May 24, 2011 5:04 PM

While I do not disagree at all that the financial house of our beloved USA is in critical condition, I feel more than a little uneasy that the only logicsl solution is to take a machete (or a meat axe) to expenditures. Why? Because the evidence has bceome overwhelming that our government runs exclusively anymore on the Golden Rule: "He who has the gold rules." Our politicians all are dependent on big individual donors and huge corporations, which leaves the average citizen out in the cold with little or any serious representation. The result? The first target of "meat axe" fiscal strategists is to eliminate or eviscerate the "entitlements" that working class and worse off Americans need desperately to keep their heads above water. Let's get really serious about a solution, then. Let's look at the necessity for perpetuating tax breaks for the super rich, for corporate welfare for fat cat corporations that downsize U.S. workers and open off-shore subsidiaries to avoid paying federal income tax, and for giving tacit approval to the millions of citizens and businesses that use their creative imaginations to literally "rip off" hundreds of millions of dollars each year from various government programs. And - of course - the military industrial complex and its contractor vendors ought to go under the microscope as well. We might be amazed to discover that the U.S. isn't really broke, that we can truly afford to preserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for eligible people, and that we still can afford to put Americans to work at decent jobs that pay livable wages and protected benefits while at the same time manufacturing things and building and repairing bridges, roads, and other infrastructure needs that preserve our nation's stature as a world class country with a strong moral commitment to humankind.