Swapping Personal Pickpockets

Here we are, less than a week since the General election and Republicans like John Boehner are already proving that they are no more trustworthy than the Democrats.

(HARRISVILLE, N.H.) - As an individual who tends to lean more toward fiscal conservativeness than liberalness, my primary focus is and always has been toward honesty and fairness for the U.S. taxpayer. This is where I tend to find myself mired in the political sewage that Washington seems to generate so freely.

Election after election I have watched politicians from both major political parties make promises that sounded honest, sensible, sincere, and downright enticing. Then, within months (if not days) of the election, the back peddling began. Well, it appears that this election is no different than any of the others.

This time it is the Republicans who equivocate, back-peddle, and use semantics to justify why they are not going to honor their promises. We all listened to the glowing promises from the Republicans about how earmarks (i.e. pork barrel projects) would be done away with, would no longer be tolerated, and would become a thing of the past.

Now that the Republican Party holds the majority of the House, they make it clear that it was only the Democratic earmarks that were intolerable. Now, according to John Boehner (Republican Congressional Representative from Ohio), rather than a ban on earmarks, we really only need a moratorium on them.

One can only assume that the moratorium he recommends will be in place only until the freshman Republican Representatives are installed and in place to support votes for Republican targeted earmarks.

It obviously does not matter which Political Party you vote for because the politicians from both of the major parties will have their hands in your pockets more frequently than your hands are there.

The Congressional Representatives from both parties voted to do away with the cost of living increase for Social Security recipients and then voted themselves a salary increase just a short time later. To understand that more fully, you must know that these Congressional Representatives who were earning an average salary of $169,300.00 per year opted to disallow a meager cost of living increase for individuals earning an average of $12,824.00 per year. What a fine group of caring individuals they are . . . aren’t they?

So, the lies, rationalization, apparent dishonesty, and cheating of the U.S. taxpayer continues. The only difference is that now, the Republicans get to say how your tax dollars are misspent. As with the Democrats, you may be sure it will be spent in the best interest of getting themselves and their party re-elected. The same game of Congressional greed and power mongering continues . . . only the dealer has changed!

Folks, we truly do need a viable third or possibly even a fourth party. I really do not care if it is called Tea Party, Coffee Party, or Tupperware Party. I do not care if it has a spokesperson who likes to refer to voters as “Mama Grizzlies” or “Grandma Warthogs”. What I do care about is replacing corruption, lies, vagueness, and cheating with honesty, truthfulness, openness, and a focus on fairness for the taxpaying U.S. citizen.

Here we are, less than a week since the General election and Republicans like John Boehner are already proving that they are no more trustworthy than the Democrats. How did we end-up hanging by so perilous a thread between the devil and the deep blue sea... damned if we do and damned if we don’t? What will it take to make the latest set of political pickpockets understand that enough is, at long last, too much?

We haven’t taken our country back people – we’ve simply given a piece of the action to the opposing team. Politics in the United States has made lying, thievery, pick pocketing, corruption, backbiting, and underhandedness something akin to Olympic sports.

Don’t get me wrong folks, I have no love for the Obama administration or the Congress that was elected to power in 2006. Actually, I think it has proven to be the worst combined Administration and Congress that I have seen in my 64 years; but, the recent evasiveness and vacillation on the earmark issue by John Boehner proves to me that the Republican Party has simply worked hard for the opportunity to prove me wrong and become even worse than the Congress that supported the stupid priority-setting and decisions made by the Obama/Pelosi administration in the name of the Party agenda.

I’d like to thank John Boehner for making it clear that we’ve simply swapped personal pickpockets... but, that is just my opinion!

You can write to Bob Collingsworth at this email address: colli2@webryders.net

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Jay November 10, 2010 12:29 pm (Pacific time)

Douglas Benson I believe you are correct. Past history sure makes it seem that our elected officials are more concerned about enriching themselves, but maybe real change can happen? No Gulfstream for Boehner, he promises to fly commercial. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the likely incoming speaker of the House, told reporters today he will break with recent tradition and not use a military jet to fly back and forth between Washington D.C. and his district. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., currently travels in an Air Force Gulfstream V. The Gulfstream V costs $6,000 per hour to operate. “I have talked to our security folks about the security that is involved in my new role,” Boehner told reporters on Wednesday. “But over the last 20 years, I have flown back and forth to my district on a commercial aircraft and I’m going to continue to do that.” Maybe we'll start seeing this soon to be powerful leader walking the walk?

Douglas Benson November 9, 2010 6:55 am (Pacific time)

Sorry Jay I hate the republicans even more than the Dems.Gov Ventura said it best ,its like pro wrestling .On stage they act like they hate eachother but they all work for the same team and its not the team for the average citizen. If you think that these right wing nutjobs are going to do anything but expand goverment and take our freedoms think again .They wont spend on social programs they will spend on ,more prisons ,more wars,more big brother taking our rights ,cutting social sec. and welfare[dont act like they arent after our retirement oh I forgot entitlements ],more tax cuts for big business and the rich un-funded tax cuts that are contributing much more to the deficit than social programs . Anyone who thinks we can get out of this hole without more taxes and spending cuts in prisons,defense ,etc. is crazy. Peace

Colli November 9, 2010 1:57 am (Pacific time)

Jay: The problem is that you are 100% correct . . . they all do it. I believe that the problem is in our structure. We need to do things differently . . . possibly but placing severe limits on election spending with the same limits set for all candidates. The greed and thirst for power is just too pervasive and it really needs to stop or at the very least, be controlled. When I think of the money spent on this last election and how many truly needy folks could have been helped with even half of what was spent, it makes me sick! Peace to you Jay.

Jay November 8, 2010 6:11 pm (Pacific time)

Douglas Benson to update your info as per your below post about different state votes: Republicans gained a historic edge over Democrats in state legislature elections that will have national implications for years to come. Republicans took control of at least 19 Democratic-controlled state legislatures 11/02, and gained more than 650 seats, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The last time Republicans saw such victories was in 1994, when they captured control of 20 state legislatures. Republicans haven't controlled as many state legislatures since 1928. Bad enough for the Democrats that they just lost their House majority and saw their Senate advantage tumble from 60 seats two years ago to 53 (it could have been worse), but now they must brace for the effects of the 2010 Census. Since the U.S. population continues to flow South and West, reapportionment will probably add House seats in red states and subtract them in blue states. Thus, the Census looks like a setback for Democratic chances to win the 270 electoral votes necessary to become president. Texas, which has voted Republican in 9 of the last 10 elections will gain 4 electoral votes, according to projections from preliminary Census data by Polidata.com. The other gainers—one vote each—include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Utah. All of these states have voted for the GOP candidate in at least 7 of the last 10 elections.... Meanwhile, eight states that usually go blue in presidential elections—Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Minnesota—are projected to lose one electoral vote each. Or in other words, Take the 22 states that voted for John McCain as the GOP base in the 2012 presidential election. That base is about to grow from 173 electoral votes to 180. And if Republicans hold it, they could get to 271 by carrying just six more states—Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia and Nevada—each of which has voted GOP in a majority of the last ten elections. As it happens, all six of these states, except for North Carolina, will have Republican governors next year, and all six, except for Nevada, will have Republican state legislatures. Please note that when President Clinton saw the republicans win both houses in 1994, he pivoted to the center right. Also his healthcare program was defeated so he avoided that political hassle , but now Obama has to deal with his current record which was repudiated in last week's election. No doubt there will be different analyses from all quarters, but the control of the drawing of new political districts will set the tone for 2012 and beyond.

Jay November 8, 2010 6:07 pm (Pacific time)

Colli I dare say that you can take any elected official and review the list of their donations and find those who someone is going to consider special interest. How else do people get money to campaign unless they are independently wealthy? So what bad things has he done while in office? My earlier post simply said let's see what happens after the new congress is sworn in. Give it some time. My guess is that they'll make some people happy and others really mad, but will they help turn the economy around?

Amanda November 8, 2010 12:35 pm (Pacific time)

When will people realize, they fill their pockets first, may it be in wages, retirement pensions, HEALT CARE, or any amenities imagineable...We have joined the ranks of the 3rd world.

Colli November 8, 2010 10:05 am (Pacific time)

Jay - The government calculates cost of living after eliminating things like food, gas, and heating fuel. This in itself in a rip-off. You claim that Representative Boehner has never taken an earmark in his life. Consider this: according to a search done using Maplight.org, John Boehner shows 27 typewritten pages of contributions, most of which are Special Interest Groups including banks, lawyers, insurance companies, oil companies, investment firms, health care, lobbyists, public relations firms, chemical companies, pharmaceutical, etc. Do you honestly believe that all of these contributions were made just because John Boehner is a peach of a human being? You are entitled to your opinion but sorry - that dog just won't hunt!

Douglas Benson November 8, 2010 6:18 am (Pacific time)

Duhh,the two party party of one wont change jack except who gets thier pocket filled on our hard earned taxes . Will they end the patriot act?Not! Restore our constitutional rights and hold those responsible for violating them to justice?Not! I say slow pay the bastages ,claim exempt and put it aside untill April .Vote third party ,they hate losing votes even if its small margins most elections are decided by a small percentage and they scramble to find ways to bring those votes to thier side [that means they have to pay at least lip service to the issues that are important to you]. I think Ill start a party called F.U. [Fed Up] it also has another meaning if you get my drift. The problem is you cant just try to take the seats in DC you need to work from the state legislature up. Just an upset in the balance of power there provides a lot of power . Peace

Jay November 7, 2010 6:28 pm (Pacific time)

Mr. Collingsworth it really is unfair that no COLA was granted this year for SS recipients and service-connected veterans. Congress did not vote on this situation currently, it is some screwed-up formula that kicks in based on various prices in the consumer price index. Also Representative Boehner has never taken an earmark during his entire time in congress and has gone on public record in the last few days advocating for a pay cut for all those in congress. Rep. Boehner has an interesting resume', he is the 2nd son of 12 children. His father owned a neighborhood restaurant and bar. He started working as a child and took ten years to finish college (first one in his family). One of his jobs was as a graveyard shift janitor, and this is where he met his wife, cleaning her office. I believe this individual knows the value of a buck. We should give him a chance after the new congress is sworn in rather then let rumor and inneundo take control of our thinking, in my opinion. I would not be surprised if the new congress in 2011 passes legislation in the House for a retroactive COLA, but we shall see. You may have noticed prices are really starting to go up.

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Swapping Personal Pickpockets

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