General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe cause of my sadness this evening
According to our constitution that establishes our representative form of government, our Congress has three primary, operational jobs. It is Article One. First, they are to pass authorization bills that define the scope of our government. Second, they are to pass appropriation bills to fund the scope that they have authorized. Third, they are to perform oversight functions to ensure that the scope authorized and funded has been carried out.
Thats it. That is the largest part of their whole reason for the existence of Congress and their accepting a salary and having a staff. Yes, the details are complex, I understand that, but the general overview is not. We have 535 members of the United States Congress. Why will they NOT do their damn job? And, far more importantly, why do we, their employers, accept this as the status quo? When was the last time that they passed a budget, their most basic responsibility? Why would you do anything else on your job when you haven't fulfilled your most primary responsibility?
Far too many members of Congress are lazy, go-for-nothing, power-hungry slobs in expensive suits who ought to be fired for not fulfilling the simplest duties of their jobs. If I didnt do the basics of my job, I would be fired. Period. End of discussion. So would you. So would another hundred million Americans. How is it that they, our elected officials get to scam and rob and screw the American people with impunity and then, on top of it, get a generous salary for doing so? It is revolting.
I love America. I love what it is supposed to stand for in the world. I love what it represents within the long pageant of human history. But what we have now is broken. I am unsure that it can be fixed. That makes be terribly, terribly sad.
MontanaMama
(23,322 posts)All of this. Thank you.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,635 posts)Your clear thinking strikes a chord in me.
Again, thank you.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Response to democratisphere (Reply #4)
Name removed Message auto-removed
jazzcat23
(176 posts)we can fire all of them this year! Get yourself and your people together and fight them! I just heard that they decided to give themselves another raise...didn't hear it myself, but from someone else. They can't live on 175K a year right? But we are supposed to do just fine on 24K a year? Or 50K a year? They have to go this time for sure!!!!
KPN
(15,646 posts)Who will lead us out of this mess? Will that kind of leadership happen, or must we experience another world war and cataclysmic genocide before we finally come to our senses?
ps -- We can't count on Mueller. The present illegitimate government is gaining stronger toe-holds by the day. It started with purging agency records and reports that conflicted with their views of the world and issues, purging of top level federal employees, and demonization of any media that runs counter to their "story". Our present illegitimate government, the Trump regime is now placing political advertisements on TV to maximize their "story" and further divide the people. The regime has been and is stacking the courts with crony ideologues and loyalists. Their power to control all the levers is growing by the day. Mueller's investigation may not be able to withstand all of that. It may be only us, the people, who can right this ship ... but when will we realize and act on that -- before or after a world war?
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)1. Trump is working to turn the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the Presidential Bureau of Investigation.
2. Trump and the GOP are working to discredit and/or terminate the Mueller investigation.
3. The GOP is working with Mother Russia to make damn sure the GOP stays in power.
4. The Gop is, by and large, answerable only to it's mega-donors and not to the electorate.
5. Electronic voting will elect whoever the powers that be decree shall be elected.
I agree 100% with rocketdem1964's final paragraph.
Go get and read: How Democracies Die by Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblattand prepare to be depressed.