America must serve its citizens once again

The country is on the wrong path. Wall Street and central banks have too much control of our government and presidential deference in their direction. While Republicans advocate free market capitalism, they do little to practice it, and their Wall Street handlers make out like protected bandits at the expense of a failing middle class, manufacturing and main street base.

Democrats behave like poverty pimps pumping out programs and uncontrolled spending, many times rewarding the same fat cats the Republicans do and expecting lifetime appointments to their Senate or House seat. The poor and middle class are ill-served.

So where do we start?

First we push for term limits. Second, we get our state leaders to assert more resistance to federal pressure and have states act like the constitutional authority they were originally designated.

Third, and most important, we redefine or eliminate central banking authority and fractional reserve banking practices, and get some form of a gold or silver or other standard back in place to strip the central banks and their agents on Wall Street of their power. Congress must have control over Treasury and we must have Treasury oversight with heavy penalties to those representatives who don't preserve balanced budgets.

America must serve Americans once again. Streets, schools, roads, infrastructure. Democrats and Republicans can disagree on what gets spent but the vast majority does get spent here and not on interest to the debt or foreign powers.

Cort Stapleton

Cedar Rapids