Freedom to Work

The topic of discussion for this Freedom Friday is the freedom to work. Unemployment has hovered around ten percent for too long. Millions of Americans continue to look for work, and their unemployment checks are nearing their end. The recession that was officially over in June 2009 continues to plague our nation because businesses are not hiring.

The Obama Administration and Congress have over-regulated our business community to the point that they don’t dare to hire or increase their business spending. Labor unions have become too powerful and demanding. People who are receiving unemployment checks for not working do not want to take jobs that would pay less money than they get from the government. Entitlement programs are depleting government funds. This all describes the conditions in our nation during the Carter Administration as well as at the present time.

Ronald Reagan was a ray of light after a very dark time. He said, “We hear much of special interest groups. Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick – professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. They are in short, `We the people,’ this breed called Americans. Well, this administration’s objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. …All must share in the productive work of this `new beginning’ and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the world.”

Improvement in our economy and the freedom to work must be a “top down” condition. Until the leaders of our nation start running our nation as a successful business is run, the economy will continue to stagger, unemployment will remain high, and workers will not have the freedom to work.