IS THE U.S. HOSING US?

Not everyone feels the way I do, but I get the distinct feeling that I, a citizen of the United States living in my senior years, may be getting hosed by the very government that is supposed to be looking out for me.

Almost every day it seems the congress and president come up with a new way to give away tax money paid in by hardworking people. A lot of that money is being given to those who pay virtually no taxes, both rich and poor, and to those who contribute heavily to campaign coffers.

I am not fooled by all the talk of “stimulus” when most of the stimulus is going to the unions that supported the majority in power. Bailouts to the car companies were largess for the unions. For crying out loud, they even came out owning 17% of the new General Motors when all the bankruptcy deals were done.

This cash for clunkers amazes me. We own 60% of General Motors, and statistics show that this company benefitted most from the Cash For Clunkers give away. So, in effect, we gave away and average of $4,200 so that people could buy cars from the company we taxpayers and the unions own. What a deal!

Is our government creating a population of people who expect something for free every time they look up? Who doesn’t like getting free stuff? I like free stuff, although there are some things I wouldn’t want even if it was free. High on that list is sushi. Short of a famine, I wouldn’t eat sushi if it was all you could eat for free.

A lot of Americans, though, seem to clamor for free stuff. Free food, free rent, free school supplies, free clothing, and on and on it goes. I am certainly not opposed to helping truly needy people.

Things are getting all screwed up in my country. Deficits that were way too high under President Bush have more than doubled in six months of our new president. Some say there is no way we will ever pay our way out of debt. Our biggest debt holder is China, and who among us trusts those folks.

I won’t even start on this health care package working its way through congress. I can’t believe that it is necessary for our government to run the health care in this country just to get the costs down, and does anyone really believe they can actually get costs down? Is there any enterprise run by the U.S. Government that is doing that? The post office is losing money.

Amtrak is losing money. Social security is going broke. Medicare is going broke. Tell me. What makes anyone think that a government-run health plan will fare any better?

I think the best question I have heard in this health care debacle is this one: “Will the congress be forced to use the same program they want everyone else to use?” What will you bet they won’t? In fact, they voted down an amendment to that effect just last week.

Now we are hearing about a web site that is run by the White House that is asking citizens to snitch on their neighbors. If you receive an e-mail criticizing the president, you are to go to that web site and turn in the person who sent it to you. If George Bush had done that he would have been run out of town on a rail. I suppose someone will send in this blog post. O.K. Go ahead. Send it in.

People all over America have let the government know they have reached the limit of government they will tolerate. The country voted for change, but they would never have voted for what they have gotten.

What they have gotten is hosed by their government!