The Little Shoppe of Horrors

       

        Most of us have seen The Little Shoppe of Horrors on stage or in the theater.  The basic story line is when a florist’s assistant named Seymour starts raising a hybrid plant that craves blood.  Seymour names the plant Audrey Jr. after a girl named Audrey that also works in the shop.    Audrey Jr. thrives and grows at an alarming rate.  The plant’s appetite for blood and flesh also continues to increase until Seymour is forced to murder and feed the bodies to Audrey Jr.  One of the most quoted lines from the play is the plant saying, “Feed me Seymour.”

The flesh eating plant with the unquenchable appetite kind of reminds me of our federal government.  It grows and grows, and as it grows its appetite for blood, I mean money grows and grows.  If we don’t stop this growth of government, it will eventually eat the free enterprise system and we will lose our freedoms.  

        President Bush and Obama have both expanded welfare at an ever-increasing rate.  Between 2008 and 2011 welfare payments have increase 32% and food stamps have increased 71%.  We are now spending $3.5 trillion on welfare.  Why?  I still think private individuals and charities, and not the federal government should handle welfare.  Jobs would be even better.  Consider the possibility that some elections are being bought with welfare and promises of free stuff.  That does make sense for the political elite. 

        Government continues to grow and the number of people working in government continues to grow.  Even government agencies and departments formed for a specific purpose and specific time period never go away.  President Obama has named 38 czars, and Congress did not approve 33 of these.  President George W. Bush was not much better naming 33 and Congress did not approve 28.  Each of these Czars has a department with hundreds of people.  It never ends.

        The Internal Revenue Service will need to hire an additional 16,500 agents and will require an additional $10 billion in funding to enforce Obama Care. This is just the tip of the iceberg for what Obama Care will cost.  I have huge problems with Obama Care and I am certainly not comfortable with the IRS being the policing arm of the law with their history.  

        These are just two areas that the size and cost of the federal government is growing out of control.  There are thousands and the debt continues to grow to a level that will collapse our economy.  

        We have a problem with maintaining freedom in this country.  It is natural for most people to vote for politicians, which they feel will best represent their personal interests.  This was not true with earlier generations up to World War II and to some extent the Vietnam generation, who put the good of the country and freedom ahead of personal interests. 

        The number of public sector jobs and the number of people on welfare are continually growing.  When this number becomes a majority of the voting population, they will vote for a socialist country.  It is in their best personal interests.  We are close to that situation. 

        If you prefer security to personal freedom, fine.  If you think some political bureaucrat is more qualified to make decisions for the lives of you and your family, fine.  This is great if you are part of the political elite, who will have power and live in luxury.  President Obama’s recent African trip cost over $100 million.  This is obviously not a good investment, but fun for the Obama family and generally accepted and justified by the political elite.  Why not?  They want the same for themselves.

        I would again like to quote Benjamin Franklin.  “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.”  Personally, I feel if we give up liberty, we will eventually have neither.  History has proven how smart our founding fathers were.  I don’t know why we continue to ignore what history has taught us for short-term personal gain. 

The Little Shoppe of Horrors is pure fiction.  Unfortunately, the growth or government is not fiction and a very real problem.  I hope and pray this changes.  God bless America.