Monday, November 7, 2011

You Don't Know Jack!

Last night on 60 Minutes, they did a piece on Jack Abramoff.  He is the disgraced and convicted lobbyist from K Street.  Jack Abramoff raised the level of lobbyist to whole new heights.  He bribed/dangled, trips, money, meals, private planes to many members of Congress so his clients could get what they wanted.  He went to jail for stealing 45million dollars from Indian tribes that he represented to get Congress to okay casinos.  

As many of us are outrage at the amount of money in politics and elections, we have to get lobbyists out of Washington, DC.  It's another part of the corrupt system.  It has grown into one of the most profitable arms of DC.  The lobbyists don't have the American people's concerns on their minds.  No, they only are worried about their clients, no matter what.  Really?  It's like defense attorneys all over DC doing whatever is needed to get their client off.  In this case, it is at the expense of all citizens of the United States of America.  

The historical lore of lobbyists is during President Ulysses S. Grant's term as President, he sat in the lobby of the Willard Hotel in DC, a stone's throw from the White House, have a brandy and cigar, and Senators, Congressmen, and the like would pitch their needs to the President.  They knew he'd be there and they did what they could to persuade him to their side.  Times have changed.  It isn't innocent anymore.  There is too much money at stake.  No one is inured.  I can keep talking about this forever.  Money has poisoned politics and the system created by our forefathers.  

So as we are angered by the amount of projected money spent on the Presidential election, 6-8 billion dollars, let's not forget that lobbyists have had a very strong hand in ruining government.  Let's take the money out of the entire system in DC.  Let's go back to the days that being a Senator or Congressman is a civil servant job.  Not a lifetime career.  Let's take the country back from the lobbyists!

Don't forget to sign getthemoneyout.com if you agree.  It's a beginning.


Sidebar:  Tomorrow, Tuesday, is election day all over.  No election is more important than in Mississippi for all women.  Proposition 26 must fail.  Even staunch pro-lifer Governor Haley Barbour is against it.  He says it goes too far and is poorly written. If you know anyone in Mississippi, let them know how important their vote is and if you have an election in your area, don't forget to vote.

2 comments:

  1. BRAVA!! you've done it once again. Even Jack Abramoff said, about congress/senate, that once they're done with their term, they need to GET OUT of Washington. No switching sides. It's all so murky and sick.

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  2. Wonder what Grant would think about Indian casinos today?

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