Tags
Barack Obama, Capitol Hill, Democratic, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, politics, Republican, the budget
The problem on Capitol Hill is not:
- President Obama’s supposedly fraudulent birth certificate
- Nor that the Democrats are bleeding heart liberals
- That the Republicans are stingy assholes, stealing from the poor
- Or that Nancy Pelosi is hard-nosed and vituperative
- That Speaker Boehner is sly or sneaky
- That the Republicans are in control
- That the Democrats are stubborn
- That the Tea Party is confusing everyone
- That Michelle Bachman or Sara Palin could be our next President
- Obamacare
- Bailouts
- Spending cuts
The problem, my friends, is this: “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
This is the diagnosis according to Speaker of the House, John Boehner in an interview with Scott Pelley (CBS Evening News) on August 1, 2011.
A little past 2 minutes into this interview, Pelley asks Boehner: “Has Congress lost the ability to settle down and make agreements?”
Boehner responds: “There is the public noise and then there’s the private discussions. Some of the most liberal members of Congress are great friends of mine. We get along just fine. The American people don’t see the kind of cooperation that does exist off camera. … It’s not as bad as it looks.”
I submit to you my personal theory about the condition on Capitol Hill.
It’s worse than it looks because deals are made under the table. Neither party gives a crap about you and me, or about the guys fighting our “war on terror,” or about the folks living under bridges because they got screwed by big business. What Capitol Hill is about, is securing the money to get elected the next time, and after that it’s about getting those nice big fat consulting and guest speaker jobs that help continue to obfuscate the whole shebang.
We’re in serious trouble folks because the gridlock is in the form of cooperation.
I fear that you’ve hit the nail on the head. This debt crisis debacle has underlined for me what the real goal of politicians is in this country – Republican, Democrat or Tea Party member – that is, to get re-elected and to gain more power by increasing the quantity of like-minded sheep to office. Throughout this entire fiasco, the word, “jobs” came up only to bludgeon the other side – not to provide relief from this crippling unemployment. It’s as bad, and worse, as it doesn’t look. Voters are duped into thinking their interests are being well-served by all this game playing and power brokering. I’m sick of all of them. Their integrity and credibility is shot to hell.
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Yup! I agree. Thanks for stopping by.
BTW: Your dog post was really funny….even if you did dis cats!
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Yeah – I just left a retort! 🙂
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Yep, you’re absolutely 100% correct!!! Maybe if the “campaigns” only lasted 6 weeks instead of 18 months, the politicians could elected on a lot less money. Oh but what in the world would they do with all that extra time? Maybe they would have some spare time to actually work on legislation.
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Yea, what a novel concept. A friend has proposed that we compensate legislators with a livable salary and pension, and then strictly prohibit them from the lobby/lecture circuit after they quite. His point is that if we pay them to retire, they can’t whine about having to make a living afterwards. Let ’em live like the rest of us do, on what they make while they were “working.”
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