It seems funny to me that the mainstream media is so silent about the looming fiscal problems this country faces and the very obvious power play that the president is making.
If we allow him the power he wants, he will be so close to a dictator that nothing may be able to stop him. The American electorate needs to wake up and see his true colors.
The assault on our freedoms has begun. We cannot tax our way out of this, and it will take all of us sacrificing something. Taxing the rich is a small step, and we all know that. It is just a feeble gesture at best. What is $1.6 trillion a year going to do to a $16 trillion debt?
It is a drop in the bucket, and we all know that.
President Barack Obama cannot tax the rich and hope to pay down the national debt. Especially since there are fewer "rich" people than when he took office four years ago.
The first and best place to start is to reform the tax code.
I might catch flack for this, but everyone needs to pay taxes until this is all straightened out. If the rich need to pay, so does everyone else. If you want to live here and have all these social programs and safety nets, then help fund them.
All the studies for inane things, the farm subsidies and foreign aid, those things need a serious audit. Until our fiscal house is in order, we need to stop paying foreign aid. No one will get any aid if the country is broke.
There are a lot of places in government where things can be reduced or done away with. Some agencies need their size reduced and their budgets trimmed. Each agency needs an audit of its budget and its functions. If one is doing the same function as another, one of them should be eliminated. We need an agency watchdog group that keeps an eye on them and that reports to the American people its findings.
As a disabled veteran, I would hate to think that my sacrifices and those of my brother vets will come down to this. We sacrificed for this country; now it is on the people of this country to sacrifice to save it. We all have to buckle down and tighten our belts if we are to save our nation.
It will take a concerted effort by all of us to make through this storm, but we have weathered worse storms and come through stronger for them. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
Howard L. Harshaw Jr., Hollidaysburg
