I'm considered liberal. Gay rights, pro choice, pro union,
favors universal healthcare and I am on record as being
against the war in Iraq since 2002.
Yeah, I know the war didn't start until 2003, but it's not
like we all didn't know it was coming.
Anyhow, my message to a Democratic party that may
take over both houses of congress:
BEWARE!
I agree, a whole lot of ***** has happened over the last six
years. Laws have been broken, hundreds of billions of
dollars have been shovelled into the pockets of cronies and
upwards of $12 billion is just plain missing. Nobody knows
where it is. Hearing are definitely in your future, the bad
guys are going to be testifying UNDER OATH for the first
time EVER under Bush. But you're going to need to show
a little restraint.
The people want oversight, and they want it NOW. They're
not going to wait until you're finished investigating the hell
out of Halliburton. They want CHANGES.
They'd like payback, but if you get both houses -- especially
if you pick up the house by more than 30 seats -- that means
they want change.
No, seriously. I can't overstress this enough, Democrats.
The bigger your win, the more the voters already know
things cronyism & out-right crime has been the GOP
legacy, and the more they want change.
You take both houses, and a big margin in one or both, that'll
be a message that things have to change, and they'll have
to change quickly.
Even more important than rounding up the bad guys is
making sure that the door to the candy store has been
slammed shut on the bad guys.
Reforms!
Budget reforms: Go ahead, raise taxes! Do whatever. But
inact rules that require any & all new spending bills to
include funding. It doesn't have to be level -- it can come
from new taxes -- but the rules should ban any spending
bill that doesn't spell out exactly where the money is
coming from.
Ethics reform: Forget "Until it hurts," you've got to come
up with some new rules that make you all bleed from your
ears & eyeballs!
Rules like, well, like the same rules you guys applied to
Bill Clinton. "Family member on the staff? No problem!
But they can't draw a dime in salary."
Look. If you guys honestly don't feel that you're paid enough,
raise your salaries. Double them. Triple them. Whatever.
You can't? The voters will eat you alive?
Fine. Then find a new job or learn to live within your means,
EXACTLY as the voters have to do.
No more laundering money through your campains, sticking
the spouse in a paid position where, through their salary,
campaign contributions are funneled directly into your
household income.
That's blatent corruption, and WAY too many members of
congress are unethically padding their household incomes
this way.
Same is true for congressional staff. You trust one or more
family members? Want them on your staff, helping you in
Washington? Fine. No paycheck. Not one dime from the
federal treasury to your family members.
And the same goes for any "PACs" or those so-called
"Charities" you people are so found of. In fact, you can't
run PACs or so-called "Charities" at all. Blind trust, baby.
You and your family can't have any involvement in the
running of your money laundering schemes anymore,
and you can't have any knowledge of their running.
That's right, you can't know who's donating and who isn't,
or where the money went to. That's right, you can't know
who just tried to buy your influence, and you can't know
who's influence you tried to buy.
Sounds tough? Unfair? Fine. Get a different job. That's what
the rest of us have to do when a job is too demanding.
Get rid of the ethics committee. Yeah, it can work when
you don't have a Republica congress to castrate the way
they did. But sooner or later someone is just going to
do the exact same thing again.
Appoint a bipartisan commission! You guys retain the power
to discipline members any way you see fit, but the bipartisan
commission decides whether a member is guilty of any
legal or ethical violation.
Give them a staff, include their own investigators. Allow them
to accept complaints from outside citizens.
Yeah, sure, they'll get flooded with complaints. But what do
you care? It'll be their problem, and no member of congress
has to deal with any of it unless the commission reports
that they found a problem.
Write a constitutional amendment if you have to. Throw the
Religious Right plenty of bones so they sign on. You know,
like add a few "Moral" violations, like adultry. They go wild
over that *****. Heck, banned unmarried members from
living with a partner!
Don't pretend "Civil Rights" is a barrier here. "Equality" means
treating gay members just as shitty as the others. Pass
a formal civil union status for the city of Washington. Make it
avaliable to non-residents. Require every member -- gay or
straight -- to meet or exceed the qualifications/expectation of
that civil union designation before they can live with their
partner. Failure to do so disqualifies membership in congress.
GET CRACKING!
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