A failing Republic, part 4

One of the greatest concerns that I have as an employer and as a citizen is the fundamental shift in responsibility seen our country.
Once, there was an American dream. It was the idea that anyone could be anything that they wanted to be. It was an idea that people could work hard, work smart, and be successful. Enterepreneurs, inventors, and workers came together to make the impossible happen. Children dreamed of bettering themselves through hard work. News of this dream brought in immigrants from all over the globe.
Now, there is another American dream. This dream is very different than the dreams of decades passed. Now, the American dream is to win the lotto. Or, perhaps the "american lottery," that is, finding someone really rich to sue. Work ethic has gone out the window. More people are promoted because of WHO they know rather than WHAT they know. Why work hard, when the labor unions dictate the same raises and benefits to both the hardest worker and the laziest worker alike? If the lazy worker somehow gets fired, no problem. There is nearly endless unemployment and then state-aid...subsidized housing, food vouchers, even free healthcare. This is ALL picked up compliments of 'the government.' Entitlement for the lazy at the expense of those who have succeeded. This doesn't bother most people, because most people have lost the American dream: the idea that if they work hard, they could someday be the one being taxed to pay for the welfare state that we live in. The truth is that the government officials like to have people dependent upon them...it is the ultimate power over them. Once dependent upon the programs, it would be very hard for the consumer to pull the plug on the game, because they would lose their benefits.
We have governmental economics backward in this country. Reaganomics brought forth the concept of lowering taxes and starving the federal government. federal programs had to be cut back because there was no federal money to fund them. HOWEVER, the money was back in the hands of those who earned it, giving them the ability to spend it as they saw fit. The current model of governmental economics is exactly the opposite. Grow the government as much as we can, taking however much from the people that we need to...if we take too much, they can get put on federal programs to help them out. What a stupid idea...except that it gives the government more and more power over us.
I have become a bit of a Libertarian in recent years. I'm a social moderate and a fiscal conservative. I can't swallow the democrats' ideas of 'rob from the rich and give to the poor.' If you take away the incentives of working hard, then no one has any reason to work hard. i can't swallow the republicans' ideas of trying to legislate morality, based on their own, narrow viewpoint...while ignoring the opinions of the majority. And now, in the past few elections, democrats have begun to strip away as many freedoms as the religious right, and the republicans have gone on spending sprees that scare the liberal of the liberals.
We need to return to the idea of hard work paying off, and we need to elect candidates who support the kind of governmental environment condusive to LETTING hard work pay off. We need to stop legalizing the greedy governmental theft of family money through death and capital gains taxes...let the people re-invest that money into their community, where the money is NEEDED. We need to stop raising taxes on those who employ the middle-class. We need to cut the type of welfare programs that breed dependency. Ultimately, we need to restore the concept of personal responsibility.
Please allow me to build my own future instead of taxing it away from me, leaving me to hope that the government won't run out of money before I retire....