"This party: Great party or greatest party?"

Attention My-Blog-Readers:
(Who am I kidding? Attention, Mom:)

If you ever want to have the greatest MSNBC/Anderson Cooper-watching party ever, recruit one Kasey Umland to be your party planner. Check it:



In all seriousness, though, oh.my.god. I'd like to avoid some lame attempt at finding some words to explain how it felt to see "Barack Obama elected President" flash on the screen. When I called that student this morning, he said, "How does it feel to have been a little part of making history, Ms. Dahlke?" The kids are screaming O-BA-MA in the hallways during passing periods. I could not get my first hour class to focus on our routine activity for at least ten minutes. They're so excited! I'm so excited!

OK, so since I've committed to not trying to put my joy into words, and since Kasey's blog is now private, and since I thought this post was particularly poignant, I'm excerpting:

SO, why wouldn't my mom vote for Obama? TAXES. My mom thinks he will raise her taxes. I towed the Obama line and told her only those making over 250K will see an increase. I told her that she and dad do NOT make over 250K so their taxes will fall. Her response "Well, we all know they say that now but it won't stay that way." (Is my mom Joe the Plumber?)

Now, it could be the fact that I am in the midst of a presidential movie marathon, but I started thinking about this claim: you can't trust a Democrat to cut taxes. OR WORSE, Democrats WANT to raise taxes. Democrats WANT to spend your money. Frankly, it kind of pisses me off.

I'm angry that somehow we have accepted the label, fiscally liberal. I don't think I stand for being fiscally liberal at all. I WANT a balanced budget. I want less government spending. I WANT lower taxes. And even beyond that I WANT small government, and I am willing to bet I favor these things just as much as any conservative.

That being said, I NEED to live in a world in which regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. everyone is given a fair chance at happiness. I NEED to live in a country that does not see people living in poverty and allow it to continue. I NEED to live in a society in which mental illness, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and/or physical disabilities are not a sentence to a life of nothing more than your basic needs being met (if you are lucky) but rather you are afforded the opportunity to reach your own personal potential.

and I want all of that to be possible without a big government, but until we rid the world of discrimination and find a way to instill a sense in everyone of basic consideration for our neighbors, that isn't going to happen. So, until then, I want a government that is looking to put itself out of business. We talk about this in the nonprofit world. The goal of social service agencies is to be so successful, you are no longer necessary. I am not advocating anarchy, but I am advocating a government that looks for long term sustainable solutions to our greatest problems. That seeks not to minimize their magnitude but to work to address the institutional causes of these problems in a way that little by little makes the need for a government role no longer necessary. This is idealistic and I know that, but I am sick and tired of the notion that because I want to see a better world, I am in some way WANT to spend hard working Americans' money. No one wants that and it is ridiculous to even suggest. The difference between us is not our wants but our needs, and I for one, am willing to put my needs before my wants.