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The Deficit, Brian Williams and the Ivory Tower of Congress

  • Posted on August 2, 2011 at 12:43 pm

Brian Williams "job shadowing" Speaker Boehner.

We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.  The deficit problem has been solved.  If you know me, by now you know I’m being sarcastic.  Sunday night my sister called me as she wanted me to turn on the show Brian Williams was doing on Congress.  He took us on a tour.  I called her afterwards and told her that I thought it was a waste of my time.  She took a different view because it showed such a deep contrast between the average American’s life and that of the people that represent them in Congress.

From my perspective, it reminded me of the Vatican.  I know you’re wondering what that’s about, so I’ll explain what I mean by that.  The men in Congress look rather effeminate.  There is nothing virile looking about any of them.  From Senator Conrad running around with his pet bishon dog, holding it on his lap much like Paris Hilton does her pooch, to Senator Harry Reid showing off the art in his offices explaining how Speaker Boehner cannot have the art in his office because he’s a “smoker”, these guys are all rather “prissy”.  It’s hard to believe that Harry was once a boxer!  Throughout the tour we were shown the activity at this vast institution.  What I witnessed were a lot of well dressed men in Armani suits and of course NBC chose to show women’s feet walking in high heels on the highly polished marble floors.  It reminded me of that view of Sarah Palin’s legs.  While they may have been trying to prove a point, the shot seemed rather sexist to me.  The men wear their Armani suits while they are in Washington and their Mr. Roger’s sweaters or shirt sleeves when they go home to visit their constituents.  I’m not fooled by that attempt to appear like “one of us”.  The women, well there still aren’t that many so about the only one I noticed was Nancy Pelosi.  At one point you could see the unwashed masses, I mean American tourists, were off in an area merely left to be bystanders in this high drama world of high stakes politics.  I witnessed the gratuitous little black girl break away from the pack and run and hug Nancy Pelosi.  That whole scene seemed staged to me.  As an artist, I was thinking about Norman Rockwell’s painting of Ruby Bridges.  Watching Nancy embrace this child was supposed to be a heartfelt moment for the American people to witness, but of course I’m a cynic and figured Nancy had to get some Purell as soon as possible.  I don’t believe for a minute that any of these politicians want to hold our hands.  I’m talking about the hands of their constituents.

Norman Rockwell's painting of Ruby Bridges.

I was shocked by a number that Brian mentioned.  Somewhere in the piece Brian said 30,000 people work in that building, running back in forth between the Senate and the House.  I found that shocking and was left wondering which one of those 30,000 is the dog walker for Senator Conrad and just how much is the running of this place costing the American people? You can  watch this Dateline Special here.  It’s broken down into different parts.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30892505/

On Sunday we were treated to the inner workings of Congress, but on Monday we got to see the complete capitulation of Democratic politics.  It seems with this big bill we will have a “Super Congress” that will make decisions that the normal Congress can’t seem to do on their own.  As a voting member of the public, I am appalled by this.  This “Super Congress” will be made up of six Democrats and six Republicans, three of each Party from the House and Senate.  We voted for the people in Congress to represent us.  We did not vote for a “Super Power”.  It seems to me that this whole process is flawed to begin with because Congress has given up their individual voting power to a Super Power.  Years ago one of my brothers always used to talk about the 12 men that run the world.  Now we have the two party system of rule that is going to decide what’s best for the rest of us.  The Independents, Green Party, or any other “party” that may have been trying to be a voice in our politics absolutely has no voice!  Are these Super Congress people going to end up being approached by the Super Lobbyist people?  You have to be wondering by now who is planning on being these “Super Powers”.  We all thought Elizabeth Warren would get the job she was born to do.  However, we all know how that turned out.  Who thought up these super powers, someone that wanted a super job?  We all better hope Representative Paul Ryan isn’t one of the “chosen” ones.

I don’t profess to have the answers to our problems, but I know there are three things we need to do.  First, we need to stop being the world’s policeman.  We spend a tremendous amount of money on defense spending that is really just a policeman for the world.  The defense has grown so big that there is much fraud, abuse, and even lost money.  It’s time that we got out of the wars in the Middle East and used some of that defense money that is used to build bridges and roads over there to build them here.  Second, we need to focus on jobs here.  It takes money to make this happen.  We must invest in our country by fixing the infrastructure that includes our roads, bridges, schools, cities, electrical grid, sewer systems, and transportations systems.  If we want business to thrive in this country, then we must have a first class infrastructure!  We need to develop new jobs for the future which probably can be created easily around “green” and biomedical fields.  Finally, we must invest in education for everyone.  We must have broadband everywhere in the United States.  This is the way business works today.  If you don’t have access to the global network through broadband, you won’t be able to grow your business and expand it as easily and quickly.  The focus in education should not be on ridiculous test taking strategies but on giving students the type of education that they need to compete in a 21st Century environment.  This means that our students today need much different skills than we needed when we were kids.  They still need to read and write but they need much more than that.  While politicians are busy creating new test taking stumbling blocks for teachers to focus on and forcing evaluations of teachers tied to these tests, the world is moving on in education by focusing on 21st Century literacy skills.  Those skills are not about taking some test that was developed by a 20th Century developer!   These skills involve information literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, communication skills, teamwork and collaboration, information technology, and leadership.  In addition to all of this we want to develop students’ creativity and innovative thinking, self-direction, professionalism, ethics, and social responsibility.  Wow, that is a lot to accomplish and yet it seems like as a country we keep focusing on standardized test scores.

As I sit here today, I keep thinking that we have a Congress that is working like they live in the 18th Century and not the 21st Century.  These guys may think they are 21st Century because they discovered Twitter and Facebook, but the reality is they are still living in the past acting like they are some unique genetic material that cannot be replaced.  They appear to live in an Ivory tower far removed from the toils of the American people.  They have everything subsidized and taken care of for themselves from the walking of their pet pooch to their lunches and even to the art in their offices.  They have nothing to worry about except their next election and that’s what their focus is on.  They are ever the politician looking for votes.  Monday night after I watched the vote in the House, I went on Twitter and I saw a Barack Obama’s tweet, so I went to it.  He was so proud of this event and he wanted money for his campaign!

A Puppy Called “Congress”

  • Posted on August 8, 2010 at 2:18 pm

Brodie and Snow Bella, A Peaceful Moment

This morning I decided to give my ten month old Australian Shepherd, Brodie, a shower.  Giving Brodie a shower is not an easy task as he just hates it.  I tricked him and picked him up and put him in the bathroom and quickly shut the door.  I felt victorious at this accomplishment.  I know he felt tricked but I had won!  After I was done and dried him off with a couple of towels I let Brodie loose and he went hog wild running around the house.  I took a shower myself and went back out to see Brodie only to find him contently licking his paws and happy as can be.  Now you’re probably wondering what the point of all of this is but I am getting to it.  When I thought about Brodie another thought came to my mind.  I thought Congress is just like Brodie, my puppy!

Now you’re probably wondering what on earth I could be referring to so I’ll get right to it.  When you have a new puppy, it is all cute and wonderful.  There’s nothing that puppy could do that is going to really irritate you because you know it’s a puppy and it’s oh so cute.  A new congress is pretty much like a new puppy.  I remember when we were all very hopeful about the new congress that came in with President Obama.  Many of us decided to give them some leeway as we knew they had to figure things out and get used to the job.

There are other ways that congress is like a new puppy as well.  Puppies are pretty destructive.  They go on search and destroy missions where they might eat your shoes, bras, remote controls, you know, anything plastic.  Congress goes on these same missions trying to decide how they can tinker with some of our favorite government programs like public education, Social Security, and Medicare.  You name it, they’ll find a way to chew it up and make it worse.

Puppies are pretty unmanageable just like congress.  When Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid try to assert themselves and take control, they usually find out how hard it is to tame that little beast especially when he might have just peed on your leg.  Sometimes you love the congressman’s unruly moments like Representative Alan Grayson when he pissed on the Republican’s collective leg.

It’s okay as long as it’s their leg and not mine.  He was such a stubborn little puppy when some Republicans asked him to apologize for his outburst the previous day.  Here is his response to that, ever the cute little frisky puppy! 

Senator Reid couldn’t even get the senate to work on an energy bill.  He can’t get those unruly puppies to pass even a weak energy bill.  http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/08/07/even_facing_an_emergency_the_gop_fizzles_on_energy/

They just won’t listen to him much, like your puppy when he is distracted by something outside and you’re calling him back!

Congress also seems to have to be nurtured just like a puppy.  They need lots of perks from lobbyist to keep them contented.  They need lots of money and pats on the back from their constituents to keep them in office.  They also seem to like to run in packs and play with the “big dogs”.  You know those people that hold so much power and wealth.  Those puppies love to be entertained so they hang out with Hollywood hounds as well.  They really need a special amount of care much more than you and I do as they are quite temperamental just like a puppy.  While middle class household pay has stayed stagnant, congressional pay just gets better and better.  http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm

If you read through the link closely you will discover the untold perks available though staffing and pension as well.  This puppy is getting the royal treatment.

Sometimes when you are expecting your puppy to be up to something because it’s too quiet in the house, you only discover that your puppy is dog tired and sleeping.  Congress has those days too when you think they are up to something and they end up doing much of nothing.  I felt like this during the whole health care debate.  It seemed like a lot of fuss and much ado over nothing.  They’re bark was much bigger than their bite on that one.  Many of us out here that are more progressive were expecting so much more from this puppy than what we got!

This puppy called “Congress” never met a defense bill they didn’t like.  Just like my puppy dog they are always willing to go to battle for some stupid idea they sink their teeth into.  My puppy dog battles with the cat, which is hilarious, because she is smarter and quicker than him in many ways.  Snow Bella, my cat, actually loves Brodie.  They’re crazy about each other just like the special relationship the Department of Defense has with Congress.  Much like Snow Bella, the D.O.D. always gets their way and Congress ever the stupid puppy pays for it!  The one left out of this puppy and cat game is the American people.  Congress gives us those puppy dog eyes and we fall for it every time.

I know it’s tough to say, “No!” to a puppy as I have had to do it many times and it’s not an easy task with my puppy dog, Brodie.  He looks so cute and innocent most of the time!  Congress can look that way too.  However, it’s time we tamed this puppy called “Congress” before they get so out of control that they destroy some of our favorite things.   This puppy called “Congress” is going to be a two year old pretty soon, so it’s time for them to grow up.  They may have a rude awakening come November when some of us decide to turn this puppy back into the pound and try out a new puppy.  I’m ever hopeful that all of us working together can teach this puppy dog some new tricks.  I continue to email and call my representative and senators eagerly waiting for them to jump at my command.  It hasn’t worked too well so far but I am determined to get some results so I will keep on training this puppy and hoping for the best!  I encourage all of you to join me to put the pressure on Congress.  The only way I think we are ever going to get a different result is to keep in “training” mode.  I don’t feel I can let up for a minute with Brodie because as soon as I do there goes another pair of new shoes.  With Congress it is the same way.  We must be diligent with our training.  We must let Congress know who the boss is and who is paying their bills!  Our collective forces have to be much greater than his pack animal mentality.  They may be running with the pack of power and money but we are running with a pack of potential voters.  Without us there is no other pack for Congress to run to, so let’s take control of this beast and show him who is boss!