My tipping point as to why I decided to write down
my thoughts is that I really just needed an outlet for my
frustration due to political events from 2009 to present. I am
referring specifically to the treatment of everyday,
ordinary American citizens and how they were treated
by their representatives and the media regarding the
town hall meetings of the fall of 2009.
I have reached the tipping point and firmly believe we are not being
listened to by our representatives and senators. The only
time they pay attention to us is at election time when we
are bombarded by junk mail and endless phone calls.
After elections I get the idea they feel it is their right to
do whatever they want and not have to pay attention to
us. They believe they have complete autonomy with
nothing holding them from doing what they want
regarding setting public policies and the drafting of new
legislation. They truly believe winning an election gives
them a mandate to do what they want from then on and
pay no mind to the voters who put them there. To them,
voters are nothing beyond the election and do not have
to be considered until the next election.
This was blindly evident in the town hall meetings
that took place in the fall of 2009. Many of our elected
officials cancelled town halls to avoid angry constituents
and although many did hold public meetings, it was
apparent many elected officials held their constituents in
utter contempt. This is their misunderstood meaning of
being a representative. They are supposed to represent at
least most of the ideals and views of their constituents
and promote those ideals in the Congress and
specifically not their own personal ideals. It is a vast
disconnect and I believe the main reason why Congress
at this point in history has such low approval numbers
and why we the people need to remedy this. In my
opinion, many of them think like this…
We do not elect them in the hope they make
decisions we agree with!
It is supposed to be the other way around. They are
supposed to do what we want them to do. Their job is to
represent the people who elected them. Their job is to be
our voice, the peoples’ voice. If they are only beholden
to their individual beliefs and make decisions based on
that idea, how is that being a representative? Well I
would venture to say, it is not. The setting up of the
United States of America as a Representative Republic
was done by the Founding Fathers for a reason. To elect
someone to dictate their personal individual mandates
over what they do in government as elected officials is
not the reason. An elected representative gives up their
own personal feelings and ideals to do what the people
want him to do. Otherwise, what is the point? This is my
definition of public service, or am I out of line here?
This is why it is vastly important to only elect people we
are sure are representing publicly and privately our
ideals. If they cannot tell us directly and exactly what
they believe, we cannot trust them enough to elect them
to represent us. Wishy-washy answers to questions can
no longer be tolerated by a candidate or AN
INCUMBANT.
I want to give an example of my experience at a
town hall in the fall of 2009. I currently live in a
republican district and my congressman is known as
very conservative in his words and actions. I have voted
for him and at the time of the town hall I felt good about
him. I was hit with the realization during this town hall
that once these reps go to Washington, something really
does change them, and not for the better. A person in the
audience asked the congressman what were his thoughts
on term limits. The congressman’s response struck me as
the ultimate in arrogance. He basically said it is tough
for new congressmen when they go to Washington.
There is really no one to show them the ropes and it
takes them a very long time for them to figure out how
things work in Washington. He then said quote “we
should let them keep their office at least long enough for
them to vest their retirement.” Again, we were told this
by a very conservative Republican congressman from
Texas. My jaw hit the ground when he said this and
many of us in the crowd just looked around at each other
in disbelief at what we had just heard.
From my perspective this is the same as telling me
he thinks doing what it takes to get re-elected every two
years is the priority for congressmen and when they
reach their retirement vesting goals then they would start
doing what is right for the people and the good of the
United States of America.
Umm… NO! It does not work that way. This is
when I knew even the most supposedly conservative
person who goes to Washington can still be routed by
human nature and focused on what is good for him
instead of worrying about what he should be doing for
the good of those who elected him to his office and for
our country as a whole.
The fun time is over for us, for a while anyway. It is
time we as individual U.S. Citizens started paying
attention again and controlling our government instead
of it continuing to increase control over us. We must get
more involved, talk about government, and especially
the Constitution, what it means and why the preservation
of its ideals is important for our future. We cannot go
years or even months any longer without keeping tabs on
our officials. Our representatives and senators are
imperfect human beings and we must choose them more
carefully from now on and commit ourselves to their
oversight. If we do not, human nature will eventually
lead them back to where they are today, impotent and
ineffective at doing Americans’ business.
The fun time must be over for them as well. We
must keep our representatives and senators more
uncomfortable in their positions else they will take
advantage of our lack of oversight. This I am afraid is
where the problem lies and the solution lies with you and
I. You and I need to constantly monitor our reps and if
they do not do what we want, we must find new ones
and get them elected as soon as possible. We must find
ordinary citizens who will go into government with the
expectation it may not be a permanent position. It will be
hard because one has to be somewhat wealthy and
connected to even run a campaign and what ordinary
citizen can afford such an endeavor? So we are
somewhat saddled with rich people but this is fine with
me just as long as they support policies providing
opportunities that help the rest of us live successful and
rewarding lives for the most part. Is this really too much
to ask from our reps and senators?
Somewhere along the line, our reps have got the idea
their job was to go to Washington not to represent their
constituents, but be beggars for them and to bring home
the bacon or money to their districts or states. They do
this by earmarking or creating legislation which would
be unlikely to get passed on its own but is then attached
to bills originally created for other major purposes like
budget bills. Bills such as these are very likely to pass
because budget bills keep the government or military
running and what rep would vote against that?
When the bill passes, so does the earmark and then
here comes the money to the district of the rep or senator
who included it all courtesy of and taken from the tax
paying citizens of the United States without their
consent. This is a pretty easy way to try to justify your
job come election time right? Sounds more like outright
vote buying to me. This tactic is also used to pass bills
which are short congressional votes and by what this
U.S. Citizen believes to be outright bribery of reps and
senators by adding things to bills that benefit them and
their district in order to get their vote in the House or the
Senate. If I as a U.S. Citizen tried to pay a rep to vote for
something I could go to jail, however when those in
congress do it with the taxpayer money, it is called the
legislative process. Even if the money went to my
district I would still call it corruption. I hope you would
as well.
This U.S. Citizen
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