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Politics : Welcome to Slider's Dugout -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SliderOnTheBlack who wrote (22609)	6/11/2010 10:12:38 AM
From: Crimson Ghost	1 Recommendation Respond to of 50730

Slider I agree 100% with everything you say. Campaign finance reform and ending a system which allows "public servants" to get high paying jobs with lobbyist clients after they leave "public service" is vital if we are to turn things around. My post re: the mass media was meant to point out that campaign finance reform will only be the first step (albeit a vital one) in this process.

To: SliderOnTheBlack who wrote (22609)	6/11/2010 1:09:53 PM
From: Jim S	Respond to of 50730

Did you know that 94% of all legislation passed by the U.S. Senate is written by lobbyists, is done so in secrecy ( in committee), and is passed without a vote, and without any public discussion, or debate? Shocked? You should be… The process is called “unanimous consent” and you can learn all about it in this quick 5 minute CNN video. youtube.com If you think the system is working when the US Senate rubber stamps 94% of all legislation without reading bills written in secret committee by paid lobbyists, you're living in a child-like state of denial. And it's both parties. The solution is to address both problems, to push for campaign finance reform now... Excellent point, Slider! The lobbyists actually do most of the legislating, at least insofar as the writing of legislation goes. Furthermore, the congressional staffers are the ones providing the continuity, doing the coordination, and controlling access to the congress critters. Congress people themselves are merely the face of the organization, more like the PIO for a corporation. When a new person is elected to Congress, his predecessor's staff is either retained or redistributed to other congressional offices. They are the true personality and corporate memory of our legislative bodies. When the new guy comes in, everything they want him to know and think is spoon fed to him, letting him be the hero and sound "smart" on even complex issues he may have known nothing about before he was elected. All of us think that we can change Washington by a revolutionary change of Congress, bringing in a lot of new faces to "represent" us on the floors of the House and Senate. In truth, until and unless we can also make a sweeping change in the staffers (some of whom have been there for almost as long as Helen Thomas) and lobbyists, nothing will change except the faces we see. The system is established and set in concrete. Go ahead and vote for a new person to represent you. It will make you feel good that you are doing your part to improve the system. Just be aware that as soon as they new guy sits at his new desk, all the forces of government are influencing him to accept the status quo, and to bend to the will of those highly paid "gray" people behind the throne.