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Tag Archives: POLITICS

Political Blather


Blah, blah, blah. The political climate is close to what I imagine bedlam would have been. The spin doctors are spinning, the advertisers are advertising and the poster makers are making posters but none of this tells us what they will do when elected. We voters should realize that nothing is ever done overnight and never will be. To become angry with the people we elected because they did not accomplish what they said they would as fast as we would like is being naive if not a bit stupid. There is or never will be an elected official or office seeker who will not tell the voters what they want to hear in order to assume an office and this thinking crosses all political lines. So it is reasonable to think that we the voters are more at fault than the people we elect. The office seekers and holders are too afraid of being ousted for telling the truth so they feed our fears with innuendo, lies and other made up stories. The founding fathers never intended serving the people as a lifetime job but our current servers have managed to stay on long after their usefulness.

The Future of Congress


This recently this hit my inbox, I believe this is something that will help us move forward. I have been in favor of term limits for a long time and major changes in the term limits of our Congress, the long term Congressional members have become talking heads taking care of themselves as they have no fear of the voters and believe they can continue to mislead the public.

Subject:New Amendment

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why?
Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971…before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. Term Limits.
12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make the current contract with members of Congress. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

What About The Public?


The president has frozen the pay of civilian government workers, but what about the Congress? My understanding is that the Congress has control over its own pay structure and increases. The laws affecting Congressional wages and compensation are written and adjusted by the Congress itself, so how can a fox monitor the other foxes in the henhouse? The last 10 years in politics has shown how little our elected officials care about the voters until election time comes around. The 2 major political parties have failed the voters time after time even though once in a great while there are individuals who show some signs actually of working for the people. These few individuals are never appreciated until they have passed on or retired. The current group could all be removed without as much of a ripple in the mess we currently have but sometimes a house cannot be economically repaired and has to be torn down and rebuilt. The two major political parties are too busy trying to appease the loudest and most affluent voters that they have ignored the lesser voters while professing to work for the average person. The sitting Congress has mastered the art of “politispeak” and have had no problem going back on their words with the ease of a hot knife cutting  butter. The voters of America need to move out of their comfort zones regarding race, money and political leanings to unite for a more open Congress where we really get correct information.

Here We Are Again!


What will it take for the voting public to pay attention to what our representatives are not doing for us? The local Illinois representatives want to maintain secrecy over open government. These “servants” of the people are busily keeping some constituents happy and others are left in the cold. A vote is the driving force behind all elections and to achieve that goal our representatives will say anything, agree to anything to stay in office. It all comes back to the voters allowing our representatives serve(?) more than 2 terms in office. There is no better way to for voters to have control over their representatives than limiting the time they serve. If these representatives cannot accomplish what needs to be done in 2 terms, then why do we need them? If there were no political parties, no PAC’s and no special interest groups  then maybe the elected representatives could work as a cohesive unit to get the work of the people done. We as voters have been advertised into electing the same mistakes time after time and regretting it each time yet we forget each time we hit the polling booth. Change is only accomplished by the voters and not the person running for  or serving in the office.

Chance for Change


The recent elections have shown that the American people are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, however the major party winners are touting their parties victories without realizing that these changes are not based purely on party based campaigns but more on putting some different people in to the mix. These shakeups bode well for the future. As any seasoned politician should understand their constituents are choosing officials with more thought and with less influence from political rhetoric. We may at last get the changes sought with some major party figures now in place to make a good study on passed legislation
and tweak where needed. What they accomplish with this opportunity will show if they can do what they said they would or if it is just another political ploy for power. The voters now have a taste for blood (so to speak) and are no longer listening to half truths and innuendo.

The Band Wagon


What is it going to take for the voters to realize that our legislators have failed us? Recently many of them from both parties have jumped on the budgetary bandwagon with an assortment of ideas. Not one has offered to take a pay cut or alter their current pension and perks status. Compare the band wagon to a circus parade, it is meant to attract attention to the upcoming event (the Circus). These elected officials are still busily promoting themselves and their parties for the next election run. They are not addressing the fiscal problems of the Nation, State and local governments. This has become the ultimate insult as they seem to believe the voters are so wrapped up in the budgetary problems and how they are affected by it that we will ignore their disingenuous posturing and wordplay. The political system is the primary cause of the problems we are experiencing since the “Scamocrats” and”Dupublicans” are still doing business as usual instead of doing what they are elected to do. We the Voters need to take action and demand proper action from this band of gypsies. Write them, call them, visit them (if you can find them) and join together in small groups , large groups to get them out of office or get them to do the work they are being well paid for.

Racial Stages


The current wave of so called Racist remarks by an assortment of organizations political and non political have all but shut off any reasonable dialogue that would enable this country to move forward in a positive manner. Each of us is opposed to something or someone due to natural selection or conscience acceptance. When anyone reads a letter to the editor , an opinion by a known pundit or news presenter, there is always an opposing opinion or notion about what was said or written. We as people have by nature the ability to learn and think on an individual basis yet many of us continue follow a group mentality because it is convenient and easy. No one person can remedy, alter or remove the innate or learned biases but each individual can remedy themselves by getting the real facts and information on other races, religions and cultures. This does not mean that you have to accept any of those other facets of humanity, it only means that you are willing to understand and accept the differences without bias or negativity. This common act is uncommon now on a large scale and was uncommon earlier in our history. Politicians and nationally known people have for centuries used bias as a tool to wage wars, harm humanity while fufilling their own needs. Occasionally an organization appears that purposely works to upend that type of thinking but is battered due to their public face speaking the words that show that they (the public face) have not risen above the ordinary and should not be in that position. This racial, religious and social divide will be the ultimate downfall of humanity if left unchecked and it can only be checked by the common men and women of the world who are willing to rise above the fray created by biases based on race, religion and public status.

We have had the smoke now the mirrors


Each day I read an opinion from someone who either assails on the President, Congress or one of the major parties. This is all honorable and better than silence but what happens in the voting booth? If only one quarter of the eligible voters would vote outside of political party lines, ignore the innuendos, sound bites and other semi truths we could end up with better quality representatives. Each of us would love to see our own ideal representative in office but it just won’t happen. These office seekers are human beings as we all are and are capable of the same failings. Keeping this in mind while trying to glean some truth from the seemingly endless assault from the seekers on the airwaves, on yard signs and posters is difficult at best when it is time to actually vote . The only thing we have to remember is that if an office holder exceeds more than two terms and we allow it, then we are at fault. The longevity of an office holder term is a gateway to failures and mistakes that have long range effects. We can talk about what this party does or does not do compared to another until the election arrives and after but that is why we are deluged with the media ads and in your face signs. This is the smoke and mirrors of politics.

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Political Poop


We all are aware (or should be) that our Congress is full of fallen idols, empirical officials and generally (seemingly) honorable people that we have “pedestalized”. The recent flap about Mr. Rangel is nothing new but it has allowed the opposing party to go on the attack to oust him and embarrass the other party. All of this high profile information is designed not to inform the public but denigrate the good works by this Congressman. It is true that he should be punished for any wrong doing on his behalf but this should not be used as a way to sway voters from one party to the other. Each of the major parties has failed the voters and these very public outpourings to garner votes is an indication of the poor representation they have provided to the voting public while possibly committing the same kinds of transgressions in some fashion. Lets remember some past political luminaries who have fallen and now are attempting to creep back in favor with the same innuendo and pot shots that offer no real information or substance to support their positions. The political establishment is peppered with poor representatives who under the guise of public service are only serving themselves.
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The President Knows


The entire United States and possibly the free world is upset with the president for some reason or another. Look at facts: First and obvious he is not “white”, second he is intelligent, third he is trying to manage a war  he inherited and last he inherited an economy the was on the rim of the toilet when he took office. Take a good look at these facts. There are some Americans who do not like the idea of a Black man sitting in the White house (and not in the kitchen), there are several Congressional members who feel that he is not a team player because he is attempting to put the economy back on track, and the myriad of lobbyists, special interests, pundits and other Washington insiders who love to pot shot the Government are all taking turns “poking the bear” while not offering any valid or even invalid solutions. This is the pattern of life that we as people have elected to live and how we allow ourselves to be lead down the garden path by ineffective and largely dishonest political “electees” and corporate leaders. We must remember the Congress and the Presidency are both major O.J.T. positions, some take to it and learn, others take to it and steal