Washington versus us

It’s time for all of us to step back from the Democrat vs. Republican arguments and take a fresh look at how well the national government, regardless of which party is in power, serves the interests of the American people.

The real questions are what can be done to improve the relationship between government and the people and how can we get back to having a government that serves the people, rather than itself. While both parties have different views on how to run our nation’s government, I believe the problems we are facing in government are much greater than deciding which of two supposedly equally valid views works the best. We can no longer simply frame the argument as one party versus the other party. We have actually gotten to the point where it is Washington versus us! It’s as if we voted to put the federal government on autopilot after setting it on the wrong course. It doesn’t seem to matter which party is in the White House or has the majority in Congress, government keeps getting bigger, costing more, and controlling more and more of our individual lives. The national government we have has strayed far from serving the interests of the people and has become one of serving the interests of the unwieldy bureaucracy that it now is.

---

It is the responsibility of the Senate and the House to provide oversight of the agencies that have been created by the laws they pass. People regardless of party affiliation should be concerned when improper and even illegal behavior is going on in any part of the administration. Priorities are really out of whack when such behavior is ignored and swept under the rug by one party or the other because it will make that party look bad. We elect people to be stewards over the government and over the tax money needed to pay for it. They aren’t elected to keep their party in power at any cost, yet that’s what Washington has become. Irresponsible administration of the laws should not be ignored by those whose party is represented in the White House. Currently, most Democrats are willing to dismiss the misdeeds of the IRS, the NSA, the EPA, as well as those of a growing list of acronmyn-titled agenices, because the responsibility for those misdeeds falls on a Democrat in the White House. We have to get away from thinking that all of our problems can be solved by more government spending, on the federal, state, or local level. While government is absolutely necessary, absolute government is tyranny at any level. And the only way to stop this nation from lurching toward tyranny is for all of us to realize that our freedom is at stake and begin to become more aware of what our government is doing and opposing it when it does not serve the interests of the American people.