Aaron Brooks

Columnist

Our government is broken because it does not work for the 99 percent of Americans but for corporations and the wealthy. As reported by CBS News in November 2009, a report by The Center for Responsible Politics found 44 percent of congressional members in 2008 were also millionaires. Children of congressional millionaires do not experience the failing public school system, their spouses are not standing in the unemployment line because their job was outsourced; all they have to worry about is their portfolio and falling in line so millions of dollars in unrestricted campaign funds are not used against them.

Jack Baker

Columnist

An uninformed and apathetic public, never-ending campaign cycles, congressmen that don’t actually go to sessions of Congress, corporate campaign contributions, Republicans, unnecessary wars, too much bureaucracy, Democrats, bailouts, ObamaCare, Social Security, Sarah Palin, pork barrel spending, partisan politics, Michele Bachmann, never-ending budgets, too many tax loopholes, the Tea Party . . . I’m sorry, but I don’t think 100 words is enough space to list all of the reasons why our government is broken.

Parker Happ

Columnist

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all,” said Thumper from Bambi. Politics in Washington are broken due to the incessant name calling that occurs on a seemingly daily basis. When you call someone a socialist, you are clearly calling them someone who believes in the possible benefits of combining wealth for the overall benefit of people. This does not mean that they are duck-walking, brain-washed North Koreans who will bow to the Lincoln Memorial and change America’s colors to black and red. I can’t hammer on The Five from Fox News for this enough. When Warren Buffett came out and called for an increase in taxes on the one percent, Eric Bolling asked, “Is he completely a socialist?” Increasing taxes does not make you a socialist.

Alyssa Pracz

Columnist

To pick one particular reason why our government is broken is not an easy task. In the simplest terms, it’s broken because its citizens are literally broke without jobs. It’s been an ongoing problem that hasn’t been completely taken care of and no one knows how soon it will be fixed. I will graduate in the spring and one of my concerns is I will sit around the house with a degree that’s useless. I am starting to get scared considering all the horror stories I heard from other people who applied to over 50-plus places and still heard nothing back. Aside from that, our government also needs to develop better strategies about where our money will be spent and where it will be most beneficial.

Colin Remes

Columnist

The U.S. government is at a complete standstill because Republicans in Congress are listening to a loud-mouthed, know-nothing and very SMALL section of conservatives that call themselves the Tea Party. These people are ill-informed loons who are so far removed from reality they were foolish enough to originally call themselves “Tea-baggers”. And if you didn’t know, the Tea Party was founded and funded by two brothers who privately own a multi-billion dollar company and go by the name Koch (pronounced “Coke”). Why? So they could send the message that government needs to be downsized through the mouths of easily manipulated morons who look like regular, every day Americans just struggling to get by. If the message of smaller government and less regulation came from two billionaires, no one would listen, because what do they have to be mad about? Newsflash: That’s who the message is coming from, so STOP LISTENING!!!