Here in the U.S. the gov't is supposedly by the people for the people. Unfortuneately i'm not so sure this is totally true.

1) Congress passes a medical plan for complete coverage of themselvs, why should they recieve complete coverage while so many don't even have a medical plan? Are they better? if so then it's not a gov't by the people.

2) To get any true political position here you must have alot of money, mainly for campaigning, not many Americans can come up with as much money as those in political offices. This also include comming from the "right" families. (yes i know many politicians get donations)

3) Congress pass laws that they can't even understand themselvs, If this is a gov't for the people you would think that any average joe or susey could walk up and read a new bill and understand it.

In my opinion Congress men/women just sit around all day attempting to pass laws, that for some reason the other political party will attempt to block(What i mean is one political party is completely against the other no matter what the issue is), making the process longer, and leading to little amendments to bills that nit pick. If your in office you should be doing your job, and in this case it is your duty to the American People to pass laws and bills that are for the good of all American people.

I'm interested in everyone's opinion on this topic, I hope to see some good points made without getting off topic or starting arguments.

Congress? Hypocrisy?

There was doubt?

You've described one of the problems of the extreme partisanship of the two party system, too.


I believe that is one of the main reasons the Unity '08 folks are trying to get together.

Not to create a third party, but to get the present parties to become more responsive to "we, the people".

We the people hum...more like we the politicians.

WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UP and make the people in office responsible and DO THEIR JOBS RIGHT or get kicked out of office!

Like I said in another topic why complain and do nothing? What can we do to make it better?

Lets keep it simple. NEVER vote for the incumbent, regardless of the party.

I agree. I hate hipocrasy, and politicians are some of the biggest hipocrits. Like CGM said, we need to do something. What? I have no idea. If the three candidates running for mayor or whatever are irresponsible hipocrits, who do you vote for?

That's the problem, in the recent past I've found myself voting for the lessor of the idiots.

There can only be as much reality in the effect as in the cause. Until the electorate demands that Members of Congress spend more time on considering what is good for the country than they do snuggling up to sources of funds or waging partisan warfare on the floors of the Senate, and until they are held accountable for their votes, then they will continue to be largely ineffectual, and spend endless time passing obscure laws that interfere in everything without doing any real good.

Cheers,
John

Right!

Let the people know. Run yourself if you can do it better. My treasurer was just put in jail for DRUG charges!

Not anyone can run. And even if you are qualified, you need massive amounts of money and contacts with the right people. A lot of the honest people just don't have this.

Yes another thing why does it take so much money? Seems like the government should fund most of the campaign and let people who have money spend extra so to sorta keep them on a level playing field.

Yes, they are hypocrites, I agree. I always said, there are good and bads, pros and cons...than there is progress and congress...go figure...

Regards,
TheYoda

Lame duck congress....for the first six months the democrat controlled congress has accomplished absolutely nothing, and has opened over 300 investigations. Wow!!

What do you mean "they've accomplished absolutely nothing"?

300 investigations is more than the Republicans did in their first 6 months!

It's more than the republicans have done in 6 years, actually. It's called "oversight", which is part of Congress' job description. The previous republican majority called it "outofsight".

Wait, jwinathome -

They have accomplished something -

Congress' approval rating drops to all-time low!


Unfortunately, this is no laughing matter.



Note - my link was the first one that came up in Google, this is all over the news. Otherwise, I've never seen the New Orleans Star-Telegram.

The latest democrat-controlled congress blunder:
Democrats have killed the John Doe Amendment which protects passengers who report suspicious behavior on airlines from being sued,

Congressional Democrats today failed to include a provision in homeland security legislation that would protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack, according to House Republican leaders.

"This is a slap in the face of good citizens who do their patriotic duty and come forward, and it caves in to radical Islamists," said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Republicans wanted the provision included in final legislation, crafted yesterday during a House and Senate conference committee, that will implement final recommendations from the September 11 commission.

Mr. King and Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, sponsored the provision after a group of Muslim imams filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against US Airways and unknown "John Doe" passengers. The imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 on Nov. 20 after fellow passengers on the Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight complained about the imams' suspicious behavior.

On March 27, the House approved the "John Doe" amendment on a 304-121 vote.

What in theee heck...do they think they are doing?

I have a strange feeling that the Muslim imams weren't even doing anything suspicious and the mentioned "John Doe" passengers were probably just stereo-typical and reported them merely based on looks. That amendment is a joke, and so is congress. But look on the bright side, we're still the best frikkin country in the world!!

Regards,
TheYoda

I disagree...the amendment is an important protection against rabid trial lawyers.

Not so based on what I heard and read when it first happened.

It is true that what one might consider "suspicious" another might not.

I missed the Story.Was it proved they were doing anything wrong? Or is everybody becoming Paranoid every time they see a Muslim,thinking automatically they are a possible Terrorist?

There were 6 guys, they were praying and chanting "allah, allah, allah", and said some "anti-american" things while boarding the plane....they switched seats (which is not supposed to be done), they asked for seat-belt extenders, which are only typically asked for when a person is "heavy" (they weren't "heavy"), and they did some other things....

Does any of that sound like just normal activity? Sure people may be a little paranoid...but if you board a plane with this activity going on, would it make you uncomfortable or not?

I think it would make me a little uncomfortable only if someone from my family was with me.

As I said I missed the Story.Any odd behavior would get my attention,I would think.
Were Cabin Staff informed regarding their odd behavior?

Yes, example:

One of the passengers wrote a short note and handed it to the stewardess...it read something like "6 suspicious arabs on plane"...something to that effect. Many other "john doe" passengers also reported the activity.

The passengers did the right thing in my opinion.Then it's up to the Crew to alert Authorities.
I have made many International flights and luckily haven't encountered anything like this.
On a Domestic flight, I have seen a passenger go beserk and a number of passengers jumped on him.
Believe me,that was scarey,so I sympathise with the Passengers on that flight.

I do as well DSTM. Unfortunately, the airline is being sued, as well as all of the passengers who reported the activity. With the removal of the "John Doe Amendment" noted above....they can now be sued for reporting. What may end up happening as a result of all this is that people don't report anything anymore for fear of being sued. I can't see that as being a good thing.

Congress is just the opposite of Progress.

I can't help but think that this was staged with the intentions of suing the airlines and everyone else. It would be interesting to see how soon the suit was filed afterwards.

That wouldn't surprise me either. The lawsuits were filed by CAIR (Center for American and Islamic Relations), which is just a front for the terrorist organization: Hamas.

If hipocracy is to be changed in the congress, I think one of the biggest things that should be changed is the kind of people that we even consider to be qualified to hold these positions. Most of the people in congress are either business men/women or lawyers. Two groups of people who have the most temptation to become corrupt and unethical. I do not know why people in other fields have been completely dismissed as possible good candidates. In example, say the roads and bridges in your county or even state for that matter, are in very poor condition. Instead, of looking to elect those who promise to fix the roads and make them more safe, why not look to elect a civil engineer to the postion. Someone who surely knows something about the problem at hand, has had training to fix the problem, and obviously sees such a problem as being important enought that they spent at least 4 years in school to learn about it and passed the licensing test for good measure.

The above is a dream that I had long ago and haven't had for quite some time. Because the reality is, the federal government is in debt to major business and corporation, so congress has the responsibility of dividing these funds in a way that makes these huge corporations happy, and nothing else matters. The federal government has no authority, and there are no checks and balances (apart from the constant bungles of a hated president) the authority is in the Banks. Because here is what they say to the federal government, and your beloved congress that represents your beloved democracey...

"You don't have to pay back that debt as long as you, (insert most things that congress does)."

...i said that already, lmao.