Talk about symbolism! The Washington Monument is closing indefinitely because of cracks caused by the recent earthquake. How symbolic can you get of the U.S. decline?

I argue that a root cause of our decline is immigration overload—Over 140 million since 1965 counting U.S. born children, with over 1 million coming now on work visas yearly. But it’s not possible to dispute that something is seriously wrong.

Just the briefest scan of the September 27, 2011 Washington Post paper offers a string of confirming evidence: 

• The Alaskan bridge to nowhere deal is still alive. Page A14.
• Speaking of turkeys, our Congress will apparently agree to avert another government shutdown by plastering a band-aid on our bankrupt nation’s fiscal woes, as the Senate passes a bill to fund it until November 18 just ahead of Thanksgiving...   Page A1.
• The Pakistanis hate us, but then so do most countries in the Middle East, as they decry our      continuing presence.  Our over weaning “defense” expenditures to continue our global offensives for power surely will lead to our ultimate downfall. Page A1.
• Our government gave a sweetheart deal to a solar power startup, Solyndra, which is now bankrupt, proving again the inability to bureaucrats to pick winners and losers. Page A1.
• The SEC may attack S&P for its 2007 ratings of collateralized debt obligations.  Could this possibly be payback from S&P’s downgrading of our revered nation’s debt?  Page A14.
• We are still being massively drained of our technological secrets by China and others. Page A1
• Warren Buffett thinks his own stock is the best buy on the market. Oops, that’s on Page 1 of the Wall Street Journal (September 27 2011). 

I agree that Buffett’s cutting his US dollar holdings from $36 billion to $20 billion may be very wise indeed. (By the way, if you are looking for a riveting read, try the 2008 book on Buffett, Snowball, which may well be another symbol of our rapid aggregation of troubles as we merrily roll downward. Of course, Buffett’s fortunes always seem to roll uphill.)

Last in the string of evidence:

• Study reports that DC residents spend 74 hours a year locked in traffic jams, highest time in the USA. B1.

Guess that explains why the town’s governing bodies act the way they do!

Donald A. Collins [email him], a free lance writer living in Washington, DC. , is a long-time board member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR). However, his views are his own.