Somehow over time the government has become backwards. Too many people think in terms of right and left. It should be in terms of right and wrong. It seems that moral standards and integrity have flown out the window. Corruption is the norm, and we all accept it like there's nothing wrong. It should be despised and criminal.
I'm not anti-government. I'm anti-politician. I believe the government can work just fine as laid out by the Constitution. "We the people" forms a government by the people, for the people. It was specifically set up to avoid the problems of a "political ruling class" that would rule by self interest. Somewhere along the lines, the Constitution was perverted to allow the return of this. I see so called "representatives" making decisions out of their own self interest rather than the people they represent. I also see the people being lazy and just letting it happen.
It's our duty as citizens to politely speak our minds. Ask the hard questions. Don't allow for soft answers that dance around the issues. Many will be personally attacked and vilified for doing so. That just goes to show that the counter arguments are weak and distracting. Burying a problem won't make it go away. Confront it head on before it becomes a serious problem. Hit it hard with real facts. Some will call these facts "scare tactics". These people have no counter argument and are flailing in desperation. With some of these debates, there will be no clear cut answer. In those cases, agree to politely disagree on the topic.
I'm not out to kill reform at any cost, but blatant reform at any cost needs to be killed. This becomes political ideology and leads to corruption. Special interest groups tend to call on favors they shouldn't have in the first place. Big corporations cannot vote but tend to fund and influence their agendas quite a bit. Together these groups often have more power than the combined voters. Certain freedoms get lost in the name of their personal gain. These freedoms do not come back easily.
The political class is in government for their own self interests. They are showy to try and justify their jobs, benefits, and high salaries. They form cliques and watch each other's backs. They form warped ideologies and agendas. They say one thing but do another under the table. They say watch one hand while the other hand is secretly doing something else (distraction principles). They often won't vote for a bill unless they get their cut of the pork at the expense of another (not caring what the bill really is). Special interest groups are now writing bills instead of the legislative branch (the Apollo Alliance with health care reform). Politicians count on the people not reading the bills so they can get away with what's in them. Politicians also count on blind trust that was never truly earned.
Politicians are being paid to do a job, not to push unwanted beliefs and waste tax payer money. Certain agendas, beliefs, and ideologies can be a great thing to have, but do not force them on the population if they aren't mainstream. If you want it so badly, pay for it yourself. Some of these ideologies are absurdly expensive for no real return on investment and have been voted down many times. The problem is that they keep popping up even if the general population doesn't want them. There's a very old military tactic of continually hitting a small area until it breaks (like castle walls). These politicians keep hitting the one point until a back door is created and passed. Then they claim victory and start on another spot. With patience, a full ideology that nobody really wanted in the first place could be enacted by this method.
Politicians are being paid to do a job, not to play extravagant popularity games. Tax payer money wasted on elaborate dinner parties adds up quickly. Why can't they eat in the cafeteria like the rest of us? Why do politicians get their own private planes decked out at tax payer expense? Why can't they take commercial airlines like the rest of us? Even if they paid for first class tickets, it would still be cheaper than a private plane. Why do politicians get to do complete office make overs at tax payer expense on regular cycles? It's nice to have decent furniture, work space, and environment, but some of these make overs cost as much as a small house.
Politicians are being paid to do a job, not to be lazy. Politicians should be writing bills for their constituents, not letting special interest groups do it. These bills should be concise and to the point, not the 1000 page trash that has been coming out. Politicians should read the bills they vote on. Once a speed reader was hired and that was beyond an insult. One politician complained that he wasn't going to read the bill because it would take 2 days and 2 lawyers to get through the 1000 pages. There's a real problem with that statement. Politicians should be writing bills that clearly spell out the law, not designate some vague powers to a committee that might be politically motivated based on the season. These committees become a back door for controversial laws that could never be enacted in the main bill. These committees would also take the heat for the ideological laws passed instead of congress. These committees become politically expendable.
Politicians should have real world business experience. The real world has to work hard for income, but politicians tend to throw around money like there's no tomorrow. They aren't the ones who earned it, but they will sure be the ones to spend it. They think the money pot is a bottomless pit. Politicians also seem to have a problem keeping up with how much was spent. If a real business did that, it would likely quickly go under and have a visit by the IRS. Where is the accountability?
There's one class of politician I have a real problem with: liberals. They seem to embody the worst of all politicians, but they pull a used car sales job and make everybody believe otherwise. They embrace radicalism as a religion but claim to be aesthetic. This radicalism may come in a pretty package but often has undertones of intolerance, bigotry, and societal destruction... but they say otherwise. They work to indoctrinate their followers. They claim that you're unpopular if you don't follow them. They claim that intelligent debates don't matter as that is outside their doctrine. They want to clear the playing field of all opposition. If they cannot adequately argue the facts, they resort to ad hominem attacks and often play the race card (just like in elementary school). They say it's great to protest so long as it's for their own cause. Anyone outside the protest gets attacked. They show a lot of disrespect for others but have no real backbone to stand up for themselves (excessive whining when they are attacked). The more radical of the radicals keep trying to out do each other. We have freedom of speech, but are liberal ideologies really a good thing to embrace?
Liberals will use and step on anyone who is convenient. These groups are usually the poor and minorities because they are easier to manipulate and buy off. I get disgusted at some of these organized rallies that use them. Government health care may seem free to the poor, but it will cost more at the bottom than the top. If costs go up at the top, they will have to be paid for from the bottom as there is nowhere else to get the money. This is the standard economic pyramid. It's sad watching the poor protest to make their problems worse. If the news media catches on, the liberals spin the argument and complain how the poor are being oppressed (when they are the ones who actually started it).
Liberals love to scream "astroturf" for real "grass roots" movements, but have failed to look in the mirror. Liberal bosses in the community organization movement will often pay people to get on a bus and show up at various town hall type meetings. There are professional signs, no real passion, and the people don't really know or care why they are at the town hall. This tactic is used to push an agenda, support a failing politician, and block the locals from getting in since there is limited seating. If this isn't "astroturf" I don't know what is. I have a problem with the real grass roots people getting blocked and attacked in their own districts.
Liberals want the country to fail so they can rebuild it with their own ideology. This may sound like a radical statement, but look at their actions and not their words. "Never let a good emergency go to waste." This statement alone is creepy. Create a false sense of urgency and push agendas through that wouldn't be considered under normal circumstances. Liberals have complained about the unbridled spending of previous administrations, but in the first part of 2009 have quadrupled the national debt. They aren't even finished yet. This is unsustainable. The wasted interest payments alone are staggering. I'm having trouble figuring out what we're really getting from all this pork spending.
Both of the major political parties are far from innocent. Both parties are left and lefter than left. There are some conservatives who are really liberals. Dumping one party in favor of the other in the next major election won't do any good with their positions. There needs to be true change from the bottom up. We need to wake up before it is too late.