Our dysfunctional government

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently announced that he won’t seek re-election to the U.S. Senate, focusing solely on a presidential run. He cites frustration with government and the lack of ability at the Senate level to rein in a rogue government as his main reasons. Maybe the following are some reasons.

This administration has increased the national debt more than all the presidents combined up to G.W. Bush. The Federal Reserve is abetting the government in loaning money to itself of about $1 trillion per year. When that bubble bursts, look out.

The present administration believes climate change is a greater threat than Islamic terrorists. Perhaps it is that they stand to profit immensely from their proposed carbon exchanges.

The government shows through its policies that it places less importance on its citizens and their financial well-being that it does on saving endangered species, which I find odd, because most liberals in control of government, believe in the theory of evolution. Under that scenario, shouldn’t survival of the fittest mean we not interfere with endangered species?

Obama has virtually opened our borders to illegal aliens. He pays, with our money, to feed, clothe, and house them, and they get better medical care than I do. He decides which towns get overrun with these illegals and by how many. Since he believes Europe should be the model for modern society, maybe he should look at the consequences they are suffering from illegal transients.

Department of Homeland Security now offers bonuses to businesses who hire alien college graduates over native-born citizens.

Liberal government officials work very hard to take away Second Amendment rights. The attacks are constant. Any act of a deranged person is exploited for this purpose, as if the inanimate object (the weapon) is to blame for human folly. But that shouldn’t be a surprise since SUVs were once blamed for their drivers’ errors.

The current Department of Justice should be renamed the Department of Cover-up. Every time there has been a problem in the Obama Administration that should be investigated, the DOJ has obfuscated, ignored or otherwise stalled on taking any action. Whether it has been the NSA spying scandal, the AP scandal, possible perjury by AG Eric Holder, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius soliciting donations from companies they would regulate, or Fast and Furious, the DOJ has either refused to or only halfheartedly investigated.

The most recent insult is to decide there would be no charges against former IRS employee Lois Lerner, director of the Internal Revenue Service’s Exempt Organizations Unit, in saying there had been no wrongdoing. On a completely unrelated issue, an Arizona Tea Party group who applied in 2009 for tax-exempt status is still waiting.

President Obama has made several statements that he has reduced the deficit by cutting back spending. Why, then, do we need another debt limit increase? After all, if the deficit has been reduced, shouldn’t we be below the debt cap?

As usual, we now have a crisis. We won’t be able to pay our debts, at least in Washington speak, unless an increase in the debt limit is approved by November 3rd. Why the delay in addressing this issue? Could it be so the increase can be passed without much publicity or resistance from those pesky unwashed masses?

The national debt remained mysteriously unchanged for about four months. Now we suddenly have a debt limit crisis. Is there any doubt your government lies to you on a regular basis? After all, hasn’t Hillary Clinton proved beyond any doubt that she is one of the most accomplished liars in politics? Most recently, she managed to avoid answering direct questions in the Benghazi hearing for over 11 hours. “It was a YouTube video.” “No classified information was on my private email server.” “What difference does it make?”

It is rare that I find myself in agreeing fellow columnist Jeanette Strong, but her recent statement that Republicans are to blame for the woes of the country are not far off. We just disagree as to why.

Republicans have a majority in both houses but are still afraid of the Democrats. They have knuckled under to Democrats on virtually every issue, from immigration to Obamacare. How do you strike fear into a Republican? Two words. Government shutdown.

In a final poke in the public’s eye, outgoing Speaker John Boehner, in league with Democrats, is trying to sneak through a two-year budget that also raises the debt ceiling. In other words, Obama gets a blank check.

And then they wonder why the leaders in the GOP presidential race are all Washington outsiders.

Tom Riggins is an LVN columnist and may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.