For years it's been apparent that members of congress have not beendoing the will of the American people, despite that poll, after poll, after pollclearly shows what the majority of the people want from our government. Takeoil subsides for example, yet congress refuses to end them.
We know that corporate interests are always the very first to be consideredby our elected "representatives" in congress. That's because the corporationsspend millions of dollars on lobbyists, who are always the first in line andare better able to get the attention of a congress-person whenever they wish.
The oil companies get billions of dollars every year from the taxpayers, thenspend millions of those same tax dollars to lobby congress against thetaxpayer's best interests. Does paying someone to hurt you make any sense atall?
Then later, once they get familiar with the game, members of congress leavecongress to work as a lobbyists. Over400 former U.S. lawmakers have made the jump to lobbying.
But whenever we complain, we're told to "get involved, start a petition,write congress."
Take congressional reform as another example. How can the people get congressto pass a bill to reform congress if congress blatantly refuses to pass a billto reform congress? If Pete and repeat were in a boat, and Pete fell out, whowas left? It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
Why are we told to write congress if congress never writes back? What's thepoint if all you receive for a response is an auto-generated email from theirwebsite or a standard carbon-copy of a form letter from their secretary inreturn?
What good is calling your congress-person when whoever answers the phone isusually only a low-level staff member, who may or may not, just take a message?
The only people who can get the ear of their congress-person (either on thephone, in a return letter, or with a personal meeting) are those who are theirbiggest campaign contributors (or members of the media, who they think will givethem positive coverage).
People with the most money have the loudest voices and are the only ones whoare heard by our congressional leaders. People with very little money can only"talk to the hand".
And the people with the most money have completely different concerns thatthose like me, who have no money at all. Only the wealthier people arerepresented by congress --- yet at election time, the people in congress have tomake promises to the masses to get their votes --- to get themselves elected.But after they're elected, the masses are once again ignored.
Pete and repeat.
It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
It seems like during every election cycle the same old problems arise, andvery few are ever addressed. And on the rare occasion when something BIG canbe accomplished, members of congress still refuse to do anything. Take filibusterreform as just the latest example.
Or take tax reform as another example, when congress refuses to raise taxeson themselves or eliminate the tax loopholes that they themselves enjoy, becausemany are also multi-millionaires.
If we need food stamps to survive (because we're either under-paid orunemployed), we have to pass a "means test" to qualify --- but membersof congress still get all their lavish healthcare plans and pension benefitswithout having to pass any such test. Why is someone who's only earning $27,000a year (and has no healthcare at all) paying for the healthcare and pensionfunds of multi-millionaires? Is that fair?
It's a shame that Senator Bernie Sanders calls himself a"Socialist", because most Americans equate that to the governments(and genocides) of Joseph Stalin, Chairman Mao -- and even Adolf Hitler. Albert Einsteinfled Germany to escape fascism, but as a genius, he also advocated for a certainbrand of "socialism" (readhalfway down this page).
And if you've ever read anything by Vladimir Lenin, you might also believethat even he was a Class Warrior.That's why the Republicans always play on these fears, calling Obama a"Socialist" and accusing him of trying to "redistribute thewealth" (Ex-congressman Allen West toldthe American people that at least 80 members in the Democratic party wereCommunists).
But in truth, for the past 80 years, the majority of the wealth has been redistributedfrom the poor to the rich, not from the top down. If you think about it, whatare "taxes", if not a form of redistributing the wealth?
Virgil Bierschwale at KeepAmerica at Work - "We need a government that realizes that it has to be the mediator to provide a balance between the business community's need for profit and the People’s Right to a life; one that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each, according to their ability or achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."
And if congress continually refuses to do the "will" of the people,and when elections and government policies are being corrupted by money and corporatepower, haven't we already lost our democracy and are now being ruled by dictatorsin congress -- by people who are only doing the will of plutocrats and oligarchs?
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell of The Last Word also calls himself a"Socialist". If what they believe in is called socialism, thenmaybe I too am a Socialist. But then again, that would also make Theodore andFranklin Roosevelt Socialists too. And if that were true, then that would alsomake people like Allen West in the Tea Party Fascists (practicing radicalauthoritarian nationalism).
The other day I saw Senator Bernie Sanders doing anotherinterview on PBS (and this might be why the Republicans want to de-fundPBS). During the interview Bernie makes these points:
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We all know that congress-people can talk the talk BEFORE they are elected,or they wouldn't have been elected, but very few will actually walk the walkAFTER they are elected.
Harry Reid vowed using the "nuclear option" if necessary to reformthe filibuster, and the very next day, he did practically nothing. All alongHarry Reid had just been blowing hot air, just like most people in congress.That's why Senator Bernie Sanders had voted against Harry Reid's bill, becauseit had no meaningful reforms.
In Senator Bernie Sanders' PBS interview, for those of you who don't know him, he is also very concerned about such issues as:
- the collapse of the middle class
- the fact that over 46 million Americans live in poverty
- the income gap between the very rich and everybody else
- the real unemployment rate and job creation
- the full protection of Medicare and Social Security;
- tax loopholes for the rich and large corporations
- real comprehensive immigration reform
- our Veterans
- global warming
- the filibuster and Republican obstructionism
The people of Vermont are very lucky...they don't have to worry about writingtheir congress-person....Bernie already has their backs.
I had always considered myself to be a Republican since the days of RonaldReagan. Even after Obama was first elected, I watched Fox News andadmired Glenn Beck. I sided with the Tea Party --- and I even used toswear at Nancy Pelosi and Lawrence O'Donnell, almost breaking my TV.
But since late 2009, I delved into political history and studied governmentpolices, foreign affairs and tax laws, almost making myself a self-taught politicalscience major. Since then I've realized that I had been hoodwinked most of mylife, just as were millions of other Americans. I morphed from a"conservative" Republican to a "progressive" Democrat.
But if by wanting the ultra-rich and multi-national corporations to pay theirfair share of taxes, and wanting a job to pay a fair and "living"wage, and wanting Social Security and Medicare for those who are too old and/orsick to work any longer...if that is now called "Socialism", then Iguess that now makes me a Socialist.
Dear Congress, Please write. Sincerely Yours, Bud Meyers --- P.S.You can just add a comment to this post.
Here is the link to the complete transcript of Senator Bernie Sandersbeing interviewed by Tavis Smiley on PBS on February4, 2013
Pleasesign my petition to Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehnerfor Congressional Reform.
Also:
Please sign this petitionat the Daily Kos urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to re-open filibuster reform in light of recent Republican obstructionism on federal nominees.
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