Issue Position: Economy
Issue Position
Congress says they want to reduce America's debt. Here's a thought: stop stealing.
When they passed the bailouts, Congress ushered in a whole new era of stealing money directly from our pockets. But nobody ever followed up on where the money went. What happened to it? Is anybody trying to recover it? Why isn't a forensic audit being done to find out how much of our hard-earned cash has gone to Wall St. political donors, overseas banks and other places I have no interest in sponsoring? Where is the leadership on this issue? Where is our money?
Nobody in Washington cares, because it was only middle class assets that are missing and in Washington, the middle class is nobody.
The first thing to remember when government reaches into your wallet is that they're going to take theirs and their friends' personal cut right off the top. Funding for important public services come second. Stealing comes first. This happens at the local, state and Federal level every time, because the same people are running the show everywhere.
Like most of her middle class, America is heavily in debt. Currently to the tune of about $17 trillion dollars. That's now MORE than our country's gross domestic product output, i.e., the entire economy. We have all become debt slaves, thanks to Congressional pocket-stuffing.
Where is all that money going?
Things that have been stolen from us in recent years include the bailouts; Obamacare payments that will go directly to insurance companies (who are thrilled with the open-ended, guaranteed profit program); two wars funded on credit cards; a stimulus that did nothing but fatten selected bank accounts; and a slew of handouts and payouts that did nothing for middle class America except push us farther down the road towards permanent debt serfdom.
Then there are the millions in grant money passed out like candy as political favors. Where are the results from those grants? Economic development -- where are the jobs? Who cares as long as the cash continues to flow!
How about $4.5 billion in food stamps going towards things like alcohol and Starbucks? Or $27 million towards pottery classes in Morocco? Or $1.5 billion on free cell phones? Or $400 million for a failed attempt to train Iraqi police. Or $666,905 for a study on whether watching reruns makes people feel good. The list of our wasted money runs into the billions.
When is Congress going to cut back and get rid of all those agencies that are flushing our money down the toilet with nothing to show for it? When is the Federal Government going to tighten ITS belt? When is Congress going to lead the way and show us with a living
example of "austerity?" How about starting by cutting their giant salaries and benefits?
Why do they need a permanent residence in Washington, DC? Let them live in their home districts where they can pay attention to what the people they're supposed to be representing want. Put them up in temporary military housing in Washington. If it's good enough for our soldiers, it's certainly good enough for our elected representatives.
How about cutting down on travel? Why are we footing the bill for these guys to gallivant all over the place and have fun? When is it going to stop -- when we're back in the Roman Empire paying for our leaders to party us into the Dark Ages again?
Let's start cutting at the Federal level with all those agencies that should fall under state responsibility. Why do we need a Federal Department of Education when we have parents and professional educators at the local level with far more interest in what our kids need to prepare them for their futures?
Why are we sending millions of dollars to Egypt and other places that are clearly not friendly to American interests? Where it gets into the hands of terrorists trying to kill us. We're sending money to Pakistan? Where bin Laden retired up the street from the military academy? Really?
We're borrowing money to give it away. We're going into debt that's crushing our economy to give it away to foreign countries. I'm one angry taxpayer to see my hard-earned money go to terrorists. In my book, that's called treason. Why isn't anybody calling Congress out for domestic crimes?
You can add so-called "free trade" agreements that have sold out American sovereignty and jobs to foreign elites to the charges, while you're at it.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government wants more from us. And let me be clear. By us, I mean the rapidly shrinking group of middle class people who get up and deal with car problems and school arrangements to get to a lousy job for a lousy paycheck. Every day. We're the ones who get the shaft every single time when it comes to our government's taxing and spending habits.
The guy that makes $40 thousand a year is trying to feed his wife and family, and they're killing him. The poor pay nothing, the people at the top get out of paying anything. The middle class is paying everything. General Electric hasn't paid taxes in years. The poor get a "refund check." The middle class gets to foot the bill.
Congress likes to talk about tightening belts, especially when we start to ask about their spending habits. But just like clockwork, every time we hear about a tax break for the middle class, we get pilfered. The poor pay nothing for the services they use, while the rich get loopholes and turn around and send jobs overseas. Then use our banking system against us.
Congress has our tax system backwards. If they were interested in middle class interests, they'd cut taxes on small businesses who are actually hiring Americans; and penalize corporations sending our jobs overseas. If you use government resources paid for by the middle class to take jobs out of the country, you should be paying us for it.
I'm sick of calling Afghanistan or India or wherever for a simple service issue and getting every person in the world named Sam on the other end of the line. We've got Americans right here who can do customer service. Guess what AT&T -- you need to be held responsible for sending those jobs overseas.
The Republican way is to be self-sufficient -- not dependent. But the way things are going, our Federal government wants everybody codependent on a selected group of their elite cronies, not self-sufficient.
I've had enough, haven't you? I'm calling on everybody from all walks of life and all parties to take back our District. Jeff Miller has been nothing but a lobbyist for elite special interests. When push comes to shove, he votes for the free trade agreement, the debt ceiling increase, the NSA spying on us every time.
Who do you work for, Jeff; who's your boss?
We continue to re-elect him, and he continues to punish us. Let's have representation instead of lobbying. Let's do something for the middle class this time around. Let's show them who the boss really is.
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