Compassionate Conservatism: The testing of America.

The debate over who should pay for the recovery of the gulf region from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita has only begun. So called “compassionate conservatives” across the country have made it clear that tax payers should not bare the brunt of the cost for that region to recover from the devastating affects from both storms. These soft hearted conservatives claim to be compassionate all the while complaining about their tax money going to help areas and people who should be responsible for their own recovery based on the fact that they chose to live in a region prone to those types of storms. This view is very disappointing. They’re compassionate alright! Compassionate for their friends and family in need but not for those on the gulf coast. However, their unwillingness to share their tax contributions to help our fellow citizens has some merit.

America prides itself on being a giving nation. Our sitting President, George W. Bush has run both of his campaigns on premise of being a compassionate conservative. The relief effort in the gulf region gives the US and the President the opportunity to put our words and our pride where our money is. Helping those affected by these two storms shouldn’t be the primary role of the Federal Government but of those moved to help people in need. The Federal, state, and local governments should support the efforts of those who are on the ground helping the residents of the gulf region recover but it should not take the leading role. Those who are moved by compassion should be the ones on the front lines ensuring the repatriation of New Orleans and the rebuilding of that region. President Bush should push for donations not for more government to take action to help the masses. The initial emergency response to most any major disaster needs the government’s resources and ability to respond in a timely manner. But the long term recovery and rebuild should come from the people pulling together to do what needs to be done to bring life back to that region, not the federal government. If we truly are compassionate then there should be enough help to get the job done with more to spare. It’s not just our government leaders and other compassionate conservatives who I put on notice to put up or shut up…

I also call on the so called leaders and organizations of the black community who make a living on making grandiose statements with little results. I call on people, groups, and businesses such as;

Dr. Bill Cosby
Oprah Winfrey
Reverand Jessie Jackson
Reverend Al Sharpton
Dr. Mike Dyson
Minister Farrakhan
The Urban League
The NAACP
BET
UPN
President Bush

I call on them to put a coalition together to raise private money to assist all those affected by the hurricanes in the gulf region. I call on them to put their differences and ambitions aside and unite behind a common cause: The rebuilding of the gulf region (both residential and business). Finding true leadership in the black community has been a challenged for decades and now is the time for real leaders to rise above the spoon fed strife offered to us daily by the main stream media and to do what is best for the advancement and recovery of our own people; Americans devastated by these storms.

People of compassion, faith, and social justice should all be united behind this one cause. Encouraging people to act on their compassion through private means removes the need of our federal government to be responsible for every calamity that happens within the nation. Doing the latter would make our government an even larger bureaucracy intruding in every aspect of our social development and becoming less and less effective as it does so. People need to rise and up and take care of each other. Looking to our government to fix each and every detail of our lives makes the government our conscience and our expression of identity instead of being our mirror, reflecting who we are to the world.

This is our test America. Are we going to remain helpless and codependent on our federal government to think, act, and fund all that we need and thus define who we are? Or are we going to rise to the challenge of helping our neighbors, friends, and fellow citizens to recover from one of the worst devastations our country has every seen? I believe Americans are the key ingredient to any recovery not the federal government…it is our work, our belief, and our sweat that will reclaim the gulf region from the rampage of Hurricane Katrina and Rita… not taxes, not congress, and not the main stream media.

I call on these ‘leaders’ to unite and show solidarity in an effort to help all Americans affected by this storm. I call on these black ‘leaders’ to unite and ensure that the minority culture and heritage of New Orleans will not be discarded with the debris from the floods of these storms. I call on these men and women to put their position below the effort to help and do what they can in an cooperative effort to assure the survivors of these storms that we will not leave until every home, every store, and every apartment that was formally occupied by gulf region residents will once again be there for any and all who would want to come back.

Compassionate conservatism has met its greatest need of compassion…will it answer? The black community has met its greatest challenge for blacks affected by a natural disaster…with they answer?

We need not look to our government for all the solutions, cause our government to grow larger than it is, or give it more power than it previously had because we are less inclined to get dirty helping our neighbors. We need to do what’s right. We need to stand up and be men and women of conscience and help those in our hemisphere…our own countrymen who are in need. They need assurance by fellow Americans that their lives will be restored because our prayers, our sweat, and our finances are in place to help them through.

Let’s see if our affluent leaders, business people, and politicians are as eager to help and they portray on T.V. Let’s see if they are putting the needs of our communities above the needs of their ratings, revenues, or opinion polls.

AZ