From the Mailbag

Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in my front... garden, my neighbors stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog. During our friendly conversation I asked their little girl what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be President of the United States someday.

Both of her parents, Democratic Party members and staunch supporters of Barack Obama, were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were the President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied... "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."

Her parents beamed with pride.

"Wow... what a worthy goal!" I said. "But you don't have to wait until you're the President to do that!" I told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

So I told her, "You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull out the weeds, and trim my hedge, and I'll pay you $50. Then you can go over to the freeway off ramp, where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party!"

Her parents aren't speaking to me anymore.