Those immortal political cartoons depicting Congressmen as grossly-overfed gluttons is as apt today as ever. My following letter to the editor was published in the online Denver Post concerning this practice by which Congress wheels and deals with your money all the while tossing us a crumb with their efforts at so-called reform:

“Transparency” is a hollow solution to the adulterous system by which Congress funds its pet projects. Just because lawmakers deign to reveal their spending requests does not validate what Congress has become: a trampling free-for-all where lawmakers gorge on the wealth and individual rights of Americans.

Lawmakers truly believe it is government’s proper role to meddle in every aspect of our lives, and to pay for it by expropriating the earnings of businesses and individuals.

But many Americans have taught Congress to do just that. They’ve said, “We want goodies, and we want them for free and we want Congress to provide them.” It reminds me of my third-grade student council elections in which one boy promised all the students “steak for school lunch every day” if we elected him.

As long as Americans continue to endorse the idea that government should have any other fundamental purpose than the protection of individual rights, it will continue to be business as usual: a porkfat feeding frenzy.

Gina Liggett, Denver