by Marvin Pirila

The problem with the American economy isn't in defining the problems, it's with getting representatives with the backbone and desire to defend American liberties.

The biggest problems are EXCESSIVE regulations, TOO MUCH government, and SPINELESS leadership - all crippling consumer confidence, innovation, and investment.

We need leaders who will not look to push through more legislation, but to remove numerous ones already in place.  We need leaders who will carve away the garbage from the laws already in place -- get back to basic regulations and stop the pointless enforcement of trivial matters.

The Obama administration has blatantly demonstrated how the government has gone horribly wrong.  What Fourth Amendment rights remain when the government can blanket a whole population in the name of terrorism?  The last time I checked, no one I knew was running a terrorist cell out of his or her basement.  When your emails, phone calls, computer usage, and packages are intercepted, what privacy do you have?

What right to assemble is there when the IRS can target you for your beliefs?  How is the government held accountable when they hide behind closed doors and are anything but transparent?  What rights do the states retain when the federal government tells them how to run their affairs?  What rights do citizens have when the President and his sheep shove legislation like Obamacare down its throats?  Moreover, what recourse do they have when the Supreme Court has been bought?  Justice Roberts, what was your going price?

Admit it, there are officially no checks and balances and only smoke, lies, and mirrors.  The only thing transparent about this administration is that it will continue to lie, deceive, and hide behind walls until it completes its decimation of this country and everything it stands for.  This should be no surprise to anyone and yet many support President Obama and his self-created, fictitious background.

Regulations killed coal, gas refineries, and now lead production.  What next?

The amount of government overlap while regulating businesses is absurd.  How many different agencies have to check in on a single business?

The weak leadership of the President in defending the ideals of this country is nothing short of SPINELESS.  He seems to dislike our military as much as he does Christianity, the Tea Party, Conservatives, Pro-Lifers, Sarah Palin, Capitalism, Sheriff Arapio, transparency, accountability, representation by the people, Constitutional rights, malfunctioning teleprompters, differences of opinion, and working across the aisle.  Spineless also refers to those pitiful Representatives and Senators who have no courage to confront this Marxist march.  In fact, many are on the same bandwagon.  Our country is now represented by the thinnest-skinned, self-serving contingent possible.

If you didn't think it could get any worse, the media spends less time actually researching stories than making up its own fiction.  Other than sources such as the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, most are more interested in writing stories with their own spin.

The House and Senate have shown it is SPINELESS by failing to take impeachment proceedings against President Obama for his numerous scandals.  It's a dangerous precedence to sit idly by while your elected leader tramples constitutional rights, especially when it leads to the death of innocent Americans - Benghazi and Fast and Furious.  No one should also forget the scandals of the NSA, IRS, Black Panther Voting Intimidation, and the Associated Press phone taps.

Living in one of the worst chapters in American History, we are experiencing the massive loss of personal freedoms and constitutional rights.  The claim of social justice is simply rhetoric to stir dissention and unrest -- leading ultimately to people looking to the government for answers.  Americans used to look to God for answers and government for core functions (defense, infrastructure, and limited governance).  What happened to giving to Caesar what is Caesar's, but giving to God what is God's?

Many are saying that we should drop social media, emailing, and regular cell phones to avoid the reach of the government.  I hold the opposite opinion.  Rather than silently surrender our freedoms without fighting for them, everyone wanting to preserve their rights must speak out now.  Sign the petitions, nag your representative, and vote out those that won't fight for you (and their record should prove it).  If they don't have the SPINE, vote them out.  This year the mid-term elections are being held and true Americans need to send a strong message to everyone holding office - protect our constitutional rights or find new employment!

An economy of distrust, an aura of oppression, and endless regulations results in people sitting on their money rather than investing it.  The lack of investment results in lower employment.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Constitution is that in addition to protecting our individual liberties against government intrusions, when properly respected and followed, the economy flourishes.