LETTER TO THE EDITOR: ‘As the circus engulfs Washington, the nation suffers’

The first president I remember was Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since then, we’ve had some very good and some very bad presidents. However, with respect to President Trump, I cannot remember the unfettered anger, disgust, mistrust, and downright degradation of an American president. I can understand not liking the man, especially if you didn’t vote for him, but my God, is the overall hatred of this man so great that there are no moral boundaries? As a country, have we sunk so low to respecting the Office of the President that we are willing to say or do anything to stifle the president’s plan to move our country ahead? And now, with the attempted political assassination of a Republican U.S. representative, what is our country becoming? The Comey comedy aired, and the follies are continuing with the special prosecutor who is now looking into obstruction of justice by the president. Never mind that all of his sycophants are Democrats. While this circus is engulfing the “swamp” in Washington, what is Congress accomplishing for the American public? From the perspective of Congress, we have no pressing national issues. President Trump was duly elected. It wasn’t because of Russian meddling (hell, they’ve always been doing that); it was due to the electorate saying, “Enough, Washington needs to change.” However, until the circus started playing in town, I don’t believe many of us truly realized that the swamp in Washington is incredibly powerful and vengeful. The swamp includes both Republican and Democratic representatives in Congress who are seeing their way of life altered immensely. Imagine, the president asking that he and Congress be accountable to the voting public! Mr. Trump has upset the apple cart by fighting for the voter, not the continuation of the political elite and their policies. Think about the following: Social Security: I’ve been paying Social Security and Medicare taxes for a long, long time. Our elected representatives stole that money, replaced it with worthless paper, and now tell us that if the system is to remain viable, it must change, i.e., we are going to have to work longer and pay more. Who destroyed its viability? Me, you? Home ownership: Under the policy guise of “It’s a right to own a home,” Congress amended the borrowing laws, and what happened? 2008. Who opened the door for those greedy enough to agree, everyone should own a home, regardless of your ability to pay? College loans: Again, under the policy of “everyone should be able to attend college,” Congress opened the floodgates with loan money. Now, student debt is over $1.3 trillion, a lot of students have and will default, and who owns most of that paper? We do, the taxpayers. Kiss that money goodbye. Now, there is a thought of “free college.” Nothing is free; someone always pays the bill. The debt. It’s approaching $20 trillion, with no end in sight. Congress has an insatiable appetite to spend our money. It’s amazing to watch how easy it is to spend someone else’s money. When looking at those few examples, ask yourself a very simple question — how much more of my taxpayer money am I going to let the elite political class of this country take and waste? If you disagree with my thoughts, please write a note to Coons, Carper, Blunt-Rochester and Carney, and ask them to take more of your hard-earned money to continue paying for their programs. As the circus engulfs Washington, the nation suffers, and the political elite continue to spin their story of “we are doing what’s right for the American public,” and “the American public has the right to know.” Stop insulting my intelligence and telling me that you care for my wellbeing. The only things you care about are your power, money, and the 2018 election. Keep the circus going long enough, and it becomes easy to say, “Trump failed in his campaign promises; vote the Democrats back into power.” If that happens, nothing will get done until the 2020 election. Under that scenario, what happens to the country? For one, we keep Obamacare, and we get its offspring, a single-payer system, i.e., socialized medicine. The assassination attempt on Rep. Scalise should be a wake-up to everyone. The poisonous political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle has created the environment for the loss of our democracy. While we destroy ourselves, ISIS, North Korea, China, and Russia will sit back and watch, or will they? I am sick and tired of watching our political elite destroy this country for their own wellbeing and telling me that I don’t understand the nature of politics and the difficulty of working across the aisle. Again, stop insulting my intelligence. It’s time for term limits in Congress.

Frank Daniels Retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel Dover