Let me preface my comments. Having been in the military in the late 1950's, I have been fortunate enough to have visited several countries. I can state from my own experience, that the United States is still the greatest country in the world. There are things wrong and should be changed, particularly many things that have occurred in recent times. We must keep in mind that countries that have fallen to the wayside have been very dictatorial, socialistic, or liberal. Trends to continue towards these concepts will be the downfall of the United States. Many of the comments I will make are those of others or similar in content.

1. Federal government should be involved only in those things that state government, local government, and private enterprise can not, such as military, foreign affairs, final decision in judicial matters. It is my understanding that is the basic content of the founders of the United States Constitution. No one group of people should have the right to impose on others, that which would take rights away from others.

2. It is my understanding that according to the United States Constitution, the Congress is responsible for the economic and internal affairs of the government and the President is responsible for foreign affairs, is commander and chief of the military, is to furnish recommendations in the State of Union message each year, and has the right to exercise the power of veto in decisions made by the House and Senate. Congress can override a veto by a two thirds of a majority.

3. Unfortunately today, because there is too much federal government, special interest groups, liberals, and bureaucrats, control the government of the United States instead of the people. The President should have the right of line item veto.

4. It is my opinion that if the Senators, Representatives, and their support staff were paid by the States they represent, accountability would be established and many of the current problems in government would not exist. Unfortunately when a group has the control of their own salaries and retirement plans, they themselves become a special interest group.

5. The news media has a responsibility reporting facts without bias instead of their personal views. C-SPAN appears to be doing good job of reporting the facts without bias, but unfortunately C-SPAN is not available to everyone in the United States. The news media is a very large special interest group and can influence the people of the United States.

6. The minimum wage act contrary to what has been reported, hurts the low income and fixed income group instead of improving their status by ultimately increasing everything that they purchase and loss of job opportunities.

7. Human rights should be an issue, not special rights (race, sex, sexual preference, etc.). Each special interest group is responsible for their actions and their stereotyping, not others.

8. The prison system in the United States has failed. Prisoners should not be mistreated, but likewise they should not have better living conditions and facilities then the military. Prisoners have committed crimes against society and prisons should be a punishment to deter crime and be required to pay the expense of their care.

9. It is disturbing that much of the media and many of the Congressmen report that a 15% tax cut benefits the RICH. It is true that a person who pays more taxes will receive more in actual return, but it is directly proportional to the amount they pay. If you don’t pay taxes you certainly won’t receive any benefit from a tax cut except in the form of an earned income credit. The most fair tax is a federal sales tax on all commodities, except food and medicine. Those that have the ability to buy and those from other countries using the United States facilities would then pay the tax proportionally.

10. Government farm subsidies should not exist. This is a form of price fixing and really doesn't help the farmer. The farmer is not stupid, if he can’t make a profit in grain, peanuts, milk, etc. he will switch to what he can. Price support for any particular item affects the cost of producing another item and the price of that item to the consumer. If the government wants to help the farmer, low cost loans and crop insurance would be beneficial.