What Is Going On In Washington?
Editorial

What is going on in Washington? It seems that one party is out to sink another at any cost and the president is still not learning that there is so much bitterness over his election that the chance of a meaningful compromise on anything is almost zero. On top of that, he is very weak in picking some of his staff. I don't know who is making the selections for jobs for him, but how can anyone put a man who admitted to being a communist, in any office? Van Jones was appointed as his Green Czar and came with an incredible background in this area. He had even been named by Time Magazine as a hero of the environment, but his past was just an invitation for criticism as was his anger. Appointing a former communist to a post is repulsive to all of us, especially those that were on the field of battle against them. Obama has to wise up in this area. Not only that, but he is beginning to appear very weak and an inviting target for the other side. He needs to pull all the Democrats together and then try and get some of the sympathetic Republicans that want to better this country.

Van Jones
Photo Source: Official Photo Executive Branch

I find it amazing that a person can become president and instantly some people blame him for everything that he inherited. Some have completely chosen to disregard all the things that came from the Bush administration. This guy inherited two wars, one of the worst economies in the history of the United States, a failing health care system that has costs that are spiraling out of control, an ecological disaster, a bank crisis and many other things. One can not help but feel that it is an almost insurmountable task. Some Republicans have been caught saying, that they were going to sink this guy and that they wanted him to fail. This mean of course that it would hurt us terribly. The man is our president now and should be supported. Is that any way for a citizen of this country to talk? Gee give this guy a chance. I remember when we were asked to be patient and give Bush a chance and this was after he was in office six years. I was always taught that my country came first and politics second. These guys and gals believe that it is ok to destroy the country to get even with this president for being elected so that they can get their people back in office. They have no one but themselves to blame that a Democrat was elected. As a matter of fact they can thank their leader at the time, President George Bush. If he was not such a terrible president, another Republican would have been elected. It is a fact that President Obama received a lot of Republican votes.

President Obama
White House Photo

Shame on those that put politics above the country. Putting the country first means taking care of its citizens, something that is entirely foreign to these people. Most of them should have been born several hundred years ago when there was no middle class, only the rich and poor. They want it that way again, because then they will have more control over things like labor costs and such. The idea of the middle class getting educated must really bother them. Smart middle class people are trouble in their minds, If we look at the hospitalization crisis we see 47 million people without health insurance. I am the first to say that the 9 million illegal aliens should be sent back to their own countries and this would reduce the uninsured by almost 20% and yet no one seems to be mentioning this. Why is it? Economics is the reason, the big farm businesses depend on slave labor, excuse me, illegal alien labor to harvest their crops, without them who would do this type of work?

President Bush
Official Executive Branch Photo

If we do nothing about the cost of hospitalization many millions more will be without insurance in the years to come and medical insurance is in danger of becoming a benefit for the rich, because of increasing cost. Another thing that is hardly mentioned, is the fact that we are already paying indirectly for the uninsured, who go to hospitals when they are sick, because they can't afford doctors and hospitals not only charge much more than a doctor visit, but they pass the cost on to the rest of us. If a hospital charges about 3 times as much as a doctor visit, this means that going to the doctor with insurance coverage is 2/3rds cheaper, so we have already knocked 66% off the cost for routine medical care for the non insured who become the newly insured. This together with eliminating the illegal aliens gives us a system that should not cost as much as we are even being told, if it were run correctly. We have to realize that government projects will cost more in the beginning because of the lack of expertise. This is where former health insurance executives are necessary. Even paying them equivalent salaries to private industry will reduce the cost of this program.

The wars are a whole different ball game. You can never win a war where you can not tell civilians from the people that you are fighting. We never seem to learn this lesson. We had no business getting into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our enemies have no problem mixing in with civilians and because of this there will always be civilian causalities and then it is only a matter of time before the population of the country that we are not at war with hates us. In the areas of Iraq where the most fighting has taken place we are hated, even though we are always shown photos of the citizens smiling at our soldiers and shaking hands. The places where the most fighting took place have the most civilian casualties and therefore the most hate for us. The civilian casualties are now beginning to pile up in Afghanistan and if we are there long enough, we will be asked to leave unless the leaders are so corrupt that they don't care about the deaths as long as they stay in power. It is the same old story.

Those that have examined the economic situation in this country have begun to think that the first economic bailout of banks and financial institutions was not necessary for many of the institutions who magically have paid the money back already. They thought that they were getting a free lunch for some reason and then when they saw all the restrictions on the loan they began to panic and found the money to pay the loans back. It is interesting to note that the first stimulus was under the prior administration, but every time you pick up the papers it sounds like this administration is responsible for the entire stimulus package. No one knows yet if pumping money into the economy is the answer to getting out of this economic slump, but most of the rest of the countries of the world think that it is and are continuing to do it and recently some have made this intent known.

Unemployment is increasing as I write this article. I can not say that by the time you read this it will still be increasing, but it might. This is a very sticky problem and so far it has disappointed the planers in this administration. We have been receiving reports that the economy is getting better and yet we get reports that unemployment is increasing. This is very aggravating and is one of those problems that makes people gnash their teeth and scream when they are alone in an empty room. In order for more jobs to be created, more businesses need to be created. We have gone from a manufacturing economy to a service economy and that type of economy doesn't generate enough jobs. The use of robot machines has also eliminated many jobs and this will only get worse. We should try and gear up the industries that we do best in. We have just lost too much. One has only to look at the brand names on some of our televisions and we find RCA, Zenith and others. These were American brands in the past. It is said that we can not compete with foreign electronic companies, but truthfully I do not believe this. Olevia is an American company that competes on the low end in flat screen televisions. It seemed to do ok when it started up, but now is being squeezed out. Maybe companies like this should receive a little help to make them even more competitive. Many foreign countries subsidize their industries, why can't we?

It is true that things are bad now, but it is also true that sabotage is taking place on an unheard of level just for political expedience. It is time for true Americans everywhere to think of their country first. What will be the political advantage of tanking this country, if we slip from a first class country to a second class one?