September 12, 2011 I am ashamed!

I have determined that the President of the United States, the Congress of the United States and all the elected officials at the highest offices of our great country have no true regard for the citizens of their country. These are the facts. According to the U.S. Department of State Foreign Assistance Budget fiscal year 2012 Enduring Request Account Summary of 220 listed line items, America is spending more than $37 billion dollars on foreign aid this year. Of that, $360 million dollars goes to fix up Iraq; $2 billion dollars to upgrade Afghanistan; we probably are going to spend untold billions of dollars in Libya after Ghaddafi is killed; Israel is given $3 billion dollars, Egypt gets $1.5 billion dollars, Pakistan gets $1.8 billion dollars, as well as other questionable disbursements. And, guess what? None of the countries we help has ever said Thank You or gave us a kiss on the cheek. They all expect America to continue taking care of them. Further, they never offer to help us in our time of need. Once a nation is on the U.S. gravy train, few are ever cut off, regardless of their loyalty, gratitude or actions. Take! Take! Take! What am I ashamed of? These are the facts. America and Americans are presently suffering from natural disasters around the country. We have floods on the east coast, droughts in Texas, tornado torn cities around the country, wildfires in Texas, Colorado, California and other states, hurricane damage in several states, power outages, earthquake damage. This all translates to damaged and lost homes and businesses, dismantled infrastructure, lost jobs, lost wages, ordinary citizens living in crowded temporary quarters, food and clean water shortages, high gasoline prices, unknown timeframes for repairs, lives not only interrupted but psychologically hurt, lack of inventory, over extended facilities and thousands of aid workers using their time and energy to help others. And, crime is on the rise. To add to the shame, the esteemed Clowns of Congress decide to take a five week vacation in the middle of all of our problems. We all know circus clowns: they all pile out of a small car, waving their arms in erratic fashion, running in all different directions, brandishing floppy plastic sticks which they slap on each other like wet noodles, shouting unintelligible words. Shame on them. Doesnt it seem right and fair that the government do its job, which is to protect Americans? Shouldnt the members of Congress and all higher ups be concerned about their own people? Shouldnt they help their own distressed citizens in this time of need? Shouldnt the help be given NOW, without committees, meetings, discussions, endless continuances, party partisanship? It seems, however, there is only one thought in the

minds of all of these elected representatives to get re-elected, which means they are ignoring the needs of their constituents. Thomas Jefferson said, If there be any thing amiss therefore, in the present state of our affairs, as the formidable deficit lately unfolded to us indicates, I ascribe it to the inattention of Congress to its duties, to their unwise dissipation & waste of the public contributions. He also said, If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise, in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour? That one hundred and fifty lawyers should do business together, ought not to be expected. If anybody has a method of helping the economy right now, why dont they ACT now, not just allude to an answer? Why cant support to the economy trump partisanship and foreign aid? Why isnt there constructive compromise by ALL sides of the government? Has everybody forgotten that the Founding Fathers compromised to create our great system of government? It would be easy to eliminate my shame. All the elected representatives have to do is get off their duffs, back to the task at hand and do the right thing for America and Americans and let the others fend for themselves. Al Feinstein 6343 Mesedge Drive Colorado Springs Colorado 80919 719-598-1385 Author of published books America Lost? What We Learned By Living In Mexico Questions That Need To Be Asked About, and By, America and Americans But Afraid To Ask.