Neither candidate is going to get the job done
To the Editor:
It appears Mitt Romney has committed the unpardonable sin — he told the truth and now must pay the price. What ever the number of Americans dependent on government actually is, it is unnecessarily high, and as much as Democrats would like to believe otherwise, womb to the tomb care is unsustainable, as Europe is discovering.
Helping someone temporarily in need is one thing but when four generations of one family receive government assistance over decades, that’s something else. There comes a time when the so-called “safety net” becomes a web from which it is difficult to escape. Your surrender to that lifestyle becomes a permanent part (as Gov. Romney pointed out) of the Democratic Party base.
The makeup of our government makes change next to impossible. In the 112th Congress, Senate Democrats have killed the proposals made by Senate Republicans. Conversely, House Republicans have killed ideas put forth by House Democrats. This results in what many Americans (including some lawmakers) refer to as “the least productive Congress ever.” With a 10 percent favorability grade, Congress has taken an early adjournment which shows us all precisely where our representative’s hearts and minds are — solely on keeping their own jobs.
By re-electing President Obama or electing Mitt Romney and a Congress pretty evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, we are guaranteeing four more years of mutual obstruction and legislative gridlock. We presently have a national debt in excess of $16 trillion and after four more years of impasse it will likely be $20 trillion. With costs exploding we may actually go over that “fiscal cliff” we’re frequently reminded of.
Neither President Obama or Mitt Romney have the means, the will, or the intent to change the direction our country is going, but we do. We have the option of voting for a candidate not behold to special interests or the whims of the radical fringes of either major party. You and I do not have to waste our vote on the lesser of the two evils, hoping against hope that things will get better for average working Americans and not just the few who are rich.
This year I’m going to cast my vote against the status quo and for real change and a better future for our posterity. I’m voting for the only person I believe can coerce this or any Congress to do what lawmakers are elected to do: make compromises in order to govern well. My vote is going to Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
David L. Snell
Dillsboro
