The thoughts and ideas expressed below are exclusively those of Jack Straley and www.justplaintalkwithjack.com  We may agree, and that’s fine, or we may disagree, that’s okay too.  My sole purpose is to encourage others to think, study, and become involved. Exercise your freedom and above all, when presented with the opportunity, please vote.

 I have finally reached a decision about the gap between intelligence and education. Congress includes many highly educated people, including many lawyers, yet too often its collective decisions show poor judgment, misplaced priorities, and little discipline in confronting the nation’s most serious problems.

 Daily we hear discussions and accusations about who and what pose the greatest threats to our nation. Russia, China, and Iran are often named, and some with strong opposing views will insist that President Trump is the single greatest threat. I disagree. At this point, the greatest danger comes from our own Congress and judicial system, especially as our national debt exceeds forty trillion dollars.

 Congress has spent far beyond what the country can responsibly sustain. Our debt is approaching levels that raise serious questions about long-term stability, national solvency, and the burden being placed on future generations. Where will this end? Will the United States eventually face default, bankruptcy, or a drastic loss of financial credibility? There is no realistic way to tax the wealthy, the working class, or those already struggling enough to solve this problem without meaningful spending restraint.

 Starting immediately there should be no federal elected official in this country that will draw a paycheck until we have attained a balanced budget at the very least.  Only when our budget is balanced and excessive spending is curtailed can we ever hope to work at reducing the debt.

 Another major pressure on spending and affordability is the conflict involving Iran. Iran presents a deeply difficult challenge, and no solution appears simple or inexpensive. Its leadership is shaped by radical ideology, and the broader instability in the region affects fuel prices, interest rates, and household costs here at home. This situation will likely have significant bearing on the mid-term elections, with affordability serving as a central issue for voters.

 At the same time, a more radical movement is attempting to reshape the Democrat Party and normalize socialism in America. Our forefathers spoke of creating a more perfect union, not replacing the nation’s founding principles with a system that concentrates power, weakens individual responsibility, and risks moving the country toward policies associated with failed socialist and communist experiments.  Islam should be banned and never considered a religion, it is a culture of terror.

 This movement should be taken seriously and challenged through civic engagement, open debate, and the ballot box. Many younger voters have been taught to believe that government can provide benefits without cost, but there is no free ride. Around the world, systems built on this promise have too often produced dependency, poverty, scarcity, and loss of freedom.

You may not realize it, but we are in a serious ideological struggle over the country’s future. A new political conflict is taking shape in this once beautiful and peaceful nation. Democrat Socialists, along with national figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are working to advance an agenda that I believe threatens our freedoms and liberties. We may not be carrying weapons, but we must use the most important ammunition available to citizens: votes at the ballot box.

 This is a critical election season. False claims and personal attacks have become too common, while spouses and families are increasingly drawn into political conflict. This is not the United States of America many of us have known, and it is not the country we should accept for the future. Political movements may try to remove God from public life, but citizens of faith must remain engaged and determined.

 There is one sobering perspective that comes with the advanced years I now find myself enjoying. I may lose this political battle, and socialists may gain even greater influence. I hope I do not live long enough to see the downfall of this great nation. As a person of faith, I also hope the Rapture comes before America suffers under a system that rejects God, liberty, and the principles that made this country strong.

 Where does it end?