Midlands Voices: ‘Mamas, don’t let tax burden grow’

“Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys,” Willie Nelson implores in his classic hit by the same name. ” . . . They’ll never stay home, and they’re always alone.”

And they’ll never be able to finance our addiction to entitlements, stimuli and bailouts on cowboys’ wages.

Yes, mothers, unless we are all prepared to start living within our generational means (shudder), you’d better steer your little ones toward the better-paying professions like medicine and law, as Mr. Nelson suggests. Scotch the teacher talk, nix the fireman nonsense.

They’ll need every penny they can earn to pay Medicare’s annual obligations of about $867 billion when the program runs out of funds, expected in 2018. And to cover Social Security’s $6.5 trillion shortfall.

Oh yes, and the $12.8 trillion that the federal government has pledged, promised or spent since August in the name of financial rescue – money that will ultimately come from future tax payments.

Come to think of it, mamas, maybe you should encourage those babies to get both a medical degree and a law degree – one job might not cut it.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to see your children’s future shaped by considerations other than taxpaying capacity, you have an alternative. Mothers who want their children to feel free to choose whichever career they enjoy and excel at should stand up to Congress and the Obama administration and tell them to stop spending our children’s money.

Stand up and tell them that we’re grown-ups and we can provide for ourselves. That if we want a life without winners or losers, we’ll move to France. That we don’t want a risk- free existence at the expense of our children’s opportunities.

Of course, we all share the obligation to leave a better country for our children. But who better to lead the fight against the government’s raid on future genera- tions than America’s mothers?

After all, so much of America’s greatness is owed to the countless sacrifices mothers make every day in order to prepare our children to succeed as adults. Turning back the tide of government spending is one of the most important things mothers can do to give their children a chance at a prosperous future.

And think of it this way, mothers: If your children aren’t saddled with a crushing tax burden left by our generation, they can be whatever they want – even cowboys – and still have enough money to buy things like Mother’s Day gifts.

“Happy Mother’s Day,” and thank you to America’s mothers.