Folks on the far left can’t understand why so many of us are making hay of Barack Obama’s “The Life of Julia.” Her utopian journey through a life that is directly influenced every step of the way by his legislation is supposed to be appealing. Only, it has many freedom loving Americans asking, “What about the liberated woman?” We thought the Democratic Party was to stand for them. Yeah, right.

There are plenty of us who don’t see an existence tethered to the not-so-supple teat of government dependency as noble or liberating. We haven’t drunk the bitter Kool-Aid that more government means more freedom. It doesn’t. It can’t. It’s a complete fallacy, just like the “The Life of Julia.”

So much so, I expanded upon Julia’s journey and added a bit of, ahem, REALITY as I see it. To drive the point home, I contrasted her years to that of a very different life… “The Life of Sarah.” There is no particular reason why I choose the name Sarah, except for the fact that I’ve always loved that name. And for some reason, every time I hear it, I think of strength and independence. ;)

Let Their Journeys Begin…

Age 3 yrs…

Julia’s parent enrolls her in the Head Start Program. It is very convenient for her parent as she can be dropped off in the morning and picked up 11 hours later if need be. Little Julia spends her days in the institution learning the basics of nutrition, social interaction, and academic skills. She has gotten used to being there, and likes the high energy of the many kids in her class. She also likes her teacher. She thinks her name is Ms. Debbie. (Psst… It’s really, Ms. Laurie)

Sarah’s mother and father kept her home at three years old and decided to enroll her in their church pre-school program at age 4. She gets a lot of one-on-one attention from her teachers within her small class. She spends 7.5 hours per week there and learns the basics of nutrition, social interaction and academic skills. Sarah loves going even though she learned most of those things at home already.

17 and 18 yrs…

Julia is getting ready for college and takes the SAT. Her high school is enrolled in the government’s Race to the Top Program designed to prepare kids for college. She never heard of that program and just assumed that was what high school was supposed to do anyway.

At this point, only the top .25% of American families can aford college tuition without Government assistance. Julia’s family joins the masses and takes advantage of the American Opportunity Tax Credit for help with tuition. She is also qualified to receive a Pell grant. Julia and her family are thrilled and very grateful to the government for the help.

Away at school, Julia decides to take the advice of her guidance counselor and majors in Global Convergence with a minor in Cyberfeminism. On weekends she keeps herself busy attending rallies with friends protesting the .25%.

Sarah is not so lucky. Even with Government aid, she is unable to afford college. Sarah’s parents are disappointed but not surprised. They’ve been watching the exponential costs of college tuition for decades. They’ve often questioned the justification for such drastic cost increases and wondered why this issue was never publicly addressed.

Sarah is down, but not out. She was planning on majoring in business, and knows this is something she can learn if she applies herself, studies on her own, finds mentors and goes out and just does it. Begrudgingly she starts work at a successful greasy food joint flipping burgers to pay for the apartment she shares with a friend. And while she’s flipping… she’s taking notes.

22 years…

Julia is in college and needs to undergo surgery. Thankfully, she is still covered under her parent’s insurance and is able to get the root canal she needs. Grateful the pain has stopped she will have to wait for an undetermined amount of time for the crown needed to fill the hole where the sick tooth used to be. The orthodontist said he gave up trying to get an answer about government funding for cosmetic parts of procedures and will notify her by mail if and when he hears anything.

The good news is, it doesn’t hurt anymore and the new hole in her mouth is near the back. If she had lost a tooth in the front she would have looked a lot like her aunt Millie who still lives in the Mother Land of Europe – and also enjoys free health care.

Sarah had a medical issue as well when she broke her finger. The shortage of doctors and nurses has produced enormous wait times at the nearest hospital which is over an hour away. Sarah’s friend whose mother used to be a doctor decides to help, and they set her finger themselves. It healed okay. Her knuckle is a little bigger than the rest, but her finger can still pull the trigger on her 357 Magnum. She started sleeping with it under her bed after they shut down the overcrowded state prison due to lack of funding. Seems all the government ‘revenue’ (aka TAXES) is going to free healthcare.

23 and 25 yrs…

Julia has graduated and is ready to hit the workforce! She knows her rights about equal pay and she’s not afraid to use them! She’s hopeful that she’ll be making mountains of money soon.

It’s not long before reality sets in and she realizes there is not much of a market demand for her chosen collegiate majors. Luckily, her spare time that was spent organizing protests and building websites for the cause of the 99.75% has paid off – in a manner of speaking. Julia lands a position with a small web design firm. Knowing her rights, she demands equal pay to the fellow new hire, Frank. She gets it. Turns out the design firm is not hiring full time employees due to the fines that could be incurred by the free healthcare law. She’s informed that there is a laundry list of applicants wanting the internship as it could one day, lead to real pay. She ends up taking the internship at the same pay rate as Frank… which is nothing.

Julia is getting discouraged and wondering when and if she’ll ever be able to move out of her parent’s house. Despite promises from Capitol Hill to keep interest rates low… surprise! They raise them anyway in hopes to curb the hyperinflation looming due to the mass amounts of money printing by the feds.

Sarah still works at the greasy spoon, but has been promoted to night manager. She would have preferred day, but doesn’t complain as she knows this is temporary. With no student loans to pay off, she takes her meager extra earnings and begins a savings account and retirement plan. Sarah never thought to check to see if she’s making as much in salary as the guy who preceded her as night manager. She’s too busy taking notes.

27 yrs…

Julia finally squeezes in the door after several years at the web design firm and is an official employee! Better yet, due solely to free healthcare she’s managed to remain pregnant-free the whole time!!

31 yrs…

The years are catching up to her, and Julia finally decides to have a baby. She gets free screenings, checkups and prenatal care under healthcare reform. Unfortunately, most of the medical services received are from a half-rate veterinarian who recently completed his OB license online. You see, Julia is from Illinois and many of the Obstetricians were driven out several years prior by incendiary lawsuits and excessive insurance rates. After the Affordable Health Care Act became the law of the land, many others left the profession, not wanting to work under the close scrutiny of a legislative overseer with no medical background.

The few experienced OBs that remained, were driven away by the overwhelming amount of ‘Julias’ coming to them for free stuff.

Sarah is on a role! She marries a hard working, family man she met several years prior in front of friends and relatives at her neighborhood church. They move into a quaint little cottage not far from her childhood home, deep in the heart of Texas.

37 yrs…

Julia’s child goes to Kindergarten in a school district funded by some of the highest taxes in the Nation. As been the case for decades, the higher ‘investments’ (aka TAXES) given to the schools have not made them any better. In fact, her state is still one of leaders in having some of the worst test scores and graduation rates across the country.

The good news is her son has a fresh new educator eager to mold brains. The previous one just retired with a nice pension plan at 55 years old.

Julia, now on her third real job, questions why her guidance counselor didn’t tell her to become a teacher.

Sarah has a two year old daughter and a new baby! She continues to work nights in order to keep her children at home and has arranged a grueling, yet worthwhile schedule between her and her family to care for them.

The regional manager at the greasy spoon keeps pressuring Sarah to move to the more desirable and predominant position of day manager.

It’s tempting, but she stays put.

42 yrs…

After several different jobs, Julia decides to start her own business with a loan given to her by the Government. This is the opportunity she’s been waiting for! Eager to help society she starts hiring right away! True to her cause, in a concerted effort to help globally, she fills her offices with the best eco-friendly furnishings and equipment a government loan can buy.

Unfortunately, she has no customer base and the rest of her loan is eaten up quickly by the salaries, and astronomical rent the landlord has to charge in order to cover the property taxes for the ‘investment’ in the stellar schools.

Julia once again starts to question if Cyberfeminsim and Global Governance were the best majors to take in college. She quickly comes to her senses and concludes that this is all the fault of the landlord and other greedy fat cats who won’t allow her to pursue her American dream. Her blood boils as she fantasizes and comes up with more slogans about that damn .25%!

Sarah’s husband has been promoted at his job, and they briefly contemplate moving to a larger home. Instead, they agree that Sarah will quit her night job and stay home until her daughters are in school full time. They remain in their cottage home where her girls constantly complain because they have to share a bedroom.

65 yrs…

Julia anxiously enrolls in Medicare. She relies heavily on the prescription drugs she needs from the stress of the constant disappointment her life journey has taken. She dutifully thanks the government for the free drugs.

Sarah has seen her daughters grow up, get married and is now basking in the heaven of her precious grandbabies. Turns out all the notes she took at the greasy spoon paid off. She spoils her grandkids with tasty treats from her own gluten-free bakery she started after her daughters began grade school! She gratefully thanks God for her many blessings.

67 yrs…

Julia decides to retire from her current job of 14 years. With little savings and no personal retirement fund, she is horrified to find out there is nothing left of Social Security.

Sarah loves working in her bakery and continues to add to her now substantial private IRA fund for the day when she might decide to retire. Between her bakery and retirement, she’s built a nest-egg that has nearly put her in the top .25%!

She begins each morning at her store with a cup of organic coffee and scours the internet for credible news stories. She can’t believe the one about people her age believing there would be anything left for them in Social Security.

www.nicolehaas.com