Political Rants

We elect them to represent our interest. But to most elected Congressmen, this is only a stepping-stone for their personal political career. It is nothing new, just the way things are. Term limits would of course derail such ambitions and maybe, just maybe, give us legislatures that just want to serve. Is it possible to weed out the power hungry and the corruptible? Not unless they have ruffled the wrong feathers, or their ouster makes the opposition party look good. The one thing that is certain, we need a change.

Since the day Bush took the oath of office, the Democrats have been out to destroy his Presidency. Is this the way our Government was supposed to operate? Instead of good Government, we have the endless squabble over power. If both sides were righteous it may make sense, but if political power is so important that one party would sell this country out for it, that party needs booting out of office.

Dissent is constructive, but the type of opposition coming from the Democrats is not dissent, they have actually chosen sides against the United States. They have sought to endanger this country just for their political advantage and somehow think that if elected that they will make everything all right.

The Democrats lurch this country to the left, appease our enemies, destroy a President, and criminalize a whole administration. Such actions for political power cheapen the whole political process. The Democrats, for now, are bathing in the sunlight, but they are Democrats and will overstep one day and find their pockets empty.

In a perfect political world, an idea would come before Congress and if enough members thought the idea was good, or at least had promise, then other members would work towards improving the idea. Alas, this is not the case. In Washington, the Congress plays the game of partisan fighting to make sure that the opposition political party doesn't gain favor with the voters. The stakes are high and it's all about power. They don't fight over what is best for the citizens; -- they fight to maintain their political power.

Think of the word 'compromise'. If I told you that a storm had compromised a building's structure, you would understand that the storm had weakened the structure. A political compromise is the same way.

In a hypothetical situation, a member of a political party presents an idea. This idea needs funding of 200 million dollars to be a success. The opposition party can easily see that this is a good idea, and if passed would make those of the proposing party look good. So they seek a compromise on the proposal to insure that it doesn't succeed. If the opposition party is successful in gutting the proposal to 150 million dollars in a compromise, who do you think is the big loser? Who do you think is the winner?

Some agreements are actually good. The good ones are usually those that don't reflect any ideological split and have broad support from both political parties. Good agreements also occur when the American Public weighs in on a matter without leaving room for compromise. When the voters insist on a matter, Congress generally listens. That is why it is so important for voters to pay attention to what the Congress is doing. Without the public making it clear what they want done, the Congress will just waste everyone's time with political wrangling, as they try to curry favor with their political donors.

Compromises are just a means to weaken a piece of legislation. But it is just one tool in a toolbox full of tools to prevent either political party from looking good. There is the "Filibuster Rule", "Table Rule", "Recorded and Voice Vote Rules", "Point of Order", and many other parliamentary maneuvers for a political party to foil the opposition party. At one time, it was so bad that the minority party would refuse to make quorum to prevent legislation from coming to a vote. They finally had to rectify the situation with another rule that prevented the "less than a Quorum" tactic.

The way to get meaningful legislation passed as previously stated is to have the American people involved with their Government. A strong President is essential to sell his proposals to the public so that they can prod Congress into passing the President's agenda. The American people will act apathetically if they are not involved in the process. That leaves too much room for the Congressional Politicians to play their games and do nothing. Politicians seek bi-partisan compromises to any legislation that isn't beneficial to his party. Compromises usually doom the legislation to failure. The original intent of the compromised legislation gets lost and cannot fulfill its intended mission. Worse, they could wind up passing bad legislation because of those compromises.

There was a time when our free press was the watchdog over the politicians. But those days are long gone, as the press has chosen sides instead of objectively reporting on congress.

Write, phone, and email your Senators and Representatives. They will get the message and know that you are watching what they are doing. It gives them a little incentive to do better when they realize that the voters have expectations of them.

Cheers,

-Robert-