Conflicted

I've been conflicted of late and some of my readers have let me know they think I've strayed from the reservation. I take exception with that because, if anything, I'm a middle of the road type unbeholden to either party.

The Washington Times printed excerpts of an interview CNN's John King had with Colin Powell that sums up a lot of what I've been thinking. "... you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."

That hits the nail on the head as I listen to Joe Biden try to explain to George Stephanopolis how the administration underestimated how bad the economy was and that's why the stimulus isn't working and unemployment continues to climb.

I'm a small government person and ours is anything but and growing. I knew that was likely when I supported Obama but not to this extent. Bills, hundreds if not thousands of pages long, are being passed faster than it takes to say "aye". They are not being read. Pork in them is plentiful. Business as usual. No change in sight.

The national debt so far this fiscal year is $11.5 trillion and the deficit is expected to rise to $2 trillion. Those numbers are beyond comprehension to workers who don't even make $100,000. They are the vast majority. Add to that the fact that most of this money is borrowed from countries who are more adversarial than friendly puts our entire nation at risk, yet there is increasing talk of another stimulus package.

Bail out the auto industry and reward those who were the largest part of the problem, the Unions. It was their demand for higher and higher wages and richer and richer benefits that started the downward spiral.

We're not even out of the housing crisis and you have Barney Frank asking for a loosening of lending standards. He was part of the problem in the first place for the exact same action!

Then comes health care where resistance reigns in all quarters. There is the gays in the military issue that has gone silent. There's the issue of no increase in taxes for 95% of working Americans. Ha! We have a war escalating in Afghanistan and one can only guess what will happen with the remainder of the Middle East, including Israel. Let's not forget the turmoil in South America either.

The one good part of the stimulus is the amount earmarked for refurbishing our crumbling infrastructure yet the monies aren't slated to be released until next year, just before the Congressional campaigns begin.

Too much to absorb? You bet. Both mentally and fiscally! If Congress doesn't take the time to absorb it, how can we be expected to? Having a vision is one thing. Shoving it down our throats at all cost is something else.

Isn't it time to take a deep breath, slow the pace a bit and think things through before rushing them into place? Colin Powell is a voice of reason. Voices of reason, over and above political ideology, are what the country needs right now. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.