Career Politicians

What is the goal of the career politician?  The answer is quite simply to get elected and grow the size of government.   Some people become career politicians initially because they want to serve the people, but the fact remains that they have to get elected and reelected to stay in office, so that becomes the primary objective.  Getting elected and reelected depends on raising campaign money, which means making deals and giving favors.

Many career politicians are narcissists and thrive on power.  In order to grow their power and wealth, they must grow the size of government.  There are some studies that show a career politician may not be a narcissist initially, but undergoes a personality change once elected to a high office. 

The career politician serves their political party.  They cater to the lobbyists and their campaign donors.  They bow down to big money and big business.  They lose sight of their duty to working America.

The career politician lives for the advancement of government and not the good of working middle class America.  I think America is beginning to realize this, and is fed up with the Washington D.C. political establishment.  This is definitely part of the reason for Donald Trump’s campaign success at this time.

In 1960 only 19 state legislatures met annually.  The others met biennially.  Today, 46 state legislatures meet annually and only Texas, Nevada, Montana, and North Dakota meet biennially.  In spite of a growing federal government taking away the rights and responsibilities of the states, we continue to increase the size of state governments.   The growth of government at both the state and federal level has to stop. 

Our founding fathers never expected the legislative branches of government to be a full-time career.  For years, I tired to defend the career politician.  I thought the experience and connections in Washington would prove useful.  Unfortunately, that has not proven to be the case.  There are good career politicians in Congress, but they are the exception and not the norm.  I can count them on one hand.  The rest serve big government, big money, and big business.

It is time for term limits for the U.S. Congress, and also time for campaign spending reform.  We must have elected officials who work for the people and the long-term good of the country.  The time to eliminate the career politician has come.  This has become a mandatory step to keep this country great.