It's always been a matter of trust Mr. President!

I've lived long enough to have learned
The closer you get to the fire the more you get burned
But that won't happen to us
'Cause it's always been a matter of trust.

Billy Joel

The Latin root of “credit,” credere, means, among other things, to trust, while the German Gläubiger is literally one who trusts. On every piece of our American currency, there is an inscription that reads, “In God We Trust”. That word, trust, is imbedded deeply into the fabric of what it is to be an American.

For most everyone in the business world, trust is a concept that works. Countless times, every day, someone makes a verbal promise to do something and usually they do it. Over time, a person becomes known by how reliable they are and then also, how trust worthy. Sometimes we stumble and lose a little bit of trust in the eyes of others, but that's what being human is. We all make mistakes and most of us bounce back. Why? Because, the majority of the American people have high moral standards and a good code of conduct to live by. It's a set of values that has been passed on for many generations.

Now, I give you the Federal government and its current leader, President Obama. I would propose that they have made a mockery out of the word 'trust'. Early on, candidate Obama made promises to the American public that he would keep if elected. 'Trust me', he said and yet soon after his election, he has failed:

1)      to put all bills on the White House web site for five days before signing them.

2)    to have the congressional health care negotiations broadcast live on C-SPAN.

3)    to end earmarks.

4)    to keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent.

5)    to close the detention center at Guantanamo in the first year.

6)    to make peace with direct, no precondition talks with America's most hate-filled enemies during his first year in office, ushering in a new era of global cooperation.

7)    to end the hiring of former lobbyists into high White House jobs.

8)    to end no-compete contracts with the government.

9)    to disclose the names of all attendees at closed White House meetings.

10)   to help foster a new era of bipartisan cooperation in all matters.

11)   to have chosen a home church to attend Sunday services with his family by Easter of last year.

Still, with all that, many average American citizens still have some element of trust for this man. What is it now? Maybe thirty percent or something like that? And, what of the Congress and the job it's doing? How's is the trust thing working out there? Last I heard it was at 12% and sinking. Trust, a thing so easily broken, has been trampled by a group of self serving ideologues and power obsessed bureaucrats. Greedy, power hungry members of Congress who have absolutely no interest in anyone but themselves and maintaining the White House social scene; while the rest of the country slides ever closer to the abyss. Am I being too opinionated here? Maybe so, maybe not!