They just don't get it

The American sheeple are at it again I see, blindly mouthing all the catchphrases and buzzwords tossed at us by the various political campaigns. Currently the magic word is still “change”, as in “It’s time to kick the other guy out and elect my crook… err… candidate for (fill in the blank) elected office”. So we can continue with "business as usual" of course.

Almost two years ago consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high, gasoline sold for around $2.20 a gallon, and the national unemployment rate was in the 4.5% ballpark. Since those fondly remembered days we’ve suffered through a mid-term election that saw Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi take over the leadership of congress. Their loudly promised withdrawal from Iraq hasn’t happened, improved border security hasn’t happened, and government expenditures still aren’t under control. The Obama – Clinton mudslinging contest has reached epic proportions unseen in recent decades, the news media constantly displays the political posturing of every incumbent and office seeker in the country, along with all the gory details of every major or minor scandal to come along. Oh yeah, the Hollywierd celebrities still seem to think they’re the nations foremost experts on just about every conceivable subject and they never tire of telling us all about it.

The candidates keep calling for “change”, but I’m not real sure just what sort of change they have in mind, and I expect I probably won’t much like it either. It seems that the war in Iraq has calmed down somewhat since the “surge”, which indicates to me that it’s working despite all the loud claims that the war is/was lost. So now the political hopefuls have changed their line of attack to our financial woes, attempting to make us believe that vague and undefined forces like "the economy," "inflation", or "politics" have prevented them from doing what they took a solemn oath to do.

Since we voted in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we've seen a lot of changes, although they weren’t necessarily the changes we were promised. So far, consumer confidence in our financial system has dropped into the basement, and now it seems we have a recession staring us in the face. The cost of gasoline has risen to well over $3 a gallon, and I can just envision OPEC ministers gleefully rubbing their hands together as they plan further inroads on the American consumer’s finances. Unemployment has seen a roughly 10% increase, now it’s at about 5% of our national workforce. Keep in mind that that increase is after all those “jobs Americans don’t want” have been filled by a horde of illegal aliens, and it doesn’t count the how many other unemployed folks who have completely given up looking for work (and likely given up hope as well). American households have suffered a $2.3 trillion loss in stock and mutual fund equity, while their home equity has fallen by around $1.2 trillion dollars, and something like 1% of all American homes are currently in foreclosure.

The republicans blame the democrats, the democrats blame the republicans, the media weeps and wails, and yet nothing seems to get done to solve our quite severe national problems. Well, remember that one hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - out of the 300 million of us in this country, are directly responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, stood up and criticized President Bush for creating deficits, apparently forgetting that the United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, gives responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. “We the People” don't have the Constitutional authority to pass appropriations bills, nor does the Senate or the president. But the members of the House of Representatives certainly do. The president can propose a budget, he can wheel and deal all he wants to get it passed, but he can’t force Congress to pass it. Ms. Pelosi and the House membership can approve or disapprove any budget they want. If the president doesn’t like what they pass, that’s tough.

If both the Democrats and the Republicans are against budget deficits, why do we still have budget deficits? If our politicians are against inflation and high taxes, why do we still have inflation and high taxes? If they don’t like our runaway trade deficits, why do we still have those deficits? If they don’t like American jobs going overseas, why do we still have NAFTA? If energy independence is so vital to the country’s security and well being, why aren’t we doing anything about it? If affordable health care is so important to Americans, why isn’t congress doing something about runaway medical costs?

Politicians seem to be the only people who can create major national problems, and then constantly get themselves reelected by campaigning against them. When you understand that among our entire population these people alone exercise the power of the federal government, then it would appear that the existing situation is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it that way. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the US Army is in Iraq, it's because they want them in Iraq. The basis of the problem is not with the federal bureaucracy, whom Congress can hire and fire at will. The problem is not with lobbyists or special interests whose “advice” they can reject. Nor is it with government agencies to whom they give the authority to regulate our activities, and from whom they can just as quickly remove that authority. I can't think of any domestic problem, from our rickety tax code to budget deficits, from the war in Iraq to our collapsing economy, that is not the direct responsibility of our congressional representatives in the nation’s capitol. Those people alone are responsible for causing, or failing to correct, the problems that plague our nation. I’d think they should be held fully accountable by the voters every two years. It seems strange to me that a nation of 300 million supposedly intelligent citizens cannot replace 535 politicians (and one President) who stand guilty of malfeasance, as demonstrated by the sorry situation we presently find ourselves in.

Today we stand before the world, bloodied and bruised. Not defeated by a foreign power, not beaten by insane religious zealots, not laid low by homegrown extremists. Instead we’re being destroyed from within, by our own congressional leadership. We voted for a change in 2006, and we certainly got one. Now, with another presidential election rapidly approaching, I’m wondering just how much more “change” our once great nation can stand?