History repeating itself...I guess we haven't learned

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.  Albert Einstein

From the Gallup polling organization:

“September 30, 2013

More in U.S. Say Shutdown Is About Politics Than Principle: Attitudes similar to those in November 1995

by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are more likely to believe the current budget debate between President Barack Obama and the Republicans in Congress is an attempt by both sides to gain political advantage (47%) than an important battle over principles and the future direction of government (37%). These views are similar to Americans' attitudes on the day the government shut down in November 1995 as a result of that year's political impasse when 52% said the budget debate was political, while 37% said it was based on disagreement about principles.”*

In 1995 we recognized that politics trumps principles, and really all other considerations, for the political ruling class.  In 2013 a majority of those polled, albeit a smaller one, recognize the same thing.   We are now 18 years removed from the last shutdown, and nine election cycles. 

What has changed?  Absolutely nothing has changed!  Why?  Because we help to maintain the political status quo through our voting behaviors. 

How many of the same players that are involved in the current shutdown debacle were in office in 1995?  And, it doesn’t really matter if they are Democrats or Republicans.  What matters is they have grown up in a system in which they have not been held accountable.  Based on their past experience, they now feel it is ok, in spite of their rhetoric to the contrary, to employ tactics that bring the government to the point of shutdown merely for political gain.  Congress cannot do its most fundamental job, passing a budget, because the people in leadership have grown up in a system that has an abysmal record of doing so.  There has been no consequences for their bad behaviors, so why should they change them?

We, you and I, must change the political status quo by holding our elected officials accountable through the elective process.  However, it is not enough to continue to vote for candidates with Ds and Rs beside their names.  How well has that worked out for us?  We must seek out and elect independent and third party candidates in order to drive a wedge between Democrats and Republicans that will force them to think and behave differently.  They will not do it on their own. 

If we continue to use the same thinking, and subsequently engage in the same voting behaviors we have in the past, we will never arrive at solutions to our Nation’s problems.      

*http://www.gallup.com/poll/164708/say-shutdown-politics-principle.aspx

They unite in a common con

545 people are responsible for the mess, but they unite in a common con.  Charley Reese, 1984

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise complete power over the government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.  Charley Reese, 1984

The country faces another government shutdown on 1 OCT.  WHY?  Please read the second quote above again. 

One con the 545 engage in is the blame game.  Democrats blame Republicans for being obstructionists, engaging in partisan politics, and not looking out for the interests of “the American people.”  Republicans blame Democrats for being obstructionists, engaging in partisan politics, and not looking out for “the American people.  The really sad thing is, they’re both right. 

So, is it the Republican majority in the House that is being obstructionist or is the Democratic majority in Senate and the current Democrat that occupies the White House that are being obstructionists?  Or, is it all just political gamesmanship?  As Charlie Reese said, “they unite in a common con.”

The blame game is all about the message.  The party that does a better job of convincing “the American people” that the other side is causing the problem wins!  And after all, isn’t that what really matters.

Here is some Democratic messaging reported by POLITICO today: “Democrats are portraying support for the House language [which defunds the ACA] as a vote for a shutdown.” “House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) pushed back, explaining that Democrats have been trying to negotiate for months.  He pointed to the Republican refusal to convene a conference to come to a compromise between the House and Senate passed budgets.  Instead, Van Hollen said, Republicans intentionally stalled budget negotiations so they could attach an attempt to defund Obamacare on a last-minute spending bill.  ‘Drive the country to the cliff and then say give us what we want,’ Van Hollen said.

Here is some Republican messaging from Senator Ted Cruz: “’If we have a shutdown, it will be because Harry Reid holds that absolutist position and essentially holds the American people hostage,’ the Texas Republican said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’  He says, ‘I’m not willing to compromise, I’m not willing to even talk. His position is 100 percent of Obamacare must be funded in all instances. Other than that, he’s going to shut the government down.’”

 What’s at stake?  “That message could carry huge political implications for Republicans. The GOP took the blame for the government shutdowns in the 1990s and polling suggests the same could happen now.  Republicans acknowledged as much, with Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador telling ‘Meet the Press’: ‘I think everybody agrees that this is a loser for us.’”  The Republicans must do all they can to counter what appears to be successful Democratic messaging.

Will there be a shutdown, or will there be an eleventh hour short-term, shortsighted compromise for which the two parties can declare a victory “for the American people?”  We’ll have to wait and see. 

Just 545 Americans have fouled up this great nation.   Charley Reese, 1984

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million [300 million today] cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted – by present facts – of incompetence and irresponsibility.  Charley Reese 1984

And, if you please indulge me, just one more from Charley Reese:  Those 545 people and they alone are responsible.  They and they alone have the power.  They and they alone should be held accountable by the people [us] who are their bosses – provided they [we] have the gumption to manage their [our] employees.

To read the POLITCO article please go to
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/government-shutdown-2013-gop-narrative-97521.html#ixzz2gKV5AA8H

Are we angry enough?!

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.  Wayne Dyer

Authors note: My friend Raymond Farrar said, “When you change the way you look at a thing, the thing you look at changes,” which I have been using in my writings.  Now that I know the original quote, and the source of the quote, l will use the original and attribute it properly in the future.

That being said, the meaning is the same.  We must change the way we “look” at the political process in our Nation to understand why we have the problems we have.  More importantly, we must change the way we look at it, or we will never be able to rely on those elect to find long-term solutions to those problems.  Only by “seeing” things differently can we bring about credible change.

What is the most pressing problem our Nation faces?  Is it the debt?  Is it the budget?  Is it the economy?  Is it tax reform?  Is it immigration reform?  Is it race relations?  Is it gun control?  Is it the farm bill?  Is it the environment?  Is it campaign finance reform?  Is it…?

The answer is, none of the above.  Our Nation’s most pressing problem is the fact that the political status quo is perpetually maintained.  All of the above are important, but they are really only byproducts: merely the results of the political status quo being maintained over the past several decades.

Politics is about the calculus of winning elections.  Governing is about policy making through the legislative process.  We have allowed, and continue to allow, politics to serve as a poor substitute for statesmanship.  Consequently, the short-term imperative need for career politicians to win elections supersedes the need to find long-term solutions to our Nation’s problems.  Remember, in our republican form of democracy, we elect those who are empowered to exercise control over the government.

To enjoy credible change in our Nation’s governance we must break the political status quo.  We must begin to, borrowing from an oft used cliché, literally "think outside the box."  Continuing to accept the lie that must only vote either "D" or "R" will ensure we never achieve credible change.  Subsequently, we will continue to get the same "politics as usual" that is bringing about the slow demise of the Untied States. 

 

We say we are angry about how Washington operates?  However, are we angry enough to do anything concrete about it.

 

Demand alternatives to Ds and Rs in 2014!