Super Tuesday

Voting day in our house is like a Patriotic Holiday not unlike Independence Day in many respects. My kids love voting and it is a very important Social Studies lesson. The very first time we took the kids with us to vote, my son was 5. They all got sample ballots when we voted. Every time after that, they have gotten sample ballots so they could "vote."
Last year we had electronic voting for the first time. This devastated my son so much because he didn't get to "vote" like in years past. When we were leaving our polling place, he started crying and exclaimed rather passionately, "It is my right as an American citizen to vote! I want to vote!" This makes my husband and I very proud. We love that he is so passionate about his freedoms and rights. Obviously, we had to explain to him that at the age of 7 he still doesn't get to vote.
Today, he got to vote with a sample ballot with his sisters. They love being part of the process even though it is just as a child in practice. When they are adults they will actually care and take part in the wonderful freedoms we have as Americans. I pray that when they are of age our freedoms still exist as they do now - or that we have more.
Watching the debates this year has frightened me a bit. I see the candidates that all say they want to have more government programs. Programs to bail out those in trouble, programs to regulate how we live. Programs that cost money that has to come from somewhere. Are they planning on borrowing from other countries, increasing our taxes? I don't like any of those ideas. It seems as if we are returning not to our heritage but to what caused us to flee from Europe in the first place. When our ancestors first settled wasn't it to escape an overly controlling government? So why would we want to have people in government that seem to be power hungry? Just a few thoughts as I watch the unfolding of today's Super Tuesday.