congress
What About Mono-tasking?
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | Healthcare, Politics | 1 Comment
I know that the new way of doing things is to multi-task but there are things that might better be done with a laser focus. One of those things that should have been mono-tasked is President Obama’s healthcare inititiative.
Instead of going to try to get the Olympics, or going across the country trying to get the birther vote, he should be concentrating on the votes that count. President Obama is a Constitutional lawyer he should know that the votes that count are the ones that will give him the sixty votes.
The Democrats seem to have forgotten that they won the election. They also seem to have forgotten that the people elected them to get things done. If they don’t get things done, they may not get re-elected.
If President Obama got the healthcare with a public option that he and the majority of Americans want, then he could be in a better position to help those Congressmen and women that need to be re-elected. He should be concentrating on those people to get their vote.
He should forget about pleasing the Republicans and remember what he said after his Presidential win: that he is the President of all the United States. While the public option may not please everyone, it will please the majority and that’s what our laws require.
Speaking of what our law requires. why don’t we do away with the filabuster option in the Senate? The House has done away with it and I think that the Senate should too. The filabuster makes it almost necessary to get a two thirds vote which should be reserved for Amendments.
P.S. Today is my daughter’s birthday. Every day, but particularly at her birthday, I am reminded I may never create a breathtaking sunset or a Mona Lisa but having a part in creating this Awesome human being makes me thankful to God, and Da Vinci jealous.
P.P.S. Happy Birthday!!! Anjanette Love Dad
Maybe We Should Try Democracy?
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
Most people think that what we were told in school is true. We are told that we live in a democracy but in truth we live in a representative democracy. How does this change things? Well, in a democracy the majority rules, everyone is pushing for the law to benefit themselves, and the amount of cash they have has no influence on the vote.
In a representative democracy the representatives rule, normally with the rich minority in mind. The representatives have only their job on their mind not the law or your benefit. The only reason that they pay any attention to the rich minority is because they need to get reelected and that costs money.
When the founding fathers came up with the idea of a representative democracy it was a good idea. The majority of our populace was not well educated and so it made sense that the rich, who were, should make decisions for the majority Our country has progessed since then to the point that the majority is well educated enough to make decisions about their welfare.
What I am suggesting is that we change from the representative democracy to a pure democracy. You could set it up sort of like the voting on American Idol, after all, more people vote for American Idol then for our President. Wouldn’t that mean that we would be subject to voter fraud? Well we could always get someone like Richard Daley or even our Supreme Court to oversee the election. We know that fraud could never happen on their watch.
I know that you are probably thinking that this would lead to chaos and perhaps it would. We would no longer send jobs overseas because we would realize that the extra money in wages we would be getting from the closing of the rich’s tax loopholes would make us realize that buying even America’s worst products is still keeping money in America. It would make it almost impossible for lobbyist to do their job which could lead to universal healthcare, gun control, or even not jumping into senseless wars. Total chaos!
Warren
P.S. There are now Congressmen who want to pass a bill to make it mandatory for the President to prove that he meets the qualifications to be President. Ordinarily I would think that they had gone too far but in this case I don’t think they have gone far enough. We should make it mandatory for all public officials. Does that mean that many hours would be wasted by the Congress in following the law? Not as many as they are wasting now.
Stop the Torture
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Politics | 1 Comment
America now has a new policy of not torturing . Actually we had the policy we just didn’t enforce it. The question is what are we going to do about it?
On the one hand, President Obama has more than one thing on his plate right now. The economy might be more important then the torture debate right now. I agree that his focus should be on the economy but doesn’t he know how to delegate? The Attorney General should show some initiative and start prosecuting. President Obama has been described as a Constitutional lawyer so I’m sure he can decipher what constitutes torture.
I may be expecting too much to say that the Congress also knows what torture is. Whether the Speaker of the House knew about it or not we deserve to know if people were tortured. I have no doubt that we did waterboard certain prisoners and that creates a problem. The enemy will use that to justify bringing in a destructive device that will harm Americans that aren’t even aware of why they are dying.
If we want to be a moral country we have to stand up and force our representatives to do what is right and stop the torture.
Too Much, Too Late
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 | Economics, Politics | No Comments
Another person called me today and told me the bad news. He works in the construction industry and hasn’t worked for three months. Another friend works at Circuit City and though he is still working he isn’t putting much in his retirement account. I’d love to think that like some B movie western, the cavalry is on the way but I fear the horses might be dead.
The experts are predicting that the unemployment rate will reach eleven percent by the third or fourth quarter (sounds like a hell of a Christmas present). Yet the Congressional Republicans are still fighting with the President on his stimulus bill.
Some of them argue that the bill will take too long to actually stimulate the economy, others say they want more tax cuts but those of us who don’t have secure government jobs for the next two, four, or six years just want action.
I can’t help but think that the business of politics should change it’s name to show business because all of these politicans seem to be posturing for the next election. Okay, we get it, Republicans are the tax reducers and Democrats spend like there is no tomorrow.( which the way things are going my not be a slogan but a prophecy) On second thought, the way they are arguing maybe that should be No Show Business. When Sean Penn expresses his opinion on a government action we don’t have to listen. When Congress and the President express theirs, we better listen.
I realize that nobody in government wants to make a mistake that would cost them their next election but now is the time for action. If you make a mistake try something different. The American people are forgiving if you make a mistake cause at least you tried something.
Imagine two doctors at the scene of an accident; doctor one waits for the injured to get to the hospital and doctor two treats the wounded on the spot. If one of the injured dies while doc two is treating him we would be more forgiving then if doc one’s patient dies in the operating room. It is better for the economy to have a little now then to die with too much , too late