Comments about ‘Robert Bennett: America can overcome its challenges’

Good column. Every country has its problems, but all in all, I wouldn't want to trade places with anyone else. That doesn't mean we do everything right, and it doesn't mean there is nothing we can't learn from other countries. But a positive attitude is not delusional.

I agree with Sen. Bennett. Now let's go and get Sen. McConnell to rescind his stated goal to ensure the failure of President Obama. Let's get the right wing of the House to decide to work towards compromise instead of refusing to work with others who might have differing views. Let's have the voices on Fox and guys like Limbaugh on right wing radio tone it down and not make such incendiary comments. This divisiveness is not about what's is good for America. It is about what is good for a particular political party and making money. Call out your associates, Senator, by name. We have a great country, and the doom and gloom of the right is getting tiresome.

Having been in Washington I am delighted to hear Mr. Bennett say there is hope. He knows the parties and the lines they have drawn in the sand yet he still thinks this country can pull it out.

It has made my day brighter.

I agree wholeheartedly. If you're a communist then the future has never looked brighter for America. If you have deluded yourself into thinking that the healthcare and financial arrangements of a nation of 300 million plus can be micromanaged from Washington DC then the future looks rosy.
Yes, there will be a geographical location called "The United States" for a long time. And yes, the dollar may be that nation's currency for a long time. But will that dollar have any store of value? Will that nation still value property rights and the Bill of Rights? Will it still be the "land of the free". Conssidering that we're only about 20% free now I'm not sure. Call me a pessimist.
@Esquire - when do Democrats ever compromise? How come it's only Republicans who are supposed to reach across the aisle?

Thank you Senator Bennett for both perspective and reason. Something we have been lacking of late.

We have always had pretty good luck in standing together against a foreign enemy, it is those pesky domestic enemies where our greatest failures lie.

However, in every case it comes down to economics and the decision on who gets to have the best chance at gaining the most wealth.

TV talked about a practice of red-shirting kindergarten children. Parents would hold their 5 year old back so that the student would be among the biggest and oldest in their class. The theory was that the bigger, older student would better at athletics and books.

Blacks were put at a disadvantage by poor or non-existent education. When that failed, public schools for all became the current enemy of the elite commercial class.

The reason for contention in Health Care is the huge profits available as a private commercial product.

It is unlikely that we will change the nature of man to eliminate the need to suppress others for our benefit. But we can eliminate the power of government being used to enable it. All we have to do is stop the commercial money going into politics and our government.

This is a pleasant enough statement to cheer the troups on. And it praises past acts of valor. But it includes no valor; the Senator is not actually putting himself in harms way. Where is the statement, "Our next federal budget must be a balanced budget." Show people a path to where me must end up (but raise your shield because the complainers will be many and without mercy). Our federal budget cannot remain delusional.

Good for Senator Bennett. Excellent column, offering a mature, thoughtful, historically based perspective.

There is not a problem that this country is not capable of overcoming.

That said our politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to pass legislation that remove liberty, increase our dependence on government, and all that at the expense of ours and future generations via a mound of debt that may bury us all.

I am asked to manage my household within my means. I have one payment a month, my mortgage. I don't buy anything else that I can't pay for.

Our government unfortunately has never heard of living within their means. The current administration schemes of ways to get other peoples money to support their political agenda without any legitimate plan to pay down the debt.

All you hear is how the rich should be paying more taxes. If you were smart you would notice that they won't tell you/promise to use that money to pay down the debt..only about their new grand plans for more social engineering and redistribution of wealth.

If people had a scintilla of faith the government would use their money wisely then there would probably be a willingness to pay more but these corrupt leaders just take take take and the resulting debt load only gets worse.

Anyone with a brain synapse ought to be able to see that no amount of money will satisfy these spenders. Every election they campaign on "...what they are going to do for you..." when in reality people are going to pay twice for anything you get when govt waste and corruption is accounted for.

When will people ever learn.

Our country has the citizens that are capable of overcoming any obstacle but its unfortunate that we have a Capitol that is full of corrupt, power-hungry spenders that are preventing us from overcoming what is in front of us.

Get rid of them all I say. Vote/wipe them all out in the space of 2 elections. Clean all the corruption out so the old does not corrupt the new as they go try to work and make a difference.

Its the only way.

I'm going to file this column away for future reference because what matters is not whether I am optimistic or whether Senator Bennett is optimistic but whether the people who buy our debt are optimistic (right now the biggest buyer of our debt is the Federal Reserve)so when the few powers that be that can afford to buy trillions in US debt lose their optimism it may be time to head for the exits.

@ed state pride. You do know that our monetary system is debt based, right? And if this country was ever debt free under our current system it would mean a economic collapse.

@ Anti Government 2:50 p.m. March 5, 2012

"Get rid of them all I say. Vote/wipe them all out in the space of 2 elections. Clean all the corruption out so the old does not corrupt the new as they go try to work and make a difference.

Its the only way."

I don't disagree. But, what about the lobbyists on K Street?