I am so excited about next year’s election! Every time I watch the evening news, I see presidential candidates going around the country telling us about all the free stuff we will get if they are elected.

Most are saying college tuition will be free. I can’t wait! I’m “semi-retired” now and can finally get my degree. It seems my career, family, and 40 years of working with those bound by addictions didn’t allow me to go back to school. Now I can go for free!

Health care for all will also be free, or something like that. As a medically retired combat veteran, I hope it is better than the Veteran’s Administration health care. I also hear that health care is a “right.” That is awesome, although I’ve read through the Constitution and I can’t seem to put my finger on where exactly that is spelled out. It must be right next to the clause granting a right to an abortion. I must be reading from the wrong version or something.

Voting is also a right for everyone — not just those who think they have a right to vote because they were born in America or went through the legal immigration process, followed the rules and did not expect to be taken care of when they got here. Roger and Jennifer came here years ago from South Africa to work with us helping those with addictions. We could not pay them until they received their Green Cards, but they had family who helped them. It was hard, but they did it legally.

Daniel came here from Canada to work for us. He did it legally as well. He was here on a temporary visa, but they wouldn’t renew it and he had to go back and start all over again. I told him he should fly to Mexico, come to the border and say his name was Garcia, but at 6’ 6" and looking like a lumberjack, he didn’t think that would work (okay, I was being a little cynical when I suggested he do that!).

Bernie Sanders says even violent felons deserve the right to vote. Asked by a reporter if the Boston Marathon Bomber whose actions killed and maimed Americans should be allowed to vote, he said absolutely. He said to take away their right to vote was a “slippery slope,” but couldn’t that work both ways?

Giving the right to vote to people who have crossed our border illegally could be a problem. If they’ve never learned what being an American citizen is about — like Roger, Jennifer, and Daniel have — how would they know what they were voting for? I mean, if someone was promising all kinds of free stuff if you voted for them, couldn’t that have unintended consequences, like all of the problems related to unrestricted illegal immigration? But, if they are running for president, they must be smarter than I am, I guess.

I am concerned about Kamala Harris though. She said that if elected, she would give Congress 100 days to legislate gun control and if they didn’t, she would do it by executive order. Taking guns away from citizens who have not broken the law does not seem to stop those bad people with guns. Just look at Chicago. Now that I think about it, free stuff is NEVER FREE. Someone has to pay for it. Who do you think that will be?

Something to think about?