They are all wrong. This was NOT a referendum on Obama. He is a liberal and, even in a heavily independent state like Massachusetts, there is plenty of liberal thought and, in general, I would say that most of the people there support Obama (his poll numbers are still around 50% - not bad given that he has accomplished so little ... not that this is unusual, Presidents are in the executive branch and action must come from the legislative branch, so, unless the party in power is unified or can work across the aisles or unless the President has enough personal charm to sway the electorate, there is little that can get done by a given President).
It is also not a situation where us poor dumb Americans (PDA's) don't understand the legislation. I think we do understand it and that is part of the reason for the outcome of the election.
Our legislators are the ones who don't get it. Us PDA's don't like:
- having legislation rammed through by one party with no input from the other
- outrageous deficit spending that lowers the value of the dollar, will lead to future inflation, and will bankrupt our children and grandchildren
- more and more taxes (especially when so many people are out of work or have not seen raises in a couple of years)
- politicians who talk down to us and take us for granted
- childish posturing and narrow-minded approaches to legislating
- inability for our politicians to practice give-and-take (neither side gives)
I could go on, but this was really a referendum on our Congress. My question to ponder is what will us PDA's do next when nothing changes?
2 comments:
I am, frankly, very tired of Congress and their shenanigans. I used to think the system in India was dysfunctional...until I saw the way the Democrats bungled their majority in the senate and house. Even if we had a parliament which operates on getting things done while holding the majority, I doubt the parties could pull it off here with all of their earmarks and special "breaks" (like what wonk Senator from Nebraska).
I'm sick of the Republicans going on about how the current admin spends too much. They had eight years to reign in Bush administration spending but never did. Now that it isn't for their projects (big military), they whine and kick, yet offer ABSOLUTELY NO SOLUTIONS. It is just disgusting, offer some solutions or duck out and let another party take on the issue.
I'm sick of the Democrats who never, ever get anything done. They're all fair-weather friends anyway. Half of them voted for the Bush administration crap that they now say they don't support. Shysters!
It blows my mind we could get two wars through Congress, idiotic rules violating the basic rights of privacy (and get them reinstated after expiring!), bailouts for Auto and Finance, and on and on. Yet we cannot even pass a bill fixing the biggest hole in everyone's paycheck. I guess we have to save up for that next useless battle in Iran...oh wait, they have the nuke, it'll be Yemen then.
Nevermind that we cannot even stand up to China anymore on anything. While we spent that least decade fighting those wars, China went in and got huge oil contracts in Iraq and supply and infrastructure contracts in Afghanistan. How many boots did they have on the ground? How much have they helped out with Iran and North Korea?
And even if we skip health care, the next biggest hole in our paychecks is social security, but both parties are chained to the AARP and we'll never see any change on that.
What can you do but shake your head in disbelief?
I believe that the Republicans, no great protectors of the people's money, have offered alternative plans that were dismissed out of hand since the Democrats could pass legislation without any Republican support.
I agree that both parties have the incredible capability to take away the basic rights of the citizenry.
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