Lakersforce,

While I do see where you are coming from, I will admit that the US thinks too much of itself at times. But let me put it to you this way:

Taxes: We pretty much end up paying 50% in taxes by the time it's all said and one between Federal, State, Local, Sales, and Gas taxes. This is something that varies widely depending on the state you live in. Up here in NY, we are one of the highest taxed states in the nation, and for what? Our roads have potholes that damage our vehicles. They use salt on the roads in the winter that erodes our vehicle life. Our schools are the worst (that's as a nation). Crime here in Rochester puts us pretty much above NYC (1 million people in the metro area of Rochester vs. about 8 million people in the NYC metro area). Not a day goes by where there is a drive-by shooting, stabbing, arson, or theft. It's getting worse across the country.

Health care: We have THE WORST health care system. My employer doesn't pay any of my health care, but gets a "group" rate for it. I currently pay $58/week for health care that is the most basic coverage I can get as a single person, and would probably leave me in debt a lot more than I already am. I wear glasses, they can range in price from $50 - $500 depending on where you go, and they should be replaced every 3-?? years. I wear hearing aids, they can range in price from $700 - $5000 depending on where you go and the kind, and they should be replaced ever 5-7 years. I get no benefits from my government to help me pay for these things because I am not in a wheel chair and can hold a full-time job +. If health care is a human rights issue, then it should be free. Drug companies should not be paying doctors to get their patients to use their pills. Hospitals should not be performing procedures that are invasive and then kicking people out after a day, when they really should be monitored for longer than that. Doctors should not be charging $60 a visit, when on average they can last 5-10 minutes. This causes issues and is harmful to our society because drug companies can and DO create their own set of rules when it comes to what can be cured and what can't. If it means more money for them to not cure something, they will let people suffer.

Listen. I'm not saying we have it bad by far. But until money gets out of the political and health care sectors, we will be seeing more and more issues. The rate of obesity in this country is staggering. But yet junk food is much cheaper to purchase than wholesome, healthy food such as fruits and vegetables. As it is, our "natural" food could be considered tainted and no better than some "healthy" junk food because of everything that's done to these foods to preserve them and make them grow faster.

I am NOT a religious person, but I respect that this country was built on Catholicism, but there is a separation of church and state. We currently have some major issues with political correctness and religious freedoms in this country. Even if I wanted to say "God Bless You" to a random person who sneezes, that could be considered offensive if they are of a different religion. Kids can't say prayers in schools. They can't celebrate Christmas in schools or businesses. The government wants to institute a national ID, and that leads up to RFID chips holding all of our information inside us. I hardly consider what we currently live in as a Democracy, and borderline Dictatorship by the Free Masons or some other group/person with a LOT of money behind them. Anyone can be bought out now. There's no sense of ethics or service to the people. When 65% of a country's people disapprove of the nation's leader, most places would have a coup. We just go along with it because we rely on the government too much!

We rely on the Congress to check the President, we rely on the President to check Congress, we rely on the Judicial system to check both and vice versa. This is not happening. We are allowing welfare to be given to just about anyone with an excuse. We are allowing our own companies to ax our jobs because we are too expensive to keep the job here. We have credit card companies that have virtual power over their customers and can charge a customer as much as 30% for a "loan" (which is what a credit card essentially is), and when we don't pay this "loan" back they can do pretty much anything to get their money back. But when a business promises something and renigs on that promise, consumers have to jump through flaming hoops covered with red tape to get a percent of their money back. We have a society that thinks it's ok to glorify killing, sex, and overall rude behavior in a whole genre or two of music. We allow parents to leave kids with random people to watch their kids everyday and come home from work and let a tv babysit them the rest of the time. And then we blame the kid for being a stupid moron who doesn't respect anyone, including themselves.

I don't want to sound cynical, but I am. I really think we are reaching a breaking point sociologically, financially, politically, and religiously in this country. It's all reflected on the leader of the country when a country falls apart. I really think we need the next president to be open, honest, stubborn, and ethical. Someone who won't bow down to money. Someone who will listen to the people instead of the lobbyists. Just read the millions of blogs on the net from people in all sectors of the community. Things are not doing so hot here. If we don't get a good one the next presidential election, the fall of Rome will look like a cardboard box collapsing compared to what we'll be going through.