Reasons to be thankful

By Rick Manning - 11/23/11 03:29 PM ET

I am thankful that I was born into the greatest, wealthiest country in the world.

I am thankful that our nation still embraces the free enterprise system, which allows people to succeed or fail based upon their own abilities. It is this risk/reward equation that has generated the most wealth ever seen in the history of the world.

I am thankful for the supercommittee Republicans who had the courage to refuse to further cripple our nation’s economy with higher taxes, even while dealing with those on the left who look at our nation’s debt crisis as a class warfare sound bite.

I am thankful for the supercommittee Republicans who had the courage to refuse to further cripple our nation’s economy with higher taxes, even while dealing with those on the left who look at our nation’s debt crisis as a class warfare sound bite.

I am thankful for John Kerry, who admitted on MSNBC that the “cuts” supercommittee Democrats were proposing were actually just a slowing of the rate of the growth of government and not actual cuts.

I am thankful for a political system that allows a free discussion of vastly divergent views ultimately allowing the people to decide at the ballot box the outcome of the debate. While Mao argued that all power comes from the barrel of a gun, thankfully in America, all power comes from the consent of the governed.

I am even thankful that my fellow political pundit at The Hill Brent Budowsky has the ability to continually be wrong, so I have something with which to line my digital birdcage.

I am similarly thankful for Joe Biden, who is a constant source of comic relief even as he urges people to not forget about him for 2016.

I am particularly thankful for the men and women of the U.S. military, who voluntarily serve around the world. These heroes protect our nation’s freedom every day out of sight, and out of most American’s minds. But without them, our freedom and security cease to exist.

I am thankful for an almost 200-year history of foreign policy that is based upon protecting America from attack rather than expansion of an American empire. While there have been some instances where this policy has been challenged, the overwhelming American sensibility of live and let live has been fundamental to our nation’s freedom and standing in the world.

I am thankful to The Hill for allowing me the space to defend free enterprise issues, and for graciously editing columns in a way that makes me look semi-articulate on most occasions.

Finally, I am thankful for my God, who blesses me every day with a beautiful wife, home and job. My God loves me and you so much that He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile each of us with Him if only we believe and accept the gift. It is to Him that the original Thanks were offered, and it is to Him that I offer all of my thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Rick Manning (@rmanning957), a frequent contributor to The Hill's Pundits Blog, is the communications director of Americans for Limited Government, and is thankful that he is an American.