What is a conservative?

Dear Editor,

A conservative in America believes that each citizen has great intrinsic value and has rights that should be protected by law. You can thank Christians for the rights you enjoy in the USA because our laws are based on Judeo-Christian values. The Christian's reverence for life is supremely demonstrated in their concern for the unborn and the senior citizen.

The conservative believes that the family is the basic building block of society. Due to the breakdown of the family and a departure from moral cultural values, there are many people who are damaged and need help.

No conservative wants people to go hungry or be homeless and many of them give as God has blessed them to help make sure this doesn't happen. Conservatives see the necessity of government involvement but believe the ultimate goal of assistance should always be to find or create employment for as many people as possible so they can provide for their own basic needs and find dignity and self-respect.

The Goodwill and Salvation Army are two agencies that address people's needs to get back on their feet. Mentors and role models are more cost effective solutions than detention centers and jails.

Community involvement ensures solutions that are tailor made to address the needs in each area. The McCook food pantry is a good example of a real solution to meet needs in the midst of McCook's own drawing area. Community involvement cuts down on strangulation by one-size-fits-all governmental regulations that really don't fit anyone very well and create messes.

Liberals want to create an utopia where everyone is alike and shares equally in the good things. That is a fairly good goal but they want to do it by bringing government control into every aspect of our lives. The history lessons from our youth should be ringing some powerful alarms inside us that this has been tried before and it did not end well.

The economy would probably be robust by now if it weren't for a deluge of new regulations, higher taxes and the cost of Obamacare looming in the background.

By now, you would be getting overtime and your cousin in Philadelphia would have a job. It's really hard for the economy to get its breath when there's a gigantic donkey sitting on its chest.

Is it just me or does it seem like a bad idea to fundamentally transform a country that looks like its functioning better than almost any other on earth?

Let's address our problems but kindly leave the fundamentals alone.

Janine Hall,

McCook, Nebraska