Arnold Ahlert: “A Reason-Rupe poll reveals that 76 recent of Americans believe the federal government spends too much money, with 63 percent of them expressing the belief that members of Congress are out of touch with their constituents when it comes to such spending. Another 72 percent of Americans believe the budget should be balanced either immediately (40 percent) or over five years (32 percent). Those are substantial majorities expressing a clear-cut opposition to fiscal profligacy. Yet the wishes of that substantial majority are not only ignored, but routinely defied by members of both parties who have ratcheted up gargantuan levels of debt that threaten the solvency of the nation. When a Republican majority did so during the Bush years, it was theoretically in violation of their core beliefs. Democrats are doing the very same thing now in accordance with their core beliefs – even as the Democratically-controlled Senate had consistently violated their obligation to pass a budget for more than three years. … Despite expressing their disapproval, Americans have become quite used to the idea that government operates from Washington downward, rather than at the local level upward. That the latter concept would produce far more effective representation has gotten lost in the shuffle, and nothing expresses that reality better than the Obama administration’s never-ending effort to squash like a bug anything resembling states’ rights.”