Editor, Gazette-Journal:

First of all, thank you fellow citizens who express their thoughts in these columns. You care and make a difference.

We have every reason to be concerned for America and the world. Our country is headed in the wrong direction, historically acknowledged to be the leader of the free world, and committed to carrying a big stick to keep the peace.

Our spending binges and unrealistic low interest rates continue to threaten our national fiscal solvency, sooner than later.

A Scottish history professor, Alexander Tyler, said it best in 1887:

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally colla...