A dollar bill is a dollar bill – a piece of paper. Who uses it and in what manner determines if it goes for good or evil.

Of course there is corruption in high places, the banking industry, Congress on both sides of the aisle, and in the White House regardless of political party.

But to use the weary mantra that all large corporations are bad and all rich people are evil is like saying that all Americans love liver.

I am looking at a much bigger trend that is not only economic but social. That trend goes back to the 1920s (maybe even earlier) with the founding of the Council on Foreign Relations.

It might raise your eyebrows to read a bit about this international group of elites, and the names of the people who are members. Also interesting to note are the few recent presidents who have not been members.

As for General Motors, it could have used bankruptcy and recovered as other companies have. What about the bond holders who were brushed aside by the bailout? In May of 2009, Obama gave GM $60 billion. In spite of that, GM’s current capitalization is $38 billion. The analogy of that would be buying a fixer-upper for $5,000, putting $60,000 of renovation into it and then selling it for $38,000. Call that success if you like.

The deeper shame of our country is that citizens have become too complacent, and elect the same people to office over and over, without keeping a watch on what those people were actually doing.

Yes, George W. Bush increased our debt. Yes, all other presidents in recent years have increased the food stamp rolls. But Obama is the champion of deliberately spending money we no longer have, and raising the debt to what is probably close to $17 trillion. He has increased those on food stamps by 100 percent.

There are socialists on both sides of the political aisle, but their hidden agenda moved at a snail’s pace over a long time so that we would not notice. Now it has accelerated and people are waking up, maybe a bit too late.

Don’t buy into the White House war against the rich. It does take a bit of wealth to create businesses that employ people. Class warfare was in part what led the Soviet Union into communism. When government controls or owns all the wealth, no ordinary citizen will be free nor prosperous.

Carol Abbott

Parachute