Photo Source: Clipart.com

I looked at a tv special the other day and it was about the problems with our government and delved into the sad state of the presidency and congress. It was a funny thing, well not laugh out loud funny, but strange to see. I felt as if I had written it. I hadn't of course, but if I did write it, I would have said exactly the same things. It is so sad to see that there are SO MANY obvious things wrong and yet we just keep ticking along the same way. This is exactly what those in power want. There is one thing that you can be absolutely sure about and that is that no one in power cares anything about you and me. This statement assumes that you are not an important person in a company, a lobbyist or among the elite rich. If you are any of these, than your senators and representatives and in some case the president, will bend over backwards for you and you can just about write your own ticket. So what is the problem with the government?

It is the entire system of government that has failed us. Did the authors of our constitution ever mean for special interests to run this country or for the common vote not to count? Lets look a little more at the voting process. I am talking about the mechanics of actually casting a vote. Everyone knows by now that we can't be sure that the vote we cast into the new computerized machines will be the vote that is counted. Why isn't there a huge outcry from our legislators. They could shelve the machines and put either paper ballots in place or use the voting machines of old? Could it be that the lobbyists for the machines have gotten to important members of congress? It certainly seems this way doesn't it? How else can you explain the stubbornness shown by officials when asked numerous times why we are going to use machines that can be tampered with so easily. Is the outcome of the election already known, have deals been made? Did you know that when certain positions, such as some state judges are put on ballots, some are on both Democratic and Republican lines? You couldn't really get a vote against them that counted anyway. This is how deals are made. A couple of local politicians get together and make these kinds of deals at the expense of the people. So why do we feel so secure that this election will be on the level? Of all the elections ever held in the U.S., this is the one most in jeopardy. It relies more on honesty than ever before and honesty is one thing that we are fresh out of in politics. I think that I mentioned the fact in another article that these machines were used in some places before and pole watchers were allowed to take them home overnight in some places. They took a machine home that could be tampered with, without a trace, in about 5 minutes and made to show any result wanted. This was also demonstrated on the tv show.

Never mind all these useless bills that are passed every day, the congress and presidency has become the playground for lobbyists Just look at the way things really are. It has been reported that Jack Abramoff, one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, made tons of visits to the White House. Who here thinks that he was visiting the janitor? We all know where he was going. He had an open door He would charge people and then take them to meet the president. This gave him funds to use on top of the lobbying funds he had, making him very powerful indeed. Money talks and he had the biggest pile available. So what am I getting at? I am saying that we have to do away with lobbyists It is very clear that anyone taking money to perform a duty, that is on the government payroll, should go to jail, why are congressmen so special? They are special because they have made themselves special by passing laws that cater to themselves. A member of congress has just to go to a military hospital and receive free medical care. This is a benefit that many vets LOST. A means test was imposed on vets about three years ago and if a single vet makes more that about $44,000 they have lost their medical benefits if they hadn't served in a war zone, no matter how long they were in the service. For a married vet the salary is only slightly higher, about $49,000 per year costs you your veteran's medical benefits. The congress was quick enough to cut off vets, but never, for a second, thought of cutting off congressmen who's total salaries are several times those of the average veteran.

Have you noticed what is going on lately. It seems that many of the laws that were written to prevent monopolies and price fixing seem to be ignored. I can't help but notice that on some channels of my tv, the commercials are twice as loud as the normal program I am watching. This never would have been allowed 8 or 9 years ago. I am not sure, but I think there is a law against it, but maybe it was changed, who knows? Why is it that gas prices are now under $2.00 per gallon in some places? Is it just a coincidence that election day is nearing? Do the powerful ones think that we are so stupid that lower prices, which are still too high by the way, will make us forget everything and vote for the incumbents? We have a real problem here folks, we are supposed to have a two party system. This would indicate, by it's very nature, that if one side was doing something that the other side didn't like, they would oppose it, yet the opposition is missing in many areas. If it wasn't for the scandals rocking the Republicans, about the only discernable difference is the opinion on the war raging in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is another thing that has to be changed, no troops should be sent into a foreign country without a vote of congress, our military shouldn't be the president's personal troops! Circumventing the law by saying this is not a war is just a slap in the face to every American.

Will we find out someday that different corporations were interested in keeping the conflicts going for as long as they could because they were making big bucks? They are and that could be a very real possibility. This administration seems to lean more toward corporations than any other in the past. Think about it, we have a vice president that was the head of a corporation that seems to be receiving huge contracts from the government, some of which are no bid and which has been involved in overcharging by billions of dollars and still receives government business. Does this seem strange to you? If you answered no, you can skip the rest of this article, just kidding. This just proves my point, no one in government cares what we think. The world is being turned upside down, at least our world. Look at those two poor U.S. border guards who just received over 11 years each as a jail sentence. What was their crime? You will never believe this, they caught a drug smuggler trying to bring 750 pounds of drugs over the border. They thought he was pulling a gun and shot at him. He fled back over the Mexican border. So what did they do wrong? The never reported the shooting because they thought that they missed him and didn't want to have to do the extra paper work. This is an administrative infraction at best, but the federal attorney decided they might be able to convict federal agents and this would put a big feather in her cap. So what happens next, the federal government finds the drug smuggler, gives him amnesty to testify against the border guards and charges them with causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of firearm in relation to a crime and civil rights violations. Three jurors sent a note to the judge saying that they were coerced into voting guilty, but the judge chose to ignore this. What the hell is going on? This case is a disgrace of the worst kind and everyone involved should be investigated.

State governments and county governments are just as bad. I just saw where a county executives's wife was caught stealing and then got promoted. This all has to change if we want to be a great country again. We talk about other countries and the way that they are run, but it is time to get our house in order. One newscaster suggested that now was the time to vote out ALL incumbents. He claimed that this would give us a new start and send a message that, if you don't do the job that you were elected to do, you are gone. I think that this might be a good first step, but laws have to change. Hey, there is just too much money floating around Washington. Will historians say of us that America is no longer a world power because they got too decadent and went the way of Rome? Rome was a mighty power that ruled much of the world for hundreds of years but gradually became so corrupt that it could no longer protect itself.

As far as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan., yes they are wars, you can't tell me that a country that had millions of soldiers, some of which were considered elite, can not assemble a national defense force that works. The real reason for this is that they don't want to. Each group is afraid that the other will get more power than them. Iran has won this war and we have lost. Oh, we can sit in Iraq for the next 100 years, but the second we get out, the country will become just like Iran and the same is true for Afghanistan. What has really happened here is that we have lost a good portion of the middle east and by keeping our troops there it is felt that the American public won't notice this. That is the real reason we are still there, along with the money being made on government contracts. Can we ever get out of Iraq gracefully and leave a strong country behind? NO, there are just too many people that have entered the country and stirred up discontent. Also, the longer we stay, the more people hate us because we get blamed for more civilian deaths, rightly or wrongly. I could go into the facts that some of our soldiers didn't have the proper protective vests and when friends and relatives sent them some, they were told that they would be court marshalled if caught wearing them, or what about the improperly armored vehicles that they were sent out in? Something is seriously wrong here folks.

Why has our deficit gone from 20 Trillion dollars to 43 Trillion dollars in the last few years? We are getting to the point of collapse in this country. No one cares. The feeling is that no country would dare say that our money was now worthless. Hey it has been worthless for years, but it just keeps going. As other countries become more and more powerful and rich, we are in ever more danger of becoming officially bankrupt. We must stop this massive spending. The common people certainly aren't getting any of the increased spending, that is for sure. Cuts in social programs sure prove that. The thought in Washington is, why help the average person, they can do anything for me and they can't stop anything I do either. Well unfortunately we can't stop the bleeding or the spending unless we vote out the culprits.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that we MUST vote on election day and we must vote against anyone supporting the war, anyone who has been involved in any of the scandals, and anyone who is heavily involved with those lobbyists. In most cases this might mean voting for a newcomer, so be it. Once the election has taken place, the people have to push for an investigation, not only of the war, but the scandals and move to rid the congress of anyone who knew of and did nothing or took a part in any illegal action. Lastly we have to then push for new laws that would make sweeping changes in the president's power to send troops overseas and congresses' ability to accept presents or even campaign contributions from lobbyists., as a matter of fact, lets do away with them all together. Once all this is done, we will be on our way to better government. Oh yeah, lets also get rid of those computer voting machines so we can have clean elections without any questions.