Country First - not part of this Senators agenda

[The Rabbi]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

 

[Rotagilla]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

they tried that in 1861...the fed gvt wasn't having any of that.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

It's more than sort of true. The Senate is supposed to represent the States, the House is supposed to represent the people. Perhaps we need a third division of Congress which supports corporations..

 

[The Rabbi]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

It's more than sort of true. The Senate is supposed to represent the States, the House is supposed to represent the people. Perhaps we need a third division of Congress which supports corporations..

That was true until they passed the constitutional amendmend to provide for direct election of senators. Thanks, Progressives!

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

It's more than sort of true. The Senate is supposed to represent the States, the House is supposed to represent the people. Perhaps we need a third division of Congress which supports corporations..

That was true until they passed the constitutional amendmend to provide for direct election of senators. Thanks, Progressives!

That shouldn't have changed who senators represent. They are still supposed to look out for their state's interest rather than the peoples. Now sometimes those interests coincide, but not always.

I do concede though that stupid Americans who don't understand that would vote out Senators who did what they thought was in the state's best interest if it negatively affected them personally

 

[The Rabbi]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

It's more than sort of true. The Senate is supposed to represent the States, the House is supposed to represent the people. Perhaps we need a third division of Congress which supports corporations..

That was true until they passed the constitutional amendmend to provide for direct election of senators. Thanks, Progressives!

That shouldn't have changed who senators represent. They are still supposed to look out for their state's interest rather than the peoples. Now sometimes those interests coincide, but not always.

I do concede though that stupid Americans who don't understand that would vote out Senators who did what they thought was in the state's best interest if it negatively affected them personally

Senators, like every other elected official, are responsible to the people who vote for them. In the old days it was the state legislature. Today its the citizens. That's reality.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

As long as our southern border is the way it is, EVERY SINGLE SENATOR doesn't have the best interest of this country.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Democrats put country first, unfortunately it's not the USA

 

[g5000]

Wow, a politiician soliciting campaign contributions. Stop the presses.
Libs have lost their mnds.

You clearly did not read the link.

 

[g5000]

The OP story is not about campaign finance, kids. Read the fucking thing.

 

[bripat9643]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

The bottom line is that they all vote for what's best for themselves

 

[Rotagilla]

How about this?


Congressional Reform Act of 2014


1. Term Limits
12 years max, some possible options are below.
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms


2. No Tenure / No Pension
Members of Congress receive a salary while in office,
that salary ends when they leave office.


3. Congress members (past, present & future) are to participate in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system
immediately.
All future funds flow into the Social Security system,
and Congress participates with all Americans.


4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan,
just as all Americans do.


5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.


6. Congress loses their current health care system
and participates in the same health care system as the American people.


7. Members of Congress must equally abide by all laws
they impose on the American people.


8. All contracts with past and present members of Congress are void effective 1/1/12.
The American people did not make the contract members of Congress enjoy,
Congress made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

 

[Wry Catcher]

The point of the OP is simple, McConnell is not doing his job, and he is the problem, one manifested by the poor polling of the Congress. McConnell's stated goal is to obstruct, not work with the Democrats, while he complains they won't work with him.

And our counterpoints are equally simple: namely, that our golfer-in-chief is a textbook narcissist who's too busy making photo ops, hitting the talk show circuit, talking about things before he's informed himself well enough with the situation to be talking about those things, and of course, playing golf to be doing Americans any favors right now, too.

Of course every Pol takes bribes, that's one reason why money in politics needs to be completely transparent and regulated. We can thank five members of he Supreme Court for compounding the problem with their view that money is = to freedom of speech.

So given that you know that every politician takes bribes, you are essentially now conceding to being a troll then, yes?

Every Pol takes 'donations', they are bribes in my opinion. The rational goes like this, 'if I don't take the money, I will not be reelected/elected; since I'm the lesser of two evils, I will take the money. It's in the best interest of the people.

Of course raising money takes time:

"Newly elected congressional Democrats had just a week to savor their victories before coming face to face with a harsh reality of Washington.

At a party-sponsored orientation session, the freshmen — many still giddy from winning close races in which they espoused grand plans to change the Capitol’s toxic atmosphere — were schooled in their party’s simple list of priorities for them.

The newcomers were told to devote at least four hours each day to the tedious task of raising money — so-called dialing for dollars — so they could build a war chest and defend their seats, according to those present. That’s twice as much time as party leaders expect them to dedicate to committee hearings and floor votes, or meetings with constituents."
See Link to above, here:

Freshman lawmakers are introduced to the permanent hunt for campaign money - Politics - The Boston Globe


The POTUS doesn't pass laws, his powers are limited as anyone who has read Article II of the COTUS understands. Even on the back nine the POTUS is as tied to his job as he is in the Oval, at Camp David or cutting brush in Texas.

Sure, but note that McConnell was expressly touting how Citizens United "leveled the playing field." I'm not sure the super rich needed help on leveling the field, but I'm real sure Citizens United didn't help with the fundraising game.

The two (CU v, FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC) moved us one giant leap toward fulfilling the dream of the Plutocrats.

Get ready for smaller government, a greater spread between the rich and the rest, and fees (never taxes, bad word) paid by the hoi polloi to make up the loss of taxes paid by the rich. The death tax will be abolished (helping only those with estates worth 5 million or more) and Capital Gains will not be taxed at all.

Agencies which protect our food, water and air will be cut to the bone, causing one crisis after another and with each crisis a cry for such agencies be privatized will ring out, as Limbaugh and Hannity claim the private sector can do better than a government agency.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Term limits have problems, after 12 years many retired members of Congress will become lobbyists, or move on to organizations funded by the power elite, protecting the interests of the power elite.

 

[Rotagilla]

Term limits have problems, after 12 years many retired members of Congress will become lobbyists, or move on to organizations funded by the power elite, protecting the interests of the power elite.

they don't now?
The 2 party electoral system has been corrupted and has become useless in america.

 

[shart_attack]

The point of the OP is simple, McConnell is not doing his job, and he is the problem, one manifested by the poor polling of the Congress. McConnell's stated goal is to obstruct, not work with the Democrats, while he complains they won't work with him.

And our counterpoints are equally simple: namely, that our golfer-in-chief is a textbook narcissist who's too busy making photo ops, hitting the talk show circuit, talking about things before he's informed himself well enough with the situation to be talking about those things, and of course, playing golf to be doing Americans any favors right now, too.

Of course every Pol takes bribes, that's one reason why money in politics needs to be completely transparent and regulated. We can thank five members of he Supreme Court for compounding the problem with their view that money is = to freedom of speech.

So given that you know that every politician takes bribes, you are essentially now conceding to being a troll then, yes?

Every Pol takes 'donations', they are bribes in my opinion. The rational goes like this, 'if I don't take the money, I will not be reelected/elected; since I'm the lesser of two evils, I will take the money. It's in the best interest of the people.

Of course raising money takes time:

"Newly elected congressional Democrats had just a week to savor their victories before coming face to face with a harsh reality of Washington.

At a party-sponsored orientation session, the freshmen — many still giddy from winning close races in which they espoused grand plans to change the Capitol’s toxic atmosphere — were schooled in their party’s simple list of priorities for them.

The newcomers were told to devote at least four hours each day to the tedious task of raising money — so-called dialing for dollars — so they could build a war chest and defend their seats, according to those present. That’s twice as much time as party leaders expect them to dedicate to committee hearings and floor votes, or meetings with constituents."
See Link to above, here:

Freshman lawmakers are introduced to the permanent hunt for campaign money - Politics - The Boston Globe

The POTUS doesn't pass laws, his powers are limited as anyone who has read Article II of the COTUS understands. Even on the back nine the POTUS is as tied to his job as he is in the Oval, at Camp David or cutting brush in Texas.

He doesn't do much of anything else, either — unless we're talking about playing golf.

 

[The Rabbi]

The point of the OP is simple, McConnell is not doing his job, and he is the problem, one manifested by the poor polling of the Congress. McConnell's stated goal is to obstruct, not work with the Democrats, while he complains they won't work with him.

And our counterpoints are equally simple: namely, that our golfer-in-chief is a textbook narcissist who's too busy making photo ops, hitting the talk show circuit, talking about things before he's informed himself well enough with the situation to be talking about those things, and of course, playing golf to be doing Americans any favors right now, too.

Of course every Pol takes bribes, that's one reason why money in politics needs to be completely transparent and regulated. We can thank five members of he Supreme Court for compounding the problem with their view that money is = to freedom of speech.

So given that you know that every politician takes bribes, you are essentially now conceding to being a troll then, yes?

Every Pol takes 'donations', they are bribes in my opinion. The rational goes like this, 'if I don't take the money, I will not be reelected/elected; since I'm the lesser of two evils, I will take the money. It's in the best interest of the people.

Of course raising money takes time:

"Newly elected congressional Democrats had just a week to savor their victories before coming face to face with a harsh reality of Washington.

At a party-sponsored orientation session, the freshmen — many still giddy from winning close races in which they espoused grand plans to change the Capitol’s toxic atmosphere — were schooled in their party’s simple list of priorities for them.

The newcomers were told to devote at least four hours each day to the tedious task of raising money — so-called dialing for dollars — so they could build a war chest and defend their seats, according to those present. That’s twice as much time as party leaders expect them to dedicate to committee hearings and floor votes, or meetings with constituents."
See Link to above, here:

Freshman lawmakers are introduced to the permanent hunt for campaign money - Politics - The Boston Globe


The POTUS doesn't pass laws, his powers are limited as anyone who has read Article II of the COTUS understands. Even on the back nine the POTUS is as tied to his job as he is in the Oval, at Camp David or cutting brush in Texas.

Sure, but note that McConnell was expressly touting how Citizens United "leveled the playing field." I'm not sure the super rich needed help on leveling the field, but I'm real sure Citizens United didn't help with the fundraising game.

The two (CU v, FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC) moved us one giant leap toward fulfilling the dream of the Plutocrats.

Get ready for smaller government, a greater spread between the rich and the rest, and fees (never taxes, bad word) paid by the hoi polloi to make up the loss of taxes paid by the rich. The death tax will be abolished (helping only those with estates worth 5 million or more) and Capital Gains will not be taxed at all.

Agencies which protect our food, water and air will be cut to the bone, causing one crisis after another and with each crisis a cry for such agencies be privatized will ring out, as Limbaugh and Hannity claim the private sector can do better than a government agency.

I heard California will drop into the ocean if we elect a single Republican.

 

[bripat9643]

Term limits have problems, after 12 years many retired members of Congress will become lobbyists, or move on to organizations funded by the power elite, protecting the interests of the power elite.

So you think they are more harmless as members of Congress?

 

[bripat9643]

Just a note here. Senators aren't supposed to vote for what's best for the country, they are supposed to vote for what's best for their state.

That's sort of true.
Look, politicians have constituents. They run on certain ideas and platforms. Some people will support them just because they think its the right thing. Others will support them because they perceive it will be in their interest. Michigan pols consistently supported measures to help the auto industry. Minnesota pols consistently support measures to support dairy farming. They will support candidates who support their views. That'[s fine. That's democracy in action.
The alternatives are far too bad to imagine.

It's more than sort of true. The Senate is supposed to represent the States, the House is supposed to represent the people. Perhaps we need a third division of Congress which supports corporations..

That was true until they passed the constitutional amendmend to provide for direct election of senators. Thanks, Progressives!

That shouldn't have changed who senators represent. They are still supposed to look out for their state's interest rather than the peoples. Now sometimes those interests coincide, but not always.

Of course it changes who they represent. If they are beholden to the state legislature, then they will do whatever the state legislature wants them to do, especially when they can be canned whenever the state legislature isn't satisfied. If the are elected by a direct vote of the people, then they can give the state legislature the middle finger. The problem is compounded by the fact that much of their campaign money comes from shaking down corporations that aren't loyal to any particular state.

I do concede though that stupid Americans who don't understand that would vote out Senators who did what they thought was in the state's best interest if it negatively affected them personally

In other words, yes it does affect who they represent.

 

[bendog]

Actually, OP aside, I think the issue is whether McConnell's comments indicate he puts his constituents interest before the Kochs', or whether there's a difference between the two. Today, McConnell seems trying to walk back the notion that he'll shut down the govt over obamacare or something.