Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The United States of Shame



I am ashamed of our government!

Brinkmanship is no way to operate a government!

Our country should not have to be held hostage by the Tea Party!

Those are just a few of my many negative thoughts right now about our government.  The members of Congress are acting like a bunch of squabbling children who can only say "NO!"  We are the United States of Shame, though not necessarily for the 50 reasons stated in the cartoon above.

I have said before that we need a strong third party. Republicans are moving further to the right, while Democrats are moving further to the left.  It leaves out the moderates of this country.  If we had a stronger third party for moderates, then we could force the current two-party system to compromise.  However, compromise is not likely as long as the current members of Congress are in office.

The U.S. Constitution (Article I, section 9, clause 7) states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time."  In other words, Congress is mandated by the Constitution to pass a federal budget.  It is one of the few expressed Powers given to the legislative branch.  However, they have failed to pass a federal budget since 2009.  Think about it, what would happen if you chose not to do whatever is the major part of your job for four years?  For most of us, that is unconscionable.  Yet Congress has done this, or in this case not done a damn thing but bicker.

I am disgusted with the way our government works.  I have been studying the provisions of Obamacare for the past few days trying to wrap my head around the issues that the Tea Party has with it.  I asked a friend, who I described as the most rational conservative I know, what is so wrong with Obamacare?  Her answer was that she doesn't like the government telling her what to do.  I agree.  I don't like the government telling me I have to buy a product or pay a fine (or tax as SCOTUS declared it).  However, is the world going to end because Obamacare went online yesterday.  NoIn fact, I think many of the provisions of Obamacare are necessary.  Is it a perfect law?  HELL NO!  So why shut down the government for something that you can't stop?  Because we are dealing with immature assholes (and yes, I know name calling is immature as well).

The more I study the issues and try to keep up with everything so that I can answer my students questions about what is happening, the madder I get.  Before the government shut down I was already pissed off at the local justice system.  As you know from my post Monday, I was supposed to return to court on the matter of my speeding ticket.  I had called last week to gain a continuance because my witness and I were finding it hard to get off work.  I was told by the clerk's office that under no circumstances would a continuance be allowed because the trial had already been continued once.  The assistant district attorney had originally set my trial for 1:00 pm on the day of the original hearing but had called and told me that the officer who gave me the ticket was out of town and could not be in court at one o'clock that day.  Therefore, the clerk's office informed me that since it had been continued once, it could not be continued again.  However, I received a call from the district attorney's office on Monday stating that the State Trooper who issued the ticket could not be in court on October 1 due to training and that the hearing had been continued again.  This is simply not equal justice.

I am growing very weary of the government, whatever part it may be, saying one thing and doing another.  Republicans claim they want government out of our lives, yet they fight to tell us who we can't marry, what we can do with our own bodies, etc., yet when the Democrats pass a law requiring us to buy insurance, they go apeshit.  Ignorance, hypocrisy, and arrogance are my greatest pet peeves. Politicians seem to embody all three.

Thanks for reading my rant today.  By the way, I do think there are many government employees who do wonderful and necessary jobs; however, I'm not so sure about politicians.  I hope that this can be resolved soon, as I feel sorry for the nearly one million federal employees who are going without pay.  Our politicians should be ashamed of themselves.

By the way, I scheduled this last night.  If by a miracle, the government shutdowns ends before this is posted, I will still be pissed off at our government.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The tea party isn't holding the country hostage. It's that arrogant buffoon in the White House and his Democrat henchmen who are to blame. There's something wrong when a president will negotiate with terrorists (Iran, Syria) and refuse to negotiate with Congress.

JiEL said...

OMG! ANON,

What a NARROW view of the situation..

As a Canadian, I'm not in good right to comment on American politics, but from here, it's kind of rediculous the way your Congress is blocking money to help your less wealthy to have some health care.. And by doing it, it blocks a big part of American workers and public services...

Is it logic to spend billions of $$$$$ for wars here and there and give billions to Afghanistan gov, and Irak when in your own country you have poverty and people struggling to have a job and survive...

We have health care here and we're not «communist» country.

I know, because I have friends in Delaware, that they're Republicans and they really «hate» M.Obama. It's like if you're not Republican your not a REAL American...
That is bullshit to me.
Aren't you THE «Land of Liberty»??

Which Liberty? The kind of liberty when you're white, wealthy and doing your own justice with guns?
We're in 2013 and Far West time is over for many years now...

It reminds me of my own Province of Québec: if your not for the Québec seperation party (PQ), your not a real Québecer...
Bullshit here too...
Why are we having people who wants to divide everything and everynbody?
I'm Canadian and proud to be and also proud to be Québecois too..

BTW, I like your map of USA even if it's a bit pessimistic....

God bless «USA» (America is formed with Canada and Mexico and USA..)


gp said...

There have been extensive political science studies of the ideological changes of the 2 parties. The studies show that on average the Democrats are no more left of center than they were 40 years ago. The republicans, on the hand, have moved far to the right. In other words, the ideological gap between the parties is caused entirely by the republicans.

In addition to that, the Dems haven't threatened to shut down the government to force the repeal or defunding of any duly-enacted legislation. That's something that only the deranged, nihilistic, hostage-taking republicans do.

Your host said...

The reaction the US shutdown is getting around the world is a little incredulous and alarming. It would be a great plot for a TV show, it should have happened on the West Wing or something like that, reality is often stranger than fiction, yet seen through the eyes of some global citizens, its a comedy rather than a drama. It could only happen in America, they say and not in a good way.

Joe said...

You're right, since most "blue dog" (ie moderate) Democrats have been booted out of the party or given so little support by the Democratic Party as a whole, they have not moved further left. That move began about forty years ago, but was not really complete until 2010 when the last of the blue dogs lost elections to more conservative Republicans.

JiEL said...

You are so right because, as I said earlier here, in Canada we look at USA politics from a «social democratic» country.
For us, Democrates and Republicans are to the right of the politic spectrum.

The way your government is driving your laws and public services seems to do it for the wealthy and white USA population.. Not to say the way gays are looked upon in many states...

Just to say, I was in Rehoboth, Delaware, in 2006 visiting my best friends there and at the Wallmart a young clerk told me, when he found out I was from Montréal, Canada:" O my God, your from fantasy land lucky you. Here, if I get sick or have a bad accident, I would have to declare bankruptcy because I have no health care security."

Only there, many people from Canada, don't understand how a such wealthy country can spend BILLIONS on wars and sustaining Afghanistan and Irak and more... AND don't have money for everyone of his population..

They said at the news journal that the blocking of the budget is costing $300 MILLION dollars per day to you , USA...

There is a logic about USA that is not always understandable..

Friendly your from Fantasy land..

naturgesetz said...

The last proposal which the House of Representatives sent to the Senate was to continue funding the government for six weeks and two make two changes to Obamacare. One was to remove the provision which makes Congress exempt from Pbamacare and make them have to follow the law like everybody else. The other was to postpone enforcement on individuals for one year, as Obama had unilaterally postponed enforcement on businesses.

I am amazed that the Democrats unanimously prefer shutting down the government to giving up their special privilege or to treating individuals as well as Obama treats businesses.

David Jeffreys said...

I am from NC and so embarrassed that your map above shows "teacher salary is our worst feature." That is because we now have both state houses in Republican hands and a Republican governor. It was not that long ago that NC had the best education system and the highest teacher salaries. Republicans don't understand what the words "priorities" and "compromise" mean. Their only attitude is "my way or the highway."

Tonight, I just looked at my gerrymandered state. I live in Wilmington, NC and we are split by two congressional districts. Downtown Wilmington is 3 miles away and in another district. Hell, I only have to walk 4 blocks and be in the other district. I own property in Durham, NC and my property is in one district and the houses ACROSS THE STREET are in another district. Say what? WTF? The map looks like someone gave a child a crayon, and asked them to draw lines on it. No wait, those would have been straighter.

David Jeffreys said...

About those teacher salaries. A politician's (in NC) daughter just graduated from college with a teaching degree. As a rookie teacher she moved to SC to start teaching where her starting salary was $41,000. Her father asked her why she was not teaching in NC, and she told him that she would have to teach 15 years here to make that much money!

Anonymous said...

Harry Reid and his cohorts don't give a flip about the country at large, all they care about is power.

JiEL said...

Here in Prov. of Québec, a young teacher begins at $37 000/y and I retired in 2011 after 38 years of teaching in high schools with the top of the scale for my university Bacc, degree at $71 000/year
I was at this top salary after 15 years of full time teaching..

If I would have a master degree or more, a «doctorat» I would earn from $10 000 to $20 000 more per year..

That is our situation here (+public health care for EVERYONE here... OOOPS!...LOL )
+ Gay marriage and our «Rights and Liberties Canadian Chart»...

Your host said...

As an outsider, albeit with strong links stateside, I'm amazed at that a country can think so little and take care even less of its greatest resource - its people!