Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Political Elite Ruling Class 

Are we creating a political elite ruling class?  That’s a crazy question, or is it?  Our founding fathers considered public service a duty and not a career.  They never considered that our congressional representatives would be a full-time job or a career.   

Our representatives in Washington now are some of the most powerful people in the world.  The largest corporations in the country feel obligated to donate to both parties in order to court the politician’s favor.  Do the large corporations and special interest groups control our politicians, or do the politicians control them?

The number one concern for many of our Washington politicians is getting reelected.  They make whatever deals and promises necessary to fill their campaign war chests.   Estimates are that members of Congress spend 30% to 70% of their time fundraising for their reelection.  This is when they should be working for their constituents.  Maybe representing us in Washington is a part-time job if they spend that kind of time on their reelection.

Members of Congress are paid well with excellent benefits and retirement.  I find it interesting that the net worth of some politicians seem to increase at a surprising rate considering their compensation. 

As the size of government grows, our political elite becomes more and more powerful.  It becomes clear why our representatives in Washington have little interest in stopping the growth of government.  How can we trust them to cut government spending and government debt when it is not in their personal best interests? 

We have serious debt problem.  We can solve this problem at the polls, but it will require the time and energy to find the facts.  This will be hard because all the special interests will distort the facts to promote the political elites that work for their interests and not the best interests of the country. 

We have to reduce the size of government, government spending and government debt for the sake of future generations.  We now have sixteen trillion in debt.  This is unsustainable and will bring this country down if we don’t change.