I was struck by a thought today. One of the things that has weighed heavy on my heart since the election is the need for everyday people like me to speak out and act to prevent the further decline of our country, it is one of the reasons I started writing this blog. Yesterday I wrote about how difficult it can be to speak out as a lone voice, because the what if’s and self-doubt assail us. Which begs the question how can we be heard in this world as the issues that abound around us can seem insurmountable to any one person?

This train of thought led me to another train of thought about how change is made in the political world that touches every aspect of our lives. In the industry I work in there is something called PACs (a Political Action Committee), and they actually exist in all industries. A PAC allows a group of people who have the same interests to speak louder and with more force than a lone voice does.

Additionally, as most of us know there are various Special Interest Groups and Lobbyist who work on Capitol Hill to get their various agendas past. Now PACs, Special Interest, and Lobbyist in general are viewed as corrupt and greedy. I don’t deny that there are many such groups who are greedy and corrupt and have worked diligently to corrupt politics on all governmental levels. However, I know there are some that are effective without being corrupt.

However, what I have never heard of is a group that speaks for me as a conservative mom or any mom for the most part. I mean think about it, what mom do you know who does not cringe when they read the paper or listen to the news about the economy going south, increasing high school drop out rates, the rise of juvenile crimes and gangs, the increasing drug and alcohol use of our kids, that increased stripping of a parental right, rising energy prices, rising food prices, and our nation’s security. How many times have you just had to shut off the news because you can’t watch it, or how many of us don’t even turn the news on anymore, because we can’t stand the decline of our society?

I said before that moms are a huge voting block and I believe that. I would put forth that conservative/traditional moms are probably one of the largest voting blocks in any city, county or state yet many of us don’t feel we have a voice at all. I believe the time has come for us to be bold, and if you knew me you would not have ever believed that such a statement would come out of my mouth... Nothing will change if we don’t come together and speak out. However, speaking out is not enough, we need to have viable solutions on hand to rectify the corruption we see around us. We need to speak with one voice to effect a positive change in our society, and to support those who stand in the gap, when we cannot.

I would also put forth that many of you who are reading this have plenty of ideas on how to change policy, and I bet your ideas are excellent solutions to the problems we face. So how do we get our ideas and solutions to be heard? I submit that if we band together we can make our voices heard and thus get our solutions out there. Here is the rub, I am not sure how to do that exactly, but I am willing to find out and work to make that happen. I believe that each of us has gifts and talents, and I know that if we come together we can make a change. So if anyone who is reading this has any ideas let me know and don’t be shy either or think your ideas don’t make sense or are stupid, because I bet you they are neither

As I read the words in Sen. Obama’s education plan to move toward creating universal childcare, I was chilled to the bone. Not because I oppose child care or even public education, but because the thought of an intrusive government deciding that my child needs to be in child care or even a public school is not my idea of a Free America.

One of the liberties we have in this country is the right to decide what type of education we want for our children. We can decide if we want our child in child care and if we do, what type of child care we desire, be it a nanny, a church daycare, a commercial daycare, a private school, etc.. As to education; we have the right to choose home-school, private school, charter school, or public school and in general we make a choice based on the needs of our individual families. This is part of the rugged individualism that has helped build this country.

So to hear that a Pres. Obama would move towards universal childcare, i.e. all children in care by the age of 2 being educated by the State. All public school children learning sex education beginning in kindergarten; more federal intrusion in our schools thus removing more freedom from teachers, state and local governments, but most importantly from parents. China, Cuba, and North Korea have such government run school systems, it's called Socialism/Marxism.

Another troubling promise of Sen. Obama’s that will strip away parental rights is to require community service of all citizens beginning in middle school. Again I am not against volunteerism or community service but these are issues of the heart and should absolutely never be legislated. Some of the community service programs for our youth reek of Nazi Germany including the one entitled Youth Building (remember the Hitler Youth). My opinion is that parents should always have the ultimate say in what their children learn and participate in, as long as it is not abusive. That is our right and responsibility as parents and certainly worth fighting for. While volunteering is a wonderful thing, again it is a heart issue and cannot be forced onto a population. Based upon the liberal idea that God is not in control or does not even exist, it stands to reason that forced volunteerism/community service will not include volunteering through our Houses of Worship or anything that seems even the least bit faith-based.

One of the biggest issues I see with the incoming administration is the deep belief that Government is the answer to all of society’s ills and that Government knows best. We have long been on the slide to the Nanny State; it seems the descent into such a Marxist government has been accelerated.

So again this begs the question: what do we do? Our home is blessed enough to allow my husband to stay home and teach our children, thus removing some of the things they would learn in public school that we disagree with and also allows them an amazing education. Now, I am well aware that this is not an option for every parent or family and it may not always be a choice we as a family get to make. So my suggestions are as follows: Make your voice heard at the school board and if you disagree, run for a seat yourself. Stay in touch with your children’s teachers and school administrators to know what your kids are learning in school and review their assignments. Support good teachers and lobby for the removal of those who are not, the same applies for administrators. Be a member of the PTA and if you can spend some time in your child's classroom, do so. If an assignment comes home that you disagree with, go to the school and ask for an alternate assignment. Always remember: our kids learn the most from their parents, so walk what you talk. Also teach your children actual history, not the revisionist version that is now being taught in school. Teach them the principals that our nation was founded on, the blood and treasure we have spread around the world for freedom’s sake and on our own soil for the liberties we enjoy. Hold your local schools to account for not teaching your child the basics in reading, writing, math, and history. It is incumbent upon us as parents to know what ours and our children’s rights are with regard to what they learn in school. Stand against this societal need for political correctness and diversity education; it is perfectly permissible and legal to not permit your child to participate in educational activities that you find morally repugnant.

I would also suggest that if your state does not permit Charter schools, lobby for them. Or if there is a Charter school cap, lobby for it to be removed. Lobby for vouchers and if your state allows vouchers, lobby for the expansion of them. Remember; this does not take money from the children, which is a "misstatement" created and perpetrated by liberals. What it does do is it allows the tax dollars that are figured per pupil in every school district to follow your child, to whereever they go to school. Our public school system is, in general, an abject failure and not because of the teachers either, but schools would improve if they had to compete.

It is easy for us to become overwhelmed with the challenges we face but remember your voice does count, Mom's are a huge voting block thus we carry more weight than we believe with the community and politicans.

Our Founding Fathers never intended for a President to have ultimate power, they did not want a king or dictator. The Constitution was created to give the United States 3 distinct branches of government, to create a check and balance system. This included the Executive Branch (the President), the Legislative Branch (House and Senate), and the Judicial Branch (the Supreme Court). Unfortunatly like all things here on earth the original intent has been skewed throughout our history.

U.S. Presidents have issued executive orders since 1789. Although there is no Constitutional provision or statute that explicitly permits executive orders, there is a vague grant of "executive power" given in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution and the statement "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" in Article II, Section 3. Most executive orders are orders issued by the President to US executive officers to help direct their operation, the result of failing to comply being removal from office. (Wikipedia)

Executive orders gained more use as time went on and the debate continues whether Executive orders should be utilized, but the fact is, they are. Now an Executive Order can be used for the good of our country, or it can be abused for the harm of our country.

In June 2007 President Bush signed an Executive Order that prohibited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, including creating stem cells for the purpose of research and destruction. In essence: this Exec. Order stopped the use of tax payer dollars for the destruction of life. President-elect Obama is planning to revoke this Executive Order. Now some say that the greater good is served by doing medical experiments on embryonic stem cells, but the greater good never gives us the right to create life for its experimentation and destruction. Medical experimentation on living creation has been used by some of the most vile and determental governments in history (Nazi Germany & Communist Russia).

You can read the executive order here and decide for yourself if overturning this ban is moral or not. I tend to believe it is immoral and I do not believe my tax dollars should be used for this, it is indeed a slippery slope:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070620-6.html

Another Executive Order that a President Obama would revoke is the Restoration of the Mexico City Policy. Here is the short explanation:

"The Mexico City Policy announced by President Reagan in 1984 required nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of their receipt of Federal funds, that such organizations would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations". This policy was in effect until it was rescinded on January 22, 1993.

It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad. It is therefore my belief that the Mexico City Policy should be restored. Accordingly, I hereby rescind the "Memorandum for the Acting Administrator of the Agency for International Development, Subject: AID Family Planning Grants/Mexico City Policy," dated January 22, 1993, and I direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to reinstate in full all of the requirements of the Mexico City Policy in effect on January 19, 1993. "

So again our tax dollars would be used to destroy life and not only life in this country, but also life in other countries.

I believe that revoking either of these acts is evil on its face, as it destroys life and despite my disagreement with the continued use of Executive Orders, we need to speak out and stand up for those who cannot speak up and stand up for themselves.

So how do we accomplish this? Well, write to Pres. Elect Obama and let him know you do not wish your tax dollars to be used for this purpose. Contact your House and Senate members and tell them the same thing. Speak to those you know and ask them to do the same. Speak to your friends, coworkers, church members, small group members. Belligerence and anger are not needed to make your point. It is likely that many people are not aware of the Executive orders in the first place, but again would not want their tax dollars to used in such a way. We need to speak truth in love. Much of the division in this country is not because people disagree with us, it is because we are all too often caught up in our lives to see what is happening around us. We don't pay attention to politics, because we find it boring or think again it does not affect our families.

While no one can know the future except for Our Creator, I do believe that America made the wrong choice. Her future is much less secure and those who have given their lives in Service to America and her freedoms may have now done so in vain.