now the sad story Obama tells of how terribly they struggled and Michelle’s difficult time in balancing work and family is meant to show how they can empathize with working class Americans. See, the Obamas are just like us. They know how hard it is to struggle financially, to wonder how they will ever afford the things they truly need. They want us to know they have felt our pain. Nice try, Mr. President.

To those of us who have been able to live on one income (often less than $40,000), who really do sacrifice to have a mom who stays at home, this is laughable. The Obamas don’t understand that it’s not a matter of how much you make. It’s not a question of luxury at all. It’s a priority we make for the sake of our kids. And we also know that there is a big difference between luxuries and necessities. The number of real necessities is far smaller than the Obamas can grasp, apparently.

To those who really do lack the option to stay home, this is an insult. The Obamas may have had their reasons for Michelle to work, but lack of money wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t that they lacked the luxury for her to stay home so much as that they wouldn’t have had enough luxury for their highbrow lifestyle and tastes without Michelle’s considerable income.

This is just another example of how out of touch the first family is with working class Americans. Now, it’s fine to make money and there’s nothing wrong with being wealthy. I don’t have any problem with people having well-paying jobs. If they can make 6-figure incomes, good for them. We need them in the economy and that’s part of the American Dream – to be able to better yourself and make more money through hard work. I don’t even argue if they want to work instead of staying home with their kids. That’s their choice. But when you make that kind of money, don’t try to tell me that you understand my financial struggles or that staying home wasn’t an option for you. Don’t belittle the sacrifices my family makes by pretending to have the same problems.

President Obama tries to curry the favor (and votes) of the working class with his stories, but instead shows his total lack of understanding of how ordinary people live. It’s no wonder his administration has taken government spending to new levels of irresponsibility and given our country the greatest debt it has ever seen. No wonder they so easily mortgage our children’s future so that they can keep spending like there’s no tomorrow. No wonder they can’t seem to get a balanced budget passed (or any budget at all, for that matter). We have a man who doesn’t know how a family can possibly survive on $162k in the White House.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Crepes

This is one of our favorite treats for breakfast meals or for dessert. These crepes take a little bit of preparation, but they are so worth it. Just don't count calories while eating them.







Crepes

1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted

Mix the milk and egg well, then mix in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Add the butter and mix well. You can refrigerate this for an hour (recommended) or cook right away. Makes 4-7 crepes (depending on how thick you make them).

Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup frozen whipped topping (e.g. Cool Whip)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Stir the cream cheese to make sure it is creamy and has no lumps. Add the whipped topping (you may want to set it out for a few minutes to soften first, but don’t let it completely melt) and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix well. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to stiffen.

This recipe makes a very creamy filling that is not too sweet. To top the crepes, I cut up some strawberries, add a little sugar, and let them sit awhile to make some juice.

The crepe batter, filling, and strawberries can all be prepared in advance to make breakfast easier.

Here's the filling and strawberries:

To cook the crepes, heat a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and then oil it lightly. You want the skillet hot, but not too hot, when you add the batter. Add enough batter to cover the bottom of the skillet and tilt the skillet to coat the bottom evenly if necessary.

Cook for about 5 minutes, turning once, or until both sides are lightly browned. Repeat with the rest of the batter. You won't need to oil the skillet again between crepes.

I usually place the cooked crepes on a paper towel on top of a warmed plate to keep them warm.

Once all the crepes are done, fill them with the filling and top with strawberries (or other fruit) and whipped cream. Enjoy!

You can serve the crepes as a dessert or as a side with breakfast items. Here you can see the whole breakfast with scrambled eggs and cheese, bacon, and hashbrowns.

Inalienable Rights – Part 4: Government by Consent of the Governed

To find out what inalienable rights are, read Part 1 of this series. Part 2 explains that inalienable rights can only come from a Creator. Part 3 discusses the difference between the right to liberty and individual liberties and how these apply to society and government. This post deals with the way that government obtains its power from the people.

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People often think of government as an entity that is above them – something that makes rules about what they can and cannot do and will punish them if they disobey. However, this is an incorrect view of just government.

The Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

As this foundational document states, the purpose of government is to protect inalienable rights, and government derives its power to do so through the consent of the people. These are very important concepts.

When John Locke wrote his Two Treatises of Government in the 17^th century, the prevailing concept of government was known as the “divine right of kings.” This idea stated that kings were divinely appointed, being given power over their subjects by God, and that subjects were thus morally obligated to obey every command of their rulers. In contrast, John Locke and his contemporaries developed the idea of every person as equal and independent, each subject to natural law (universal principles such as inalienable rights), but not subject to each other. If people are all equal and independent, each one is then a sovereign, having control of his own choices and destiny and subject only to God. No person is higher than any other, and no one has the right to violate the rights of any person by forcing him to subject himself to another’s decrees. This idea of the people – rather than the king – as sovereign is the foundation for representative government.

In a representative government such as we have in the United States, it is recognized that the power belongs to the people. The people delegate their power to government in order to form an orderly and safe society where their rights are protected. Without government, a person has rights, but the protection of those rights is his own responsibility. So, for example, while I have the right to liberty, without government I must personally defend myself against all who would threaten to enslave me. In the same way, I must also protect my own life and property. Many people are not capable of protecting themselves in this way and may therefore hire another person to act for them. Governments are simply an application of this principle. People form governments to protect their rights through the formation and enforcement of laws. The people delegate their authority to the government, which then acts on behalf of the people. Government has no power that did not first reside with the people. Government workers, from senators to police officers to garbage collectors, are those hired to do what each individual person has the right to do, but may not have the skills to do himself. This is why government workers are often called public servants. They work for the people. This is even true of our President. The President is not royalty, but is simply a citizen that has been chosen to do the job of representing the people and enforcing the laws of the land. Such representatives in government don’t have a special status or have more rights than other people. They are simply proxies for the people, doing on their behalf what they have a right to do for themselves.

An important thing to note here is that no person has the right to violate the inalienable rights of any person (including himself), and therefore government cannot rightfully violate inalienable rights either. Since inalienable rights cannot be given up or transferred for any reason, there is no way for government to be given power over inalienable rights by the people.

Another very important thing to note is that delegating power to government does not take away the right of the people to do things for themselves. For example, while police officers are hired to protect me from those who would hurt me or take away my property, I still have the right to defend myself and my property. I didn’t give that right away; I simply hired someone to act on my behalf. I also don’t have to wait for a police officer to arrest someone who is breaking the law. The concept of a citizen’s arrest is due to the fact that every person has the right to arrest a criminal. Police officers do it most often because they are trained and hired to enforce the law, not because they have any more rights than anyone else. In the same way, the other valid powers of government are derived from the rights of the individual people and only become valid powers of government by the consent of the people (who retain those rights). This is what it means to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

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In Part 5, I will wrap up the inalienable rights series by discussing some common misconceptions about inalienable rights.

 

Homemade Pizza

This pizza is better than take-out and you can add as many toppings as you want.

Pizza crust:
2.5 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
About 6-7 cups of flour

Mix the warm water and yeast together and let it sit for 7 minutes to activate the yeast. Add the salt and sugar and mix well. Slowly mix in the flour to make a soft, but not sticky dough. You don't want to add too much flour or the crust will be dry.


Grease pizza pans, iron skillets, or baking stones well with olive oil. I've found that baking stones work really well for traditional crust and iron skillets make good pan pizzas.

Flour a clean surface such as a tabletop or counter and roll out crusts to desired thickness.

Once the crusts are placed on the baking stones or in pans, you can add sauce, cheese, and toppings. This recipe makes roughly enough pizza for 8-9 people, but how many pizzas it makes depends a lot on how thick you make your crusts and how big your pans are. I don't usually make the whole recipe for just my husband and I. Here I have 1/4 the recipe made into 2 pan pizza crusts (8" and 10").

For the sauce, I use Ragu Old-World Style Spaghetti Sauce flavored with Meat because it's less acidic than many spaghetti sauces. Use whatever spaghetti sauce you prefer. If you want a more italian taste to your pizza, you can sprinkle the sauce with italian seasoning before adding the cheese.

Once the sauce is on, you add the cheese and other toppings. This is the fun part, especially if you have kids. You can let kids make their own pizza (on a large baking stone or in a small iron skillet) or put their own toppings on part of a larger pizza.

Mozarella is my favorite cheese for pizzas, but you can use various other types of cheese such as provolone as well. You can put toppings all the way to the edge and get rid of the "crust" all together or you can leave a margin of crust. You can also make stuffed crust by making the crust a little too large and wrapping the dough around cheese or other toppings. There are tons of various pizza toppings you can use (including some you won't find at your local take-out place). Use your favorites or experiment with new things.

To make dessert pizza, you can top the crust with any number of sweet items.  You can try some of these:

• Butter, sugar, and cinnamon
• Vanilla pudding and chocolate chips
• Apple chunks (or applesauce) and crumbly streusel topping

Here are my pizzas, ready to go into the oven. I put my toppings all the way to the edge. The cheese gets crispy around the edges that way as it touches the hot pan, and I won't have any plain crust.

Once the pizzas are ready, bake them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the crust is done. Enjoy!

Note: The pizza crust recipe can also be used to make french bread or breadsticks. When making either of these, let the dough rise for 20-25 minutes before baking. For breadsticks, you can form the dough into long, thin sticks and lay them side by side on a baking stone or cookie sheet. Brush them with garlic butter and sprinkle with italian seasoning and parmesan cheese before baking (you can also do this to the edges of pizza crusts to make them more interesting).

The Art of Writing Love Notes

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One of the little things a wife can do to build up her husband is to tell him how much she appreciates him. Words of Affirmation is one of the 5 love languages. Whether or not this particular love language is the primary one through which a person communicates, everyone needs to hear that they are loved and respected. This is especially true in a marriage.

Knowing that I love and respect him is very important to my husband. When we were dating, Doug and I lived about an hour and half apart so much of our communication occurred on the phone and by email. Being able to communicate what we were thinking and feeling in writing was important to the development of our relationship. We got pretty good at having discussions and sending love letters to each other by email during the week. Now that we’re married, we don’t send emails as often since we talk every day, but we do make it a point to tell each other what we appreciate about each other on a regular basis. This has become a habit that we purposely cultivated in order to help keep us close. We also take time every once in a while to write out how we feel about each other, to formalize our love and respect for each other. In some cases, it’s an email. In some cases, it’s a homemade card or a little note in my husband’s lunch. But it is always designed to remind the other person how much they are loved and appreciated.

The art of writing love notes isn’t at all hard to cultivate. It just takes a little effort and creativity. Here are some tips on making love notes memorable. I have written them from a wife’s perspective, but they can be used just as easily by husbands to their wives.

Be creative

Creativity in a love note says that you took the time to think about the other person. There’s nothing wrong with a pre-written message on a card, but it isn’t your thoughts or words. A personal note means so much more.

Say “I love you”

This one should be obvious and can work for even the briefest of notes. It should probably be included in every love note. However, because it is so obvious, it can sometimes sound stale when used alone. There are lots of variations that can make it stand out:

I love you, my darling husband.

I love my handsome man.

I love you for always.

My love for you will never die.

I love you more every day.

My heart beats with love only for you.

Don’t ever forget how much I love you.

These types of variations are much more descriptive and emotional and can help set the mood for the note.

Point out specific things that you appreciate

This one is a must, both in written notes and in everyday conversation. Taking the time to appreciate good points about your husband can mean the world to him. These statements usually begin as “I like it when…” or “I appreciate your…”

I love the way you play with your daughter.

I like your smile and the way it lights up your eyes.

I appreciate you taking out the trash so that I don’t have to.

I like it when you put your arms around me.

Your hard work in providing for our family is greatly appreciated.

I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to work out problems.

I love it when you are protective of me.

I like the way you take time to listen to me.

I love the way you make me feel when you tell me I’m beautiful.

Use terms of endearment

Using pet names or other terms of endearment can make a love note personal and special. If your husband doesn’t like the mushy ones that sound like baby talk, try some of these: 

Hero (every man wants to be a hero to his wife)

Darling

My man

Hunk

Prince Charming

Stud

My protector

Men tend to like terms of endearment that make them sound masculine.

Use lots of descriptive words

Descriptive words make a ho-hum note into a special one. Use a variety of different words to describe the way you feel about him, his characteristics that you appreciate, etc. Use words like these frequently: 

Thoughtful

Hard-working

Handsome

Supportive

Intelligent

Wonderful

Kind

Loving

Strong

Protective

Loyal 

Compliment your husband with words that describe his good characteristics. Let him know you’re his biggest fan. This helps build him up and also helps to focus your attention on his strengths as well, making it easier for you to appreciate him.

Flirt a little

A little flirtation is an important addition to any love note between husbands and wives. Tell him how much you like him to pursue you. Add a little spice with some innuendo or hints. Your husband needs to know that you value the physical side of your relationship with him. You aren’t just friends, you’re lovers as well. It doesn’t have to be graphic (especially if you can’t be sure he’ll be the only one to see it), but telling him you like his touch on your skin or can’t get enough of his kisses lets him know that you appreciate him as your mate. 

These tips are things that I’ve found useful in writing love notes to my husband. It doesn’t take a lot of time to write a short note that lets your husband know how you feel about him and it can help keep your marriage strong. If you’ve never done it, try it.


Linked up with WLWW, To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Yes They're All Ours, God's Most Precious, Warrior Wives, and The Alabaster Jar.