As a result of a spending binge by our disreputable Congress, our country is going broke.

Congress does not represent its constituents. In spite of the public being firmly opposed to the health bill, Congress is going to ram the 2,070-page bill down our throats.

Congress never calculates accurately the cost of any legislation. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the proposed health legislation are examples. These programs will cost trillions more than estimated. Congress makes Bernie Madoff look like a piker or even a saint

Part of the answer is term limits. Throw out the members of Congress, all of them. Do not allow any earmarks, better known as pork. I find pork absolutely abhorrent, and that goes for Rep. Coble as well. Cut back on Congress' lifetime health and pension benefits and its other perks. Congress should not be privileged to the extent it is. Its members are public servants, not royalty.

We don't want to saddle our heirs with the monstrous debt our generation has created. And who says they'll be able to meet this debt responsibility? We're endowing our future generations with disaster. Our country will never be the same, one of unlimited opportunity and freedom and one where the citizens accept personal responsibility and a country in which they have great pride.

The solution to our current and future problems must be met by our present actions. Don't put on the blinders; our country is in real trouble. We're headed for bankruptcy, and a bankrupt country is doomed for extinction. Wake up, America!

Monroe Diefendorf

Pinehurst