

Lawmakers are leading us to ruin

2:36 PM, May 4, 2012  |  Comments
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The editorial in a recent Daily Record leaves one hopeless. It details the unbelievable excess that is and has been taking place in the New Jersey state Legislature regarding the extravagant perks our elected representatives shower on themselves. It is hard to believe that the total elected body becomes so corrupt that there is no hope in reforming this systematic robbing of the public.

In the February issue of the Economist Magazine there are two articles detailing the massive and totally confusing regulations recently passed to regulate the financial and environmental sectors in the United States. They detail that no one in either the government or the regulated sectors have any idea how to comply with these new and still incomplete laws. They estimate that these new regulations will eventually cost trillions of dollars and potentially do no good. And that from an essentially liberal but well-respected source.

On Bill O'Reilly's program Monday night one of his segments detailed how representatives are having their private automobiles and driving expenses, often in luxury vehicles and sometimes for their families, being paid for by the public and this is acceptable to the rest of our elected Congress.

Then last night on Charlie Rose's program Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma continued to warn of the impending economic disaster of the United States because most of its members are so consumed with achieving power and control in Washington that they are willing to lie to the American people. Senator Coburn, an acknowledged budget hawk, describes what he calls a "culture of careerism" that promotes lying and deceit in the interest of personal and political survival. He tells us that so many members of Congress are making decisions that are politically expedient for themselves rather than telling the truth to the American People. He says, and I agree, that the American voter should fire most of our lawmakers who day after day refuse to address the nation's debt, which is absolutely unsustainable.

Our current system is unsustainable and will inevitably self-destruct. Our current national legislators will continue to put it off for as long as they are able to fool the majority into believing that there is a free lunch; but it will happen. I will probably not be here to see it but the longer it is put off the more painful, disruptive and maybe violent it is going to be. The Occupy Wall Street protests are nothing compared to what is going to be seen in the Street when that day comes. But come it will.

Because of my almost 40 years of work experience with people who did not cheat or dedicate themselves to their own aggrandizement I find it continually surprising that so many who appear to be bright honest people can become so indifferent, corrupt and cowardly once they are elected to public office. Or is that just the kind of people who run for public office? Is it the system that so corrupts them?

Whatever it is it appears to be all-encompassing.

Joseph M. Hitzel


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