Saturday, December 24, 2011

Continuation of my comments on Congress from a few days ago.

As Mark Twain once said, "America is a nation without a distinct criminal class - with the possible exception of Congress."

And it is worse now than it was then!

"All men are created equal." - unless they are Congressmen.

"Do as I say, not as I do." was probably first said by a Congressman.

For example : -
The IRS reports the non-payment of taxes by 7.5% of Senators and 8.4% of Representatives.
39 Senators and 178 Representatives have criminal records.

We have in Congress a disturbing group of elected officials who routinely avoid paying their debts, write bad checks, abuse their spouses, assault people, and openly violate the law.

Recently; -
29 Members of Congress accused of spousal abuse.
3 arrested for fraud.
19 wrote bad checks.
117 bankrupted at least 2 businesses.
3 arrested for fraud.
71 have credit so bad they don't qualify for credit cards.
14 arrested on drug charges.
8 arrested for shoplifting.
21 are defendants in lawsuits.
84 stopped for drunk driving.

In a typical year 3,000 parking tickets are issued to Members of Congress. None are paid. Also as many as a hundred are stopped for drunk diving. "Some are so drunk they can't remember their names." said one police officer. But they cannot be charged. Why? because by law they cannot be charged.

These are the same people that make our laws. Notice that they have different laws for themselves.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

What is important in politics?

Apparently to many it is not The Economy - how to turn it around, how to Balance the Budget, whether to Cut or Increase Taxes, how to reduce Unemployment, fix our failing roads, bridges and airports, make College and University affordable for our best and brightest, or even the Pledge of Allegiance. No it is none of things, not one of them gets even a mention in the list of 14 things that the Evangelical group Family Leader wants the Republican candidates to sign.

Instead our politicians are told to sign a list of things that include denouncing same sex marriage, Sharia law and adultery. If they don't sign they will not be endorsed.

Other parts of the pledge include "Robust Reproduction", forswearing adultery, defining marriage as between a man and a woman, men and women in the military must not sleep under the same roof, candidates must agree to uphold the First Amendment (the right of free speech) - apparently the rest of the Bill of Rights doesn't count?

So there is nothing in there asking the candidates to pledge help to any citizens suffering in today's economy. No mention of forgiveness. Nothing at all to help the economy recover. Apparently all that matters in the USA today is a bunch of stuff about gays and marriage.

Sign, or else.

I seem to remember something about a lot of people coming here to escape religious persecution! Where are those people going to have to go now? The Moon? Mars? Certainly Religious Persecution is raising its ugly head now here in the United States of America.

What is important in politics?

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Corruption.

When most of us think of corruption we almost certainly think of the leaders of countries in Africa, like Zimbabwe, or the Middle East, like Iran, or even such diverse countries as Venezuela or Uzbeckistan or Pakistan or Haiti. Plenty of corrution there and elsewhere. In fact on a scale of 1 to 10 half of the countries in the world rate a 5 or less. Well they would wouldn't they!

Of 180 countries the USA rates a surprising 24th (#1 is the least corrupt, and # 180 the most corrupt.) Surprising to me anyway, as I would rate the USA as MUCH more corrupt. Even as one of the most corrupt contries in the world!

I can imagine the indignation! How could I possibly rate the USA as corrupt, compared to countries where, "under the table" bribes are "normal".

Well here is my reasoning: -

Congress, that is the Senate and The House of Representatives, don't just take bribes like politicians do in many, if not most, countries of the world. They actually voted to make it legal! Yes they drafted and voted in laws that make it legal for them to take bribes. It is called Lobbying. Lobbyists bribe members of Congress, give them money or goods, to do their bidding.

How corrupt is that?

At least in most countries that take bribes, they do it "Honestly", by taking cash "Under the Table." In the USA they do it "Honestly" by making it legal! That to me is MORE corrupt.

The Health Industry for example spends One Million Dollars a DAY to bribe Congress to do what they - the Health Industry want. And it is not just the Health Industry. There is Big Oil, Big Business, Big Agriculture, Big Banks, Wall Street and countless others that spend millions of dollars to bribe Congress to do their bidding.

These Mega Crooks in Congress are so blatant in their criminality that they didn't even stop there. They also voted to give themselves a 100% pension every year for the rest of their lives after just one term in office. (Wouldn't you like to get a 100% pension for life after working at your job for just a couple of years? I'm sure you would!) And they receive free Health Insurance for life too. Not just the pitiful Insurance that we, the rabble, get. Oh no, they get a real good one. And they don't even pay for it! We do. Yep, they gave us that privilege too - to pay for not only our own Health Insurance but theirs too.

That is why I say that the USA is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. But maybe I should have just said that the Congress of the USA is.

Sobriety, wisdom and judgement - really?

A recent article in a newspaper credited Mitt Romney with Sobriety, Wisdom and Judgement.

Using MY good judgement I have considered each one of these verdicts and come to my own opinions. These are : -

Sobriety - I give him a 'good' on this as I have not heard otherwise from any authorities, and I am sure that if he committed any improprieties while "Under the influence" we would have heard about them.

Wisdom - a sound 'F' on all counts here. His failure on ANY showing of Wisdom is awesomely apparent every day! Just watch any news program (except Fox "news") or read almost any newspaper to learn of his latest inconsistency, extravagance or non-sensical half baked idea.

Judgement - here I must question the judgement of anyone who would say that he has judgement! I can't think of a single instance when he has shown any sign of good judgement. Can you?

I await your answer with bated breath.