| January 31, 2006
President Bush delivered the State of the Union address tonight.
The message I just sent the folks in Washington, using congress.org,
is more or less as follows:
There IS a lot right about the State of the Union --
there's also a lot wrong. Too
much wind and not enough sunshine from our politicians, for starters.
Americans are tired of meaningless promises and
endless photo ops. We want
portable health care. We want
financial and physical security. We
want our children and elderly safe, secure, and financially sound.
We want meaningful tax reform and not more promises and legislation
dressed as wolves in sheep's clothing a la the 1986 Tax Reform Act.
Americans do need to get real and realize they
can't have everything because they can't afford everything,
but I personally am sick of hearing the aging baby
boomers blamed for the looming Social Security crisis. The growing
number of retirees is certainly one of several elements contributing to
the problem, but does anyone remember the 1968 consolidated budget
concocted during the Johnson Administration?
I sure do, and I was just a kid. Uncle Sam found an easy way
to balance a runaway budget -- include the Social Security Trust Fund in
the overall numbers.
Since then, Congress has repeatedly failed to reign in its spending
and instead robbed the Social Security piggy bank.
Okay, so we're here now -- but let's at least be honest while we
seek to fix the problem. As
for pork barrel politics -- I believe term limits for all politicians
would help curb this problem by eventually eliminating the re-election
incentive.
I support President Bush.
I do not agree with every decision he has made, but I also believe
he has been faced with natural and unnatural disasters almost
unprecedented in our history. Few
could probably have done better. On
the other hand, I am sick of listening to the endless carping on both
sides of the aisles in Congress. I
am tired of political games. We
have a country to run, and we elected you to run it.
Let's get with the program.
One last thing.
Terrorists and homeland security issues are still somewhat untested
waters for us and we need to tread carefully.
Our civil rights were gained with blood and we should hold them
dear. The quickest way to
lose our own rights is to take them from others.
The road ahead is filled with difficult
decisions. Our prayers go with you.
Let's get to work.
|
