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Why criticize the government
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Some readers think that I take delight in criticizing President Barack Obama. I don’t. I would prefer to see a strong president leading our country, a president who understands how our country has succeeded for the past 200-plus years, a president who wants our country to advance economically, a president who does not apologize to the world for what America has accomplished, a president who understands the importance of a tough defensive position to protect our citizens, a president who understands the words, “We the People.”
Obama held out a great deal of promise when he was elected, but he has failed the American people. He has spent trillions on failed programs to stimulate the economy; he has allowed a war that has no ending to continue; he has failed to bring Congress together; he has failed to help the disadvantaged in this country to fulfill the American dream. I predict that he will go down as America’s worst president.
I dislike criticizing our Congress, but they are so busy pushing their own agendas that they have failed to balance the budget — something each of us, as individuals, must do to avoid bankruptcy. Congress has allowed our country to run up the largest debt in our history, a debt the present generation will be unable to repay, leaving our children in debt before they are even born. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, this debt is 93.6 percent of the national GDP. This is totally unacceptable and juvenile.
Congress passed the worst legislation in history when the health-care reform bill was made the law of the country. Many people who had health care are losing their coverage, and the cost of health care is skyrocketing. On top of all this, the government is mandating that each of us buy health insurance — whether we want it or not — setting a precedent of the government forcing Americans to buy a product. What else will we be forced to buy by our government?
I criticize liberals because they believe that the government should take from the haves and give to the have-nots. They believe that being rich is wrong. According to The Washington Post National, the Waltons, heirs to the Walmart fortune, have amassed a fortune equal to that of the combined net worth of the bottom 30 percent of Americans. Yet, Walmart employs 2,100,000 workers. There would be no jobs without the rich.
I criticized the Department of Education because our children are getting a third-world education. The OECD released its annual international standardized test rankings for 2010. China came out on top while the United States was classified as “below average.” The United States scored 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.
Because of the president and Congress’ inability to move the economy forward, our household disposable income has dropped from a 3.9 percent increase in 2006 to zero percent in 2010, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The total number of unemployed workers is at a staggering 29 percent.
Our forefathers gave great thought to the Constitution, which has given us the freedom to grow as a nation and to protect that freedom. Today, the government and the courts are disregarding the Constitution and slowly taking away our liberties while simultaneously growing the size of the government and growing the size of the class of people needing government handouts because of the lack of jobs.
I believe that our leaders and government should follow the Constitution and allow the free market — not government — to guide our lives.

Calderone is a conservative who lives in Midway. He is a professional salesperson and for 30 years has written articles for trade publications in various fields.

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