Already the tinkling sound of unchecked federal spending for new programs not based in Constitutional mandates beckons politicians who are too often concerned with votes, not budget balance.

A first priority is to audit the Federal Reserve (bring in Ron Paul) and clearly detail in a set-aside what portion of Social Security funds are being saved rather than conscripted by the U.S. Treasury General Fund to pay for any and everything, while savings for retirees are exploited and increasingly becoming a shell game personified. Only this will paint a truer picture of our national debt which exceeds $20 trillion.

In seasons past before World War I and World War II, the economy had its spurts and starts,  taking us through a prolific Industrial Revolution. It is now as President Dwight D. Eisenhower noted, warning citizens of the evolving military-industrial complex that could easily direct and takeover our lives.

In seasons present, the value of work has been devalued. The result is an entitlement mentality where able-bodied folks are given food stamps, housing, medical care and — now being proposed — child care assistance.

Cynics can quickly observe that church edifices become more grand. Yet few churches provide child care for the poor, feeling it is OK for the government to take on a role that should be theirs.

Reproductive rights are advocated without admonishing citizens to take care of the children they have, which is also not a governmental responsibility.

Free education or attendant educational loan repayment is desired from those who chose non-economically viable majors that don’t pan out like those of trades and professional schools.

Jobs are being demanded as if the government has them sitting on a shelf somewhere, waiting to pass them out.

Minimum wages are being touted based on living cost, disregarding market necessity.

These are not tenets of the U.S. Constitution but have become an expectation from a nation eating too high on the food chain, consuming disproportionately of the world’s resources and forgetting our lessons of the past.

In seasons future, the merging of corporate interests and professional politicians in leadership positions must be viewed with caution, lest we take our eyes off the best interests of the nation. Raping the earth in our unending quest for energy — with pipelines violating Native American lands and burial grounds or fracking whose data is still shaky — shouts we need to learn the true meaning of conservation and make this a part of our energy footprint.

Theodore Roosevelt, in setting aside parks and recreation land, had great foresight in making sure we had places to explore, breathe and dream while protecting endangered species, the most important of which may likely be mankind. These were not preserved to be exploited.

The ghost of Christmas past reminds us of generational sacrifices made in pursuit of freedom, liberty and a way of life which many see as threatened. A commitment to awake anew in search of opportunities to make America great again without destroying all that has been her beauty and promise is desperately needed.

We too often grow fat and smug in our excesses, forgetting to reach down and back to help the fallen, while failing to insist that generations repeatedly in poverty are not acceptable and personal responsibility is at the center of our freedoms.

“Fear not” is repeatedly admonished in the Bible and often not heeded. If we will not help ourselves and be “true to our God, true to our native land,” our voices will not be lifted and our cause will not be just, even though some are professing to hear us.

Dr. Ada M. Fisher is the N.C. Republican National Committeewoman and a former member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education. She is the author of “Common Sense Conservative Prescriptions for What Ails Us, Book I.”  Contact her at P.O. Box 777, Salisbury, NC 28145, or 704- 62-5411. Email her at DrFisher@dradamfisher.org.