Confessions of a congressman 9 secrets from the inside

So even our congress knows it is dysfunctional:

I am a member of Congress. I'm not going to tell you from where, or from which party. But I serve, and I am honored to serve. I serve with good people (and some less good ones), and we try to do our best.

It's a frustrating, even disillusioning job. The public pretty much hates us. Congress polls lower than Richard Nixon during Watergate, traffic jams, or the Canadian alt-rock band Nickelback. So the public knows something is wrong. But they often don't know exactly what is wrong. And sometimes, the things they think will fix Congress — like making us come home every weekend — actually break it further.

So here are some things I wish the voters knew about the people elected to represent them.

source

a reply to: AlaskanDad

FTA:

3) Almost everyone in Congress loves gerrymandering

Without crooked districts, most members of Congress probably would not have been elected. According to the Cook Political Report, only about 90 of the 435 seats in Congress are "swing" seats that can be won by either political party. In other words, 345 seats are safe Republican or Democratic seats. Both parties like it that way. So that's what elections are like today: rather than the voters choosing us, we choose the voters. The only threat a lot of us incumbents face is in the primaries, where someone even more extreme than we are can turn out the vote among an even smaller, more self-selected group of partisans.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

5) We don't have a Congress but a parliament

Over the last several decades, party loyalty has increased to near-unanimity. If a member of Congress doesn't vote with his or her party 99 percent of the time, he's considered unreliable and excluded from party decision-making. Gone are the days when you were expected to vote your conscience and your district, the true job of a congressperson. Parliaments only work because they have a prime minister who can get things done. We have a parliament without any ability to take executive action. We should not be surprised we are gridlocked.

They have duped us all.

It's the Show that Never Ends.

If you get voted out you just head over to K Street and become a Lobbyist.

The real money is made when you are not in Office.

The truth is both Parties are the same. The game is rigged. They all win.

What even makes it sweeter for these legalized criminals...We Vote them in.

Possibly the greatest deception in the history of man.

Depressing, but I believe it.

Thanks for posting.

originally posted by: Elton
Depressing, but I believe it.

Thanks for posting.

Agreed. The only thing that could save Congress is if they all had a "Come to Jesus" moment where they realized what they're doing (and not doing) is royally screwing this country.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

So even our congress knows it is dysfunctional

Yep.

We should send all of them somewhere on a Malaysian AirBus, as we all know what will happen next...

Why should they care? theyre doing alright and will collect on their voting records after they are out of office....this is when the payoffs get bestowed upon them....when they are out of the limelight of public scrutiny....

I wish I could ask the author his/her recommendations. To simply state negativity is bad and we need to get to work is hot air.

Take for instance the gerrymandering issue. After doing a little homework here:

redistricting.lls.edu...

...fixing this is a mess. Probably a deliberate mess. There are a couple of Federal guidelines but every state has different additional ones. No guarantees just vague directions. Nothing the average American can get a grip on.

The only way to save ourselves would be to round up every politician and lobbyist in Washington and fire them directly into the sun.

Sounds like the Corporations *OWN* the means of production !!!



Something kinda backfired on a few people didn't it.

More depressing news about our government... I can't even begin to figure out how to fix this mess.

Like the old joke says: "You can't get there from here. You gotta go somewhere else and start.


dex

I don't for a second believe a Congress critter being paid over $200K a year including benefits wrote this.

How to fix this? Easy.

Term limits for all of Congress.
Abolition of lobbyists.
Campaign/campaing contribution reform.

But Congress isn't going to do it. The states have to.

Number 2 illustrates a serious problem. To get elected, big money is needed. Seems obvious that string are attached to the money.

Add on "Congress is a stepping-stone to lobbying" and it turns into pure BS road to wealth.

originally posted by: Malynn
The only way to save ourselves would be to round up every politician and lobbyist in Washington and fire them directly into the sun.

There is a problem with the fuel unnecessarily consumed; and maybe
it's too long as well since it would take about 4 1/4 years to get to
the Sun at 25K mi per hour. A star for the kind thought though.

May I suggest instead we fire them all one at a time, out of a gravity
cannon into a vertical black granite rock face? Mach 5 YEAH

In less civilized cultures they used to eat the wise ones. Irk.
I guess in recent centuries that got these clowns off THAT hook...

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: Elton
Depressing, but I believe it.

Thanks for posting.

Agreed. The only thing that could save Congress is if they all had a "Come to Jesus" moment where they realized what they're doing (and not doing) is royally screwing this country.

Actually, the founders gave us the 5th Amendment to save the Republic. They knew if the Federal government became corrupt and tyrannical it would be the only thing to save it short of armed insurrection. The Federal government will NEVER reform itself and cede power back to the states.

Carlin nailed it when he said we have the illusion of choice.

Snakes and pigs. Humans by nature are greedy selfish and discusting creatures and the majority of the time im ashamed to be part of this species. I find like minds so far n few between that I cant help but be cynical n often pessimistic. As for congress they seem to be mostly depraved n arrogant enough to smile into the camera knowing that he has stopped in every truckstop he passed to do some "insert drugname" and hang out n the public bathroom for a while to try n score some homosexual gratification in exchange for your taxdollars or corporate buyout money. In essence they are the cream of the rotten crop. I vote we go the cheap route n line em up single file and see how many 1 .50 cal round will drop each shot until they all layin down to never get up again.

+the above stated is my opinion and should not be taken as anything but opinion+

Perhaps, we all should start putting our local legislatures feet to the fire. The voters need to make campaign finance reform a priority to offset the damage done by the Supreme Court.

For campaigning purposes, why can't they use the public tv and radio channels. The newspaper. Social media. Some sort of system where candidates can get public attention for free, just for campaigning purposes. Some way of circumventing the need for a billion dollars for campaigning.

This is no surprise, especially the lobbying issue. I'm sure it goes much deeper than this.

@SjKnight