A Common Sense View of Congress

Once a Congressman gets elected to Congress, they begin to worry about getting reelected. In today’s world, it takes about 6 million to run an election campaign. So, who do they listen to when in office? Answer: The special interest groups and lobbyist’s in Washington. Most of these groups want increase their profits and or power over the populace.

Pharmaceutical lobbyist’s want to increase the profit margins of the companies they represent. The school teachers lobby wants to keep their union strong. No Congressman has any real incentive in lowering prescription prices or getting rid of teachers who can’t teach.

We have Congressmen that will promise the world to the voter, without the will to follow through on their promises, (it doesn’t get them cash for reelection). They will bring up items to vote for that have to do with protecting women and children or protect minority rights. There won’t be anything in there for the average voter to benefit from, like lower drug prices or lower taxes.

So, if a bill comes up to lower drug prices and that Congressman just got 50K from the drug lobby, he votes “yes” after he adds a rider on the bill to give free health care to non-citizens. Net effect, the bill goes down to defeat and he looks good.

The basic realism about Congress, is that if they do nothing, they have a very good chance of getting reelected. Do something, like irritate the wrong person, and you will be out of office. They try to pass bills that help the poor, women and children, car safety, oppressed groups etc. Any legislation like a tax break, sunsets in 5 years, so they have to vote on it again; looks good but that tax cut has probably been passed again and again over a span of 50 years.

So, when it is election time, the politician promises the voter the world, higher minimum wage, health care, free college. It doesn’t matter what it is, the man running for election knows it has no chance of becoming law. Why? There isn’t a lobbyist that represents the voter. There is no money put in their pocket for reelection by representing what the American voter really wants. The one thing that hides this concept is the unwillingness of the Democrats and Republicans to get together and pass the necessary bills by any more than a simple majority in one house and have it die in the other.

The special interest groups don’t have to bribe half of either party to get a bill passed. Bribing or giving “a campaign contribution” to only 10% will get the job done.

This is why President Trump doesn’t fit in. He doesn’t need money; the special interest groups can go fish. And of course, the special interest groups aren’t going to drop any dollars on a Congress that can’t perform as desired. The coffers of many a Congressmen are very lean from the lack of contributions. Blame it all on Trump, he isn’t going to sign anything into law that increases big businesses’ cut on the average citizen.

It is not business as usual; the special interest groups, the unions the lobbyists and entrenched bureaucrats want their power back. These groups want a President who will listen to them. They know what is right for America. “Make America great won’t get them reelected;” but a large election kitty just might. The problems they want to solve are the ones they create, not the ones they overlook.

So, as the holidays lumber along, remember that in the past, it didn’t matter who you voted for; the Republicans and Democrats never got much done in Congress. It used to be that Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner was all about football and the kids, now it’s a political argument. Admittingly the directions of the two parties are different, but for the first time in many years, one party is doing what they promised to do. And it’s not as impossible as it was perceived to be, before the election.

Remember your Congressman’s first priority is to raise money to get reelected. And you as an individual don’t have the coin to help him get that done. So, President Trump could be your next best chance to get something done.

This Blog in the past has been politically neutral on politics. But after seeing how the media is after Trump and his actions defy every doom prediction, I stand by the guy. The people in the media think that they speak for the whole country, and I disagree, they don’t.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, enjoy the moment