Without leadership we are going in wrong direction

The much talked about government shutdown is upon us. In the talking points being used by the so-called main stream media there is little doubt the group that will get the most severe whipping for the shutdown is the Republican Party. Little is said about the fact of going for years (6 with no budget) without a budget a time comes when a decision must be made. There is always a time when the bills must be paid. There comes a time to pay up. The bigger government crowd wants to continue to increase the size and scope of government knowing that one day someone somewhere will have to pay the bills. The easy route is to go as deeply in debt as possible and blame the circumstances or some other group for not paying the bills. At least, that seems to be the easy route because it is the route most often taken by the big media and the bigger government crowd. There is no way this could ever be seen as being believable or having credibility, yet, the current climate being what it is in our country, it has become an easy concept to use when looking for someone else to blame rather that sitting back and realizing the blame rests with those who refuse to listen to the citizens when they let it be known they see a major economic mess ahead and that something must be done before the train runs entirely off the track. There is no question that the insiders of big government do believe the best route is to continue to grow government bigger and increase the entitlements and boast the revenues in the federal treasury by increasing taxes to pay some of the bills for the larger government. At certain points in this process, this could have been slowed or even stopped but for whatever reason, members of the congress chose to look the other way and put off making the decision until it is now too late to make the right decision. With an election year coming up many citizens are calling for people to step forward who will promise to make things right and stand up for the people instead of being aligned with the bigger government crowd. It remains to be seen if there can be enough candidates with enough votes to replace some who are in office and send people to Washington with the courage to speak up and stand up for the American taxpayers. Emotions run very high for change, but it is unclear what the change will mean for our government. We have been promised change before and found out it meant higher taxes and more government dole to the entitlement crowd. We need only look at the countries in Europe that have found they cannot continue to make promises of more government funding for personal projects without one day having to pay up and continue to cause the taxes to go higher than any person could have ever imagined. Seeing that happening in our country and watching the other nations that have already gone down this same road cannot help but bring fear to any person who is awake enough to realize what is taking place all around us. To affix blame regarding this issue, we must look to the American people who allowed this malaise to continue without bringing it to a halt. We must bring a stop to this nonsense. We must know what the person we vote for really believes and where they really plan to take this country. We cannot just vote from emotions, but from an informed position that will demand accountability from those for whom we cast our ballot at every level of government. It is not enough to throw one set of elected office holders out of office and replace them with new people. We must know what we are doing and must have in mind the exact issues that will propel us forward or cause us to rise up or protest because we do not like the direction we see we are going. Long ago I became aware that without leadership we are going in wrong direction. The direction our nation is going is not best for us and we must be willing to stand up, speak up and never back up or shut up until we get the attention of more people who will stand up and speak up to change the direction of our country once again. Ray Newman Column first published in Barrow County News Wednesday October 2, 2013 Winder, GA.