“Pay me now and Pay me Later”

• Do you get an all-expense-paid-for trip to some of the best vacation spots on this earth?
• Do you get paid to make a speech or show up at a dinner?
• Do you have a war chest?
• Do you have a title or are you called HONORABLE?
• Do you move to the head of every line, sit at the head table, get served first, and get special parking?
• Do you have the best health care options for the lowest costs?
• Do you have job security for 2 years to 6 years at a time?
• Do you have a job that does not have to answer to authorities?
• Do you feel above the law and require special treatment?
• Do you like to have photo-ops and ribbon cutting ceremonies?
• Do you have the ability to say one thing while knowing you believe the opposite?
• Do you …. It could go on and on just like the Eveready Bunny.

Friends… “WE THE PEOPLE” do not have these advantages because we are not ELECTED to an OFFICE. It seems if we want these perks, we need to run for office and, once elected, all of these will be available to us plus so much more.
Feel like you are being fleeced? Well STAND UP and demand representation from those you elect. Do not be swayed by the glad hand and smile. Search the records of accomplishments by your elected and hold their feet to the fire if they are not standing and voting your interests.
How long… how long will we sit on the sidelines and let Politics as Usual be the commonplace.

Make your VOICE count. Shout from the marketplace to the polling place and let freedom ring. Let it ring in the ears of those who were elected for OUR best interests, not theirs.

What do you call a Senator or Representative who does not support the interests of their constituents on Election Day? DEFEATED!

“What are you thinking? I can’t hear you. “

“What are you thinking? I can’t hear you. “

The news media thrashes and dances around the major issues facing the citizens of this country in sound bites too small to comprehend while we the people are in the dark. Nowhere on the web sites of our representatives is there a clue as to how they feel about pending legislation or other issues of the day. It is as if it’s a big secret, at least from the voters.

I understand how to play poker… never let your opponent see your cards, and I suppose in politics it must be the same. How else could you become the deciding vote, or leverage that special deal for yourself or your state? But as citizens, the ones who our elected officials are to protect, how can we have a say in what they do?

It seems very strange that with all the communication methods we have today, all the social networking we have, we cannot find out what our reps are doing on current legislation. Searching for facts on our representative’s web site is like looking for who dropped the hanky.

I have long thought it is time to change the way that Congress interacts, not only with itself but with their constituents. At the time of the first Congress, the only reliable communication available was face to face. Today we have teleconferences available to put people face to face without travel. We communicate with the generals in the war zones from Washington D.C, but for some reason, our representatives need to maintain two residences and large travel expenses. It is interesting to note that any given Senator or Congressman will sit for a teleconference with an interviewer without a moment’s notice and think it is perfectly normal. Via CSPAN, we the people attend hearings on all sorts of things, and major companies have WEBINARS with two-way conversations. We have the technology and tools, but those in Washington do not have the desire to be more available to the locals. I want more interaction, a dialogue and ongoing input into the way things are done in the country. I want to have a VOICE in decisions. It is time for the American people to demand access to the process that sways the decisions of those we have sent to Washington to represent us. I call on all of you to demand reform from those we choose to be our spokespersons. They need to hear from all of us and follow our lead, not their own. Upon founding this country we had a war cry of “TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.” Today we need a new slogan … “NO MORE REPRESENTATION WITHOUT LOCAL CONCENSUS.” WE THE PEOPLE need to decide our own fate.

So to all our elected officials at all levels…. “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”