The U.S. economy, debt and our survival depend on the strength of the citizens to reclaim the principles and policies outlined by the Founders, not on the strength of government and self-serving party politics as it is performed today. There are flaws and excesses in all three branches of our government's operating procedures. Every department is weighted in unnecessary costs, redundancy and an overload of incompetence. The citizens did not cause the mess we now face, but we allowed it to happen with our complacency and lack of active citizen oversight.