Demicans, Republicrats, Teabaggers and LOBBYISTS...

[1KielsonDrive]

In 2009, more than 13,700 registered lobbyists spent a record $3.5 BILLION swaying government policy the special interest's way, double the amount lobbyists spent as recently as 2002. My questions are: will the amount double again in the next 7 years? Doesn't this seem like a correctable issue most everyone could get behind? Unless, of course you are a recipient of this largesse, namely The Demican National Corporation, the Republicrat National Corporation, the Teabagger National Corporation, etc.

[GOAT]

Fucking whores everyone of these goddamn, narcissistic, greedy, depraved and sick politicians.

This is the main reason NOTHING gets done politically anymore. It is always for the self-abused, money throwing pigfucking lobbyists.

IMO, it should be made into law that only $1,000 can go to any one party from these leeches.

Any wonder the electorate gets the shaft while these so-called humans dance the night away?

[Crumbled_pavement]

GOAT, while I agree with a lot of your sentiments, it's the voters that keep these people in power. All the politicians have to do is divide us up and convince us that it's a liberal vs. conservative argument. Really it isn't, because many tenants of both philosophies are not mutually exclusive. Yet we let politicians divide us up and keep us at the throats of each other while they continue to live it up off our tax dollars. Our real enemy is any politician that is not working for the good of all productive law abiding Americans, and it's the politicians we need to keep an eye on.

[Papasito]

Voters keep nothing in order. Every election we get a new cast of the priveleged and connected to choose from. The era of a government of the people and for the people is dead. None of these people are one of us, they are one of them.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Voters keep nothing in order. Every election we get a new cast of the priveleged and connected to choose from. The era of a government of the people and for the people is dead. None of these people are one of us, they are one of them.

Are you advocating those 2nd Amendment remedies? Obviously you don't believe in our electoral process anymore.

[rb336]

Any wonder the electorate gets the shaft while these so-called humans dance the night away?

The electorate gets the shaft because there are idiots that believe that somehow making things better for the rich will make things better for them, in spite of 30 years of evidence to the contrary. They are too dense to understand that the culture that created the vast wealth of the US in the 20th century was built on a high tax base for the wealthiest. They don't understand that to live in a CIVIL society, it requires behaving in a CIVIL manner

[oladub]

Are you advocating those 2nd Amendment remedies? Obviously you don't believe in our electoral process anymore.

Whoa. Papasito didn't say anything about any amendment or even the Constitution. We have had a few bills that have made it through Congress under Bush and 'since Bush' that the vast majority of the US population opposes. Most recently, Congress passed a bill extending tax breaks for the rich and unemployment benefits. My guess is that most Americans support extending the unemployment, a slight majority opposes extending tax breaks for the rich, but a huge majority opposes running the country further into debt. After all the Republican Tea party talk, the Republican leadership went back to its old ways of serving the elite. In this case, voting Republican did not make much of a difference regarding the size of the federal budget.They claimed to support balancing the budget and reducing spending before the election and voted against both after the election. And if you were a Democrat, who would have believed that Obama was ever going to extend Bush's tax cuts for the rich?

We have had a succession of unread bills running more than a thousand pages long obviously written by lobbyists which both Democrats and Republicans have voted for against the wishes of the American people. I sensed that special interests were now in control of the Country with the passage of Bush's Wall Street bailout. Both Senators McCain and Obama came scurrying off the campaign trail to rally fellow Congress people to support the bankers' bill. Then Congress snubbed its collective nose at Americans by voting for a bill almost 90% of Americans opposed just two weeks before an election.

I just came across this brilliant paragraph from an opinion piece suggesting a third party might be in the making:

the Tea Party movement will inevitably lead to a new party because, as with the Whig and Democratic parties of 1856, our two major parties cannot formulate a concrete solution to the growth of powerful interest groups. Each party has increased the government’s size and scope to unsustainable levels under the guise that their party’s spending is more rational than their opponent’s. As history has shown, neither of the major parties will curb their ability to distribute favors. In essence, they’ve created the most efficient favor factory ever devised.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/16/th...#ixzz18P9IQdOS

[GOAT]

Great posts by everyone. Oladub, your highlighted paragraph is spot on. But sadly the teabaggers are just another useless party that really haven't a clue about what is needed to change the directoin we are headed [[a direction where we are heading right off of the cliff).

I don't thin the electorate is to blame for this. Who do we vote for? The one you fucks a person with a cattle prod or the other guy who uses a broom? There is no choice anymore.

These one-eyed demon-whores [[whos only eye is on the almighty dollar) are there for themselves. Fuck the idea of serving the people, they just serve themselves a huge heaping of more money from the gutless lobbyists who then get their own backs scratched with the scabied hands of the politicos.

Truthfully speaking, democracy is dead. Now it is full of self-serving pigfuckers who would eat YOUR children the first chance they get. I do agree rb336 that we need to behave in a civil manner towards each other but when your elected scum acts the complete opposite [[while getting away with it scott-free from the courts) is it really any wonder people have lost their way?

As for taxation, I believe all taxes need to be increased on all levels except the lowest rung. Cripes U.S. taxes are pathetically low compared to any other industrial nation. Imagine ifthat money was used for healthcare, small business incubators, etc...cripes no one could challenge the USA. Instead it is placate the masses by selling them back a little bit of their own money and then get as much as they can carry for themselves.

A revolution would be great [[how do like that homeland fuck-you security). Sure the pain would be immense for about 10-12 years but after that there wouldn't be a politician as shifty as these scum are and we would be on our way.

So much for this so-called tolerant society. Individually speaking we are the most intolerate fuckers to roam the planet in a thousand years. Political correctness just means "up yours" in a nice way.

[gibran]

I would feel more comfortable if a viable and honest third party evolved..but alas the tea party continues to demonstrate their inability to escape the influence of lobby's and big business... imagine that. If we think the likes of Sarah or Bachman could lead us out of this mess is laughable. I met Ralph Nader and his take on the politics was spot on, but he will never be elected nor will these kids understand his influence on our safety. Sad... I hope someone from one of these parties emerte and can mak eit past the status qou... I am not ready to give up on our President but I would love to see a real congress and senate

[1KielsonDrive]

I would feel more comfortable if a viable and honest third party evolved..but alas the tea party continues to demonstrate their inability to escape the influence of lobby's and big business... imagine that. If we think the likes of Sarah or Bachman could lead us out of this mess is laughable. I met Ralph Nader and his take on the politics was spot on, but he will never be elected nor will these kids understand his influence on our safety. Sad... I hope someone from one of these parties emerte and can mak eit past the status qou... I am not ready to give up on our President but I would love to see a real congress and senate

God post Gibran. Other than the highlighted sentence, I agree wholeheartedly. As you and I have discussed, I've already given up on nObama. Glad we share some of the same sentiments.

[Papasito]

Now it is full of self-serving pigfuckers who would eat YOUR children the first chance they get.

The Government should be as limited as possible and held only to the powers granted to it by the Constitution. These scoundrels would feed you human flesh if the politicians felt that the food source was a worthy sacrifice for the "greater good" in thier minds, and they would tell you it was chicken. When people point at one party while having a false notion thier party of choice can do no wrong ... it just floors me.

Representative Government is dead.
Well, representative of the people, anyway.

[maxx]

Big Money won't get out of our elections until something is done to counter the Supreme Court ruling that political contributions are protected by the first amendment. That would probably take a Constitutional amendment that limits or eliminates all large corporate contributions to candidates.

[Lowell]

The problem is that those who benefit the most from all the special interest money, the incumbent politicians, are the least likely to limit the flow of cash that gives them a huge advantage over challengers to their position. If anything they will vote to increase that advantage.

Short of a viable third party outburst that will force the dominant two parties to coopt their issues, this is unlikely. Too bad the right to initiate a referendum, like many states including Michigan have, does not exist at the federal level.

[firstandten]

Big Money won't get out of our elections until something is done to counter the Supreme Court ruling that political contributions are protected by the first amendment. That would probably take a Constitutional amendment that limits or eliminates all large corporate contributions to candidates.

Maxx

You just knocked it out of the park, big money will be the reason we won't see a viable third party except at the local level. Once the money is taken out of the political process you will see the change you can believe in. Until that happens the very best you can hope for is incremental change, lots of compromise agreements etc. The Citizens United decision was one of worst things that could ever happen in a democracy such as ours. However I just don't see the outrage, even on this board like I see with other issues related to the president.

I'll make this statement again. Obama is NOT an ideologue, he is a pragmatist thus you will see the kind of deal making and compromise that you are seeing however distasteful it might be. The branch of goverment one needs to be concerned with is the SUPREME court. Right now its the most powerful branch of the three.

[gibran]

13,000 people losing their jobs would be blow to the economy... [[and not to sound insenstive to our brothers and sisters that have lost their jobs) but this group could stand for a little unemployment insurance... and then maybe we can get to governing for the people and by the people. Then maybe the 13,000 could get absorbed into the countries and industries they supported all these years...at our expense.

[1KielsonDrive]

Big Money won't get out of our elections until something is done to counter the Supreme Court ruling that political contributions are protected by the first amendment. That would probably take a Constitutional amendment that limits or eliminates all large corporate contributions to candidates.

Big money buying elections was around long before the supreme court ruling you refer too. That's a Johnny-come-lately, corporate purchase.

[1KielsonDrive]

Maxx

You just knocked it out of the park, big money will be the reason we won't see a viable third party except at the local level. Once the money is taken out of the political process you will see the change you can believe in. Until that happens the very best you can hope for is incremental change, lots of compromise agreements etc. The Citizens United decision was one of worst things that could ever happen in a democracy such as ours. However I just don't see the outrage, even on this board like I see with other issues related to the president.

I'll make this statement again. Obama is NOT an ideologue, he is a pragmatist thus you will see the kind of deal making and compromise that you are seeing however distasteful it might be. The branch of goverment one needs to be concerned with is the SUPREME court. Right now its the most powerful branch of the three.

Maxx, you're right on about the supreme court, but way off base about nObama. nObama is a terrible politician. He has no fight in his body or soul. nObama belongs in a classroom. I don't mean yelling and screaming fight, I mean git down, pound your fist on the table and twist arms fight. He is the wrong person at the wrong time.

[Jimaz]

The lobbyist problem is the subject of this week's chapter of Thom Hartmann's "Rebooting the American Dream."

Chapter 6, "Make Members of Congress Wear NASCAR Patches" is available here.

[firstandten]

Maxx, you're right on about the supreme court, but way off base about nObama. nObama is a terrible politician. He has no fight in his body or soul. nObama belongs in a classroom. I don't mean yelling and screaming fight, I mean git down, pound your fist on the table and twist arms fight. He is the wrong person at the wrong time.

Even though you may think Obama is a terrible politician the SUPREME court is the very reason he should be re-elected. One or more of the right wing gang of 5 should retire between now and 2016 and there needs to be someone who can restore sanity to the court. Obama has always been somewhat of a rorschach test especially for liberals, but if you read his books he does have some core beliefs in which he talks at length. I for one won't feel good about another Repub in the White house until that margin is 5-4 going the other way or at the very least a number of judges who are swing voters.

[1KielsonDrive]

Even though you may think Obama is a terrible politician the SUPREME court is the very reason he should be re-elected. One or more of the right wing gang of 5 should retire between now and 2016 and there needs to be someone who can restore sanity to the court. Obama has always been somewhat of a rorschach test especially for liberals, but if you read his books he does have some core beliefs in which he talks at length. I for one won't feel good about another Repub in the White house until that margin is 5-4 going the other way or at the very least a number of judges who are swing voters.

I never suggested a republicrat should be elected in nObama's stead. I'd like to see an alternative demican. I would consider a republicrat instead of nObama if we were miraculously gifted with a reasonable alternative. Cold day in hell. I have no more confidence in nObama's ability to appoint a decent justice than I do in his ability to fight for principles. Any principles.

[maxx]

1kielson drive:nObama is a terrible politician. He has no fight in his body or soul. nObama belongs in a classroom. I don't mean yelling and screaming fight, I mean git down, pound your fist on the table and twist arms fight. He is the wrong person at the wrong time.

He's gotten a lot done for being such a terrible pol. And what sort of arm-twisting do you suggest with the likes of Mitch McConnell?

[ghettopalmetto]

Do you mean THIS Mitch McConnell, who puts politics over the people of his country every damned time?

You don't defy the national security judgment of the U.S. military and reject the wisdom of generations of GOP elder statesmen simply because you have concerns related to the Advent calendar.

Petulant leader Mitch McConnell [[Ky.) spelled out the real reason on the Senate floor Monday. McConnell, who said Republicans' "single most important" goal was Obama's defeat, said that in this case he didn't want to facilitate "some politician's desire to declare a political victory and host a press conference before the first of the year."

So powerful has been the Petulants' desire to deny Obama a news conference that they defied the recommendation of Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates [[a Bush administration holdover) in their unsuccessful defense on Saturday of the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on openly gay service members. And, separately, the Petulants' efforts to prevent the Sept. 11 bill from coming to the floor earned labels such as "disgrace" and "national shame" from the usually friendly hosts at Fox News.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...d=opinionsbox1

Yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham [[R-SC) whined to a Charleston radio station that the Democrats were "getting too much done" during the lame-duck session. I ask you, Mr. Graham, what one single idea have the Republicans put forth in the past two years to make this country a better place? What ever happened to the Republican ethos of "hard work" and "personal responsibility"? Looks like the Democrats have stolen that playbook from under your nose, and you, Sen. Graham, sound like a whiny bitch.

Good luck the next two years, all of you in DYes Land. You're officially On Your Own as of January 3.

[johnsmith]

Yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham [[R-SC) whined to a Charleston radio station that the Democrats were "getting too much done" during the lame-duck session. I ask you, Mr. Graham, what one single idea have the Republicans put forth in the past two years to make this country a better place? What ever happened to the Republican ethos of "hard work" and "personal responsibility"? Looks like the Democrats have stolen that playbook from under your nose, and you, Sen. Graham, sound like a whiny bitch.

Hopefully, any ideas toe-tappin' Lindsey has never see the light of day.

Good luck the next two years, all of you in DYes Land. You're officially On Your Own as of January 3.

That's all I ask for from Big Brother, to be left alone.

[rb336]

I never suggested a republicrat should be elected in nObama's stead. I'd like to see an alternative demican. I would consider a republicrat instead of nObama if we were miraculously gifted with a reasonable alternative. Cold day in hell. I have no more confidence in nObama's ability to appoint a decent justice than I do in his ability to fight for principles. Any principles.

why the "n" in front of Obama's name? is that some sort of racist tag?

[ghettopalmetto]

why the "n" in front of Obama's name? is that some sort of racist tag?

I think it's just some kind of "clever" nomenclature, like when craigd used to refer to Sen. John sKerry.