GET ‘EM OUT

The next edition of LOCK DOWN LYRICS is …. GET ‘EM OUT

“Politicians like diapers should be changed often and for the same reason” Unknown…but very astute.

The problem with Representative Democracy is not the democracy part it’s the representative part. Political parties do not represent citizens they represent the “party” and they tell the citizens who should represent them on behalf of the party, not on behalf of the citizens. This situation has evolved to a point where being a politician has become a career rather than a position of service to the community and the citizenship in general.

Like any career people start at the bottom and work their way up through the party ranks from local to state to national politics … a career path. Many career politicians have never had a job that does not depend on the taxpayers or other groups like Unions or so called Non-Profits that produce nothing but depend on deriving income from the fruits of others labor or production.

The main problem with this is that new blood, new ideas, new representatives who may be more in tune with the real world but are not career politicians are kept from being elected on their merits … they are not invited to the “party”. We basically have a whole bunch of kings, queens, lords, dukes, duchess and wannabes commanding the power over the people … the serfs basically who fund their whims, wars, special interests and lifestyles. However it is not like the old days where they came to power via birthright or war … we the people elect them and so they can blame us.

Unfortunately because of the numbers we can’t just send one person to the chopping block and install another … there are just too damn many of them. The serfs are given a chance to “elect” but the choices are determined by political parties, money, the media and the rich and fabulous in the background, who fund the campaigns of the chosen ones. So we are left in a position where we can’t seem to regurgitate what has over time become bad for us … career politicians.

Once a career politician establishes a position the number one priority is to hold that position not by representing the people but by getting re-elected. That is achieved by representing the party, the lobbyists that fund campaigns on behalf of who ever might be paying them to influence and corrupt the career politicians to act not on the serfs behalf but on the behalf of their masters.

A book by a famous lobbyist made this point it takes six to eight years to corrupt even those politicians who enter in the fray with the best of intentions on behalf of those who elected him/her.

I, and many many others, are of the opinion (yes this song is an OpEd) that the only way to regurgitate the old and bring in the new is to establish TERM LIMITS for all elected positions. Will that fix things overnight, no however in the long term the continual infusion of new blood, new ideas, fresh minds and people not aligned to political parties but to those communities that elected them will change the current downhill skid we see in the USA and many other Representative Democracies around the world. Now we know the “establishment” is not going to give up the goose lays the golden egg (eg The Taxpayers) without a fight. This has been proven in a number of US States where Term Limits for representatives was put up for a vote of the people the political parties on all sides fought the proposals tooth and nail with more propaganda than a Chinese Newspaper … they do not want to see the reins of power pulled from their hands.

In States and other countries where term limits are applied all the propaganda about experience, leverage, networks etc have been proved to be just that and term limited representation is working … out with the old in with the new.

One thing you will never hear is a career politician of any ilk promoting or even mentioning Term Limits … for them there can be no nastier proposal by us serfs than to limit their time at the taxpayer funded pig trough.

So I say GET ‘EM OUT … restock the shelves with new un-used products rather than the previously “used” second hand rubbish. Yes we may loose some good ones with each wash out but those will find another way to serve their community … if that is their mindset.

Americans can sign the petition that puts the fear in all career politicians here … and every Country that has a “Representative Democracy” can start their own push to banish the career politician to the annals of history, otherwise you can look forward to more of the same.

U.S. Term Limits – Citizen Legislators, Not Career Politicians