Earlier this year, our government shut down…..at least, all of the “non-essential” parts of the government shut down. More than 800,000 people were out of work….at home without receiving any pay. Unfortunately, the members of Congress were not included in this number. They continued to receive their full pay and benefits, even when they were needlessly and selfishly depriving hundred of thousands of hard working citizens of their livelihood. Luckily, I am one of the fortunate people who was not affected by the shut down. My social security checks continued to come; Medicare still paid my medical bills; the Veterans Administration was still in business…..and I did not expect to visit any national parks in the near future. But this does not diminish my anger and frustration about the shameful state affairs in Washington D.C. We were in the midst of a situation that should have never happened…..and one that the American people should never have allowed to happen. Somewhere along the way in the past twenty years or so….no even less than that….the people who we elect to make laws and to govern in our best interests…..the best interest of the nation…..have stopped representing the people, and instead have started representing themselves, their own special interests, and the wealthy people who contribute millions of dollars to their campaigns. Their main priority is the protection of their political party, and getting themselves reelected. They have lost sight of their true mission….the mission and purpose for which they were elected by the people. And this mission, I think, is clearly stated in the Constitution of the United States: form a more perfect union; establish justice; insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; promote the general welfare; and secure the blessings of liberty ourselves and our posterity. The Constitution says nothing about appeasing lobbyists….or catering to wealthy donors…..or protecting political parties…..or getting reelected. And, it also says nothing about championing a narrow ideology that is supported by a minority on the radical fringe…..either on the right or on the left. Our elected representatives are elected as advocates and champions of all the people. For the past several years our government has, for all practical purposes, ceased to govern. Basically, there has been a state of legislative gridlock…..gridlock based purely on partisan politics and the selfish personal ideological beliefs of a minority of legislators who put their own interests above the interests of the people who elected them….the people they were “hired” to serve. Laws are no longer passed. Important appointments are blocked. Budgets are not being adopted. To give an indication how quickly the partisan gridlock has developed…..and developed as a result of the Democrats controlling in Senate and the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, take a look at the following numbers:

Now let’s take a look at the number of laws that have been passed since 1997: 1997 – 153 2004 – 300 1998 – 241 2005 – 169 1999 – 170 2006 – 313 2000 – 410 2007 – 180 2001 – 136 2008 – 280 2002 – 241 2009 – 125 2003 – 198 2010 – 258 2011 – 90 2012 – 61 And, so far, this year, 2013, only 15 laws have been passed. You will notice that the past two years have been years of complete inaction on the part of Congress…..an almost complete stalemate. And, maybe you also noticed that these years coincide with the rise of the so-call Tea Party movement….an era in which a group of radical far-right, ultra-fundamentalist, close minded “Christians” have exerted enough power to bring the legislative process to an almost complete halt. In themselves, they do not have enough power to get any laws passed….but they do possess tremendous power to prevent laws from being passed. It is sometimes difficult to understand their real motivation, but I think it is safe to say that they do not represent or reflect the wishes and will of the population of this nation…..that their interests and intent is narrow, selfish and self-serving. They are holding almost all legislative activity hostage to meet their own demands. OK. I suppose that almost everybody has his own ideas on how to deal with or correct our current sorry mess. Well….so do I. Using my infinite wisdom, I am going to suggest three courses of action that I believe will help to improve, if not eliminate, most of the selfish, non-representative, partisan, self-serving tactics that are being practiced today by our elected representatives. 1. Impose term limits on all elected officials. This will help prevent the accumulation of individual power….or the sense of entitlement that comes along with serving for a long period of time in an elected office. It will also help bring new people and new ideas and approaches to the legislative process. It will also help weed out corrupt and incompetent individuals who manage to keep being re-elected due to the ignorance or apathy of their constituents. 2. Publicly fund all elections in a national general elections…..the elections for President and the elections for all members of Congress. This will put all candidates on the same level. It will level the playing field. It will encourage qualified men and women to run for office who could otherwise not afford it…..or who, because of their political party or the make-up of their voting district, can not attract sufficient amounts of money that would otherwise be funneled into individual campaigns by wealthy donors, who, in turn, will expect to be repaid for their generosity in the form of preferential treatment in passing legislation which will favor them or their commercial interests. It will prevent wealthy donors from simply buying an election. It will help stamp out much of the corruption that inevitably results from unchecked or unregulated private campaign funding. 3. When major pieces of legislation are being vote on, by law require that they be considered as individual, stand-alone issues…..one subject, one law at a time. Make it impossible to add controversial, politically or emotionally charged issues to them. Every law will be considered on its own merits….and this will almost certainly keep the legislative process moving. Laws that are obviously beneficial for the people….laws that are necessary and vital to the overall interests of the people and the nation will be passed. Politically controversial laws can be decided at the leisure of the Congress. Political parties and individual legislators can debate, fight, grandstand, and obstruct as they want……but the legislation that is of common good will be voted on in a timely manner, and the nation and its people will not be brought to its knees by partisan blackmail by either political party….or by self-serving, self-centered individuals. So……do you think any of these reforms will take place? Do I even think any of these reforms will take place? I am not naive, and I am not out of touch with reality. Probably anybody who thinks that any of the above reforms will be enacted by our present Congress……or any Congress……surely is naive and out of touch with reality. In the first place, I seriously doubt if any member of Congress is going to vote himself or herself out of a job. It just isn’t going to happen. And, I also seriously doubt if those Congressmen who are receiving huge sums of money from private individuals and corporations are going to say good-bye to a lucrative and easy source of money. And, I doubt if many….if any….have the slightest regard for fairness when it comes to funding election campaigns. And, there is always going to be a fringe faction who will actively and willingly resort to types of political blackmail or “hostage” taking in order to either get their narrow, partisan legislation passed……or prevent good, sound, necessary legislation from being passed. Actually, I think there is really only one way to bring about real change in our nation today. And that is for each and every citizen to become actively involved in the political process…..to become informed on the issues….to make their views known to their elected representative and let them know they expect to be listened to. But, most important of all……vote! And to vote consistently in each and every election……no matter what level….or for what office. Absolute power in the U.S.A. rests with the citizens….the people…..and they can exercise his power through their right and obligation to vote. People often gripe and complain and moan about their lack of control…..or feeling helpless. People say, “Why bother to vote?” We vote because that is our “voice” in our government. When we vote, we are “talking”; we are making our wishes and desires known. And, we have the right and the power…..and the obligation…..to make our elected representatives accountable and responsive to our needs and desires.

It is often said, “We get what we deserve.” And, we certainly deserve more and better than what we are receiving.