In my younger years, I was enamored by the charisma and decisiveness of John F. Kennedy, and in my first election voted Democratic for Jimmy Carter, who was, and is, a very decent man. As I began to experience the world, and lived abroad in designated socialistic countries, my attitude and voting began to swing progressively toward the conservative ranks. Socialism has many positive attributes, but it seems to drain away individualism and personal drive from many of its practitioners.

I look at the state of America today, and can no longer claim allegiance to any political party. I am an American, first and last. The people who have asked for our votes and support — the people we have elected to the House, Senate, and the Executive branches of our government — continue to not do the job, feeling that they are earning our loyalty by passing temporary fixes every couple of months. Most Americans realize our system is broken, and repairing it requires sacrifice, through reduced services and higher taxes, with the hope that responsible leadership will lead us out of this quagmire.

Like the rest of us, these elected officials who have asked us for this responsibility should be placed on probation, facing loss of jobs and pensions if they continue to underperform and shirk their sworn duties. They need to be held accountable.

David Brock

Prineville