Did Someone Say "Un-American?"...

[rightwinger]

New York Democrat Rep. Eric Massa boldly announced yesterday..."I will adamantly vote against the interests of my District if it will be helpful." "Helpful?" God only knows what he means by that. This man is unfortunately typical of what our U.S. Congress has become. When our nation was founded,the U.S. Congress was created to serve the people and now it has sadly become the opposite. Our U.S. Congress now expects the people to serve them. They now actually believe that they are celebrities who are above dealing with or answering the people. If you don't believe me then just go ahead and try to schedule an appointment with Pelosi or Reid. See how far that gets you. This man is openly boasting about how he doesn't care what his constituents think. Pretty sad stuff if you ask me. So i will just have to say again that Mrs. Pelosi was truly wrong when she called protesters "Un-American" because in the end it is shallow & inept politicians like this man and her who are Un-American. I can't think of anything more Un-American than what this man has said.

That is what I expect my representative to do. Put the good of the country as a whole above that of individual constituents. The US is not a democracy where every issues is decided by popularity contest.

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on whats for supper

 

[Bill O'Olberman]

New York Democrat Rep. Eric Massa boldly announced yesterday..."I will adamantly vote against the interests of my District if it will be helpful." "Helpful?" God only knows what he means by that.

Political Science 101 Lesson of the Day: A representative as a trustee versus a representative a delegate. Look it up.

I am assuming in this situtation the dude is acting as a trustee and hopefully by "helpful" he means what he believes is in the best interests of the nation as a whole.

The rep as a trustee/delegate, just a couple of questions. Is it in the job description that they have to be one or the other? Do you know the law on it, again, do they have to be one or the other?

I get a sense of Burke out of this bloke, it tends to sound a bit patronising but basically the idea is that the electorate put him in there to exercise his judgement on their behalf. If he had a meeting with his electorate every time a decision faced him in the legislature it would be a thorough pain. So I'm not sure if the "delegate" model is useful for anything other than a single issue event.

There is no job description or law. Its simply how the legislator perceives what his/her role as a legislator should be. In this instance, you are correct, it seems this representative believes the electorate put him in there to exercise his judgement on his behalf and understanding rather than to represent the expressed will of the majority of his constituents. However, in order to follow your constituent's preferences a meeting may not be necessarily necessary but certainly it will require the legislator to be more involved this his constituency. To ascertain your constituents beliefs and preferences on issues simply maybe something as simple as having a staff member phone poll could be an option.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Our Founding Fathers certainly didn't intend for us to be slaves to our politicians. That's what gaining independence from England and the King was all about. We the people are now expected to be servants of our Government which is the exact opposite of what our Founding Fathers intended. Lets face it,our Government has the power to destroy any one of us at any moment. More & more people are actually fearing our Government at this point. Our politicians have become all-powerful and are no longer shy about publicly showing their arrogance. They really do now feel that they are celebrities who are above meeting with or listening to the people. That's why i always say that Socialism/Communism never work in the end and if anything we should be going in the opposite direction. More freedom for the people not less.

 

[rightwinger]

Our Founding Fathers certainly didn't intend for us to be slaves to our politicians. That's what gaining independence from England and the King was all about. We the people are now expected to be servants of our Government which is the exact opposite of what our Founding Fathers intended. Lets face it,our Government has the power to destroy any one of us at any moment. More & more people are actually fearing our Government at this point. Our politicians have become all-powerful and are no longer shy about publicly showing their arrogance. They really do now feel that they are celebrities who are above meeting with or listening to the people. That's why i always say that Socialism/Communism never work in the end and if anything we should be going in the opposite direction. More freedom for the people not less.

Can you detail how the American people are "slaves to the politicians"?
Didn't the recent exile of the republican party show that politicians are accountable to the people? It seems that now that "We the people" have chosen another party to lead us, we are now "slaves"

 

[Diuretic]

New York Democrat Rep. Eric Massa boldly announced yesterday..."I will adamantly vote against the interests of my District if it will be helpful." "Helpful?" God only knows what he means by that. This man is unfortunately typical of what our U.S. Congress has become. When our nation was founded,the U.S. Congress was created to serve the people and now it has sadly become the opposite. Our U.S. Congress now expects the people to serve them. They now actually believe that they are celebrities who are above dealing with or answering the people. If you don't believe me then just go ahead and try to schedule an appointment with Pelosi or Reid. See how far that gets you. This man is openly boasting about how he doesn't care what his constituents think. Pretty sad stuff if you ask me. So i will just have to say again that Mrs. Pelosi was truly wrong when she called protesters "Un-American" because in the end it is shallow & inept politicians like this man and her who are Un-American. I can't think of anything more Un-American than what this man has said.

That is what I expect my representative to do. Put the good of the country as a whole above that of individual constituents. The US is not a democracy where every issues is decided by popularity contest.

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on whats for supper

Except "democracy" isn't a popularity contest, it's much more finely nuanced than that.

 

[Diuretic]

Political Science 101 Lesson of the Day: A representative as a trustee versus a representative a delegate. Look it up.

I am assuming in this situtation the dude is acting as a trustee and hopefully by "helpful" he means what he believes is in the best interests of the nation as a whole.

The rep as a trustee/delegate, just a couple of questions. Is it in the job description that they have to be one or the other? Do you know the law on it, again, do they have to be one or the other?

I get a sense of Burke out of this bloke, it tends to sound a bit patronising but basically the idea is that the electorate put him in there to exercise his judgement on their behalf. If he had a meeting with his electorate every time a decision faced him in the legislature it would be a thorough pain. So I'm not sure if the "delegate" model is useful for anything other than a single issue event.

There is no job description or law. Its simply how the legislator perceives what his/her role as a legislator should be. In this instance, you are correct, it seems this representative believes the electorate put him in there to exercise his judgement on his behalf and understanding rather than to represent the expressed will of the majority of his constituents. However, in order to follow your constituent's preferences a meeting may not be necessarily necessary but certainly it will require the legislator to be more involved this his constituency. To ascertain your constituents beliefs and preferences on issues simply maybe something as simple as having a staff member phone poll could be an option.

And when the numbers come in? Does the rep follow the masses or does the rep follow his or her conscience and good judgement? If the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas above the release of Jesus, should the rep just go along with it?

 

[Skull Pilot]

Our Founding Fathers certainly didn't intend for us to be slaves to our politicians. That's what gaining independence from England and the King was all about. We the people are now expected to be servants of our Government which is the exact opposite of what our Founding Fathers intended. Lets face it,our Government has the power to destroy any one of us at any moment. More & more people are actually fearing our Government at this point. Our politicians have become all-powerful and are no longer shy about publicly showing their arrogance. They really do now feel that they are celebrities who are above meeting with or listening to the people. That's why i always say that Socialism/Communism never work in the end and if anything we should be going in the opposite direction. More freedom for the people not less.

Can you detail how the American people are "slaves to the politicians"?
Didn't the recent exile of the republican party show that politicians are accountable to the people? It seems that now that "We the people" have chosen another party to lead us, we are now "slaves"

I would say that a government that chews up over 40% of GDP and runs up debts that will exceed 80% of GDP is at least consigning us and our progeny to be indentured servants for a couple generations

 

[Bill O'Olberman]

And when the numbers come in? Does the rep follow the masses or does the rep follow his or her conscience and good judgement? If the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas above the release of Jesus, should the rep just go along with it?

Again, its all up to how the legislator perceives what his/her role as a legislator should be. I am not going to advocate either the trustee or delegate or say either is the right way or the wrong way to legislate because ultimately its up to the constituency to decide what and who they want in office.

 

[Diuretic]

And when the numbers come in? Does the rep follow the masses or does the rep follow his or her conscience and good judgement? If the crowd calls for the release of Barabbas above the release of Jesus, should the rep just go along with it?

Again, its all up to how the legislator perceives what his/her role as a legislator should be. I am not going to advocate either the trustee or delegate or say either is the right way or the wrong way to legislate because ultimately its up to the constituency to decide what and who they want in office.

Fair enough.

 

[chanel]

Dick Morris said the House was like a good ole boys fraternity and the Senate was like a group of independent nations. I thought that was interesting.l

 

[Annie]

Dick Morris said the House was like a good ole boys fraternity and the Senate was like a group of independent nations. I thought that was interesting.l

Pretty good analogy, though Morris isn't one of my favorites.