I read an interesting article by Time contributor, Bill Saporito. The ending paragraph pretty much sums it up:
"Yet it has occurred to me that maybe S&P has a point. After all,
this is a Congress that let the banking industry run amok, bailed it out
with access to trillions of dollars of credit, and has since done
precious little to ensure that the process won't be repeated. Nor would
Congress reform the ratings industry, which played vital role in the
crisis. Nor did it agree a deal worked out between Obama and House
Speaker John Boehner that would have preserved the AAA rating. If our
Congress is that dumb, perhaps we deserved the downgrade."
This is a fairly pointed article that doesn't hold any love for the S&P, Congress or the President. And frankly, I'm not sure any of them deserve any... (article: http://news.yahoo.com/why-congress-standard-poors-deserve-other-092005860.html)
Whether you agree with Saporito or not is besides the point. If you're under any illusion that one person or party is to blame for the debacle that is our federal government, then you're probably an idiot. In fact, if you're convinced that any currently existing political party or politician is the answer to our current woes, then you should probably do the rest of us a favor and just tear up your voter registration card right now. You're clearly contributing to the problem and are either too lazy or just incapable of thinking for yourself.
The true crises that faces our country right now is that the foxes burned down the fucking hen house years ago, and none of us were smart enough to come running when we smelled barbequed chicken. The longer it takes for us to clean house, and I mean completely clean house, the worse off we're going to be in the long run. The old adage used to be that we needed lawyers to make our decision in Washington because business people and Joe-citizenry couldn't make the sacrifices and compromises necessary to make a functional government. Well, I think it's pretty clear how that turned out: one party pontificates without any action, and the other one stamps its foot around like an angry toddler refusing to compromise, and all the while the real decision makers are pulling the strings to make us all believe that one or the other party is best. The system is dysfunctional, and it needs replaced. It would be nice if most Americans were (a) smart enough to realize this, and (b) would get off their fat asses to make a little change.
Change starts at the voting booth, and I've got my own plan for getting this whole process moving in a more positive direction. Step one: get rid of the incumbents. They can't compromise, they clearly don't have the answer. Thank the good Lord in heaven that these fuck-tards were not in charge of drafting the original Constitution. They would not have been able to do it, and they are all lesser men and women for not living up to that standard. They should be ashamed and begging for forgiveness, not pointing fingers. My five year old can point fingers. I expect more.
Step two: look for that third alternative on the ticket -- and I don't frigging care if its the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, or the Communist Party. What we need is to empower the fringe. There is too much power in two parties, and instead of thinkers, all we're getting are puppets with flashy teeth. Get some new blood into the mix and lets get some actual ideas into this mix, even if they are a little 'out-there.'
Step three: after distributing the seats to anyone else who wants one, then we abolish the entire party system. Gut it and destroy it. If you affiliate yourself with a party, you're out. We want 100% independents 100% of the time. Make these people EARN our respect without a rubber stamp, because a rubber stamp means a foci of power, and that power is never in our best interest. At best the foci thinks they are acting in our best interest, but what is actually happening is the power hungry trying to make us believe they have our best interest in mind. The party system was created, in many ways, to simplify our choices so that the common man wouldn't have to think. Well, I think we've had plenty of that. Even the parties and their candidates seem incapable of that any more. Destroy the power structures.
Step four: term limits. A politician's only goal is to get re-elected, and s/he will suck up to whatever power base (or power company) in his/her district to make sure that happens. Let's make sure this is no longer a full time job. Let these jerks get out in the real world and earn a living rather than telling us they know what it's like. Who better to make decisions about creating jobs than people who actually have one? Who better to know what the economy is like than someone who actually lives within it? Politicians give lip service to us to get re-elected, but very very few of them actually understand what it's like out here because they're not here. We don't need arm's length empathy, we need boots on the ground. Those that represent us should be us, not a silver spoon elite created for the purpose of representing us. They don't understand because they can't understand. Never forget that.
Step five: I want to know every freaking penny that an interest group (or company, or individual, or whatever) has given to every single politician. If you earn anything that isn't from your federal salary, you MUST report it. Period. None of this $X and above nonsense, because wherever you set the floor, the rats will crawl underneath it. I want to make it as difficult as possible to accept a gift, and I want everyone to know who is being bought, and who is buying them. Politicians will work for whomever butters their bread -- just like most of us. If you want them to work for us, then they need to be paid BY US and no one else. Right now, they belong to big money. That's got to change.
How many changes is that? Five? Doesn't matter. The point is that right now politicians care about improving their power base and getting a cushy job for as long as possible so they can get some of that big money to line their pockets. That isn't to say that all of them start that way, but they sure as hell end up that way. And it will remain that way as long as the system exists as it currently does. If you don't believe power corrupts, then quite simply, you've never had any, and you don't know what you're talking about. These are some of the most powerful people in the world being pushed and manipulated by THE most powerful people in the world. Why are you comfortable with that? How on earth do you think that will ever benefit YOU or the people you care about?
Want to fix the system? Now you know what to do, and all you have to do for now is step one. What? You don't believe this will work? Surely it can't be any worse than what those morons have been up to under the current system...
