Twas The Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

The poem “Twas the night before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore reminds me of story about another mouse who lived in a farmhouse. One day, a delivery truck pulled into the driveway. The little mouse was anxious to see what was being delivered. He hurried into the house just in time to see the farmer open the small package. Much to his horror, he saw the farmer lift a mousetrap out of the wrapping!! He ran outside and said to the chicken, “There’s a mouse trap in the house”! The chicken answered, “I’ll say a prayer for you. That’s all I can do”. The mouse then ran to the pig and said, “There’s a mouse trap in the house”! The pig said, “There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not my problem”. The little mouse then ran to the cow and said, “There’s a mouse trap in the house”. The cow asked, “What did the chicken and the pig tell you”? The mouse told the cow what the chicken and the pig had said. The cow said, “Well, there’s nothing more I can suggest”.

The little mouse walked slowly back into the house, all the while thinking that he needed to be extra careful from now on. That same night, when all was dark and quiet, and all were asleep in their beds, a loud SNAP was heard. The farmer’s wife, thinking they had trapped the mouse, went to see if they had. She had only a small candle for light and before she realized it, saw that they had trapped a poisonous snake by the tail. The snake had bitten her in the leg and she became deathly ill.

The first thing the farmer thought of to give his wife was what so many of us give to family members who are sick. He took his ax and, after dispatching the chicken, made chicken soup for his wife. Unfortunately, the chicken soup did not help. Some family members and neighbors came to help with his wife’s care. Certainly the farmer had to feed all who came to help so he took his ax and dispatched the pig. Even with all the help with his wife’s care she did not get any better. In fact, she past away a few days later. Family members came from far and wide to the funeral. In order to consider the needs of all those who came to the funeral, the farmer once again took his ax and, you guessed it, dispatched the cow.

The moral of the story is that what may be a potential problem for one of us may be even a greater problem for all of us. We need to work together to solve the original problem so we can all benefit.

When I have attempted to explain the effort Sam Rohrer has made to have the School / Property Tax Elimination Act passed, quite a number of folks stop me. They then state, “It will never work” or “I think my idea is better”. They then go on to describe how they would deal with the problem. Unfortunately, I may be the only one to whom they relate their idea. Perhaps they may also tell a few friends and family members. But, they never take any further steps to tell anyone of importance who may be able to incorporate their idea into a workable plan of action. The end result is the situation remains the same and none of us benefits.

We all know what to expect as the new year starts. As the new year progresses toward spring, we will be inundated with TV ads telling us we should vote for a particular politician because he / she know just what we need. They make promises that are designed to win our hearts and minds and lull us into a false sense of security. Meanwhile, that same ad will point out how their opponents are so inept, unqualified, and uncaring. Some of the ads are so accusatory; you may wonder why the politician who is being attacked so viciously has not been found guilty and sentenced to spend time in jail. We are then treated, to yet another round of accusations by that opponent about the one who initiated the accusations. And so it goes on and on until we become so confused about who is telling any truth we don’t bother to watch TV at all.

Remember what our present Governor told us? He promised a property tax reduction of 30% to 40% if we voted for him. Perhaps you were one of the fortunate few (very few if any) who saw his promise come true. As for me, and virtually everyone else to whom I’ve spoken, no such reduction was ever delivered.

One thing we all have to remember is that all politicians will make grandiose claims and promises in order to get us to vote for them. Somehow, we need to identify which one(s) will work to deliver what they promised. As the election draws closer, some newspapers will print comparisons of the politicians in order to make sense out of all the claims we have heard or read. Some TV news programs will present similar information. Before you read or hear any such information, I’ll let you in on a real scoop!!!

Now, in my mind, right is right and wrong is wrong and never the twain shall meet. So far, there is only one politician who has not made any promises. He did not just recently reveal a plan to pull all of us Pennsylvanians out of the financial hole in which many, if not most of us, find ourselves. He has worked tirelessly for a number of years to abolish Property / School taxes. His plan (House Bill 1275) is not a “vote getting ploy” as are others that are being touted to accomplish the same thing. (see my last blog “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”). That politician is Sam Rohrer. You can learn more about him at www.SamRohrer.org .

Unless you are one of the few who have been untouched by the present financial crisis, you can not begin to think of giving Christmas gifts each of which is worth thousands of dollars!!! Believe on not, you can give gifts worth that much!! It will not cost you anything to give these gifts. It will require a little of your time however. You will not have to travel from store to store (saves time); you will not have to scrimp or sell your possessions to buy these gifts (saves money). All you have to do is tell everyone you know and everyone you meet about Sam Rohrer and his plan to abolish school / Property taxes. It’s that easy!!

Come on now, let’s all pull together to get ourselves out of mess!!

Semper Fidelis

Nurse John