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2007-04-19 Home Front: Politix

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Posted by SR-71 2007-04-19 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 O'REILLY > The HARD/FAR LEFT + SECULAR PROGRESSIVES in America want "ANARCHY" + "BIG GOVT." IN AMERICA, including ANARCHY DISGUISED AS POPULAR LIBERALISM = LIBERTARIANISM.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-04-19 00:20|| 2007-04-19 00:20|| Front Page Top

#2 What is happening to our country?

Modern day Visigoths are in the wire, Rome is falling.

Posted by JerseyMike 2007-04-19 08:42|| 2007-04-19 08:42|| Front Page Top

#3 Nah, Mike. When the Roman civil wars broke out, Rome was on the rise not decline. And Rome wouldn't even peak till several Emperors and a couple hundred years later. It's sad/funny reading Livy and the other writers of the time and see that human behavior hasn't changed, only the issues they think are sooooooo important to rationalize their posturing for power. Getting back to the point of the post. We got crap for representatives cause we pay crap. It's a multi-trillion dollar economy that drives the world's economic health. We operate a multi-billion dollar international defense and security system. We have people earning on the ledger around 150K making decisions on multi-billion dollar programs from transportation, health, education, and safety. We got used car salesman and local political hacks to show for it. But I bet, you want your favorite team to fork out several million a year for that star athlete for a good season. A mill a piece for each representative, Senator, Prez, VP, and member of SCOTUS would be less than 600 mill a year, which is about a couple pork projects. I think we'd be better served by paying those salaries then what we'd get back collectively on the pork. For a mill, I think you'd get more than just the usual suspects to try for office.

Meanwhile, don't fret, the rest of the world has yet to come up with an economic engine as strong as the US to keep their economies from imploding in its absence. The new 'lingua franca' of the world is English and for good reason. Life expediency is rising as shown in each census. What was defined as middle class only forty years ago is now considered 'poor' by government bureaucrats.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-04-19 09:35|| 2007-04-19 09:35|| Front Page Top

#4 I generally agree with you, Procopius, but...

The one change I do see is that because our economic engine has become so dominant and important to the rest of the world, the rest of the world is more interested in influencing it. I am very suspicious that we already have the best Department of State and CIA that Saudi money can buy. I doubt that there are nearly so many legislators on the Saudi payroll as bureaucrats. Nor do I think the Legislators would be as easily bought as the bureaucrats.

Likewise the legislators who are being influenced on border issues are being influenced by domestic contributors who want to see the flow of cheap labor continue. So they continue to accept campaign donations at a rate much greater than $1 million per year to push ads bribing voters with Social Security, Transportation Security, Homeland Security, and Universal health care (health security).

The American people have made the trade of freedom for security. It's hard not to once your have so much to secure. Like the Romans, it may take a long time to push us off the top of the pile. But in that trade lie the seeds of our destruction.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-04-19 09:51|| 2007-04-19 09:51|| Front Page Top

#5 Thanks for the history lesson, I'll admit to being a combination of rusty and lazy, but I'm not so sure I agree with the pay scale issue you brought up P2k
. How many Senators and Rep's come from money or have independent fortunes? The majority I'd wager. Power is the attraction not the money. Increasing the pay would very likely exaserbate the problem, the guys with the resources would just bend over further to retain their seats.
I couldn't even guess what a workable solution could be aside from term limits.

Posted by JerseyMike 2007-04-19 09:56|| 2007-04-19 09:56|| Front Page Top

#6 Re: my comment on pay. While many in the existing seats my have pre-established fortunes in the Senate or post incumbent seniority seats in the House which correlate with something over a million [though junior Reps don't appear to be million dollar babies], the point was that it was an inducement for others to try for the office who'd otherwise just not even see the attempt for office to worth the hassle and public scrutiny that exposes the family and every blemish of one's life.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-04-19 10:40|| 2007-04-19 10:40|| Front Page Top

#7 We have crap for representation because we rely on the press to print facts, we rely on the courts to interprit law, we rely on the information we hear about candidates, and none of those things happen. Today, we must watch the courts and question their motives. We must divorce from the media for both facts and candidate information. These institutions have an agenda. Now we are aware of their leftist agenda, so we must spread the word and build grass roots support for our representation. We MUST rewrite campaign finance reform and tort reform and demand that voters get facts and all of the facts about an issue, and that leftist opinions be dumped into the shit pile. You wanna be a commie ? Swim to Cuba.

Posted by wxjames 2007-04-19 15:05|| 2007-04-19 15:05|| Front Page Top

#8 A mill a piece for each representative, Senator, Prez, VP, and member of SCOTUS would be less than 600 mill a year, which is about a couple pork projects. I think we'd be better served by paying those salaries then what we'd get back collectively on the pork. For a mill, I think you'd get more than just the usual suspects to try for office.

The biggest reason for doing this is so that laws could be passed with provisions for hard jail time if bribes, gifts or other forms of graft are accepted. We desperately need to outlaw all forms of lobbying. Special interest groups are bleeding this country white. Our lawmakers should be so well compensated that they have ZERO excuse for seeking further wealth while in office. Additionally, politicians must be barred from serving as consultants with conflict-of-interest groups for five years after leaving office.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-19 16:52|| 2007-04-19 16:52|| Front Page Top

#9 I'm not so sure...the idea of representatives so-well compensated that they would never think of accepting gratuities or bribes...well, that just eludes me.

Human greed is human greed. There will always be people who crave more.

People who serve in government should crave nothing more than to serve their constituents in the best manner possible.

It's NOT a matter of money! It's a matter of character!

We elect too few people of character to be our Representatives, Senators, and Presidents who possess any character or strength of character. Thus, they are easily bribed, cajoled, and contravened once they get to the Hill in DC.

It is not the fault of Congress. They got there, for the most part, legitimately, by convincing an appropriate majority that they were worthy of serving, and by being voted for. That they are greedy, avaricious, money-grubbing whores, for the most part, is not their fault - their constituents elected them!!!

It IS the fault of their constituents who elected them because they were too stupid to do anything other than pull the lever or fill in the blank for the candidate their media told them to vote for.

Posted by FOTSGreg">FOTSGreg 2007-04-19 18:23|| www.fire-on-the-suns.com]">[www.fire-on-the-suns.com] 2007-04-19 18:23|| Front Page Top

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