Our Nation Is A Mess

Our nation is a mess.  Our nation's public schools are crumbling.  Our nation's roadways and bridges are falling apart.  Our nation's banks are "too big to fail" and at war with their customers and homeowners.  Our nation's for-profit health care system is a disaster.  Our nation's poor and elderly are under attack as never before.  Our nation's unions are demonized as the source of all our ills and our nation is basically without a leader.  And our nation's elected officials have made pledges that run counter to the Constitution.

Instead of building palaces of learning and fully funding our public schools, we divert precious tax dollars to "charter" schools that can pick their students and to private and parochial schools through "vouchers".  Instead of repairing our cities roadways, replacing bridges and building public transportation we spend billions of tax payer dollars on sports stadiums and entertainment districts.

Instead of breaking up the "too big to fail" banks, we showered them with billions in tax payer funds.  They repaid us by foreclosing on homes they couldn't prove they owned the loans to.  Instead of allowing anyone to purchase into Medicare at cost, we are forced to purchase health care insurance from for-profit corporations.  Instead of expanding our social safety nets that protect our poor and elderly, our elected officials have cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations while destroying the social safety net.

Instead of celebrating the improved working conditions, wages and benefits for their members and non-members, we have elements of our society who wish to blame all of our financial problems on unions and destroy them.  And instead of working toward solutions that benefit all Americans, we have elected officials who have made pledges to Grover Norquist and others that preclude them from honest negotiations and compromise.

Adding to all this we have a president who starts off all negotiations with compromises that mirror what the other side wants.  We have a senate majority leader who couldn't find his spine even if it was placed in front of him.  We also have a Speaker of the House who can't even get 60 members of his own party to do what is right for the country instead of being mired in their hyper ideology.

Our nation is a mess and until we come to a consensus that doing what is right for our nation is better than doing what is politically expedient our nation will continue to be a mess.  I just don't see that happening any time soon.