I always seem to be running around so I never get a chance to sit down and write a well edited text. Same for today. As mentioned before a thorough reading of these posts past and future will eventually produce some cohesiveness to everything I hope.
Senator Hutchinson announced that she is stepping down as Senator from Texas. This made me sit back and think abit my thoughts on individual politicians. I am not a fan of the democratic or republican party as they now stand. Yet I do understand that this doesn't mean that most to almost all democrats and republicans are bad or evil.You get your individual exceptions that stand out, but overall most individual politicians are trying to survive in the world they live.
So this leads back to the problem, but first a quick comment about Senator Hutchinson. I have never met her, however, she comes across in public well. I think for who she represents and what she has done she has served well. Also it seems she is a genuine person. Yes these are some quick niceties, but I feel they are sincere.
The problem is the system with which she and all other current politicians work. Between the political rancor going on today and the private interests/lobbyist sector no real effective public policy is being produced. The system that democrats and republicans work is now so screwed you cannot get or expect decent public policy. Some may say that this is good. A government that does nothing is the best kind of government. There are days when I tend to agree with this thought, however, at some point things need to get done even at the basic level like roads being built. So we are stuck with some kind of government. The question then becomes how much government can we accept (stand). The issue in the United States is that how do you manage a trimmed down government that meets the needs of over 300 million people.
The first answer is the government doesn't need to meet ALL the needs of its citizen and this is the beauty of what our government is suppose to do.It is suppose to be a government of the people by the people for the people, but not a government that controls the people. This has been lost in our current political system. First a quick aside, remember a political system for example of a two party system of electing people is not the same as the constitutional government. It seems way too many people mix these together. There is nothing in the constitution that says we have to have two parties and they are the Democratic and Republican parties. This is how the political process became over time.
This is where Ms Hutchinson's announcement got me thinking. Both the republican and democratic party will now gear up for the 2012 election to try and win her seat. I don't think any major upheavel is going to occur to sidetrack this process from actually happening. It would be nice if some super popular independent got elected, but even then short of a monstrous amount of independents getting elected not much would really change in Washington.
So where does that lead us that believe that some change needs to occur in the political process? Well nowhere until people realize that democrats and republicans won't change till we make them. And where is this change going to come from, tea party, green party, libertarians, or...well actually those are possibilities, but don't count on it immediately. Tea party has some sway based on some information I read I haven't confirmed and that is they have some pretty heavy hitters financially behind them. I haven't seen a second report of this or gotten any verification so I won't make too much mention, but if true they could actually bring about some change. Unfortunately there views aren't representative of the larger population, but apparently they have the money to make enough noise to sound like they represent a larger group of people than they truly do
Let me go back to my statement about a government controlling the people for a moment and use the example of the health care legislation that recently passed but now the republicans want to repeal. First of all the medical industry in our country is way to bureaucratic without the government getting involved. There needs to be some change. So the democrats tried something and produced a monstous bill that no one in the public can even begin to understand. This would add super amounts of bureacracy over bureacracy. And trying to look at the bill just overburdened with special interest concessions that democrats produced nothing in it is an improvement. It did produce some changes and trys to help people get insurance that currently don't have access, a noble ambition for sure, its just that the bill is completely ineffective. The republicans want to repeal it blindly. Just get rid of it, however, the actual problem will still exist. So in an indirect way both parties are trying to control the medical system in the country. Democrats by trying to create insurance, and republicans by doing nothing and letting the current system be in charge.OR to clarify... Democrats don't want to run the medical system in the country just lay down the rules for people to play by, but they are so cumbersome that they end up having the health care system go through the government by default. The Republicans don't want any part of a solution so they are letting the current system be in charge and it is run by insurance companies, AMA, and other corporate and special interests. In neither case does the government show they are addressing the medical system with the idea of by the people for the people. Both situations put another entity in control of one of our most fundamental needs, health care.
So what to do and what to do now includes the problem and contradiction of our system. Our republican and democratic representatives who are allowing this problem to exist are the ones we are electing to represent us in the concept of by the people for the people. Both parties tend to forget this when trying to decide what to do. Yes this is becoming a circular argument in some ways. And over time I am planning on coming back to this discussion many times to hash out the clarifications and hopefully some practical solutions. I am trying to be positive and not just complain like you hear so much nowadays.
So lets go back to Senator Hutchinson's announcement to finish today up. Still running around so need to get moving. Like I said before the system won't drastically change because one person steps down. A small start might be if more independent conservative and liberals push agendas on the two major parties or push forward with more practical ideas within the republicans and democrats long before we choose the candidates for 2012. This won't change the system, but try and get the system to change to the people. Or we step up and seriously make a bid for electing a large number of independents. Make the special interests and political parties step back and think about who is running this country again. This would be the stronger and more effective way to change the system and preserve the idea of government by the people. One that I would chose, but I could stomach the first idea if it comes to fruition. I have nothing against democrats and republicans on an individual basis, I just don't see them as a group doing anything positive for our country.
In the future I plan to discuss the idea of smaller and effective government along with reminder that our nation is a nation founded on Christian and freedom of religion principles. In a government run by the people the need to protect values and independent thought still need to be the prinicpal value in the government. I do want to discuss small government, but one that upholds the dignity of man and individual rights and that discussion will come often. An example for that will be the discussion of how do we reduce our dependence on welfare without short changing the people who are now currently relying on it for existence. Or how do we make welfare work?
And finally I would like to propose or reinforce something I heard that is a solution to our current health care system. I hate not having something to put forward to discuss as a solution to a problem. This problem is a monster and we really need more serious thought about how to address it. Most of my posts should have some positive idea at least to make you think so today's policy issue is something I want to address, but will need further thought to be productive.
Nice and chilly today, some clouds but a small warming trend in the Dallas area today. Jason Garret has been named head coach of the Cowboys, Dirk is still injured, so sports are a bit slow right now. Stars are becoming hot so you are hearing a bit more about them around the so called water cooler.
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