“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

"You should fear for your country." – Virginia Foxx

Virginia Foxx is shaking in her boots.

The thought of Democrats creating and delivering sound policies to tackle health care, national security, the Iraq War, and the economy has the Republican Congresswoman running scared.

“You should fear for your country,” Foxx told last week the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

Later, Foxx raised the specter of socialism on Democratic presidential candidates who wanted to find solutions to the problems facing North Carolina families.

“I am trying to scare you to death,” she later told a Charlotte Observer reporter.

But here’s the real horror story. Since President George W. Bush and his Republican cronies like Foxx have taken office in 2001:

• North Carolina’s median household income decreased by 7.4 percent.
• Job growth in North Carolina under the Bush Administration lagged far behind previous Presidents.
• The cost to gas up your car or heat your home has risen from $1.37 per gallon in 2001 to $3.22 as of last week.
• Health care premiums rose by 28.1 percent to $9,972 for an average North Carolina family.
• Child care costs ballooned to $1,101 per month for North Carolina families with two children.

In his famous inaugural speech, FDR knew that truth, not fear, conquered all. Rather than scare voters, Roosevelt knew that facing problems honestly, squarely and with a courageous heart was best for the country.

“Let me reassert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts convert retreat into advance,” Roosevelt said. “In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.”

Perhaps Foxx would learn a thing about leadership if she stopped equating patriotism with fear. But then again, she probably thinks Roosevelt was a socialist.