There's a Hole in the Bucket!

Perhaps as a child you once sang a fun little ditty about a hapless man, named Henry, and his beloved, named Liza. See, this song is about a problem Henry has. His bucket has a hole in it so it is pretty much useless. But instead of handling the problem himself, he runs to ask Liza what he should do.

Henry is like the typical person in America that thinks they are far too incompetent to know how handle their own problems and runs to the government for help. Of course, in the beginning, the answer is obvious and Liza is more than happy to help with "common sense".

Henry, holding up his leaky bucket says to Liza, "There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole."

Liza responds back with the obvious, "So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry. So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it."

Now, did Henry really need to run to Liza to get this wisdom imparted to him? No, but he did it anyway. This is the way dependency on government always begins. And of course, having gotten help once, he immediately goes back for more. Hey, free help is always appreciated.

So instead of just fixing the bucket he gets more inquisitive. "With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza? With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?"

Liza responds, "With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry. With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw." That response is a mistake Liza will soon regret. Because now Henry knows he has her on the hook. Why should he figure out the solution himself when he has someone so ready to "help" him.

"But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza. The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long."

"So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry," Liza answers. "So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!"

"With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza? With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?" Henry continues.

"Use the hatchet, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry. Use the hatchet, dear Henry, the hatchet!"

Now Henry begins to whine, "But the hatchet's too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza. The hatchet's too dull, dear Liza, too dull."