Focus on the OTHER Tea Party

The OTHER Tea Party

You know people, it is long past time for a reset in this country. We need to drastically overhaul government and my belief is that most of us understand what we need to accomplish: control government spending and make politicians more accountable, all of which will virtually eliminate corruption. Then we just reform the way we elect politicians and how their campaigns are run, how they're financed and how they're recognized. Are we really going to look to the people who profit from this catastrophe and expect them to rush to fix it?

People, it is up to us.

We could get extreme. We could demand that all politicians be fired tomorrow and all new politicians will be elected; no one having ever been elected to public office shall be eligible. That would be a bit too extreme for my liking but I would be willing to discuss it and try to find the middle ground--where the majority of us are and settle on a reasonable compromise if I cannot convince the majority of intelligent, fair-minded people of my favored position in a civil discussion. Is that really so hard, people?

We are the People! Why are we not telling government how it needs to operate, rather than the other way around? With all this talk of "What do we cut, money for national defense or money for hungry children?" we have never stopped to consider that perhaps Congressional salaries, benefits and budgets should be examined! I know we can trim a lot of  that fat and we'd be much better for it. Not only will it help reduce the budget deficit and the national debt, but paying lower salaries to members of Congress--with fewer perks--will attract a different breed of public servant. You know, like teachers and fire-fighters and cops, many of whom do a difficult job extremely well. I'll admit it--even some of the cops. And those people do it for the right reasons. Can't we find some of those people? That don't want to get rich or be famous or be glamorous, but just do the right thing and try to make a positive difference? These people exist, I'm sure of it. But we cast out with the bait to lure snakes, eels and sucker fish.

Who Has the Power?

The ideals of eliminating corruption and wasteful spending should be universal. Are they not? So why can't we figure out a way to make government conform to them? It seems to me that we are too busy fighting with each other, trying to convince others and ourselves that people on the opposite end of the political spectrum are morons. Do you know what that's about, people? It's about television putting on the most extreme and outrageous people they can find and giving them all the air time so they can get good ratings. Those views that everybody hears from their favorite celebrity television personality are not really the concerns of the average American. Just like Congressional salaries, those issues are never discussed. The people on your TV are in the minority and they serve the interests of the minority. That minority that has all the wealth. But we have the power in this country. We are half of the balance. We need to be the counterweight to that wealth that they are glad to spend on political influence. And what happens when a scale in balance has one of its weights removed? We are experiencing it right now. We need to do our job! They're well-funded, determined and organized. We're over-fed, boozed up and apathetic. Is there any question of why we lost round 1?

And while the conservatives call the liberals "lib-tards" and the liberals call the conservatives "republicunts", nobody is bothering to break up Washington DC's little tea party. They've got a pretty sweet thing going and we think that they are going to clean it all up? Are we confused? We have to take charge of that initiative. We have to flex our power by the majority of us coming together to salvage what's left of our democracy. The good news is: we can make it even better than it was. (If we are open-minded) we now have more experience and a historical record on which to determine which government  constructs were wise and which were unwise. We can see where the system broke down and corruption was allowed to penetrate. It's just going to take the majority of us: the intelligent, rational, committed and determined people that I believe we are, to make our demands of government and get them implemented immediately. I'll get the ball rolling:

I would like to propose that elected officials should no longer be able to trade stocks from the night of their election until the day they leave office. We could even go more extreme with that and make it from the time they declare that they are running for office until their last day of service. I believe that there are a lot of Americans who would gladly make that sacrifice for the opportunity to serve their country. Where does the majority of the people stand on this issue?

Now you. Please leave a comment about where you stand on limiting Congress' stock trades while serving, and/or come up with your own proposal that you would like to have the majority of us adopt and demand that government implement.

**cynical me, I already have a feeling about which way this would most likely turn...**

~R. Charan Pagan
information systems technologist, musician, writer, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA 90017
http://www.reclaimingourbirthright.blogspot.com/