Conmen, Cowards, and Thieves

[Original started in 2005 - last updated 3/15/09]

Cher sang a song ["Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves"]  about how a group of people were looked down upon, though they were constantly sought. Congress has shown that they deserve a similar moniker.

Conmen - "I will do what is right for America". Gee, how many times have we heard that? Promises of health care, lower taxes, "no pork", projects for America, foreign policy that promotes peace; all of it costing less than ever before - and none of it is true. But Americans keep voting for these liars.

What is it going to take before we stop voting for them? Unfortunately, I don't think there is a strong enough force in the universe, because the power that keeps getting them voted into office is GREED. And not just the greed of the politicians, but the greed of every American, looking for "a chicken in every pot"  [a slogan from long ago]. Add to that a populace that can no longer think for themselves [ I cite the declining position of American schools as compared to the rest of the planet - what are we now, 98 out of 100? ] and you have an atmosphere where politicians can say anything and be believed.

Have you people ever balanced your checkbook? Income - outlay = what's left. Now while a temporary outlay overage is OK, say for a new replacement refrigerator, or car tires, or even a new couch, should not hurt in the long run, unless your plan is to get more than you will ever [even without interest tacked on] be able to afford then go 'Chapter 13', then how can you justify new cars, new TVs, or houses that cost 5-10 times your annual income [the old norm was about 3 times]? If you can not see how to pay off a credit purchase in 1-2 years [clothes in a couple months], then extras like TVs should wait.  The same goes for these CONMEN in DC - they must be planning to use some kind of 'debt forgiveness' so that the bills for their excesses will never have to be paid. [I guess they just use "debt forget-ness" - they know the people won't remember]

In the 1980's America did not just show the Soviet Union that we had a "better idea" - we out-spent them into the ground. THEY finally gave up the money race and opened their borders. American politicians and economists declared that the Soviet system could not sustain itself, could not spend what it didn't have, and collapsed. However, WE are in the same boat, but refuse to admit it. Mainly Republicans (and their supporters) are the ones claiming that we can cut taxes and offer more services without it costing anything [they claim revenue will increase causing more actual tax money to be collected - kind of like Wal-Mart; lower prices will bring more customers and though the profit margin on each item is small, the total money brought in increases], or even get more in the long run. But since this plan went into effect (I believe in 1981) the total U.S. debt has gone from about $1 Trillion to about $9 Trillion today [would have been MORE if Bill Clinton, for whom I have no love because of the disgrace he brought to our country, had not changed some policies to the point that we had years with no deficit.].

BY THE WAY - have you noticed that YOU have given the former Soviet Union about $1 Trillion since the collapse? The U.S. 'CON'gress thought we should pay them for old nukes missiles, uranium that was laying around, and other weapons, AND straight-up CASH to support their economy as it struggled to become more like ours. But don't you people remember the news reports about hundreds of millions of dollars being directed straight into the Russian mafia, along with other millions simply 'lost'? Just how the hell do you think there became so many Russian millionaires in just a few years? And don't look now - but Putin is planning to stay in power forever!

Cowards - every day they tell us that they are passing laws to help us. Then they insert self-serving "pork projects" and try to tell us that the extra spending is taking care of a true need. The President is also at fault - perhaps, since he can VETO the "pork" laden bills, he is MORE at fault than the self-serving pigs that passed them though Congress. ALL of this could be stopped by a REAL PRESIDENT (I'm not just talking about the current one) making a simple announcement in the Inauguration speech; "I will VETO any bill, for any purpose, that has ANY PORK in it! Further, every bill's contents must pertain only to the bill's subject - amendments, paragraphs, or whatever, for highways can only be inserted into highway bills. This veto would include bills for roads, borders, even flood and hurricane relief; and I will lay the blame right back at Congress for my being forced to veto any bill that does not follow this guideline, as they now have the ground rules and I will demand that they follow this guideline."

However, every past- and present-President has lamented that they signed the "pork laden bill" because there was some provision (usually the name by which it is referred to, like a "Samantha's Law") that was needed. However, at some point the President must STOP BEING A COWARD and STOP THE SPENDING SPREE that Congress has allowed for themselves.

The 'Coward' moniker also fits 99% of the House and Senate membership. Every year we hear that they don't like some bill, but vote for it because they "felt they had no choice". WHAT CRAP. Much of the reason they don't stand up and decry how extra spending has been inserted into an otherwise "good bill" is that THEY THEMSELVES are (or plan to be) guilty of the same "Pork Stuffing".

COWARD can also be a label for them as it regards the "War on Terror". How many of them have sent their kids to Iraq? If they support it, if it is so 'good for America', then they should be able to get their kids to volunteer. I think I have heard of about 10 office holders having direct relatives [child or sibling's child] in the military, and maybe 3-5 of them being in a war zone. But instead, they put out "BONUSES" in the tens of thousands for the poor to join.

AND- a recent [OCT 07] news report showed that they don't want to pay the bonuses as promised. The soldiers have complained that the bonus was set up to be paid if they were in a war zone for X-number-of-days [I believe it was 370 - gee, why just OVER 1 year, when the politicians knew that postings were normally just 1 year?] but that the soldiers were shipped out of the war zone just 14 days, or less, of the "PAY-UP" goal.

ADD to that insult the fact that reservists are being called up at rates not seen since WWII, but are NOT being given full medical coverage! These soldiers DESERVE to get FULL coverage for ALL physical and mental problems when they come back, the same as ANY regular enlistee.

OH YEA - the "Regular Enlistee" also can't get the coverage that was promised. There are multiple reports of soldiers being forced out of the military because they suffer mental disorders as a result of service; they are committing suicide, beating spouses, and a number of other problems are reported. But YOUR GOVERNMENT has decided to REFUSE ASSISTANCE. They don't want to admit they are responsible, neither as the cause or the one responsible to help. [Can we again say "COWARD"?]

Thieves - Mr. Cunningham, of California, for many millions of OUR dollars, what did you get for steering projects to special interests? You got what - house, boat, cars? And that is just ONE example of how these bastards are stealing from us.

Now include the other special interests - Congress people that have special charities in their home districts, where money can be funneled that, despite their claims, does directly benefit them. Come on, take a good look - you will see that while a campaign may not get money from some big corporation, those same corporations are giving money to 'charities' that are not anywhere close to the HQ of the company, but are close to the HQ of the politician. How does this benefit the politician? - they get free rides, use of planes, trains, and automobiles, and houses and private clubs that are all paid for by the 'charities'. There was a bigwig Congressman from eastern Texas a few years ago, whom was forced out because of things he did; I remember news reports that he oversaw some charity in his district which was getting money from around the county even though its area of concern was a couple counties in their local area. Why did this 'charity' get millions? - because the politician was based there.

But the stealing is not just in such 'round about' ways. Did you hear about the plane that gets funded, though over 10 years has not gone into development, many millions spent, and the military says it will NEVER WORK, but because the politician has some small company in his district that the wants to keep running, he funnels money every year to the project? This plane [profiled, I think, on 60 Minutes] has never flown, and at best got 3 feet off the ground [it is a vertical takeoff craft] for less than 10 seconds; but was not allowed to do that attempt without being tethered to the ground for safety! So this guy 'steals' millions from us so he can have a couple jobs in his district, and a few thousand in his campaign coffers!

AMERICA -WAKE UP !!!