We, The People

[Thor]

I know that this has been discussed many, many times, but I just want to reiterate the failure of our politicians, both left AND right.

How many people out there own guns?? (I'm guessing a good many as there are AT LEAST 80 MILLION guns here in the US. ) What about the intolerably high fuel prices?? Why is it that 76% of Americans WANT to get going on the drilling and refineries and YET, Congress says NO?? These are just a couple of examples. I could go on and on, like the Kelo case, etc, but for brevity's sake I won't.

All in all, it seems as if OUR Congressmen (women) and Senators have turned a deaf ear to "WE, the People". Aren't they supposed to represent their constituency??  I'm kind of wondering a couple of things, (1): Why is that they want to do things that's generally against our wishes; and (2), when are WE, the People, going to stand up and take back our REPUBLIC?? It confuses me as to why we keep voting these same ego-centric users into office. Has antipathy reached dynamic proportions?? (after all, only 30-40% of the voters actually get off their dead asses and vote). We NEED to get these people OUT of office and return our great land to how it once was, at least for our rights. Seems to me that our "Representatives" have become puppets of various interest groups, lining their pockets with monies from those interest groups or getting legislation passed that would benefit THEM and maybe a few of their friends (and/or business partners).

Finally, has anybody bothered to notice that our Representatives make some pretty good money ?? Granted, expenses are high in the DC area (I wonder why ??  ), but seriously, most of our representatives make two to three times as much as their "constituents" and then to top it off, they get some pretty good health benefits that the average citizen  can't even touch. It seems as if we have allowed them to position themselves as Princes and Princesses. After all, aren't they supposed to be pretty much like us ??

Folks, it's time to urge the apathetic folks to get off their dead asses and take back our country from the politicians by WHATEVER actions we NEED. [/rant]

[Wretched Excess]

generally speaking, I don't necessarily mind gridlock.  it keeps congress from getting into too much mischief. 

[DixieBelle]

Sadly, WE is right. Gridlock and a few shiny things keeps those critters in line. Well sometimes.

D.C. is a beast that cannot be easily tamed. Everyone who comes to D.C. with fire in the belly is quickly disallusioned. Idealists don't survive here. I'm more upset about the fact that a little over 500 people control the fate of our nation. Yes, we elect them but they are supposed to act in our best interests. Funny, they seem to have a different definition half the time.

I'd love to clean house and start over. The GOP as a party better start showing the testicular forititude we demand. The alternative is to try and maintain control while the Dems take over and turn us back to the Carter years. It may take that to wake people up. Sometimes we need to be reminded of why the Dems cannot be trusted with the power.

[Wretched Excess]

Sadly, WE is right. Gridlock and a few shiny things keeps those critters in line. Well sometimes.

D.C. is a beast that cannot be easily tamed. Everyone who comes to D.C. with fire in the belly is quickly disallusioned. Idealists don't survive here. I'm more upset about the fact that a little over 500 people control the fate of our nation. Yes, we elect them but they are supposed to act in our best interests. Funny, they seem to have a different definition half the time.

I'd love to clean house and start over. The GOP as a party better start showing the testicular forititude we demand. The alternative is to try and maintain control while the Dems take over and turn us back to the Carter years. It may take that to wake people up. Sometimes we need to be reminded of why the Dems cannot be trusted with the power.

the only solution that I can think of would be to hold congress in a different city every year, and to keep the location secret until they actually convene legislative sessions.  by the time the lobbyists and special interests arrived and got settled in, congress could have produced some results that weren't twisted by questionable influence.

[DixieBelle]

^ooh. I like that. How about Gitmo?

[Wretched Excess]

^ooh. I like that. How about Gitmo?

I was thinking more like las vegas.  whores already don't get arrested there, so the congresscritters would be safer.

[DixieBelle]

I bet a lot of them are already familiar with the hotels too. (Congress that is)

[Nick Schizen]

Thor,

I wouldn't care how much they made if they actually did something.

It is supposed to be a "given" that when you elect a politician that he will do the bidding of those who put him in .......... right?

But that isn't the case at all. It really isn't a "winner take all" situation cause if it was we shurely wouldn't have the ability to own a BB gun at this present time.

Take Obama for instance.

He really has no experience, and the year that he actually sat in office he voted very few times either yea or nay and didn't author any bills that would do the majority of this country much good. But! "Them.... the people" have seen fit to have that lamebrain run as President.

Now! Should he, along with a democrat controled congress decide to not represent "all the people" and only go along with the wishes of those who elected them you will not recoginze this country as the one you grew up in.

And I am affraid that is what is going to happen. 

[Airwolf]

Sadly, WE is right. Gridlock and a few shiny things keeps those critters in line. Well sometimes.

D.C. is a beast that cannot be easily tamed. Everyone who comes to D.C. with fire in the belly is quickly disallusioned. Idealists don't survive here. I'm more upset about the fact that a little over 500 people control the fate of our nation. Yes, we elect them but they are supposed to act in our best interests. Funny, they seem to have a different definition half the time.

I'd love to clean house and start over. The GOP as a party better start showing the testicular forititude we demand. The alternative is to try and maintain control while the Dems take over and turn us back to the Carter years. It may take that to wake people up. Sometimes we need to be reminded of why the Dems cannot be trusted with the power.

Hi5

[InfamousAndy]

One of the reasons there is gridlock and common-sense solutions never go foward is the representative nature of Congress.  It is easier if I list it out:

1.  76% want drilling -- but how many want it for their own state/city?
2.  Many want more refineries -- but how many would re-elect their congressman if they brought the refinery home
3.  Everyone hates pork barrel spending -- yet congressional re-elections are largely about how much federal money 'comes home'

[Thor]

One of the reasons there is gridlock and common-sense solutions never go foward is the representative nature of Congress.  It is easier if I list it out:

1.  76% want drilling -- but how many want it for their own state/city?
2.  Many want more refineries -- but how many would re-elect their congressman if they brought the refinery home
3.  Everyone hates pork barrel spending -- yet congressional re-elections are largely about how much federal money 'comes home'

Drilling was part of my life in Texas and Oklahoma as I grew up. I wasn't uncommon to see oil well pumps going 24/7. It was MORE odd to see them NOT working. Now, I see pumps that are decades old, just sitting there, inoperative. One can't convince me that those pumps have pumped those assets dry, otherwise, they would have been removed and the wells capped. After all, they're in some pretty fair agricultural land, at least in Texas. As far as refineries, they're little different than the ethanol refineries popping up all over the midwest.

I think we need to hold Congress to a different standard, perhaps re-electing them on the premise of "how much money did you save us??" Granted, there are things that need Federal funding, but seriously, some of the fat needs to be trimmed. After all, it's OUR money !!!