If I were President
My husband and I were talking the other day about the political world and our government. We are amazed with how out of touch our congressmen are with the "average" person. I'm speaking primarily about our senators, not so much the house of reps., although they seem to be getting further away from voting their base.
If the middle class person would want to run for a senate seat, they wouldn't stand a chance. You wouldn't have enough money to run a comprehensive campaign. Most senators are multi-millionaires or independently wealthy. Do you think a person with that much money knows what it is like to live on a budget? They sit up on capital hill and receive "sweetheart deals" on loans for properties that you or I would never have the opportunity to get. Then they try to cover it up and be generally dishonest. I'd like to think that if I would ever become a millionaire I wouldn't sacrifice my integrity and honesty.
I'd like to see the "average joe" in the senate representing my best interests. Someone who knows the daily struggles we face as Americans. If this were the case, I believe we would have a lot less pork spending. No more federal money going to an art museum or other such nonsense. If the people in that community want something to be preserved, make them do fund raising in the private sector on a local level.
We need people in congress who know what a budget looks like. How much money do we have coming in per year? Okay, that is what our country lives off of. Period. We give billions of dollars to other countries. If we were really serious about "taking care of our own", we shouldn't be handing out money to countries that have questionable humanitarian histories, harbor terrorists, communists-like practices, etc. This is just one example, but you could pick any governmental agency and find they could do with less: Medicaid, Education, probably even Homeland Security (I hate to say that, but it is probably true).
My point? If I were president, I'd run the federal government budget like a family budget. It would make people mad, but it would work. I think there was a movie about that. Was it "Dave"?
If the middle class person would want to run for a senate seat, they wouldn't stand a chance. You wouldn't have enough money to run a comprehensive campaign. Most senators are multi-millionaires or independently wealthy. Do you think a person with that much money knows what it is like to live on a budget? They sit up on capital hill and receive "sweetheart deals" on loans for properties that you or I would never have the opportunity to get. Then they try to cover it up and be generally dishonest. I'd like to think that if I would ever become a millionaire I wouldn't sacrifice my integrity and honesty.
I'd like to see the "average joe" in the senate representing my best interests. Someone who knows the daily struggles we face as Americans. If this were the case, I believe we would have a lot less pork spending. No more federal money going to an art museum or other such nonsense. If the people in that community want something to be preserved, make them do fund raising in the private sector on a local level.
We need people in congress who know what a budget looks like. How much money do we have coming in per year? Okay, that is what our country lives off of. Period. We give billions of dollars to other countries. If we were really serious about "taking care of our own", we shouldn't be handing out money to countries that have questionable humanitarian histories, harbor terrorists, communists-like practices, etc. This is just one example, but you could pick any governmental agency and find they could do with less: Medicaid, Education, probably even Homeland Security (I hate to say that, but it is probably true).
My point? If I were president, I'd run the federal government budget like a family budget. It would make people mad, but it would work. I think there was a movie about that. Was it "Dave"?
Usually one doesn't want to subscribe to malice what one can to stupidity, but in this case, I think these guys know what a budget is for.
The problem comes in that there is not sufficient incentive, moral or otherwise, to overcome the incentives to break the bank: lack of immediate consequence, tolerance of creditors/taxpayers, having a cool highway named after you and some sort of "legacy," or if you're Chris Dodd, a sweetheart loan from Countrywide.
We have to hold our representatives' feet to the fire and demand that they spend within their means, and if they don't, we will fire them, no matter what party they are.
Reply to this
Well put, Dan.
My only fear is that there are not enough people out there who know who their representatives are or even care to hold them accountable.
Most people are too caught up in the daily grind to care. That is fine with congress, that is what they want. They want us to worry about how we will fill up our gas tank and to think no further.
Congress uses talking points to their advantage. For example, it will take too long to drill in Alaska or off-shore for us to get immediate relief. That is all they say. There is no discussion about how to fix it. Alternative energy is also discussed, but that will be longer than drilling to take effect. I've got an idea...why not eliminate the federal tax on gas that you have to pay every time you fill up? That tax was set up when they were developing the highway infrastructure in this great country and was to go away after its completion. We still have that tax and it isn't going away because congress has become dependent on that source of "income" for their pet projects.
Look at Social Security! It is doomed unless someone does something different. Most Americans are forced to pay into it, they don't have an option to invest that money in their own way to prepare for retirement.
Just another rant from someone who does care. I started emailing my reps. over the drilling, letting them know that I'm for it...I think it has made me mad enough to email them more frequently on other topics as well.
I know there is hope. Look at how we were able to change the tide with the illegal immigration bill (which, by the way, McCain supported) by flooding capital hill and our reps. with phone calls expressing our outrage over the amnesty bill. There is hope.
Reply to this