Blog
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Changing Gun Laws in Our Missouri Constitution
This is a photo of me with my concealed carry license. Should I have had to get one? According to the U. S. Constitution “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” What does that mean? Most voters will read the ballot language on August 5th and think the question is whether you are pro-gun or anti-gun. In Missouri, most people are pro-gun, so based upon that, it will probably pass.
However, without adding anything, our Missouri Constitution already covers this situation. Article I, Section 23 says, “That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons.”
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Whose Money Is It?
Governments can do things that are bigger and grander than what individuals can do by themselves. Last week, Bernie and I went to a production at the Muny, a municipal theater, seating 11,000 people of which 1,500 will always be free.
The Muny in Forest Park is owned by St. Louis and is a perfect example of how a government can create something for all to enjoy on any level without demanding greater taxation to keep it.It’s a shame that the voters are so easily manipulated, but sadly, this happens all the time. We tend to get wrapped up in the details and merits of the proposal, but fail to ask the larger questions. When looking at a tax increase, two questions should be asked:
1.) Why can’t they manage the money we have already sent them to run the proper functions of government?
2.) The government already receives a percentage of our income in taxes; for what reason must they receive a greater percentage of our income to continue the same standard? The infrastructure is already paid for, so shouldn’t maintenance be covered in the day to day operations budget?
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Girl Scouts
This photo was taken of me when I was a Brownie. You can tell it was from the 60s because the Brownies don’t wear white gloves anymore. I used to be a Girl Scout. Before that I was a Brownie. For decades, it was part of being a girl in America. Yet, today’s Girl Scout is not your grandmamie’s club. In an effort to change with the “political correctness” of the culture, the Girl Scout organization has embraced ideology, such as abortion and lesbianism, making the club oppositional to the values that made our nation great.
If you have a daughter or granddaughter who would like to be in a girls’ club that promotes the values of service to God and Country, there is a better way. We don’t have to take all this “politically correct” perversion of values…and we shouldn’t. We owe it to the next generation to not allow them to be bombarded with the philosophies that work against healthy, God-honoring families.
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Independence Day Special Edition
This photo was taken while we were lining up for the 4th of July Parade in O’Fallon two years ago. 
It’s always important to take these occasions to remind people of why we celebrate. Many good citizens wonder what they can do besides praying, voting, volunteering to help good candidates get elected and running for office themselves. We have done so much to help promote God-fearing, Constitution- loving, life-revering values in our communities and nation.
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Feed the Children
This is a photo from when I chaired the Committee on Poverty during the time while I was in the House of Representatives. It was a lot more comfortable when I had my hand on the faucet, able to promote the good ideas and deflect the bad ones. This month marks five years since I was propelled to national fame for promoting the concept that parents should feed their children. Looking back, I wouldn’t have understood the vitriolic nature of those pushing socialism on our country without having gone through this experience. Thousands of small-minded individuals flooded the phone lines, e-mail boxes, voice mail boxes trying to harass and belittle anyone who would criticize their program. Yet, truth is still the mightiest sword of all and the experience proved to be educational. Instead of backing down, I became more convinced than ever that there is something very ungodly about what they are doing to destroy families.
We all understand that children need to have food and water among other things. Parents perform these functions and in most cases this plan works reasonably well. Many baby pictures prove that parents enjoy feeding their children just as much as children enjoy being fed. It becomes a time of bonding, building trust and a time to talk and transmit values.
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Minimum Wage
This is a poster I saw on Facebook. What do you think? Talking about money and wages is sort of like talking about climate change. First, it’s always changing. Second, everyone seems to have a different opinion. Some are more correct than others, but what is the real question here? Who should determine the amount a person should be paid?
Our ability to understand this issue depends on who is the focus. Polls show that nearly 80% of the voters sympathize with the employee. However, there are two other parties in the deal—the employer and the government. How you feel about minimum wage laws depends on where you focus your attention.
The real motivation behind a minimum wage increase is greed. Office holders know that the State and National governments stand to be the greatest beneficiary if the minimum wage increases because more wages means more taxes on those wages. More taxes allow the elected officials to spend more money and then pat themselves on their backs for doing so much to benefit more people.
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How’s That Super Majority Working for Us?
This photo was taken during the Grand March of the Inaugural Ball
at the Capitol on the day I was sworn in for another term. Our two oldest children
were not able to join us, but the five younger ones remember
this as a day when there was a positive energy around the Capitol.This week marks the official end of the legislative term with a super majority in both the House and Senate. I was elected when we were in the majority, but never a super majority. A super majority means that with 2/3 of the officeholders in each chamber are Republicans. They have enough votes to override a veto from the Governor. You would think with an overwhelming majority of Republicans, they would act like they owned the place. How did that help those who consider themselves to be conservative? Not so well.
While reading about some of their accomplishments, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a great victory for the Democrats. Since I was in office, the Democrats wanted to have early voting because early voting makes it easier to manipulate the system. The Republicans were opposed to early voting because it invites fraud, bullying and wastes taxpayer dollars for no apparent reason. In addition to this, it has not proven to increase voter participation, which is its only selling point. Yet, this session, the Republicans voted to give this legislative victory to the Democrats.
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Memorial Day
Just a reminder that Memorial Day was not created so that everyone can shop and the folks who work at the banks get another day off. It was not created so that we could barbecue and open up the swimming pools, although you would never guess that by all the sales and what we observe in our culture.
We need to use this time to remind ourselves of what is really important and of the values that made our country great. A few years ago I was invited to speak at an event put on by the Daughters of the American Revolution to honor our past heroes of Liberty.
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Supreme Court Says Public Prayer is Good
As a member of the O’Fallon Board of Aldermen in 1994, I attended the National League of Cities Convention. In one of the meetings, the speaker asked for a show of hands if we start our meetings in our own cities with an invocation. I couldn’t raise my hand because we didn’t in O’Fallon. The speaker went on to inform us that this is a good practice and perfectly legal.
I came home, walked into the office of my City Administrator and expressed my desire to have an invocation at the beginning of our board meetings. He laughed and told me he didn’t know whom we would get to do it.
I went to the next police chaplains’ meeting and told them my city administrator said none of them would be interested in spending time it would take to come up to our City Hall and pray before our meetings and I needed them to help me prove him wrong. They loved the idea and stepped up to the task.
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How to Be Effective
This is a photo from the National Day of Prayer Ceremony held in O’Fallon last Thursday. Do our problems stem from the Democrats or Republicans? Ultimately, our problems are far greater than just partisan wrangling. The majority of our problems stem from a flawed understanding of the needs of humanity, so we frustrate ourselves with the wrong solutions.
A few years ago we sold Sarah Palin’s book in our bookstore. My husband compared my views with those of Sarah Palin in many philosophical and political areas. He said I was better and a more cohesive public figure than Gov. Palin. She just provided an example of why I have to take exception to some of her comments because they are not consistent with human dignity and godly principles.