Conservatives don’t get it

I am represented by two conservative male Republicans in Frankfort and by three conservative male Republicans in Washington. None of them speak for me and my interests.

My state is led by a conservative male Republican and soon my nation will be led by the same. I heard a snippet of Sen. Rand Paul’s victory speech in which he said liberals just don’t get that you can’t really help people through entitlement programs.

I do get that. I know Bandaids don’t fix systemic problems and that charity is often toxic for those who receive it.

But conservatives don’t get that it is usually their agenda that stands in the way of putting workable solutions on the table. Conservatives don’t get that people can’t move out of poverty if they can’t make a living wage; that children who go to bed, and then to school, hungry are not going to perform at their best; that if you focus only on what benefits the most privileged in our nation, we will never be a great America.

Conservatives don’t get that the playing field has to be leveled in order for all of us to be great.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Conservatives don’t get it."