by Stefani Hutchison

Created on: April 18, 2008

Where is America's Backbone?

The American Revolution was fought by our brave and outraged forefathers in response to outrageous taxes, lack of fair representation and the introduction of what are called the "Intolerable Acts". When the British government slammed the colonists with the Tea Act, they responded by dumping forty five tons of tea into Boston Harbor.

What has happened to that fighting spirit? What has happened to the deep rooted belief in independence? Today the IRS can simply continue to raise taxes, add new tax laws and operate with apparent impunity and every year we obediently pay them everything they demand. When is enough...well...enough?

All of us are aware of the misuses of taxpayers money. We have heard about the committees to oversee committees. Just the waste of Homeland Security money alone is enough to stagger the mind. The Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security alone received $61.3 million in 2007, but can not tell anyone how the money was spent. Well, not all of it anyway. There was that GMC Yukon bought for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl with a grant from the Federal Homeland Security Department. He used the SUV to go to a Toby Keith Concert last summer. I am sure that all of Pittsburgh felt much safer. This is only one example of the misuse of our money. Does the purchase of SUV's for government officials make our country safer?

Can any of us really imagine how much money would be saved if there were real accountability. Is there anyone out there who can audit our government? Senator Susan Collins(R-ME) says:

"The federal government's prodigious purchasing can create abundant opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse. Whether the problem is purchases of unusable trailers for hurricane victims, shoddy construction of schools and clinics in Iraq, or abuse of purchase cards by government employees, we must do a better job of protecting taxpayer dollars and delivering better acquisition outcomes." So there it is. The Senate knows about the waste, we all know about it, too. So what is being done about it? If the bogus committees, overpriced spending and wasteful expenditures were stopped, how much money would our government then have to spend on legitimate and meaningful programs? Instead, we all know that the money is being wasted, and the government keeps demanding more and more from "We The People" and we just roll over and accept it. What has happened to the spirit that drove us to break away from England and turn Boston Harbor into a giant cup of tea? Why can't we stand up and say "No!"

We have given our government exactly the power that we fought against in the Revolution. Does that make us really a free nation? The government says "pay up or else" and we do. Where is the line? When is there ever going to be enough? When does the system become an unfair burden on the everyday people who go to work every day and fight to make ends meet?

I am not suggesting that we go to war against our government. I love my country. I am just wondering where the voice of the people has gone.

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