Lexington County, SC — After the election, many said we’re pretty much back where we were four years ago.

Nothing could be further from the truth. With $6 trillion more debt, no budget passed by the Senate for almost four years, Israel hung out to dry, Medicare carved up by Obamacare, 46 million people on food stamps, 23 million people looking for a decent job, a newly reelected president who would rather play golf and campaign than lead (maybe a good thing), just to name a few things, we are hardly where we were four years ago. And by the way, Medicare premiums are going up.

The only thing that could make it worse for America is to have Republicans fold up and give in. President Obama is not going to move to the middle; compromise is nowhere to be found in his political dictionary. And the idea that conservatives need to find candidates more in the middle is absurd. Can anyone say John McCain? Mitt Romney? Do you want center-left instead of center-right?

It would appear that you truly can fool half the people all the time. Fool us once, shame on him; fool us twice, shame on us.

Hubert Smoak

Cayce