Kerby Anderson

Tim Constantine concludes that “actions have consequences,” except in America today. He reminds us that the older generation grew up hearing simple phrases intended to teach personal responsibility: “save up for a rainy day” and “work hard to get ahead.” Hard work and playing by the rules usually led to success.

That doesn’t seem to be the lesson we are teaching the younger generation today. Instead, the president announces there will be forgiveness of college debt. That does not seem fair to those who worked hard and didn’t go into debt or worked hard to pay off their debts.

He talked about the decision announced by the president to spend $36 billion of taxpayer funds to bail out a troubled Teamsters union pension fund. He explains that “part of your paycheck will now pay for the Teamsters union retirement fund for the next 25 or 30 years.” This is especially concerning because he reminds us that the “Teamsters have a long and storied history that includes alleged ties to organized crime and extorting small businesses.”

In certain California jurisdictions, prosecutors no longer prosecute theft if the value of the stolen goods are less than $1000. In previous commentaries, I talked about how this policy rewards bad guys and has caused many businesses to shut down.

And we can’t forget all the millions of people who have entered this country illegally and will probably never be returned to their country of origin. Meanwhile, people from other countries patiently wait to immigrate to this country legally and will go through the process of naturalization when they arrive.

These are just a few examples of the poor lessons we are teaching the next generation. Unfortunately, they can see with their own eyes when corruption is rewarded and doing the right thing is penalized. That is the lesson we teach when actions have no consequences.