There is no quick fix

Here is the big problem as I see it. Too many Americans are in the "I want it and I want it now" mindset. Instead of a "wait, see and give it a chance to work" attitude, there's an attitude that President Obama has had his chance to change things for a whole two years, it hasn't worked, so let's turn everything over to GOP and the ignorant untried candidates for office, and maybe that will change things.

There are quite a few things that are bothersome to me and should be to other forward thinking Americans.

Does it worry anyone that the insurance companies were all for health care reform, but now that they have mandatory coverage for all, they are now backing the GOP to make sure they have every monetary advantage they can get?

Does it bother anyone that the Wall Street bailout was financed by Bush originally, and all the president did was follow through so the whole system didn't collapse thanks to those greedy big business cretins?

Does it occur to anyone that President Obama came into his presidency so far behind the eight ball, thanks to President Bush, that he will be lucky to clean up President Bush's mess in his first term of four years?

Do people understand that our taxes haven't gone up, health care for everyone hasn't gone into effect yet, Medicare hasn't changed or diminished from what it is now, and all the dire GOP predictions are just that so far, doomsday predictions?

Do we understand that our taxes come in many forms, much of which are thanks to state and local government (property taxes, sales taxes, etc.) that keep rising, while the cost of living has not gone down? Is the cost of "big" government any more odious that the cost of "little" government? Do tax breaks for businesses exceed or take priority over the majority of middle income Americans?

Do Americans realize that Social Security has stopped giving automatic raises thanks to President Bush's irresponsible mishandling of the office favoring big business and the wealthy and that President Obama is being left with the demetrius to clean up? (I speak from personal experience here, because for the first time since I retired, my retirement income was actually lowered in May, after years of automatic COLA raises.) Can people admit that massive unemployment statistics may have something to do with big business and their bottom line, telling government to do as we demand (massive tax breaks, favorable to anything business laws thanks to lobbyists) or suffer the consequence of them going overseas to manufacture their products and taking jobs with it? Do the so called entitled, with very few exceptions of giving back, need any more money to spend in their lifetime? How much is enough? Is it ever enough?

Does it even cross anyone's mind that the "I want it and I want it now" Americans should have maybe waited to buy a house they couldn't afford, saving enough for a substantial down payment before committing to that hugh responsibility, and that big businesses should have ceased to be so greedy in giving Americans those unreasonable loans in the first place, but were not regulated in that matter until President Obama came along and said, enough is enough?

The writing is on the wall. The GOP may have great success in the upcoming elections because people are scared and broke, and the GOP feeds on that fear. The programs President Obama started will slowly bring this country to its feet, which the GOP in some way will claim credit for. Hopefully, in the next two years, Americans will see that the GOP is not the answer to everything that goes right in this country, and will vote accordingly in the next presidential election. At that point, the philosophy of "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" should kick in, and American voters will realize there is no quick fix for anything without serious consequences.

Fiona Faria Gressler, the first Long Beach Police Department woman on patrol in 1974, is now retired and resides in Rathdrum.

Here is the big problem as I see it. Too many Americans are in the "I want it and I want it now" mindset. Instead of a "wait, see and give it a chance to work" attitude, there's an attitude that President Obama has had his chance to change things for a whole two years, it hasn't worked, so let's turn everything over to GOP and the ignorant untried candidates for office, and maybe that will change things.

There are quite a few things that are bothersome to me and should be to other forward thinking Americans.

Does it worry anyone that the insurance companies were all for health care reform, but now that they have mandatory coverage for all, they are now backing the GOP to make sure they have every monetary advantage they can get?

Does it bother anyone that the Wall Street bailout was financed by Bush originally, and all the president did was follow through so the whole system didn't collapse thanks to those greedy big business cretins?

Does it occur to anyone that President Obama came into his presidency so far behind the eight ball, thanks to President Bush, that he will be lucky to clean up President Bush's mess in his first term of four years?

Do people understand that our taxes haven't gone up, health care for everyone hasn't gone into effect yet, Medicare hasn't changed or diminished from what it is now, and all the dire GOP predictions are just that so far, doomsday predictions?

Do we understand that our taxes come in many forms, much of which are thanks to state and local government (property taxes, sales taxes, etc.) that keep rising, while the cost of living has not gone down? Is the cost of "big" government any more odious that the cost of "little" government? Do tax breaks for businesses exceed or take priority over the majority of middle income Americans?

Do Americans realize that Social Security has stopped giving automatic raises thanks to President Bush's irresponsible mishandling of the office favoring big business and the wealthy and that President Obama is being left with the demetrius to clean up? (I speak from personal experience here, because for the first time since I retired, my retirement income was actually lowered in May, after years of automatic COLA raises.) Can people admit that massive unemployment statistics may have something to do with big business and their bottom line, telling government to do as we demand (massive tax breaks, favorable to anything business laws thanks to lobbyists) or suffer the consequence of them going overseas to manufacture their products and taking jobs with it? Do the so called entitled, with very few exceptions of giving back, need any more money to spend in their lifetime? How much is enough? Is it ever enough?

Does it even cross anyone's mind that the "I want it and I want it now" Americans should have maybe waited to buy a house they couldn't afford, saving enough for a substantial down payment before committing to that hugh responsibility, and that big businesses should have ceased to be so greedy in giving Americans those unreasonable loans in the first place, but were not regulated in that matter until President Obama came along and said, enough is enough?

The writing is on the wall. The GOP may have great success in the upcoming elections because people are scared and broke, and the GOP feeds on that fear. The programs President Obama started will slowly bring this country to its feet, which the GOP in some way will claim credit for. Hopefully, in the next two years, Americans will see that the GOP is not the answer to everything that goes right in this country, and will vote accordingly in the next presidential election. At that point, the philosophy of "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" should kick in, and American voters will realize there is no quick fix for anything without serious consequences.

Fiona Faria Gressler, the first Long Beach Police Department woman on patrol in 1974, is now retired and resides in Rathdrum.