Try to refrain from arguing right off the bat and just express what if anything this week has ment to you.
Myself it proves that the Govt can't protect it's own people because it's incapable of connecting the dots.
It's also shown me that the Patriot Act was a pointless overreach when compared to the results it's netted.
One last observation. Our gov't has gotten so big it is incapable of functioning properly for the good of the people.
You know who foretold what you're saying right now? None other than Sam Walton; founder of Wal*Mart. He put in his autobiography (paraphrasing) "Can a $100B retailer run as productively and efficiently as it should or would five $20B retailers do it better"
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sam-Walton-Made-America/dp/0553562835/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366504756&sr=1-1&keywords=made+in+america+sam+walton]Sam Walton: Made In America: Sam Walton, John Huey: 9780553562835: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
Personally, I think you're a little late to the party if you're just coming to this realization.
What do we do? It's not going to happen since we operate under a 200+ year old business model that was ill suited for the 1900's.
Can you imagine running your business based on the market realities of 1990 and offering the decor of that time period? Well, that is what we have in our Constitution...we're not responsive to the needs of the States since the needs have changed and our Constitution hasn't.
What we need is a major course correction to re-fashion the government from the ground up. Along side of this, and just as important though, is a ground up re-definition of citizenry. About 40% of Americans voted in 2012....
can you imagine?
The reason is that most people feel that elections don't matter. So the Constitution needs to be changed to re-install that faith. States have politicized the process as to where 90+ percent of the elected representatives will go back to Washington every year--$17B in debt and nearly no turnover...
can you imagine?
Re-install faith in elections then you'll get more citizen involvement.
Once you get more citizen involvement, you get a closer examination of candidate's records.
Once you get that examination, you get better public servants elected instead of better politicians
Then you get a better government...
You're a proponent of term limits. I am not. The reason is that the actors aren't the problem, the script is. If John Doe needs to raise X amount of dollars during his first term; Jane Doe who replaces him will need to raise X amount of dollars during her first term as well. Likely they will be "requesting" the same amount from the same "concerned citizens" in their districts. You remove the need for that money, you lose the influence that the "concerned citizens" have on the process.
If you want a better government, you need better citizens. We get the government we deserve and we as citizens have done a very poor job of holding our elected officials accountable. We had the House gaveling themselves into session for 14 minutes not long ago to block the President from appointing a labor secretary....
Obama Labor Board Recess Appointments Are Unconstitutional, Federal Court Rules
The mickey-mouse BS was applauded by many here. Do you think this is what the founders wanted? Can you imagine what they would think?
Can you imagine...
Of course that's all fun and games back in 2012 when he did it--a Labor Secretary. . Since the court slapped down Obama's action he won't do it again, right? Big victory. Can you think of another government agency that doesn't have a director that would have been helpful earlier this week? I can...It's call BATF...Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The directorship has been vacant since 2006. Should we be the surprised that people are able to make bombs, are making bombs and using them? We live in an age of terrorism...
can you imagine not having a head of this agency? How many threads have you seen concerning it?
Nor will there be. The lazy citizens of the nation do not care as long as their "side" is on top.