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"... we have been allowing .. " AGREED.

BUT "... we have been allowing .. " is a double edged sword. Is government intervention in early pregnacy oppression from a controlling government ?

Mr. Seymore, your LTTE tells us that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) -- Jesse Helms for the 21st Century -- has submitted a bill that will impose term limits on all Congressional members. And, right now, DeMint is gearing-up his own RE-ELECTION campaign! And, Mr. Seymore, you should've mentioned in your LTTE that nutty DeMint has also recently described Social Security, Medicare, and the existence of a public school system as "threats to a functioning democracy." Republican DeMint is a real nutjob!! (And, btw, did your preacher kick you out-of-church for talking nonsense?) Seriously.

Scott,

It seems you have several issues all tangled together. I agree with you on two points but for different reasons than you cite. There should be term limits on all public officials. Lifelong politicians, even when they are not out and out bought and paid for by special interests, tend to become comfortable and complacent with the status quo. They lose touch with ordinary people and their problems. So, limit them to two terms in any particular office. Then send them home.

However, the problem is not big government so much as it is corrupt government. Government has to be sized to the size and complexity of our problems. If we are going to have big corporations (or big anything else!), we have to have a government big enough and strong enough to be an effective counterweight. It goes back to that old checks and balances thing our Founding Fathers were so fond of.

In terms of debt, I agree that balanced budgets are a good idea most of the time. Any person, family, group, corporation or government that continually spends more than they take in is eventually going to have to face the consequences. However, there are times when everyone needs to spend more than they take in on a temporary basis in order to make necessary investments in the future. A good example is the family that borrows money for a few years in order to send Junior to college. They are spending more than they have but they are making a wise investment in Junior's future (assuming Junior is not a total idiot!).

The government has to do the same thing. Our economy is in the tank right now and government needs to make investments in updating our infrastructure in order to create jobs and insure the long term health of our nation's economy. It certainly does not help that the previous Administration spent eight years on the equivalent of a drunken gambling binge and we have nothing to show for it. We still need to send Junior to college.

There are two ways to balance a budget. One is to cut expenses. The other is to increase income. Historically, the Republicans have focused solely on cutting expenses and the Democrats have mostly focused on increasing income. We are now at the point where the unavoidable fact is that both will have to be done. The sooner the two parties wake up to that and start working together to accomplish both in a way that secures our nation's future and is fair to everybody, the better off we all will be. If you truly care about our grandchildren's future, I hope you will not be among those who arise in kneejerk opposition to every tax increase that is proposed.

The second thing I agree with you on is our religous institutions although I would not make it a blanket condemnation of all of them. Some of them are doing quite good work working to improve the conditions of the less fortunate. Ironically, perhaps, some of the ones that do the most are the ones with the fewest resources. Nevertheless, the vast majority of our religous institutions (mine included) are doing far less than they could or should.

I have to agree that no politician seems to have any concern for the American people. They are controlled by the banks and big business...screw the average folks. They are good at turning the people against one another with issues like abortion and gay marriages, which they have no plans to change, all talk. The Republicans are good at playing the Christian card, suckering in people who believe everything they say. And talk show hosts are laughing all the way to the bank, not believing much of what they say. They stay in business by stirring up anger and hate. Voting for a candidate on what he or she says is bunk. Many who mean well soon learn that they must play the game and most do after election. Until we stop fighting one another, nothing will change, and maybe not even then.

On churches, there are many who help. Open Door Ministries and Leslies House in High Point are supported mainly by churches and individuals. However, when I look at the buildings and programs of many churches, I see nothing about helping God's people, just impressing others with material possessions.

As for churches, a church is much more than a building. Their members oft donate their time, financial and other resources to the less fortunate. Churches are open to the less fortunate but most not as a place of living as you seem to suggest. They can help their members and others in the community find places to live, ours has done that.

" Lifetime politicians from both parties take turns growing the government, taking our rights away and spending our children and grandchildren into massive debt."

You hit the nail on the head there!

I believe in term limits, limit them to two terms, one in office and one in jail.
Seriously. I believe they should be part time citizen-legislators, not lifetime-fulltime politicans.