I Wonder

After I wrote and posted my article titled My Personal Tirade, I was overwhelmed by the many responses I received. All of these responses were positive and supportive. I felt it was important for me to do more but, the question became, do what? I can write articles. I can complain and whine about the way our governmental leaders ignore the wishes and desires of a vast majority of the taxpayers. I could propose large quantities of possible solutions but so what? What good am I doing? Who's listening? How much effect am I having? Unfortunately, the answer to that and other similar questions is nothing. No matter how much I write, no matter how many questions I ask, no matter how many of you respond I am accomplishing exactly nothing. Now the question becomes why am I accomplishing exactly nada, zilch, zero, zip, bumpkis, nothing? The answer is; because I am, as the old saying goes, just me, myself and I.

I am one person. The reality of our current political situation is one person has absolutely no political clout unless that one person is immensely wealthy or wields tremendous, personal power and even then the amount of influence that one person can exert is problematic at best. Our politicians respond to political pressure from lobbyists hired by companies with very deep pockets and several different ways to pass on their largess. Politicians do not do anything unless, in some way or another, they get paid for it. Of course there are exceptions but, unfortunately, those exceptions are few and far between. They are so rare they can be counted on the fingers of two hands and have a few fingers left over.

It's not that there aren't any conservatives around. Ron Paul, a Republican Congressman representing the state of Texas is one. He has established the Campaign for Liberty, (www.campaignforliberty.com) which is dedicated to limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. This man stood in front of Congress in 2002 and predicted the current financial crisis. He was featured Tuesday morning (1/27/2009) on CNN's "American Morning." His interview was illuminating and well worth watching. (A video can be seen on his Campaign For Liberty web site)

Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., is also a stock broker, investment adviser, writer and economist. He has appeared on CNBC, CNN, CNN International, Fox News, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business many times. His basic themes are expressed support for sound money, limited government, and free market capitalism. Some of his videos can be seen by going to Goggle, typing in his name and then watching the videos which are listed. You will be amazed not only at what he has said in his interviews but also by the way other, so-called economic experts treat him. Watching the treatment he receives will give you some clue as to how conservative ideals are seen by others. Believe me, it ain't pretty.

The Libertarian Party was established in 1971 and has consistently campaigned for smaller government, lower taxes and extended freedom for citizens. They've been working on these political platforms for over 35 years and look how far they've gotten. Obviously, we are not alone. While it just a guess and a gut feeling, I am of the opinion that the vast majority of Americans wants conservative economic standards and behaviors. Unfortunately, the bare truth is, while we may want conservative, economic laws, regulations and behaviors, we aren't going to get them. We aren't going to get them because the minority liberals are the ones on power. There are 555 members of the Senate, House of Representatives and the Administrative branch. Almost all of them are economic liberals. They believe the government can spend their way to economic recovery. They are united in their beliefs. We are, unfortunately, divided.