What is Wrong With America!?

Time to share some thoughts, rants, and ideas on the current "State of the Union"...

How stupid are we, as Americans? I listened to the State of the Union address by Obama and couldn't help wondering how stupid we are to buy into the dribble and outright lies we were fed. We were told by our President that he has reduced our deficit by some two trillion dollars over the next ten years- and we were supposed to applaud this "fiscal vigilance". Are we supposed to forget that this same President has increased our deficit by over six trillion in just four years? So the bottom line is, by spending us six trillion dollars deeper in debt instead of eight trillion Obama has cut the deficit. The only bigger crime than our government's out of control spending is the acceptance of the American masses of the lies they're fed by that government...
And how about all the new programs touted by Obama in his speech, prefaced by the statement that "they won't cost the the taxpayers a single dime more". What a line of bull! We're in such a fiscal mess now, needing to continually raise our debt ceiling or default on our debt and he's going to start a dozen new and costly programs? Hey, here's an idea- put off the new spending and apply that money to our debt! Duh. But many, many Americans buy into the lies...

Obama campaigned on raising taxes on the "rich", making them pay "a little more", or their "fair share". He got that tax increase at the beginning of the year, yet it didn't solve our fiscal problems, just like it was predicted it wouldn't. Now he wants more- and after the rich comes the middle class- you know, that group he promised to protect, that group he swore he wouldn't raise taxes on... And yet that's exactly who is now paying more, thanks to his policies, only we're too stupid to realize who's to blame. Obama socks it to us and cries that it's the Republicans' fault and the masses agree. But it wasn't the Republicans who allowed your payroll tax relief to expire, costing every hard working American more in taxes every paycheck- it was Obama. It wasn't the Republicans who have hiked gas prices up to $4 a gallon- it was proposed by the Democrats a decade ago to artificially inflate our gas prices to get us in line with the rest of the world, and that's exactly what Obama has done, despite the fact that we've privately developed more oil and natural gas reserves in our own country than ever before. He's cancelled oil drilling leases and halted exploration, cut it in half- then announces he's going to allow more leases and drilling, like he's going to make us energy independent. Meanwhile, his actions have driven some companies into bankruptcy... When you don't make more money but have to pay more for gas, groceries, utilities, et al., you've effectively had a tax increase...

And how about Obamacare? What a colossal white elephant that's turned out to be! Thanks, Nancy Pelosi, for shoving it down our throats before we could examine it. Now that the states and companies have examined it we find what a money suck it really is. Last I heard 30 states have rejected it, meaning the federal government has to set up their insurance boards and monitor it- a cost states just can't afford (nor can the federal government, so prepare to pay more!). Companies are cutting employee hours, or reducing staff to get under the mandatory regulations to supply insurance, so employees are losing money and/or jobs thanks to Obamacare. Larger companies have discovered it only costs half as much to pay the fine per employee ($2000 ea) than offer the insurance (average over $4000 per idividual, over $11000 per family). this week the federal government announced that they couldn't insure anymore people with pre-existing conditions as they had promised to until 2014, (when insurance companies can't deny coverage for pre-existing conditions), because the four billion dollars they set aside to fund it is running out. They estimate some several hundred thousand people won't get the insurance they were promised under Obamacare now...
And how about when insurance companies start accepting high risk patients? Are we so stupid as to believe they won't pass those higher costs on to us, the consumers, in the form of higher premiums? My company's insurance went up over 13% this year, and that's with a great claim record. I've been told we were lucky that was all it went up! Wait until the pool is filled with high risk patients- no one will be able to afford this "affordable" health insurance.

So how can we fix Washington? The bottom line is we've got a massive spending problem and the majority of our politicians are afraid to tackle it. We don't have a revenue problem, we don't need more taxes. We need to control our spending. Listen to our politicians- on both sides- talk about reducing out deficit over the next ten years. That's a load of bull too. They're just kicking the problem down the road for the next Congress, or the one after that to tackle. They're cowards, plain and simple. How about cutting the deficit this year? How about cutting spending down to what we take in?
And let's talk about "Entitlements". Our politicians need to learn what an entitlement is. Our servicemen protect and defend our country- they are entitled to their pentions for their service. Hard-working Americans who pay into social security all their adult life are entitled to their social security.
Welfare, food stamps, link cards, government programs - these are not "entitlements", these are handouts, and should be addressed as such. If you want to fix Washington start by halting handouts, or put people to work for their welfare checks. Let them clean up our parks, or pick up trash, anything to allow them to earn it, rather than just give it to them. When you get something for nothing it isn't an entitlement, it's a handout...
I think our politicians need to grow a pair and man up and tackle our nation's problems. That's what we elected them to do- so do it. Not in ten years, not in five- do it now. And our President should try leading for a change, instead of "campaigning" his way through his term. Leading means uniting the parties, uniting the people, instead of the constant demagoguing... Enough ranting for today...
Food for thought...