The American People Need to Demand Accountability of Government Officials

Read the news on almost any given day and you're likely to encounter at least one item that demonstrates poor planning, poor decision making, or outright incompetence in some governmental agency. In recent news, we've learned that a great amount of the illegal marijuana crops grown in the United States are actually grown in our national parks. We've also learned that the Bureau of Land Management is contemplating euthanizing 30,000 wild horses in their care because the population of wild horses will break the Bureau's $1 billion annual budget.

Before we react to the information in these articles, we need to take a few moments to dissect how and why the situations have occurred in the first place. In this era of instant information, each of us can become so overloaded with info that there is little time for more than a knee-jerk reaction to what we read/hear. I believe this plays right into the plans of our elected officials and those in government jobs.

Instead of each of us--all of us--taking a step back and asking "How did this situation come to be in the first place?" we react to what we've read, hoping that a quick or easy solution will manifest itself and we can move on to something else.

Think about it: If you went to your boss and reported that a situation under your control had gone awry, would your boss simply shake his/her head and readily agree to increase your budget? I doubt it. There would be lots of explaining to do about how you let the situation become what it was, and depending on the severity of the situation, your job may be in jeopardy. That is common sense. But all of that goes out the window when it is governmental agencies who fail to plan and/or act in the best interest of the American citizens by doing their jobs competently.

How is it that we have a federal immigration department, and yet more than 12 million illegal immigrants live within our borders? How can we believe that a government that can't control our borders can then keep us safe from terrorists? The federal government has long waged its "war on drugs," yet on property within that same government's control there are crops of marijuana?

Until we as citizens demand accountability of our elected officials and those working government agencies, these type of things, and more, will continue, draining the taxpayer coffers for inefficient and sometimes blatant incompetency. This type of behavior would not be tolerated in our private sector jobs; it should not be tolerated in government.

Why the Rich Get Richer--Yet One More Reason

I don't know what loan contracts look like that the wealthy sign when they need to borrow money; chances are their contracts are every bit as difficult to read as the ones those of us in the middle and lower classes sign. The difference is, the wealthy can afford to have an attorney and/or accountant look over the contract before they sign on the dotted line.

I wonder how it is legal for loan companies, banks, and credit card companies to boost their interest rates to nearly 33%. If you or I tried to charge that rate to another individual, a judge would throw it out of court as being excessive.

And isn't it amazing that these high interest rates are attached to the accounts of the people in the worst financial shape? Your credit card may have been charging you a "modest" 19%, but miss a payment or sometimes just be late with a payment, and you're likely to find your next account statement has a higher interest rate attached.

Did you know that many lenders will charge you interest not only on the principle that you borrowed, but also on any late fees they attach? Does this sound like it makes common sense--or that it could even be legal?

What about the fees the banks charge now for an overdrawn checking account? What used to be a $5 or $10 fee is now $25-$35--again, charged when you are already at a low financial point. Why else would your account be overdrawn? No one in their right mind would withhold money from their checking, realizing what the overdraw fee is.