Your Opinion: Lack of fiscal responsibility

Dear Editor:

The more we learn about what goes on in the federal government the more I am at a loss to understand why anybody supports Obama's policy that bigger government is the answer to every problem.

The federal government created AMTRAK in 1970. Taxpayers were told that we would have to subsidize it for a few years and then it would be self-supporting, this statement comes from the Congressional Budget Office. Amtrak has been on the federal teat for over 45 years. It shows no sign of ever being weaned. In 2013 alone it cost taxpayers over $1.5 billion. Once the federal government starts pouring money down a rat hole it never stops. Fiscal responsibility in government is almost non-existent. Hey, it is only taxpayer's money they are blowing. Taxpayer dollars are just a slush fund politicians use to buy votes to keep themselves in office.

An Inspector General recently reported, according to CBS and PBS, that since 1995 the Drug Enforcement Administration has paid nearly $1 million dollars, in what appear to be bribes, to an Amtrak employee. In return for the money the employee furnished them information on passengers. Rather than being fired the employee has been allowed to retire, no doubt with a cushy taxpayer-supported pension. No one has mentioned whether or not the employee claimed the bribes as income, and paid taxes on them. We also don't know if DEA had warrants, allowing them to get this information legally. Before the federal government started ignoring our Constitution the DEA would have needed a warrant for such surveillance. The real poke in taxpayers' eyes is, the DEA could have obtained this information legally at no cost to taxpayers.

In 2012 a poll showed that 54 percent of Americans wanted Uncle Sam to "leave me alone," while only 35 percent wanted more help from D.C. This month (August 2014) the poll was repeated. Fifty-nine percent now want the federal government to "leave me alone," while 32 percent opted for a bigger helping hand from D.C. Democrats accounted for 55 percent of those who want a bigger helping hand from D.C. Perhaps the only surprise there is that the number isn't higher. Twenty-two percent of Independents also want more help from D.C.

Hopefully, in upcoming elections, we will have a few candidates who believe we still have rights, but I doubt it.