Paving the path to kids' perilous future

The sign stood for weeks on Gary Avenue, just north of Jewell Road in Wheaton. Put up by the government, it proclaimed in stentorian tones that "This project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," the project in question being the repaving of Gary Avenue.

Within hailing distance of where this sign stood is the campus of Wheaton North High School, home to several thousand students. Did those young people realize what the sign meant for their future? I believe a billboard, paid for by my generation, should have been erected behind the government sign - a billboard plastered with the conspicuous, smiling face of Barack Obama, that Marlboro Man of public spending.

Beside Obama's face should have been advertised the following message: "Yes, you. Falcons of Wheaton North: You are young and carefree now. But well into your 60s, at the twilight of your careers, you will still be paying the interest on the federal debt, with which this project is being financed. As a consequence, your taxes will be higher, and your standard of living lower. Thank you for your support of my socialist dream."

Gary Avenue is nice and smooth now, immaculately blacktopped. But if you extend its length, in your imagination, past Harrison Avenue, and into the far financial future of America, you will discover it is full of potholes, covered in roadkill, and swarming with desperate taxpayers looking to hitch a ride on a passing politician's pet program.

And the spot where the sign formerly stood? The weeds there are proliferating almost as fast as Obama's promises.

Alexander Lee

Carol Stream