Open government's deterioration

The exasperation of watching the past debt debate (debacle) on television for the past month has been extremely nerve-racking, to say the least, for those possessing just a smidgen of common sense. I'm sure most of us wanted to, and did, scream at our sets. It was obvious that most of our politicians in Washington were more concerned with their own political ideology than they were with solving our country's debt problem.

The accounting gimmicks that these lu-heads have put in place over the past half-century are unbelievable. The sneaky and underhanded presentation and method of passing bills and laws is nothing short of dishonesty. Remember, "You have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it." Have you ever heard anything so absolutely sophomoric in your life coming from a supposedly intelligent elected representative, especially a speaker of the House? How many times must we be fooled into believing the amount of money being saved with the passage of any bill? How long will the people continue to tolerate a ruling class that demonizes the opposition worse than suicide bombers?

Did the deterioration of open and honest government end when liberalism became the dominant social course during the 1950s and '60s? Regardless, it's obvious to those still possessing some knowledge of the Constitution and intent of our Founders that if we are to save our beautiful America these dinosaurs must soon become extinct -- hopefully with the 2012 election. Wake up America.

GENE N. ISOM, Olive Branch, Ill.