A Government of the Party, by the Party, and for the Party?

It appears that our form of government has been corrupted and bastardized by an overwhelming greed for money and power.

New Hampshire state capitol. Photo: sinnazheng.edu.glogster.com

(HARRISVILLE, N.H.) - There is an old adage that says “As New Hampshire goes... so goes the country”. This has been used in reference to elections but may actually apply to events and actions more far-reaching than elections.

An article titled “Lawmakers told to skip vote on veto”, written by Karen Langley, and published by the Concord Monitor (New Hampshire) on May 25, 2011 stated that “Republican state representatives who oppose right-to-work legislation yesterday said they were asked to skip a vote on overriding the governor's veto if they would not change their stance”.

The Right to Work legislation is intended to stop unions from charging nonmembers for a portion of collective bargaining costs. The proposed bill passed both legislative houses easily but New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch vetoed the bill two weeks ago.

According to the article, “House Speaker William O'Brien said the Republican leadership would have more than enough votes to overturn it but in interviews yesterday, numerous Republican House members who voted against the right-to-work bill earlier this term said they have been deluged with phone calls, mailings and emails seeking to influence their vote on the override. Several said they have heard nothing from House leadership, while others said they had been asked by House leaders or other Republican members to reverse their vote or purposely find themselves outside the chamber when the vote is called”.

The article goes on to state that members of the Republican Party leadership and lobbyists have approached various legislators and asked them to either “change their vote” or to “take a walk” during the vote, thereby enabling the Governor’s veto to stand. Rep. Ross Terrio said yesterday afternoon that “he was still deciding if he would follow his party platform by missing the vote . . . or requests of constituents by supporting the veto”.

Regardless of how you feel about the Right to Work legislation, the on-going events at the New Hampshire statehouse clearly indicate that the voters of New Hampshire have much bigger fish to fry. The malodorous behind-the-scenes tweaking, colluding, and pressuring is obviously intended to force the out-of-place Will-of-the-Party over the appropriate Will-of-the-People.

The truly sad part is that this type of political maneuvering and vote fixing is common place, not just in New Hampshire, but country wide and in our nation’s capitol as well. It has become the accepted way of doing business.

A representative form of government implies that an individual selected by the people will represent the will of the people at the seat of government. How then is it that these selected individuals believe that it is the party . . . not the people, who they are supposed to be representing? How is it that back-room deals have come to mean more to our elected representatives than the will of their constituency? How is it that it has become so difficult to find a truly honest man or woman . . . someone who is willing to vote the will of the people rather than the will of the party... to run for elected office?

Can the heady wine of power be so sweet as to corrupt once honest men and women, impelling them to chase after re-election at any cost? Can personal convictions and values be so poorly grounded as to be shaken by pressures from the money-changers frequenting the Cathedral of Averice our government has become?

It appears that our form of government has been corrupted and bastardized by an overwhelming greed for money and power. The seat of that greed is within the two large political parties that are currently running our country... into the ground... but, that is just my opinion!