The Senate is quickly approaching the end of the current spending authority. Our elected representatives must quickly agree on a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
That's One of the Headlines you probably missed.
Along with many others like New York State senator Espada has been charged with embezzling money from a nonprofit organization.
Important stories about YOUR government and representatives and the top story on the news:
Michael Vick wants a dog.
The American People need to take personal responsibility for the lame duck congress. Their complete "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" state is ruining the Government. Citizens NEED to pay attention to the major political issues. Otherwise, our legislature will not be so much of a representative body as much as an Oligarchy. And that's on the people who are not willing to elect those officials who will do what is right for the country rather than their party.
Then and only then can we pass simple bills like giving 9/11 responders health coverage, let alone figure out how to spend a trillion dollars.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Perception
As expected, Obama's compromise with the GOP leaders is causing major fallout throughout the country. People either praise him or condemn him for his decision. For the decision, I praise him. The lame duck congress needed to progress on other issues and certainly without his intervention the tax cuts would have expired. It was ultimately a game of chicken that the two major political parties were playing and Obama conceded first, and rightly so. Politics is currently a game, when it should be simply about identifying the best One line that irks me is that Obama is "disloyal" to the Democratic party. It is this very kind of attachment to a major political party that interferes with progressive diplomacy.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Taking Charge
Yesterday, President Obama announced an agreement with the GOP to extend the Bush-era tax cuts. Most citizens will simply gather the importance of the extended income tax cuts for all Americans, renewed jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, and the grant of a one-year reduction in Social Security Taxes. The announcement came amidst virtual ubiquitous democratic uproar. Many democratic party members now view the head of the executive branch as a traitor to the cause while many republican party members will consider his announcement a surrender to their cause. One party celebrating victory over an evil enemy. One party in shock and awe over the failure of their beloved. In this epic worthy of Homer, the true victory goes unnoticed.
President Obama, the hidden protagonist, sacrificed what little good graces of the public he still clung to, and most likely any hope of reelection, in order to facilitate the legislative process. It is not only possible, but probable that had the executive branch not intervened, the Bush-era tax cuts would have expired. Without the extension, the economy would have most likely had a relapse of the recession due to the sudden loss of consumer spending in the financial markets. My point being that President Obama certainly made the less popular choice in the interest of the stability of the nation. Those intelligent enough to look past the headlines and slander will see a man who stood up for the best interest of the nation, despite the obvious political fallout. While I do not agree with many of his ideals, I do support President Obama in principle. The entire nation would be much better off if every branch of our government were filled with men such as President Obama. Men who put the country before their political careers. That is what America needs now more than ever if we are to survive the next century as a dominant world power.
President Obama, the hidden protagonist, sacrificed what little good graces of the public he still clung to, and most likely any hope of reelection, in order to facilitate the legislative process. It is not only possible, but probable that had the executive branch not intervened, the Bush-era tax cuts would have expired. Without the extension, the economy would have most likely had a relapse of the recession due to the sudden loss of consumer spending in the financial markets. My point being that President Obama certainly made the less popular choice in the interest of the stability of the nation. Those intelligent enough to look past the headlines and slander will see a man who stood up for the best interest of the nation, despite the obvious political fallout. While I do not agree with many of his ideals, I do support President Obama in principle. The entire nation would be much better off if every branch of our government were filled with men such as President Obama. Men who put the country before their political careers. That is what America needs now more than ever if we are to survive the next century as a dominant world power.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Following the Leader
Too many members of the major political parties simply follow their leadership and, in return, take reputation from their respective parties. Many more members need to break from the stiff bipartisan decisions and act as a literal proxy to their people. It is acceptable to align as a Republican or Democrat based upon which party contains similar views. It is, however, not acceptable when elected officials begin allowing that status influence their political power.
Appealing to the General Masses
Congress has had a recent chain of bills that have been passed simply for obtaining the public favor. The most notably of these being the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) and the CALM Act (S. 2847). For those citizens who are unaware (which is highly unlikely because these two now-laws have been given specific extensive media coverage to create the illusion of a productive congress):
The FFDCA amendment is not only a poor attempt at bribing the voters, it also hurts many businesses within the food service industry by mandating uneeded recalls. Imagine, if you will, two chicken companies, Company A and Company B. These companies are competitors, but never in their stages of production do the two share a same process. Both companies receive feed from separate farms, rear the chickens at different location, and process them at different facilities. Now imagine that chicken from company A was tainted with E. Coli. Under the new amendment, the secretary issues a full recall on both Companies A and B until a full investigation can be completed. After the full investigation of Company A's stages of production, it was shown that the initial crop of feed was tainted. Now most FDA investigations such as this will take days, if not weeks to conduct. During that time, perhaps Company B lost revenue equal to that of 100 employees and must now lay off 100 workers. Not only will those 100 persons be out of a job, but add into that the economic multiplier effect concerning the loss of income for an economic effect of approximately 500 people out of work. Now multiply that times the number of possible chicken companies in the same situation, like companies C, D, etc. The numbers really start to add up when, in the first place, the Company B could have been identified as having no relations to Company A in the stages of production, and left without recall. Essentially, all this amendment does is provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services to punish every company within a field for a single company's error or bad luck. In this time of economic instability, punishment for someone else's actions is the last thing needed.
Concerning the CALM act, there are two issues to be heard here: The first is that the bill has been given extensive media coverage at the influence of the Two Major Political Parties. The story has been ubiquitous during the past week as congress gives the people what they want. If what the people want is the fleeting thought in their minds during shows that "This commercial is rather loud and distracting", then this author plans on emigrating. It is, however, my opinion that Americans are more intelligent than that, and that Congress is simply playing and easy win by passing a bill that only an older person with a hearing aid would reject. The second issue is that the bill has been in the process of becoming law since December 8, 2009. (Bill S. 2847) This means that an elected official (and most likely many elected official's aids) have been diligently working on the passing of this bill for an entire year all while being paid with American tax dollars. It is absurd that so much time and money be spent on a remedial topic, and I am certain that when inquired about the important issues of the time, no citizen in their right mind would comment that they thought television commercials were a bit too loud.
- The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate food, including the authorization of the Secretary to suspend the registration of a food facility.
- The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act) was passed in order to restrict broadcast commercials to a specific decibel.
The FFDCA amendment is not only a poor attempt at bribing the voters, it also hurts many businesses within the food service industry by mandating uneeded recalls. Imagine, if you will, two chicken companies, Company A and Company B. These companies are competitors, but never in their stages of production do the two share a same process. Both companies receive feed from separate farms, rear the chickens at different location, and process them at different facilities. Now imagine that chicken from company A was tainted with E. Coli. Under the new amendment, the secretary issues a full recall on both Companies A and B until a full investigation can be completed. After the full investigation of Company A's stages of production, it was shown that the initial crop of feed was tainted. Now most FDA investigations such as this will take days, if not weeks to conduct. During that time, perhaps Company B lost revenue equal to that of 100 employees and must now lay off 100 workers. Not only will those 100 persons be out of a job, but add into that the economic multiplier effect concerning the loss of income for an economic effect of approximately 500 people out of work. Now multiply that times the number of possible chicken companies in the same situation, like companies C, D, etc. The numbers really start to add up when, in the first place, the Company B could have been identified as having no relations to Company A in the stages of production, and left without recall. Essentially, all this amendment does is provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services to punish every company within a field for a single company's error or bad luck. In this time of economic instability, punishment for someone else's actions is the last thing needed.
Concerning the CALM act, there are two issues to be heard here: The first is that the bill has been given extensive media coverage at the influence of the Two Major Political Parties. The story has been ubiquitous during the past week as congress gives the people what they want. If what the people want is the fleeting thought in their minds during shows that "This commercial is rather loud and distracting", then this author plans on emigrating. It is, however, my opinion that Americans are more intelligent than that, and that Congress is simply playing and easy win by passing a bill that only an older person with a hearing aid would reject. The second issue is that the bill has been in the process of becoming law since December 8, 2009. (Bill S. 2847) This means that an elected official (and most likely many elected official's aids) have been diligently working on the passing of this bill for an entire year all while being paid with American tax dollars. It is absurd that so much time and money be spent on a remedial topic, and I am certain that when inquired about the important issues of the time, no citizen in their right mind would comment that they thought television commercials were a bit too loud.
Congressional Transparency
Taking action is the first step towards a productive legislative system. I urge you to do your part by signing this petition: earmarkdata.org. The petition calls for a database system to be created in which all earmarks can be researched, obtained, and understood by the very people who are supposedly being represented in the voting on said earmarks and bills. Currently, no such system exists so that a common citizen may formulate an opinion on the earmarks that their elected representatives vote upon. A good example is that Senator Durbin of Illinois puts his earmark disclosures out as scanned PDFs. (see here) Most notably, he doesn’t even include the addresses of his earmark recipients, as The WashingtonWatch Blog pointed out.
Let us reintroduce transparency to the Legislative system that has been muddied by political interests.
Let us reintroduce transparency to the Legislative system that has been muddied by political interests.
le retour
It is a law of the universe, that each action necessitates an equal but opposite reaction. All actions must have a stimulus. Such is true for this. I have silently remained witness to the absurdity of our Nation's current legislative powers, as have many others. It is only within the contemporary window, however, that the amount of insanity within Congress has become too much to bear with sealed lips and internal condemnation. It is the civil duty of the elected representatives within the legislative system to do just that: Represent. They are to be proxy to the will of their voters, not the will of a political party. It is a role that has been neglected for far too long in the interest of political agendas. Their insubordination to the very foundation of this great Nation cannot go without reprimand. And thus the cause clearly shown, and Revolution is the reaction. It is my hope that I am the first of many to call for a more purposeful legislative branch. There was a time in which political office was not considered the honor that it is today, but rather, it was a public service. There was a time in which our elected officials were concerned with making the right choices for the people, rather than for maintaining political power. There was a time in which our legislative branch carried out the duties assigned to it without concern of political party power. I call for a return to such a time. I call for a return of purpose to the legislative system.
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