My Political Philosophy

Here are some of my thoughts on Washington, D.C.

Congressional offices need term limits. If an elected official is in the nation's capital for the sole purpose of representing his constituents, he will not feel the need to wade into political pastures outside of his calling like the regulation of steroid use in Major League Baseball, and inquiries into pay raises and bonuses of private corporations. How much tax-payer money is wasted on each of these hearings, and what else could be getting accomplished with all that effort? If you want to see politicians run on true identities and absolute platforms, let them know that they can only be there for a few election cycles. I promise this will cut excess "pork" spending, end unnecessary government programs, and make for a trustworthy entity, whose approval rating will be able to rise above 30%.

Lobbying groups and lobbyists are a legitimate part of bureaucracy. Do they have an easier time achieving personal contact with members of Congress and their staffs? Yes, they do. Do they have as much of an influence on the voting trend of our representatives, as groups without lobbyists claim? Probably not, because in the end, who controls whether that Congressman is elected back to Washington?

Congress and its committees need to remain out of private sector issues, fixing a naturally climate issue, and issues involving the intelligence programs and military activities that are above their security level.

For the most part, our elected officials are active members of their communities: doctors, lawyers, educators, and so on. There are a few who are career politicians, but none are experts in multiple or, most often, any field.

Right now, America is in the middle of a bitter dispute over Obama-care, a nationalized insurance ring that will have an affect initially over every sector of the medical and pharmaceutical fields, but will expand to raise costs on nearly every other practice and work area also. A major complaint is that none of the members of Congress are experts on this issue; of the 535 members of Congress, a whopping 16 are medical doctors, and eleven are Republicans against any form of this health care overhaul. That's 3% of Congress. It seems like if anything, any and all reform should be left up to them, because compared to the other 97% of Congress, they're the experts.

This type of ineptitude is seen all over Congress, and in some places it is quite dangerous. 121 members of Congress have military service, but many of those who are not veteran's of the U.S. military still have leadership positions in committees dealing with foreign affairs, military funding, and intelligence. Just as you wouldn't want your mechanic telling you how to complete your taxes, or lawyers on how to regiment your health care, non-experienced politicians shouldn't be seated in positions of power over career military personnel. Many of these committees require security clearances that are definitely not granted to average citizens, so, pardon me, but, why does a former teacher or banker now qualify to be briefed on top-secret and classified information? As we unfortunately see on a daily basis, swiss cheese is better at stopping leaks than our members of Congress and their staffs.

There is too much information floating around on every type of issue for Congress to become experts on every topic. With the American people's support, we can lasso Congress back to its roots and back to the issues that it was created to resolve.

Nancy Pelosi doesn't need to know how the CIA stops terrorist attacks, and Al Franken doesn't need to tell my doctor how to care for me.

When we as Americans begin to have more self-respect for ourselves than our nonchalant attitude towards Congress, they will begin to listen and will vote our thoughts and our beliefs, not just their agendas.

This is what I believe. Together, you and I will be a revolution.