Who needs Washington?

Let gridlock go stuff itself inside a Christmas goose.

We have the keys to our own economy-shop at home.

Think globally but act locally.

Better yet, in this case, think locally and act locally. Doing so will change our world right here.

Nor is it difficult.

We can all sing along, hum, whistle or tap a foot or two.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree.

Thank you very much.

Most appreciative.

But I hope the bird was raised by a local farmer and that the tree came from a local greenhouse.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

The local farmers who raise partridges probably can handle the turtle doves and nobody's going out on a limb promoting local greenhouses.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

There are plenty of local producers of hens, French and otherwise. The money you save on shipping the birds in from out of town can be invested in the local economy in many ways.

Ditto for the pear trees. Why in the world buy a pear tree from someone in another state or the other side of the world? Our local business community deserves our loyalty and who's got money to burn on trucking a pear tree in from New England or Indiana?

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Admittedly, it does seem that local fowl farmers are getting the big boost here, but think metaphorically. Whatever my true love sends me, or whatever I send her, it just makes so much more sense, and cents, to support our local business community, which helps support local education and other key services that depend on tax revenue.

And if you or your true love get tired of giving and receiving live birds you could go to a local restaurant and order one that has been baked, pan-seared, broiled or roasted, helping to pay the wages of local workers in addition to generating tax revenue that pays for critical services from local government.

Why stimulate Richmond's economy and generate sales tax for their local schools?

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: five golden rings, along with the assortment of winged creatures and what is rapidly becoming a small grove of pear trees. My true love can certainly purchase gold rings here in The Heart Of Virginia.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying. Geese are equally abundant in our local economy. You can buy here what you can buy somewhere else and without paying a lot of extra money for gas to ship it yourself or some third-party to ship it for you. It's like these geese. You get the geese and the eggs they lay. The impact on the economy, and so our communal quality life, can be golden.

The same cheaper-to-buy-it-here goes for the swimming swans my true love sent to me on the seventh day of Christmas. And now I'm helping the local veterinarians by hiring them to check out all of the turtles doves, French hens and calling birds. Also, I've hired local workers to construct suitable fencing to keep them all on my property. So the economic stimulus right here is getting right big.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent me eight maids a milking. Now we're talking. Job generation. Local salaries. And milking maids need cows so we're talking boosting the economy on multiple layers.

The gift of the nine ladies dancing follows the same labor-inducing theme. Local jobs for local people. Everyone benefits.

And the jobs provide equal opportunities for all because on the 10th day my true love sent me 10 lords a leaping. This is rapidly becoming an economic boom of sonic proportions as we become the envy of the world around us.

The 11 pipers piping is similarly noteworthy and if we join in as a community the eight milking maids at your house added to the eight milking maids at mine, along with the ladies dancing and lords a leaping at homes and offices up and down our streets, then the job creation we are talking about jumps up into the thousands.

So let us march our economy to the beat of our own drummers drumming, on the 12th day of Christmas and every day.

Nobody else is going to do it for us and we hurt our own community if we do it for someone else, instead.

-JKW-