Confessions of a congressman

[Suzanimal]

Confessions of a congressman
9 secrets from the inside


I am a member of Congress. I'm not going to tell you from where, or from which party. But I serve, and I am honored to serve. I serve with good people (and some less good ones), and we try to do our best.

It's a frustrating, even disillusioning job. The public pretty much hates us. Congress polls lower than Richard Nixon during Watergate, traffic jams, or the Canadian alt-rock band Nickelback. So the public knows something is wrong. But they often don't know exactly what is wrong. And sometimes, the things they think will fix Congress — like making us come home every weekend — actually break it further.

So here are some things I wish the voters knew about the people elected to represent them.

1) Congress is not out of touch with folks back home

Congress is only a part-time job in Washington, DC. An hour after the last vote, almost everyone is on the airplane home. Congress votes fewer than 100 days a year, spending the rest of the time back home where we pander to their constituents' short-term interests, not the long-term good of the nation. Anyone who is closer to your district than you are will replace you. Incumbents stick to their districts like Velcro.

2) Congress listens best to money

It is more lucrative to pander to big donors than to regular citizens. Campaigns are so expensive that the average member needs a million-dollar war chest every two years and spends 50 percent to 75 percent of their term in office raising money. Think about that. You're paying us to do a job, and we're spending that time you're paying us asking rich people and corporations to give us money so we can run ads convincing you to keep paying us to do this job. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech and corporations are people, the mega-rich have been handed free loudspeakers. Their voices, even out-of-state voices, are drowning out the desperate whispers of ordinary Americans.

3) Almost everyone in Congress loves gerrymandering

Without crooked districts, most members of Congress probably would not have been elected. According to the Cook Political Report, only about 90 of the 435 seats in Congress are "swing" seats that can be won by either political party. In other words, 345 seats are safe Republican or Democratic seats. Both parties like it that way. So that's what elections are like today: rather than the voters choosing us, we choose the voters. The only threat a lot of us incumbents face is in the primaries, where someone even more extreme than we are can turn out the vote among an even smaller, more self-selected group of partisans.

4) You have no secret ballot anymore

The only way political parties can successfully gerrymander is by knowing how you vote. Both parties have destroyed your privacy at the polling booth. Thanks to election rolls, we don't know exactly whom you voted for, but we get pretty damn close. We know exactly which primaries and general elections you have voted in, and since there are so few realistic candidates in most elections, down or up ballot, we might as well know exactly who you voted for. Marry that data with magazine subscriptions, the kind of car you drive, and all sorts of other easily available consumer information that we've figured out how to use to map your political preferences, and we can gerrymander and target subdivisions, houses — even double beds. Republicans want the male vote; Democrats the female vote.

5) We don't have a Congress but a parliament

Over the last several decades, party loyalty has increased to near-unanimity. If a member of Congress doesn't vote with his or her party 99 percent of the time, he's considered unreliable and excluded from party decision-making. Gone are the days when you were expected to vote your conscience and your district, the true job of a congressperson. Parliaments only work because they have a prime minister who can get things done. We have a parliament without any ability to take executive action. We should not be surprised we are gridlocked.

6) Congressional committees are a waste of time

With parliamentary voting, control is centralized in each party's leadership. Almost every major decision is made by the Speaker or Minority Leader, not by committees. They feel it is vital to party success to have a national "message" that is usually poll-driven, not substantive. So why develop any expertise as a committee member if your decisions will only be overridden by party leadership? Why try to get on a good committee if you have already ceded authority to your unelected, unaccountable party leaders? The result is members routinely don't show up at committee hearings, or if they do show up, it's only to ask a few questions and leave. A lot of members fight for committees that will help them raise money or get a sweet lobbying job later (more on that in a minute). The result is that the engine for informed lawmaking is broken.

7) Congress is a stepping-stone to lobbying

Congress is no longer a destination but a journey. Committee assignments are mainly valuable as part of the interview process for a far more lucrative job as a K Street lobbyist. You are considered naïve if you are not currying favor with wealthy corporations under your jurisdiction. It's become routine to see members of Congress drop their seat in Congress like a hot rock when a particularly lush vacancy opens up. The revolving door is spinning every day. Special interests deplete Congress of its best talent.

8)The best people don't run for Congress

Smart people figured this out years ago and decided to pursue careers other than running for Congress. The thought of living in a fishbowl with 30-second attack ads has made Congress repulsive to spouses and families. The idea of spending half your life begging rich people you don't know for money turns off all reasonable, self-respecting people. That, plus lower pay than a first-year graduate of a top law school, means that Congress, like most federal agencies, is not attracting the best and the brightest in America.

9) Congress is still necessary to save America, and cynics aren't helping

Discouragement is for wimps. We aren't going to change the Constitution, so we need to make the system we have work. We are still, despite our shortcomings, the most successful experiment in self-government in history. Our greatest strength is our ability to bounce back from mistakes like we are making today. Get over your nostalgia: Congress has never been more than a sausage factory. The point here isn't to make us something we're not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better.

http://www.vox.com/2015/2/5/7978823/congress-secrets

[GunnyFreedom]

As bad as you think it is, it's probably worse.

[Cabal]

Congress is still necessary to save America

--a congressman

https://p.gr-assets.com/540x540/fit/hostedimages/1387652504/7643282.gif

[DamianTV]

The result is that the engine for informed lawmaking is broken.

That pretty much sums it up right there.

If we did want to fix Congress, it can no longer be a career path for them, where by afterwards, they go to work for the Federal Reserve Bank, or Fanny Lehman Madoff Sacks Insurance Group.

Outlaw Lobbying and Corporate Campaign Contributions and Imprison the Banksters who hijacked our system with printed money for their Corporate buddies. Corporations are not people. I'd say that might be a start, but at this point, we may be too far gone to ever recover.

[specsaregood]

Get over your nostalgia: Congress has never been more than a sausage factory. The point here isn't to make us something we're not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better.


Interesting wording considering the recent thread on USDA whistleblowers claiming a dramatic increase in the amount of pigshit in our sausages.

[GunnyFreedom]

Congress: Now with extra pigshit.

[DamianTV]

So what is a REAL solution?

These fuckers are all gonna fight tooth and nail to protect their own personal interests before even contemplating the needs and woes of the country. They will do everything in their power to keep Lobbying, keep the Federal Reserve Bank, keep their Pig Shit and Pork Rinds and Porky Ear Marks made from real Pig Shit, er Ears, and defend their Corporate Campaign sponsors while Pigging er Shitting all over the little guy! Where do we even begin? We know they will not vote honestly. We know they will not vote to change the Status Quo. We know they will not vote against the lines of their own Party. They do not listen to us. They do not care about us. They do not even think that we exist. They do not realize the money that lines their coffers is taken by force from us. They do not see anything they do not want to see. They dont see their greed is measured in human lives and human suffering. They do not see the damage they do to the world we leave to our children. They choose to be blind. And the very worst thing is, they think they are doing "a good job" by continuing the Status Quo! We can not rely on Corporations or Foreign Interests or Intranational Banks to sponsor honest candidates. We can not rely on voting to change a damn thing as the people will just continue to vote for the clown that promises the biggest lies of "more for you" at the expense of "someone else". When we find a good candidate, they literally legalize voter fraud in every possible sense. They authorize 2 people saying yay in a crowd of thousands as being the "Majority". They hear only what they want to hear. We cant persuade them. We cant vote them out. We can not change them from within the system. We can not get them to change themselves.

When peaceful evolution becomes impossible, violent revolution becomes inevitable.

This leads us to our current paradox. The unstoppable force of the idea whose time has come vs the Status Quo who plays the part of the immovable object. Change is coming. Our way of life is absolutely unsustainable. The people are not just denied jobs, they are denied the ability to create jobs for themselves. They end up on Govt Welfare and vote for those who promise to take care of them while providing nothing in return. They have fed us spoonfuls of socialism until as a society we have become addicts just as they have become addicted to the monetary drugs dealt to keep these addicts hooked. Change is inevitable. We all know this. This system will collapse under its own weight, unless they piss off the rest of the world so badly that the US is the only country that doesnt survive WWIII, should things come to that. Either way, Rome is burning.

So I will repeat my question. What is a REAL solution?

[morfeeis]

So I will repeat my question. What is a REAL solution?

the words no one cares to, dares to and even has the heart to speak out loud.

[Ronin Truth]

Well, first we charter a Malaysian Air Airbus jumbo jet for a free one way Pacific vacation for the CONgresscritters. And then just let nature take it's course.

[randomname]

http://ww w.vox.com/2015/2/5/7978823/congress-secrets
by A Member of Congress on February 5, 2015

I am a member of Congress. I'm not going to tell you from where, or from which party. But I serve, and I am honored to serve. I serve with good people (and some less good ones), and we try to do our best.

It's a frustrating, even disillusioning job. The public pretty much hates us. Congress polls lower than Richard Nixon during Watergate, traffic jams, or the Canadian alt-rock band Nickelback. So the public knows something is wrong. But they often don't know exactly what is wrong. And sometimes, the things they think will fix Congress — like making us come home every weekend — actually break it further.

So here are some things I wish the voters knew about the people elected to represent them.

1) Congress is not out of touch with folks back home

Congress is only a part-time job in Washington, DC. An hour after the last vote, almost everyone is on the airplane home. Congress votes fewer than 100 days a year, spending the rest of the time back home where we pander to their constituents' short-term interests, not the long-term good of the nation. Anyone who is closer to your district than you are will replace you. Incumbents stick to their districts like Velcro.

2) Congress listens best to money

It is more lucrative to pander to big donors than to regular citizens. Campaigns are so expensive that the average member needs a million-dollar war chest every two years and spends 50 percent to 75 percent of their term in office raising money. Think about that. You're paying us to do a job, and we're spending that time you're paying us asking rich people and corporations to give us money so we can run ads convincing you to keep paying us to do this job. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech and corporations are people, the mega-rich have been handed free loudspeakers. Their voices, even out-of-state voices, are drowning out the desperate whispers of ordinary Americans.

3) Almost everyone in Congress loves gerrymandering

Without crooked districts, most members of Congress probably would not have been elected. According to the Cook Political Report, only about 90 of the 435 seats in Congress are "swing" seats that can be won by either political party. In other words, 345 seats are safe Republican or Democratic seats. Both parties like it that way. So that's what elections are like today: rather than the voters choosing us, we choose the voters. The only threat a lot of us incumbents face is in the primaries, where someone even more extreme than we are can turn out the vote among an even smaller, more self-selected group of partisans.

4) You have no secret ballot anymore

The only way political parties can successfully gerrymander is by knowing how you vote. Both parties have destroyed your privacy at the polling booth. Thanks to election rolls, we don't know exactly whom you voted for, but we get pretty damn close. We know exactly which primaries and general elections you have voted in, and since there are so few realistic candidates in most elections, down or up ballot, we might as well know exactly who you voted for. Marry that data with magazine subscriptions, the kind of car you drive, and all sorts of other easily available consumer information that we've figured out how to use to map your political preferences, and we can gerrymander and target subdivisions, houses — even double beds. Republicans want the male vote; Democrats the female vote.

5) We don't have a Congress but a parliament

Over the last several decades, party loyalty has increased to near-unanimity. If a member of Congress doesn't vote with his or her party 99 percent of the time, he's considered unreliable and excluded from party decision-making. Gone are the days when you were expected to vote your conscience and your district, the true job of a congressperson. Parliaments only work because they have a prime minister who can get things done. We have a parliament without any ability to take executive action. We should not be surprised we are gridlocked.

6) Congressional committees are a waste of time

With parliamentary voting, control is centralized in each party's leadership. Almost every major decision is made by the Speaker or Minority Leader, not by committees. They feel it is vital to party success to have a national "message" that is usually poll-driven, not substantive. So why develop any expertise as a committee member if your decisions will only be overridden by party leadership? Why try to get on a good committee if you have already ceded authority to your unelected, unaccountable party leaders? The result is members routinely don't show up at committee hearings, or if they do show up, it's only to ask a few questions and leave. A lot of members fight for committees that will help them raise money or get a sweet lobbying job later (more on that in a minute). The result is that the engine for informed lawmaking is broken.

7) Congress is a stepping-stone to lobbying

Congress is no longer a destination but a journey. Committee assignments are mainly valuable as part of the interview process for a far more lucrative job as a K Street lobbyist. You are considered naïve if you are not currying favor with wealthy corporations under your jurisdiction. It's become routine to see members of Congress drop their seat in Congress like a hot rock when a particularly lush vacancy opens up. The revolving door is spinning every day. Special interests deplete Congress of its best talent.

8)The best people don't run for Congress

Smart people figured this out years ago and decided to pursue careers other than running for Congress. The thought of living in a fishbowl with 30-second attack ads has made Congress repulsive to spouses and families. The idea of spending half your life begging rich people you don't know for money turns off all reasonable, self-respecting people. That, plus lower pay than a first-year graduate of a top law school, means that Congress, like most federal agencies, is not attracting the best and the brightest in America.

9) Congress is still necessary to save America, and cynics aren't helping

Discouragement is for wimps. We aren't going to change the Constitution, so we need to make the system we have work. We are still, despite our shortcomings, the most successful experiment in self-government in history. Our greatest strength is our ability to bounce back from mistakes like we are making today. Get over your nostalgia: Congress has never been more than a sausage factory. The point here isn't to make us something we're not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better.

[Matt Collins]

Watch Thomas Massie's interviews with Reason and Freedomworks, and his speeches at LPAC... he goes behind the scenes there and gives quite a bit of insight into how the process really works in DC... it ain't pretty.

[Anti Federalist]

So what is a REAL solution?

So I will repeat my question. What is a REAL solution?

The real solution is well documented, tried and proven many times over in history.

And, for the most part, illegal to plan or talk about.

[Anti Federalist]

The point here isn't to make us something we're not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better.

Speak for yourself.

I hope you assholes stay hopelessly "gridlocked" until Judgement Day.

"Making sausage" means passing more laws and rules and edicts that will most assuredly chip away at what little freedom I have left.

Fuck you, and leave me alone.

[Suzanimal]

Speak for yourself.

I hope you assholes stay hopelessly "gridlocked" until Judgement Day.

"Making sausage" means passing more laws and rules and edicts that will most assuredly chip away at what little freedom I have left.

Fuck you, and leave me alone.

http://i.imgur.com/qcnD3Ww.gif

[tangent4ronpaul]

So I will repeat my question. What is a REAL solution?

I've got one, but it won't happen.

There is a scary set of books you don't want to be standing next to during an earthquake called the code of federal regulations. Track down every copy and shred it!

Replace the tax code with a one page form.

Shutter every regulatory agency and fire the employees.

Transfer 95% of the military and their equipment to the NG and reserve.
Close all but 5 overseas bases.
Keep the boomers, SF and training facilities.
Establish a moratorium on contractors.
Keep those aspects of the government that do science, libraries and museums.

umm, yeah about that spike in unemployment:

http://www.prepareandprosper.net/how-many-americans-work-in-government-would-you-believe-40-million/

the true size of the federal government was about 11 million: 1.8 million civil servants, 870,000 postal workers, 1.4 million military personnel, 4.4 million contractors, and 2.5 million grantees.

A bigger perspective, but I'm just focusing on the federal gvmt:


Yet the federal government isn’t all. Despite its huge budgets, state and local governments dwarf Washington in direct employment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 3.8 million full-time and 1.5 million part-time employees on state payrolls. Local governments add a further 11 million full-time and 3.2 million part-time personnel. This means that state and local governments combined employ 19.5 million Americans.

When we add up the true size of the federal workforce — civil servants, postal workers, military personnel, contractors, grantees, and bailed-out businesses — and add in state- and local-government employees — civil servants, teachers, firefighters, and police officers — we reach the astonishing figure of nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government. That means that about 17 percent of the American labor pool — one in every six workers — owes its living to the taxpayer.

Laying off that many people sounds like a disaster, but if regulations got thrown under a bus, the economy would explode - in a good way.

Establish a 5 year moratorium on the making of any new law.
All laws (since year?) must state what part of the Constitution authorizes it's creation. Repeal every one that has the commerce clause, the general welfare clause(sic) and a couple of other unconstitutional rubber stamps as the justification for it's existence.
Have Congress spend the next 5 years reviewing what laws are left and repealing everything that does not pass a strict interpretation of the Constitution/BoR or any that were written by a lobbyist.

End the wars on drugs, poverty, terror, climate, etc.
pardon and release all non-violent offenders where there was not a victim. ie: druggies walk, thieves stay.
close all private prisons.

Stop giving federal money to the states. That should force them to downsize their bloated governments.

End corporate personhood.

Well, that's a hell of a good start! It should also make the national debt evaporate too.

-t

[otherone]

So I will repeat my question. What is a REAL solution?

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.607997469255204893&pid=15.1&P=0

[surf]

So what is a REAL solution?

R3volution?

[heavenlyboy34]

Speak for yourself.

I hope you assholes stay hopelessly "gridlocked" until Judgement Day.

"Making sausage" means passing more laws and rules and edicts that will most assuredly chip away at what little freedom I have left.

Fuck you, and leave me alone.


You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Anti Federalist again.
I fucking LOVE congresscriteer gridlock. Keeps 'em too busy to fuck up the world more than usual.

[GunnyFreedom]

I've got one, but it won't happen.

There is a scary set of books you don't want to be standing next to during an earthquake called the code of federal regulations. Track down every copy and shred it!

Replace the tax code with a one page form.

Shutter every regulatory agency and fire the employees.

Transfer 95% of the military and their equipment to the NG and reserve.
Close all but 5 overseas bases.
Keep the boomers, SF and training facilities.
Establish a moratorium on contractors.
Keep those aspects of the government that do science, libraries and museums.

umm, yeah about that spike in unemployment:

http://www.prepareandprosper.net/how-many-americans-work-in-government-would-you-believe-40-million/

the true size of the federal government was about 11 million: 1.8 million civil servants, 870,000 postal workers, 1.4 million military personnel, 4.4 million contractors, and 2.5 million grantees.

A bigger perspective, but I'm just focusing on the federal gvmt:



Laying off that many people sounds like a disaster, but if regulations got thrown under a bus, the economy would explode - in a good way.

Establish a 5 year moratorium on the making of any new law.
All laws (since year?) must state what part of the Constitution authorizes it's creation. Repeal every one that has the commerce clause, the general welfare clause(sic) and a couple of other unconstitutional rubber stamps as the justification for it's existence.
Have Congress spend the next 5 years reviewing what laws are left and repealing everything that does not pass a strict interpretation of the Constitution/BoR or any that were written by a lobbyist.

End the wars on drugs, poverty, terror, climate, etc.
pardon and release all non-violent offenders where there was not a victim. ie: druggies walk, thieves stay.
close all private prisons.

Stop giving federal money to the states. That should force them to downsize their bloated governments.

End corporate personhood.

Well, that's a hell of a good start! It should also make the national debt evaporate too.

-t

Of course, 'theye' don't want a nation without severe problems. Without problems how can you propose reactions and solutions?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu_30-8ZlmQ

[VIDEODROME]

The strange thing is I can imagine most Congressman detest the current system and get tired of spending all their time fundraising. The tricky thing for such Congressmen might be figuring out how to create a type of reform that doesn't hinder their ability to stay in office, especially if running against opponents that might have more private money to spend in their campaigns.

Also, what favors do they owe in return for the money? How can you begin to be a reformer if you sold out to get into office in the first place?

I think they're caught in a trap they've created for themselves.


As for what we can do? Well, people here got up and supported Ron Paul and the media did their best to ignore that support. We could have everyone in this forum right now go march on D.C. and have it barely get a mention in the newspaper. I really sometimes wonder if the only option is to somehow raise more money then the Lobbyists by basically being a Freedom Lobby as bizarre as that sounds. Some Lobby offers 1 Million then a Freedom seeking "Lobby" has to out bid them. Or at least find a way to provide Congressmen with all the advertising they need.

Another stupid reality of this situation is an agreement for equal free advertising might address some of this, but as much as a Congressman detests asking for money, if they think their fundraising is ahead of their opponent, they will not give up the advantage. Only later, they might feel a tinge of regret while in office, until re-election approaches.

EDIT: Another thing, is I also have to imagine candidates must hate having to parade themselves through Media run Debates. Who wants to have to answer really stupid questions from Media Anchor dickheads? The Democrat and Republican parties should both host their own private Primaries at the least with real panels asking real serious questions. Again though, as despicable as it must be to pretend to take FOX News anchors seriously, if any candidate feels their charisma can carry them through to the public during such a stupid productions, they will not agree to give up their advantage. Even a doofus like Rick Perry would probably think he comes off well as a speaker aside from his one major gaff.

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

Watch Thomas Massie's interviews with Reason and Freedomworks, and his speeches at LPAC... he goes behind the scenes there and gives quite a bit of insight into how the process really works in DC... it ain't pretty.

Bob Barr covered a lot of this material in his book ten years ago, after Karl Rove ran him out of Congress in 2002.

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

I really sometimes wonder if the only option is to somehow raise more money then the Lobbyists by basically being a Freedom Lobby as bizarre as that sounds.

That's what Capaign for Liberty is supposed to be doing.

[VIDEODROME]

That's what Capaign for Liberty is supposed to be doing.

But will they ever get that kind of money? :eek: