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June 05, 2008
Government for the People?
From some of the discussions I’ve participated in, both here, and on other blogs I’ve noticed a common theme from almost everyone. Regardless of political affiliation, or preference, it seems that very few of us are happy with the way our country is being “managed” by our political leadership. From gas prices to healthcare, mortgage crisis to income taxes, we all seem to be unhappy with something. This confirms my feelings that we have lost our voice, and faith, in government. Instead of being a government “for the people,” it seems to me that it has become a government for the special interests. I’d like to know what others think we can, or should, do make our government more accountable.
One of my biggest complaints is the small amount of time our representatives spend in session. We are facing some of the most daunting issues since the Great Depression, yet Congress and the Senate spend about one third of the year in session. As I asked on another blog, what company in this nation would pay its mid-level managers a six-figure salary (for life), and superb benefits, yet require them to work one third of the year.
When they are in session, we see them working on issues such as steroid use in baseball. This morning on C-Span, Senator Dick Durbin stated, “It’s a good thing that we are not getting paid for piece-work, because we have done so little this week.” One of the highlights of the week included a full reading of the climate bill now in the Senate. He (Senator Durbin) stated that there was no purpose for the reading, “…other than to burn off an entire day in the United States Senate…” Senator Harry Reid once spent nine hours on a,”discourse of the benefits of wooden matches and reading chapters from his book.” Honestly, I’m not making this up! These folks spend one third of the year actually working on legislation, and some of that time is spent on this type of nonsense.
I’d like to hear some of your thoughts on what we can do to light a fire under all our representatives to spend whatever time is required to get this country back on track. I think we need to see a nationwide movement to get laws passed requiring our representatives to work at least half the year on the issues that need to be addressed. I understand they need to make fact-finding trips, and they need to spend time in their districts/states to stay in touch with their constituents, but these trips need to be limited and time spent in “real” work needs to be increased. I think we need to try to limit the access and influence that lobbyists have, and I think we need to have laws in place that prevent our representatives from going to work as lobbyists after leaving office. I have a number of other ideas, but would like to hear from others.
One last note. I try to stay in touch with our representatives, and have included contact links below. I recently sent them all e-mails urging them to help defeat the “Cap and Trade” bill that is supposedly going to help alleviate the climate change “crisis.”
Senator Lamar Alexander
http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Senator Bob Corker
http://corker.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm
Congressman Bart Gordon
http://gordon.house.gov/contact/index.shtml
Posted by Chuck S at June 5, 2008 07:17 AM
Comments
I haven't voted in recent years and I will likely start because I follow politics more now than I did before. I never wanted to be one of those uneducated voters who merely followed a party or what their parents told them to do.
However I still have a problem with how our country handles voting, it's a broken idea on the electoral college (is that spelled right?) but I understand still that people need to vote. It's just that to me, no matter if it's a country or a little town business, if you got a problem you fix it. By our country continuing to use a broken system it tells me enough people do not care about it. That or it just continues to show me that our country is slowly losing the morals it started with.
You can be upset at my comments, that's fine, but until every vote actually counts it's broken. If you really look at how it works, every vote is not equal, your vote counts for a different percent based on what state you live in.
Posted by: Chuckster at June 9, 2008 10:56 AM
I've seen the numbers about younger voters as well, and it is encouraging. However, I think it is important that we, the older (just slightly) generation make sure that they understand who, or what, they are voting for. They need to understand how their votes will affect their future, and ours. It's discouraging that far too many see only the nightly news, or web sites such as Moveon.org. and Progress for America.
I will not tell my son, or anyone else, who to vote for, but I will encourage them to look at the “Big Picture.” If possible, do some research and find out where your Senators and Congressional Representatives stand on the issues they care about. If I had done this, I doubt I would have cast my first vote in a general election for Jimmy Carter. I voted on feelings, rather than facts. I would encourage more people to e-mail their representatives in Washington and tell them what they expect from them.
As for term limits: I have mixed feelings. I’m a proponent because I would hope that our representatives would be more focused on what happens to the country as a whole rather than their limited constituency. I’m against the limits because we lose some of the valuable experience and insight that long-term politicians bring to the table. Ted Kennedy comes to mind: Although I disagree with many of his views, I have no doubt about his sincere desire to help all of us, not just the privileged few. On the other hand, I look at the late Senator Strom Thurmond. By the time he left office, I’m not sure he could tie his own shoes, let alone understand today’s complicated issues. Again, right now it depends on us to make intelligent decisions when we cast our votes, rather than voting with emotion only, as I did when I was much younger.
I hope this forum helps, and I would love to see some input form the young people in our community.
Posted by: Chuck Siniff at June 5, 2008 12:40 PM
Well Chuck, I think the first thing we need to try to do is encourage more people to go to the polls during election cycles. Thats a small start I know, but its a start none the less. I'm excited for the generation that is just now coming of age to vote. I believe that they hold the key to changing this country but they just dont know it yet. I was reading an article online the other day and it stated that for the first time the under 30 vote will probably be bigger than the over 65 vote this election. Thats big. That means there can be a whole new mentality before long. And what about term limits? Why are there term limits on every political position except for congress? There should be, 8 yrs and you're done!! Obviously, I'm not sure what the answer is, but I think it has to start with us. And we have to voice our opinion, whether it be in person or at the polls. Thats where the revolution has to start.
Posted by: Tim at June 5, 2008 10:34 AM