Special Interest Groups? No, Stealing Interest Groups!

[Daless2]

Special Interest Groups? No, Stealing Interest Groups!

For the longest time I have thought the phrase "Special Interest Group" to be an oxymoron. What's so special about some wanting an advantage that others do not have? Taken at their Expense!

Sounds a lot like Stealing to me.



Let's look for an example..... OK, I have one, Boeing! Now here's a "Special" Interest Group, the people who build 767's.

These folks have managed to get Congress to fund $21.8 Billion to lease 767's to the Air Force as Tankers, when the Air Force doesn't want or need them!

But wait it gets even more intense.. The same number of 767 aircraft can be purchased for ....... You guessed it $21.8 Billion, and the Air Force still wouldn't want or need them.

So why is this happening? Let me take a wild stab into the night sky. "Stealing Interest Groups?"


While I'm at it let me pull on the Stealing Interest Groups called Democrats or Republicans.

Each and every politician takes an oath of office. On day one many (MOST) come down with amnesia on the part that says "Of the People, By the People and For the People".

Day Two can be found inspiration and perspiration in an all out effort of "No Matter What it Takes", having nothing to do with the People's Business, and everything to do with being a Democrat or a Republican and staying in office, or any number of other Stealing Interest Groups out there that make up these parties.

I often wonder why politicians are not at a minimum tarred and feathered any longer in this country.


Think about it. Think about the oath they take, and The Constitution they all swear to uphold, and then think of their actions.

At best it appears to be a bad joke and at worst, in my opinion it borders on out right treason!

Yes treason! The crime people can and have been shot dead for.

Who owns the responsibility for all this? We all do. You and I, individually and collectively.


The Stealing Interest Groups in this country have taken over and corrupted the entire governmental system. Our elected officials no longer do what is right for "The People", they do what is "Right for the Steeling Interest Groups".

Who here can deny that so many of our political leaders would not tear this country apart, dividing us so as to motivate their own political Stealing Interest Group bases? The Country Be Damned is the attitude, just so long as they win and retain their power base.

It doesn't matter if it's the politicians playing up to the "poor masses" with previews of the "socialist state to be", or the politicians playing up to the "power brokers" so the "mass monies come flowing in".

It is all wrong folks, and it is indeed treasonous to the principles of this great country and the potential of what she can still become.


Special Interest Groups!? Ha! Hardly special at all.

I say they are all Stealing Interest Groups, at the expense of everyone else, lead by what we call Legitimate Leaders, Democrats and Republicans. These I prefer to call simply garbage..


Elected officials should do "The Peoples Business" No Matter What.

Not Some of the Time, not Most of the Time, All of the Time.

Each should be prepared to give up their office today to do the right thing for The People.

Yet WE, you and I allow them to ignore the Peoples Business.


The thread on Driver Licenses prompted this post, and it is a great example to use. The People's Business is to have Secure Boarders.

Why is it that our (CA) Elected Officials are even talking about Driver's Licenses for illegal's. I mean, why make a new law when no one is willing to enforce the old laws, the immigration laws?

Perhaps the immigration laws need to be re-written. Then do so. But until they do, the immigration laws are a part of the law of the land, and should be, but are not being enforced.

I would suggest that "Someone is Responsible", but "No one is Accountable".

And we accept this? Yup!


Does anyone think this is a Government Of the People, By the People and For the People?

I don't think so, at least not to the degree that I believe it should be, and I am guessing not to the degree you think it should be either.

Life is simple folks. Think about it.

It sure sounds to me that if your job description reads "To support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America" these folks are at best highly ineffective, and at worst bordering on intentional treason for the benefit of Stealing Interest Groups.


Stealing Interests Groups should never be tolerated in this country, not mine and not yours. No one's Stealing Interest Group. Yet no one really challenges any of this.

Does anyone doubt that today it is "Of Some of the People, By Some of the People, For Some of the People"?


In my opinion the only thing in this country more broken then our "political leadership" is our education system, who's primary mission seams to be to employ teachers and provide baby sitting services for mommy and daddy.

(Johnny can't read? No problem, he'll catch up in the next grade. - Heck no, you can't test my students to see what they know. Only I can do that. I am with them every day. But it's not my fault they can't read! (Makes me want to scream, Lady! If 2 + 2 does not equal 4, then it is a pretty safe bet that one of those two numbers on the left is not a 2 ! And Johnny is suppose to know that too!))

We are the Power folks, The Constitution gives it to us, but WE choose to live within this status quo.

Wake up folks, the status quo isn't even mediocrity at its best! We have allowed our Country to become nothing more then a long litney of Stealing Interest Groups hell bent on getting all they can on the back and at the expense of everyone else.

It just doesn't have to be this way. We, you and I, each of us need to give up our Stealing Interest Group Ways and tell our political leaders to lead the People and Do the Peoples Business or find another job.

And we need to mean it, not just hold interesting conversations about it.


Frank

[Jeff Weston]

Interesting points you make Frank.

The one thing about Boeing that concerns me is that they are not playing on a level field with Airbus which is government subsidized. At the way things are going, we could be without a major domestic player in the commercial aircraft market.

As for special interest groups, our Lt. Governor, who doesn't want the recall but wants your vote anyway, recently accepted a $1.5M donation from an Indian casino. By law, maximum contributions are "supposed" to be limited to $21k in this state yet he is apparently trying to sidestep this. What's really interesting, according to the news radio station I was listening to, his attorney helped craft this campaign finance law.

Unfortunately, it takes money to get elected. A lot of money! The funny thing about contributions is that the businesses want a return on their investment in the candidate.

What's the answer? I don't know.

[Darrell C]

Originally posted by Daless2
Special Interest Groups? No, Stealing Interest Groups!<snip>...The Stealing Interest Groups in this country have taken over and corrupted the entire governmental system. Our elected officials no longer do what is right for "The People", they do what is "Right for the Steeling Interest Groups". ... <end snip> Frank

Rhetorical question, Frank: And why do the politicians worry about doing what the interest groups want?

Answer: Because their primary concern is continuing/furthering their own political career, hence the fallout of the career politician.

[mrblaine]

The license thread and this one have one thing in common. The issue is too large to get your head around.

By design or not I don't know, but we snivel when in fact we would all like to take an action of any kind to show our disagreement and attempt to help solve the problem or at least modify it somehow to be more palatable.

So it goes with all things important whether it be our frustration with overloaded services out of our pockets or our inability to have direct feedback to the politicians supposedly with our best interest at heart.

We would all love to have it broken down into the smallest part where an individual action taken will have an effect we can see. Similar to the majority of life's transactions, there are foreseeable consequences to most things. Want a car, simple thing that most of us can accomplish even though most of the steps are unknown at first and are sequential. We still get it done.

Not so with this other crap. The scope is too large and mind boggling for the average person to pick out the steps involved to make a difference and therein lies the frustration.

So it goes.

[Hellbender]

Frank,

I am personal friends with a newly elected state representative (just last term)..............

He ran because he thought he could make a difference IN THIS VERY PROBLEM.

But he has acknowledged he is just a grain of sand on the beach.


AND...........As soon a the new politician realizes this, human nature (brain says) weeeeelllllllll, the ONLY WAY for me to help, obviously, is to COMPROMISE, and just do what little I can, I can give a little here or there, to help the greater good....................

And the cycle begins...................

I believe ALL laws, bills, approprations, etc......should be allowed to contain only ONE item to be voted on, not:

Good thing
Good thing
Good thing
Good thing
Tiny Little Bad thing

Weeeellllll, the good things outweigh the bad, so it must be good.........I vote YES.

WRONG, WRONG!!!!

Because the next bill will be:

Good thing
Good thing
Little Bad thing
Bad thing

Well, lets balance again.................Obviously, the ...............

And the cycle continues.........

HB

[Daless2]

Good discussion folks, and a lot of good explanations as to why things are the way they are. I can't argue with any of them other then to say "explanations" as to why things are wrong do little to correct what is wrong.

That said I recognize there are many reasons for many things, but these reasons only became important becuase we Allowed the Mission to be Changed from what it should be "A Government Of the People, By the People and For the People" into something less.

I have no doubts that many a good man and woman have gone into public service with every attention to make a difference for everyone in a positive way, and have had to compromise to get things done. Compromise is not a bad thing, provided all who are compromising are doing so to support the MISSION! (See Above) and not the "Stealing Interest Groups"

Blaine's point is very valid. The problem is so pervasive no one individual can even get their arms around it let alone effect change to it. That is why EVERY individual needs to go back to the basics, ask the simple question, something along the lines of " Is this action I am taking, or advocating someone else take on my behalf "in the interest of All the People?"

If yes then go forward, if no, then stop.

And if our elected officials are doing these things anyway "For the Stealing Interest Groups" we should hold them accountable and throw them out of office. (I like the CA Recall Opportunity.)

Leaders who do what is in their interest, or the interest of Stealing Groups ARE NOT my leaders, nor should they be yours. They have the wrong Mission, which is self-survival and self-interest. Character traits that should never be found in a Leader.

Leadership is not for the benefit of the Leader, it is for the benefit of those being lead. All of them, not just some.

Leaders who's performance demonstrates "A Government Of Some of the People, By Some the People and For Some the People" should be looked down upon as the worst your society has to offer, not looked up to and certainly not allowed to lead us.

Use the No Smoking Model, it has to be good for something!

Like Smokers these leaders should be told in easily understandable terms that their bad behavior is not only unacceptable but that it will not be tolerated. And that my friends is something we can each get are arms around, and DO!

Question? Has anyone here ever called Congress? The White House? Your State House or Governor? Believe it or not they all have switchboards.

Can you imagine what would happen it the switchboards of our National Government where inundated every single day with out fail with American Citizens screaming loudly but politely and clearly that "Stealing Interest Group Activities will No Longer be Tolerated."

Doesn't sound like to big an activity to me. In truth it is a small activity that has a dependence on many people doing.

Just a thought.

Frank

[Hellbender]

Frank,

Compromises in budget matters and such are necessary to accomplish anything, but the compromises I'm referring to are the individuals basic good & bad/ right from wrong balance, it slowly tips towards the "wrong" side because of these compromises forced on him by the system. And it slowly gets worse the longer he is involved.

HB

[Daless2]

Originally posted by Hellbender
Frank,

Compromises in budget matters and such are necessary to accomplish anything, but the compromises I'm referring to are the individuals basic good & bad/ right from wrong balance, it slowly tips towards the "wrong" side because of these compromises forced on him by the system. And it slowly gets worse the longer he is involved.

HB

Hi Brad,

I do understand your point and know it to be true. SOmehow this entire cycle must be broken.

Talk with you in a bit.

Frank

[Ace!]

Frank, I read this a week or so ago, then figured I?d let it digest a bit. I?ve got a great deal of interest in politics, have a bachelor?s in political science/public law/international politics, and take great interest and participate in as many things political as I can. I?ll add my $.02.

I have met my share (and probably considerably more than my share) of politicians, lawyers and judges, and worked as a volunteer in several elections. For the most part politicians are just like everyone else. Most politicians start out wanting to help someone, and run for office based on a great desire to be part of some overall solution to some large social problem. Being a politician is not a ?kick-back? job. Usually there is a great deal of travel, a great deal of debate, and a dozen different directions a dozen different ?groups? are pulling you. You can definitely make more money in the private sector, compared to the amount of work politicians typically have to put in.

Then, on top of all that...you know you?re going to lose your job in some definitive time frame unless you make most of the people happy (at least most of the people that vote). How many people would take a job that had a limited duration, and at the end you had to prove your worth (sounds like a contract job). Not most of the people I know. Most want a steady paycheck, with the knowledge that if they don?t make waves the boss won?t even know they?re there. And to add to the frustration, not all of the constituents even want the same things, so how do you make most of them happy?

Anyway, back to point of my post I guess. Special interest groups are basically just groups of concerned people about a subject. They?re no different than you or I, just more organized and maybe more ?****ed? about something. I agree 100% with you about each of us having to take a stand or more interest in what our politicians are doing. It seems more and more that we are becoming a nation that is ruled by the minority, but it?s a choice. A silent majority is just that, silent. Politicians, law makers, it doesn?t matter; if *you* don?t voice your opinion it goes unheard. An active minority is much more powerful than a silent majority.

As an example, I vote Libertarian for the most part. Almost everyone tells me everytime I vote, ?you just threw that vote away.? Bullsh*t. The vote that?s thrown away is the one that isn?t cast. Those same people that tell me I wasted or threw away a vote, they?re usually the same people that couldn?t find the time to make it to the polls. Bullsh*t.

I get very frustrated when I?m talking to someone and they tell me how bad things are, or how politicians and law makers don?t do what?s right. I?ll bet dollars to donuts that most people don?t know who their state representatives are, that they don?t know who represents them at the county or state levels. If someone wants to complain about the ?system? but won?t be an active participant, *they* are the one destroying the system. *They* are the one keeping the politicians from doing their job. A politician?s job is to represent people, but if you don?t tell them what you want they can?t do their job. Politicians work for the people. How would anyone of us like it if we came into work, our boss said we were late on a project or doing it wrong, but would tell us what project we needed to completed or what was wrong with it? It?s a Dilbert cartoon, and we?re all the boss that doesn?t tell anyone what we want, but want it done yesterday.

I participated in a very interesting (to me anyway) excercise in college. About two dozen of us participated in either making appointments (with several weeks advance notice) with our state representatives, or showing up in Sacramento and attempting to make a same day appointment. Some of us requested to speak about a particular topic, some of us even attempted to meet with representatives of other areas (not our own districts), or just requested an opportunity to meet for no reason. Our excercise was to determine how accessible politicians are at the state level. Almost everyone got their appointment, shook hands with the representative, got ten or fifteen minutes face-to-face time. It surpised most of us that we could actually speak with our representatives about an issue if we wanted to, and it gave us all a greater appreciation for the process. It made me realize that a special interest group can be a couple of people that have a strong interest in a problem and are actually vocal enough to make time for the representative. The representative, for the most part, is waiting for our calls or appointments to discuss the issues that are important to us.

Bottom line is I agree we *all* have to get off our *ss and be more active in the process, *but* I absolutely blame the silent majority, and consider the silent majority the majority of the problem. JeepBBS is a special interest group, so let?s all use that ?power? to make sure no issue important to our community goes by without input to our local leaders. For those that don?t know your reps, look in the phone book or online. Take an hour and meet them. Become part of the process, because it doesn?t work otherwise. If you or I won?t get off our *ss and give our opinions and issues a voice how are we going to be heard by anyone? The process gets better if we?re all involved. It?s not the politicians fault he listens to special interest groups, they?re the only ones talking.