In the attached link that is on Youtube, this gentleman nails it. It is a five minute video which describes the Washington problem better than any of the talking heads while warning our leaders what will happen if they do not wake up.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGyVNippvA&feature=youtube_gdata_player>
Listen to it and please do comment.
This guy is mad as hell alright, but his solution is not going to work. As long as the political system remains the same, the individuals sitting in the seats in Congress are like interchangeable parts.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading a good book on the Wall Street disaster of 2008.
Nicole Gelinas, AFTER THE FALL: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street -- and Washington.
What I find amazing is that so few people understand who is really running this country and controlling events in Washington, D.C. The big banks and multinational corporations are making record profits from their offshore operations and getting subsidies from the federal government to move jobs overseas, while the rest of the country suffers.
What this guy doesn't seem to understand is that 97% of small businesses have less than $250,000 in taxable income, and most of the other 3% are S corporations with millions/billions in revenue. And does he know that nearly all these politicians he is talking about are rich and would have their marginal rate increased to 39% when the Bush tax cuts expire?
Yes, let's get mad as hell. But let's not just blame the politicians. They are mere minions of the lobbyists and unions/corporations who will finance their reelection campaigns. I think you and I agree that this will continue until we somehow get real campaign finance reform. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get politicians to vote against their self-interest.
--David
One of the many troublesome aspects of the budget debate is the process by which they are attempting to solve it. Historically, the budget is debated in standing committees of the House and Senate. Eventually, some bill comes out of these committees. It is then debated on the floor of Congress, and something is finally produced. There is a public process. There is sunshine. I call this "open government."
ReplyDeleteThe new model seems to be that some small "gang" of 6 or 12 people meets secretly. The rest of Congress is supposed to just stand around and wait for this "gang" or "commission" to produce something for them to vote. We have seen the results. Nevertheless, both the Boehner and Reid bills propose some future gang/committee to do the work that I believe should be done publicly so that the voters and media can observe the arguments. Among other things, this might help reduce the amount of misinformation floating around.
--David