Several years ago when Richard Blumenthal was Connecticut's Attorney General, the joke used to be "Where is the most dangerous spot in Connecticut?" The punch line was "Between Blumenthal and a TV camera".
I think we can update that joke now to "Where is the most dangerous spot in Washington DC?". And the punch line will have to be "between Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy and a TV camera"
As I sit here thinking about the July 4th holiday coming up this week, I am pretty confident that the nation we are today is a far cry from what our founders envisioned. We are supposed to be a "representative Democracy", but sadly I think very few of the people we elect actually represent us.
Yes, Washington DC is a mess, I don't think anyone can deny that. That mess did not start on January 20th with the Inauguration of Donald Trump, it has been a mess for years, if not decades.
I don't think our elected officials comprehend that they were elected to represent US! They have lost sight of why they are there. We don't elect "parties". We elect individuals, and the business of partisan politics is killing this country. So many issues are stuck in a partisan quagmire, instead of being based in what is best for us, the citizens.
Congress is elected to set the laws that are supposed to guide a "nation of laws. So why aren't they doing it? Did Congress only realize that after a new President came into office on January 20th that our immigration laws are broken? The same with our tax laws and Healthcare laws?
Is it wrong for an Administration to choose to enforce laws that are on the books and have been ignored for many years?
Instead of running for the TV cameras, maybe, just maybe, the officials we elect to represent us should be coming together and coming up with a compromise to introduce and pass laws that actually work for and not hurt the people they are supposed to represent.
Instead of running to the Sunday morning talk shows with your soundbites, show some leadership and come up with workable solutions. What works with the Affordable Care Act and come up with a consensus as to what is wrong and fix it. Look at what is wrong with immigration and fix it so that people who actually want to eventually be productive American citizens have a workable pathway to get there.
How about a period of amnesty for people who are here illegally? A 1 year period to get into the Federal system and come out of the shadows. If you aren't in the process after 1 year, all bets are off and deportation is a likely end, but at least give people the chance to get started. 30 years in the US illegally doesn't indicate to me a desire to be a citizen, but at least they should be offered the option before being deported
Passing legislation for the people may not help someones political career, but maybe it might help the same people who put their trust in you when they elected you.
I have received two e-mails this past week from the Congressman who is supposed to represent me telling me how he needed my help to assist him in getting the job done as he tries to do his job in Washington. And that help was requested in the form of a donation to his campaign. WHY? Is the salary he makes not enough to accomplish his job? Is his healthcare in danger of cancellation if I don't send a "contribution".
We need to start electing people that actually want to represent us and not climb to the next rung on their ladder of political aspirations.
Fight the tough fights when they need to be fought, but also be willing to show some real leadership and represent us when it is so sorely needed. It is what our founding fathers expected when they put their own lives on the line to "build a more prefect Union". And we are far from perfect right about now.
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