I had just parked my car in a city parking lot when I heard the cries of a loud voice.

"Sir, please give me a penny! Please just a penny," he pled.

I continued to walk because I do not like being verbally accosted by a stranger. I was in an unfamiliar part of town and felt spooked by his sudden appearance.

I have been asked for a dollar hundreds of time from street beggars but never a penny. I thought to myself, "Wow, how low can a guy go?" On many occasions I have handed people a couple of dollars or $5. Never have I been asked for a penny.

Once my family and I stopped at a light and this man was begging for money and we gave him $10. As soon as he had it in his hand he smiled saying he now had enough for a bottle of whiskey. We shook our heads and felt like fools for helping the guy.

Once my wife and I were walking to our favorite candy store. We saw a woman eating a sandwich and a man pled for her to give it to him. She appeared to have eaten a bite or two from it. He took it right from her hands and ravished that sandwich. The guy was obviously starving.

You really never know who is a daily panhandler and who is truly suffering. Many Americans are on welfare and are sleeping on the streets or on park benches. I hope the election this fall will bring change. We must make a major stride in a different direction or we are going to lose this country. We cannot afford more welfare, more illegal immigrants, more jobs exported out of America and a weaker military. I personally think this election is America's defining moment in history. The Supreme Court justices that will be appointed the next four or eight years will have a major impact on the future of America.

Back to the penny beggar. I seldom have a penny but I did have a quarter. I gave the man a quarter. He immediately wanted more change.

"Wait a minute, sir, you said you wanted a penny."

"Yes, but I need more change for a bottle of water," he pled.

The man looked to be in his late 20s. I was beginning to think of handing him $5 or maybe even $10. But I asked him, "Why aren't you working a job?”

Without missing a beat he replied, "I can't work a job because I would lose my check."

"What? You would lose your check?”

I then asked him how much he received each month and he said, "Seven hundred and some dollars."

"Sir," I replied, "You could make more money if you would just work as hard as you are begging me and others for money."

He actually nodded his head and agreed.

I did not give him any more money. Maybe I should have but his attitude of "I will not work because I prefer to subsist on government assistance” has become too prevalent in America.

We cannot live on pennies and welfare in America. This is not a real life. It's time for a change. It's time for real jobs to come back to America. It's time for us to defend our borders, build up our military and repair our infrastructure. We have to get off this status-quo lifestyle of mediocrity and being comfortable in poverty. This is not the America our parents built. We can't go from a dollar mentality to a penny mentality because after this, there is no lower to go.