Most news media, if not all of them, and the public at large, unwittingly give the officials, both elected and appointed, cover by referring to them as the government. That in effect, gives those holding positions of power an anonymity they do not deserve and allows them to remain faceless to the citizens they are supposed to be serving. So for the sake of identification, the holders of power shall be identified as liberal Democrats, RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), spineless weak Republicans and “wafflers” and wobblers on both sides of the aisle, collectively known as Congress. Just plug in your favorite label or actual name since most all of them at one time or another have contributed the messes they have made and continue to make. And do remember that those from your district, and whom you dearly love if the polls are correct, helped make the messes we face as a nation. If you believe that Congress is doing a poor job, it is your favorite hometown boy or girl who is a part of that ill performing crowd. That one you think is so great is supposed to be a public servant. But that has been switched around. You, being part of the public, are now his or her servant and they work hard to make sure it stays that way.

The door to the mess the nation faces was unlocked with the 16^th Amendment (income tax) and the 17^th (direct election of senators), but they will be left for another article. Roll forward to the FDR years and experience the sowing of the seeds for full blown socialism. The socialistic experiment gained ground with LBJ’s Medicare, and as Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story,” so there isn’t reason to repeat it here. The program is going broke and in spite of the ominous clouds hanging over it, Congress wants to expand it and also nationalize health care to stop the drain on Medicare. If one mess isn’t enough, they want to create another to clean up the first one.

A couple of months ago, Congress overrode a veto of the Medicare bill. It would have cut payments to doctors while keeping funding for private insurance known as Medicare Advantage. Try to understand what the nitwits in Congress did. In order to assure payments to doctors from a federally funded (taxes) program, they cut payments to private companies which they fund because they were paying private companies too much. The senior citizens who signed up with the private companies have been short changed with no regard for their needs. Do you need a reminder that the same bunch that has made a mess of Medicare wants to run the entire health care system of the nation? A cut here and a cut there with cuts everywhere and nothing they will do will be able to stop the bleeding. Can you now visualize the mess they will create?

Then there is the energy debacle. All we hear from Pelosi, Reid et al is we can’t drill and on it goes. We need this and we need that research for all kinds of alternative energy. Even those who call themselves conservatives harp on the need for a government energy policy that makes sense. The only policy that makes sense is for the politicians to get out of the way. But don’t hold your breath that they’ll remove themselves. Socialist planners never see themselves as the problem; it is always the greedy engaging in private enterprise who is the economic troublemakers. If you don’t believe it, listen to both Republicans and Democrats regarding profits earned by private businesses, namely the oil companies.

By now, the people should be sick of any government energy policy that is driven by Congress and the President. President Bush signed the energy bill and all it has done is that it will eventually put light bulb manufacturers out of business, forcing people to buy mercury laden energy bulbs made in China. The mandate on ethanol production, along with the subsidy to make it, is causing food shortages world-wide and driving the price of food to astronomical heights. Yet, we continue to hear that government (politicians) needs to do this or needs to do that. No it doesn’t. Politicians and the bureaucrats have done quite enough as it is, thank you. We don’t need more of the same incompetence giving more of the same failed solutions.

If those in Washington had a brain, they would ask how it should be used. They won’t allow drilling by our companies but turn a blind eye to other nations drilling in our backyard and stealing, yes stealing, our crude oil from fields our companies should be working in to extract oil. Their energy policy has made a mess of the economy with high cost due to a low supply of domestic crude.

The foregoing items are just a few of the better known boondoggles of the low mentality political crowd and their supporters. Yet there is a solution and it is simple. (See Get Out Now) Roll back the government’s (politician’s) power; make null and void all unconstitutional programs (laws) that aren’t a part in Article I, Section 8; and turn the welfare of this nation over to responsible individuals and private business as which worked for years. That means that insurance companies can again offer health policies as they once did and oil companies would then be able to produce oil free from interference by a government energy policy and its planners.

It is nothing but foolishness to look to the politicians for anything but trouble. They are all too willing to give it and In Sorting It Out, the people seem all too willing to believe that politicians can solve the messes they created.  

© 07-19-2008 DEC