Pendulums

Yes, they swing. Witness Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential campaign:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”

That is patently untrue. Now said party is trying to hold the entire citizenry of the United States of America hostage by shutting down the government to keep affordable health care from senior citizens, the poor and middle class. As I recall, Newt Gingrich tried that and it failed miserably. But you go ahead and don’t learn from your mistakes.

This moment I’m calling it Romney’s Revenge because he started this version of healthcare in MA then went against it as his party decided to kill it by calling it Obamacare and saying our President was not a US citizen. They were lame attempts that failed in the end.

A party that tries to tell us how to live our lives and that we’re not worthy of being citizens in this great nation, then licks its wounds after political losses and blames voters for it, is on the wrong path.

To Republicans, you cannot want to win and not include independents like me, and exclude everyone you don’t like from the tent for being Latino, gay, or all your touchpoints. The tea partiers don’t bring anything to the table and ostracize potential voters.

Why do I tell you this? I am a moderate. I would prefer the political pendulum swing from 60-40 for whatever party is in power. Personally, I believe the fewer laws passed in Congress each session the better, like the budget and one or two major issues per year. And limit the pork barrel budget.

I see more money going into campaigns and much longer campaign lengths that may start the day a servant of the people is elected. You’re elected to represent us, not you.

Right now I see an avaricious Congress only looking into posturing for next year and the Presidential election and ignoring the people they have been elected to represent. That goes for both parties but mostly for the desperate one which is grasping at straws. Trouble is, it’s a hurricane and straws can only go so far.

I am concerned that the Republican Party’s cow-towing to the extreme right wing troublesome not only for the party but for the country. When the platform is all about exclusion, who is going to vote for your candidates? You do the math.

When there is a close electoral win in Senate or House, there was a need to talk across the aisle. Gifted legislators such as LBJ, Tip O’Neill, and Sam Rayburn knew that. Now everything seems fragmented and I’d love to be a fly in those hallways to see if you even say a brief “good morning” to your political opponent.

Perhaps many of us would like to know if you ever talk with each other as that would be telling. In the meantime, could you possibly spend a few moments thinking about the welfare of your constituents and of the American people instead of yourself and your re-election campaign? Thanks, Dee