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DemocratsI think Mr Hawes brings up a very valid point: Healthcare Reform is tied to the Democrats and they are far from an organized political party. You will never see "ALL" Democrats marching in lockstep to vote as a block on any issue you could ever think of. If you proposed a bill that recognized Grandma's Apple Pie as an all American treat, some Democrats, somewhere, would vote against it. Not because the party is an amalgamation of misfits but because the Democratic Party is the party of inclusion as opposed to exclusion. Democrats are black, red, white, oriental, rich, poor, straight, gay, yuppie, hyppie, conservative, liberal, old, young, all religions, etc, etc. I have said before that Democrats like Bayh are more Republican in their Conservatism than Democrat. Some Democrats are against war, others are Hawks. I can't remember any Republican proposed bill that did not garner at the least a few Democrat votes. See Democrats think and act independantly, even the party leadership cannot tell them what they will do. Many House votes on Democrat proposed bills, however, never recieved even one Republican vote. If you watched the Conventions you couldn't have helped but notice, as did many of the tv reporters who covered them, that at the Democratic Convention you saw people of all ethnic origins and lifestyles where the same could not be said for the Republicans. Mr Hawes is exactly right that the Democrats need to get their act together because people will associate healthcare reform with the Democrats and vote accordingly. But they won't "march in locked step" because Democrats are too free, too open in their beliefs, and too American to not vote their diversified minds. The Democrat Party is the party of the minutemen (the tinker, the farmer, the business owner, the tailor, the backwoods man, etc) and they will forever speak their true minds.
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I concur
Its apparent that over the last decade and half plus, Congress has done nothing. There has been no leadership on either side of the aisle in either house. There has been no leadership or guidance from the executive branch either. It seems since 9/11 that our government has been all consumed in protecting America and has dropped the ball on all things domestic. Both sides continue to fight, bicker and lay blame. Real reform lies with the John Q. Public, not with Congress and the executive branch. Real Change lies with the voters. As long as we keep sending the same individuals back to Washington D.C. to represent us, the less of a chance of any type of reform can occur. The only way we can expect real reform and real change is by electing new representation. Send people to Washington that will represent the people and not big business, special interest groups and political action committees (PAC's). Also instead of amending the Constitution to ban same sex marriage, amend the Constitution to put term limits on members of Congress. Also, and this needs to be done at all levels of government, if the peoples business is not done, such as balanced budgets, then all statesmen/women will not be paid until the peoples business is done. Until we have statemen/women that are by the people for the people there never be real change or reform in our government.
James Delp
jdelp02@verizon.net
www.myspace.com/rich1121
WELL SAID!
WELL SAID! You hit the nail right on the head. When we continue to send the same people to office time and time again and they keep reappointing their political friends who help to get them elected, you get the same results. That is where we are today and it is about time the "silent majority" wake-up and get this country headed in the right direction.
as I have always said
as I have always said, make congress an elected office and not a lifetime appointment. we have officials in there with 1960's mindset and no clue whats going on in the present. why should they change? if your team keeps losing...get another coach.
Intent of the Founding Fathers
Our founding Fathers did not intend on members of Congress being a lifetime job. We have members of Congress who have been there forever. Kennedy had been there since he was 28, Byrd is 91, when you look over Congress during congressional assemblies do you see youth? No. You see a group of old men and women who are out of touch with the people they represent. They only people they are in touch with are the people that line their pockets with money. There was an article on Rep Steve Buyer in the Indianpolis Star the other day about all the money he is raising for his foundation for scholarships. A lot is coming in and not much is going out. He is spending a lot of it on travel expenses trying to raise more money. In his defense he says that he is trying to raise a $1 million so the foundation can be self funding. Most of the people on his staff that run the foundation are related or part of his inner circle. Talk about nepotism. Richard Luger has been a senator for as long as I can remember and Bayh is following his foot steps. There are districts in this state that seem to follow one political party and this leads to no change, no reform, no new ideas and we complain that government has become stagnant, lazy, a brick wall. The only way we can change government at all levels is to vote new people to office that have fresh ideas. That see the big picture outside the office the incumbent holds. That hasn't been influenced by PAC's, lobbist, and other special interest groups. People who are more interested in doing the job we elected them to, instead of just trying to keep the job we elected them too. My former father-in-law who was in local politics once told me, "I've never seen a person who went to Washington a man that lived within his means, that didn't come home a rich man."
There is a line in The Declaration of Independence that says, "That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government,"
I would have to say that our government has become destructive. That our government has become to large to manage. We have to many government agencies that are causinig more taxation without representation. Prime example is the EPA telling cities and towns that they have to upgrade or install new sewage systems or risk economic growth. This is essentially blackmail by our government.
If we want real change, real reform, then we must elect new people to represent the people and not those that have their own agenda.
James Delp
james_delp901@comcast.net
www.myspace.com/rich1121
well put James
well put James, also, unfortunately, our voting process has deteriorated. the power of the vote does not belong to the people any more. it is too controlled by heads of state, who are clueless to the desires and needs of the masses and frankly, don't care. democracy has taken a backwards spin in the US. i don't like to throw around words like 'dictatorship', but, honestly, when DO we get what WE vote for? it has come to "vote however you like...but in the end, we will decide for you". hence the old saying "don't piss down my back then tell me it's raining". don't tell us to vote for our president, then put the one the people voted against in office anyway, as happened with Bush. The leasing of the Toll road, i have never spoken with anyone who thought this was a sound idea..but Daniels did it anyway, the population pretty well hated him for it, and oddly enough, he gets re-elected.
Some excellent dialogue
Some excellent dialogue on this subject matter. Our supposed right to vote is nothing more than an exercise in futility. Why, when elected officials fail to follow the will of their constituents do we have to allow this individual to remain in office until the next election? Based on what is very evident today, you have to hope someone will run against the incumbent that has enough money to "buy this seat." Our government is no longer grassroots. We are being run by a large, private congressional corporation with the President (regardless of politics) serving as the CEO. The Supreme Court does nothing more than to keep this "corporation" from self-destructing much to our dismay.
Not only should there be term limits, but politicians should be required to sign some form of contract so that when they make promises that end up being the exact opposite, we can boot them out of office. As it stands right now, they are truly accountable to no one but the political party they are affiliated with. It's not about being a republican or democrat - its about doing the right things that serve to benefit the majority of our citizens. That my friends has been lost by our government.