Recently there was a song that was popular. It was a kind of anthem for today's young people. It made me sad because it's also a kind of anthem for all of society. The lyric indicated that today's youth feel helpless because they have no control of the government or the media. Someone else controls it so the writer came to this conclusion: We keep on waiting - waiting on the world to change. We'll keep on waiting - waiting on the world to change.

My generation was not content to sit around and wait for the world to change we were determined to MAKE IT CHANGE. You make it change by DOING something. But you have to do it on a mass basis. The government is now debating the proper way to configure a stimulus package. They will still be debating months from now. AND - my experience on this planet has proven that no matter what they come up with that might help you, as soon as things look good they will vote to take it away again. They will find a reason to change it back. They will fear the economy is growing too fast so they will change things to slow it down. Tell me I am not right about that. You know that is what they will do.

You know what? I have been sending out my own personal stimulus checks every month since December. There haven't been many because not many are on my list yet. But I HAVE been sending them out. I just heard the government stimulus package is going to take two years to implement. Hope you can wait a couple of years for the world to change. You don't have to though. I have sent checks out on the 1st of each month since December. You know why you didn't get one? It is because you were not on my list. I will probably be sending checks out again November 1st. Get on my list. See what happens.

I believe, my giving plan can help save the economy. The more people who receive extra money each month the better for the economy. When people can buy things employers have to hire people to help them make things for people to buy. They need to hire people to help them sell things that others have made. People buying things is what creates jobs. But they need money to do it. The government is not going to give you money. I want to, if you are on my list.

1. I have been working since 1965. I have paid into Social Security all these years and have never needed to draw one penny from it for any reason. It is supposed to be there for my retirement. Well, our elected government has decided that they are going to give money from Social Security to illegal aliens - people who have never paid a cent into it. Without having given a penny they are reaping benefits from it. Somehow I think that is not right. I can't control what the elected government does with my retirement money that they take out of my paycheck whether I like it or not, but I can control what I do with my own money. Which brings me to the second answer.

" Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. "

These words were written into the Declaration of Independence because our forefathers had lost faith that their government was leading them properly. We now have a new President that we hope will change things. But even he is using words from the Declaration of Independence that are just as important today as they were 233 years ago. He has been telling us we must all make sacrifices which is the same as saying mankind must "right themselves". He is going to do the best he can with what he has to work with - democracy. But while he is struggling with that you will be struggling to pay bills. That is why I started Make a List Giving. It is an attempt to right ourselves. It is an acknowledgement that these evils are no longer sufferable!

Whenever there is a disaster or crisis anywhere in the world Americans are always the first to arrive to help out. Well, we Americans (and, in fact, the world) are now in a financial crisis. We could wait for the government, who got us into it, to fix it or we could fix it ourselves. The signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives and their fortunes for this country. Would it be so much for each of us to give $31.00 to help our country?

It is said, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." So I put this question to you: If there is even the smallest chance that we could solve our economic crisis ourselves; independent of the elected government which got us here; outside the influence of the Wall Street types who will continue to play the 'Let's get rich' game; and all it would take is a $31.00 gift from each of us, isn't that worth the risk? I mean it wouldn't be all that desperate, would it? Would it be a desperate thought to believe one honest man could actually make a difference?

Here's an observation that gets lost in the history books. Everyone knows the names: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams. People seem to forget, it wasn't those men alone who defeated the British. George Washington had an army; an army of nameless men. Every man, every patriot who wanted to be free. The citizens of the United States freed themselves from tyranny which was their true foe. So I say to you now, every citizen who wants to be free of this economic disaster we have fallen into has the chance right now to defeat it. But it will take all of us, just as it did in 1776. The first citizens of the United States had a common need; the need to be free. And they stepped forward with their meager worldly belongings and stood shoulder to shoulder and defeated their foe. I say we all have a common need; the need to be free of a floundering economy. And I say we can defeat the foe of a floundering economy shoulder to shoulder each doing his part. The patriots didn't wait for the rich and powerful to help them. They offered what little they had and we are now the country everyone looks to for hope. Let's, together, show that hope is not wasted.

People want to make the future better for their children and grand-children. That is why this country was settled. I have a three-and-a-half year old granddaughter. During New Years weekend, she helped me make chocolate chip cookies by stirring the flour. Out of the blue she said, "Grampy?" And I said, "What Honey." And she said, "You're the best." I would like her to keep believing that. If, through Make A List Giving, I could help create a future for my grandchildren and, indeed, everyone's grandchildren, where we seek to help each other rather than let our world economy deteriorate with a ' fend for yourself ' philosophy, then I will refuse to feel bad about doing this.