To the Editor:

Mr. Obama and the majority Democrat Congress have now been in control of the country 14 months. The major focus has been to force through an unpopular health care bill the Democrats have longed for almost 60 years. To date, the effort has been impeded by an outcry from the people.

It's puzzling exactly why the focus has been on health care, since the major problem in the country has been an economic downturn and a consequent unemployment rate of almost 10 percent with millions of unemployed Americans on the streets.

I remember Mr. Obama's lengthy campaign and he was absolutely right when he said it is NOT the function of government to restart the national economy but it WAS the function of small business entrepreneurs who would start businesses, hire workers and restart the economy. How right he was! Men like Ford, Chrysler, Edison and DuPont all helped make our economic engine what it was in its heyday.

Unfortunately this administration has chosen to threaten the country with higher taxes (of everyone, including businesses, not just the rich!), and cap and trade legislation that would cripple the economy with even higher taxes. Meanwhile, the environmentalists block efforts toward energy independence, and other policies that render our own natural resources unavailable and useless in our economic woes. We're all familiar with the environmentalists success at putting thousands of agricultural workers completely out of work in California. (supposedly because of a small fish!)

This administration has also chosen to spend literally TRILLIONS of dollars saying we must SPEND our way into prosperity! How can it be that when CITIZENS spend irresponsibly on things they can't afford, they go to jail, while it appears that politicians who do the same thing (such as Geithner, Rangel, Daschel, and many others) are promoted to higher positions of responsibility? The entire IDEA of spending ourselves into prosperity is ridiculous to any rational person.

This country was founded on the concept of personal freedom and responsibility found in the U.S. Constitution. There is no way the founding fathers would have envisioned a government that would voluntarily spend the wealth, and future, of our children and grandchildren. Our country CAN BE great again, but not with the policies pursued by this present administration.

JIM WALKER

Streator