Mr. Obama, stop scaring the living daylights out of the American public in order to justify your pork-filled, misnamed $900 billion "stimulus package" and equally ridiculous $275 billion payoff to Fannie and Freddie, unscrupulous lenders and irresponsible home buyers who created this mess in the first place. You don't like the "Bush" budget in Congress? Stop complaining about it. Veto it.

Stop braying to the American public about your "most ethical administration ever" when you surround yourself with Clinton retreads, big-time contributors, lobbyists you said you would not hire and a tax dodger as, of all things, secretary of the Treasury, who overseas the IRS.

And this doesn't even include a number of your nominees who had to withdraw their nominations due to similar tax problems and other ethical breaches. Forget about cleaning up Congress.

Mr. Obama, stop lying to us about "change we can believe in" when all you offer is the same old political bromides of higher taxes, central planning by big government and the larger deficits that sank Europe, bankrupted Russia and impoverished nations around the globe.

Your claim of transparency is a transparent lie, your tax reductions for 95 percent of working folks a joke, your bailouts a trial balloon for your march to socialism, and your "equal distribution" no more than a plan to punish work and thrift and bribe those who do neither to become more dependent on government.

You have said publicly that we must turn to government to solve our problems. I beg to differ. Our problems will be solved by plain old hardworking, God-fearing, responsible citizens, free and unfettered by oppressive taxes, working in a free and open capitalist system, unencumbered by excessive government interference, not government bureaucrats.

Jack Olsen

Foxfire Village