Dump The INcumbents

By: Jason Hastings
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:24:15
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It is well past the time to vote all of our entrenched federal lawmakers out of office and this election year is the perfect time to start doing it. We can clean out all of the congressmen and some of the senators in 2006, continue in 2008 with more senators and the president, and finish up with the rest of the incumbent senators in 2010. It is a good time to purge everybody because we don’t have an incumbent president or vice-president seeking office. I’m not asking anybody to do a whole lot, just to register and vote in three national elections in four years time (2006, 2008, 2010). If we could get 75% of the adults in this country to vote, we could easily do it.

I am a staunch republican, but this is a bipartisan effort. I used to be a proud republican but now I am a republican solely because I believe it is the lesser of two evils. That is not an option you should have at election time. I don’t think third parties are the answer because they don’t get anywhere and only end up hurting the party they are more closely aligned with. Ross Perot ruined George Bush the Elder’s re-election bid in 1992. In 2000, Ralph Nader probably cost Al Gore the election by siphoning off precious votes in Florida.

My Dump The Incumbents (DTI) campaign will actually consist of four goals:

1. Dump the Incumbents in Washington
2. Repeal the 17th Amendment (Which provides for the direct election of senators)
3. Campaign Finance reform
4. Term limits for Congress

Right now I will rant about why we should Dump The Incumbents. Discussions on issues 2-4 will follow.

Why do we need to purge out national government?

1. The party with the power disappoints. The democrats had most of the power for 40 years and ruined the country’s culture. They took over the schools and taught multiculturalism and value neutrality to 3 generations of American children. They created our race problems with their social programs and destroyed the black family. The republicans started taking over in 1994 with a pledge of reform but became drunk with power; bankrupting the country and increasing the size of the government.

2. They think they are the privileged class. When the FBI raided Congressman William Jefferson’s office, House Speaker Dennis Hastert pitched a fit over their congressional privilege and the sanctity of their offices. Patrick Kennedy and Cynthia McKinney both broke the law and received special treatment. Look at the arrogance of Duke Cunningham and Tom Delay.

3. They lack the courage to end failing government programs that are bankrupting us. We could easily eliminate half of the president’s cabinet and their corresponding bureaucracies and programs.

4. It is partisanship over constituents-Each party’s focus is on defeating and sabotaging each other. Their constituents are second. I have to blame the democrats on this one. Spineless republicans were famous for getting along with the democrats for all those years they were in power. Once the republicans took control of Congress the democrats simply stopped working with them. The democrats were in power for so long that their definition of bipartisanship meant doing what they said.

5. Both parties love voter apathy and take the necessary steps to ensure a low voter turnout. They act to create cynical citizens because cynical citizens don’t vote and a low voter turnout will always help the incumbent. One way they ensure low voter turnout is through gerrymandering (They use the euphemism redistricting.). They design their own congressional districts to ensure they get re-elected. (I know that this is done at the state level, but they are told what to do by the congressmen.) Gerrymandering creates a system where the incumbent gets to choose their voters instead of the other way around. Many people don’t even bother to vote because the result is a foregone conclusion.

6. They have created an incumbency protection racket and called it campaign finance reform. Remember, every piece of campaign reform is created by and for the incumbents. Incumbency creates a class of legislators that are no longer responsive to their own public. This creates anger and cynicism, and the frustrated voters stay home.

7. They have created a system where the truth is so hidden that they have to hire a staff that is skilled at cover ups, evasion, spin, lies, disinformation, half-truths, feigned ignorance, sudden memory loss, manipulation of facts, distortions, controlled polling, double standards, and blame-shifting. Washington DC is the industry that has the most euphemisms to describe incompetence and lying. More cynicism.

8. They create laws that are more complex than the electronic blueprint of the international space station. Laws that are layered, intertwined, cumbersome, intrusive and confusing add to voter anger and apathy

9. They are all crooks. The fine line between legal and illegal bribery is indistinct in Washington DC and that is the way they like it. They want you to stay confused over the legitimacy of their activity. Have you noticed that when one of our esteemed leaders is caught doing something illegal his political enemies rarely say much about it? They know that they have committed the same crime in the past or will someday commit that crime and they don’t want to be called a hypocrite. They have designed a system where you can shower the legislator and his family all year with bribes and special favors in exchange for pork and earmarks. But at re-election time these favors and donations are strictly limited because the incumbents don’t want that same money seeping over to their competitors.

10. Both parties are fiscally irresponsible. They have different approaches to taxation, but the same approaches to spending. There is no limit to their spending because spending money for their districts helps them get re-elected. The deficit in this country can be defined as the amount of taxes they wished they had the courage to levy on you in order to cover their spending. And you know what? I don’t even trust their figures. I bet it is much worse than they say. They are not held to the same accounting principles that they created for our private companies. They make their own accounting rules and then ignore them. I don’t have a problem with a country running a small deficit, but a large one shows irresponsibility and invites further corruption. Our bloated budget has been created in order to feed an army of lobbyists composed of congressional family members, former legislators, and former staffers.

11. They are moral cowards. They schedule simple, popular legislation at election time and complex, unpopular legislation in years where there are no elections. We have a midterm election coming this fall and what do we get from Washington? Flag burning legislation! Sure I think we need it because I don’t think flag burning is a speech issue. But this issue was brought up just to energize the republican base during an election year. Meanwhile tougher issues like immigration, social security reform, and spending limits are ignored because our lawmakers are cowards. They avoid the tough issues and waste our resources grandstanding about dumb issues such as steroids in baseball. They schedule everything based around Election Day. Ever wonder why our taxes are due in April, when the government’s fiscal year starts in October? April is a safe distance from election time. They don’t want you to remember how much tax money you paid when you go to the polls. Let’s move tax day closer to Election Day.

12. They have no accountability. The government is simply too big for any accountability. Who was held accountable for 9/11? Should someone be in jail for the negligence that caused 3,000 Americans to be murdered? Who was held accountable for the lousy city, state and federal reaction to hurricane Katrina? Sure “Brownie” was forced to resign, but that was it. If there is no punishment for failure, failure will multiply until it becomes even more catastrophic.

13. Scandal. Congress is quick to chase down the latest corporate scandals; Adelphia, Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, etc. But what about their own scandals and incompetence? Should they go to jail? How about the scandals of quasi government agencies they have oversight for such as Fannie Mae?

14. They have sat around for years and watched our private property rights erode. Private property is taken in this country under the guise of drug forfeiture laws and eminent domain cases that are just undisguised political favors. Yes, I disagree with illegal drug forfeiture laws. Drug dealers are the scum of the earth, but that does not justify taking their private property. Private property should be sacrosanct. It is too vital to the creation of private wealth in a society. If you fear that the government is going to take your property you stop accumulating wealth and the economy fails.

I could go on an on but the only thing I seem to be am accomplishing right now is elevating my blood pressure.

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