Joe America

This is an oldie but a goodie

Joe America

“Joe gets up at 6 a.m. to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medications with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to ensure their safety and guarantee that they work as advertised.

“All but $10 of the medicines' cost is paid by Joe's employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance. Now Joe gets it too, because his employer needs to offer competitive benefits to hire the best people.

“Joe prepares his breakfast bacon and eggs this day. Joe's bacon and eggs are safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing and poultry industries.

“Joe takes his morning shower, reaching for his shampoo. The bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air is clean because some tree-hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting the air.

“Joe drives to work in one of the safest cars in the world because some liberal fought to raise safety standards and emission controls.

“Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with good pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some liberal union members fought and died for these improved working standards. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a workers' compensation or unemployment check because some liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

“It's noon and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 because some liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from greedy, unscrupulous bankers like the ones who ruined the banking system and helped cause the Great Depression.

“Joe needs to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten mortgage and his below-market interest rate federal student loan, which he got because some liberal decided that Joe and his family and our society would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

“Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. Joe was the third generation to live in the house, which was financed by Farmers Home Administration because town bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

“Joe is happy to see his dad who is now retired. His dad lives on Social Security and his union pension because some liberal made sure Joe's dad could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

“After his visit with his dad, Joe gets back in his car for the ride home. He turns on a radio talk show. The host keeps ranting that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. (He doesn't tell Joe that his conservatives have fought tooth-and-nail against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.) Joe agrees that ‘We don't need those big government liberals running our lives; after all, I'm a self made man who believes people should take care of themselves, just like I have.’”