Fairness Aside

It used to be that the salesman had to come to your home, get in your face and convince you to buy whatever they were selling.

Sure there were commercials on TV, but not many because not everybody had a TV of those not a lot of people watched him a lot of TV.

Sales continue to mutate. They called it helpful, and sometimes it was! The salesperson would make an offer, you would disagree or agree. Then the amount of your purchase would change or not. And you'd go on your way. 

Go to the office store and buy a pair of paper, now they want you to buy a pen or pencil or a pen and pencil set or a box of pens or more paper, Etc. Again, sometimes helpful, sometimes not.

This trend was also active in the fast food business. Everybody whoever ordered something has heard server say "do you want fries with that" or "would ya like cheese? Its only a dime!"

And then there was coupons. Boy! I don't even want to talk about coupons.

Let's not forget about gym memberships. Some fast talking salesperson would have you sign up. "You'll do great, I can see you've got great bones but just in case, you can CANCEL ANY TIME! Just call this 800 number." Half of the times the 800 number never existed, got changed or disconnected after 2 months or you lost the swatch of paper that had the number on it. Consequently, you're stuck with another month or year depending on the gym membership.

But NOW they get their HOOKS into ya! I think they called it the free trial that morphs into a paid membership that morphs into you forgot you had your paid membership and your account is dead...except for that ALL IMPORTANT FEE they get that you FORGOT ABOUT. It becomes another ubiquitous bill you don't even know is there or think about any longer. THEY KNOW you haven't ordered anything from your account in 2 years! Generally, they don't even send you a notice telling you they're going to make another deduction from your checking account.

There are a lot of holes in the laws defending American citizens against this kind of larceny. And our congress KNOWS about it! 

 

Congressional pay

There's a lot of talk recently about pay. At least one brokerage firm that says they do better when you do better. I think this is a good thing. I think this is something that Congress should adopt. Below is a spreadsheet that shows congress doesn't work that way. It shows historical pay information on Congress compared to the average American Income. MOC ncomed should be the same as or a little less than the average American income. What do you think?

Let's create some definitions

Member(s) of Congress (MOC) DEFINITION

A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress. In the United States the word Congress is used as a descriptive term for the collective body of legislators, from both houses of its federal legislature: the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

In order to distinguish who is a member of which house, a member of the Senate is typically referred to as Senator, and a member of the House of Representatives is usually referred to as Congressman/Congresswoman, or Representative. Although Senators are members of Congress, they are not normally referred to or addressed as "Congressmen" or "Congresswomen" or "Congresspeople".

The elimination of political parties

Has anybody ever read books like Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm and West Side Story? There are hundreds if not thousands of books just like them highlighting ways that mankind divides itself always to its detriment.

Political parties do the same thing. First of all we have the illusion that there are more than two parties. But I can't find any instance where any party other than Democrats or Republicans are represented in the White House by the president.

So let's recognize that anything other than two party politics as what it is. A fantasy.

Now, let's take a look at two hypothetical senators in Washington. Senator Jane and Senator John. They grew up in the same neighborhood,  they get along well, their families go on vacations together, they each have similar ideologies. Together, they could legislate many of the problems of this country away. But because Jane is in one political party and John is in another political party they are not allowed to collaborate. Especially when it comes to key critical legislation originated in their respective parties.

Anyone can see that some of the very best legislation that has come out of Washington DC has been devoid of Party politics. This usually happens after some national crisis like 911. Then everyone in the country feels the warm fuzzy of non partisan politics fixing problems for the country.

Well we can have that warm fuzzy feeling all the time by eliminating political parties in the first place! Going back to Jane and John they're not always going to agree, but Party politics Will Not divide them. And think of the millions of dollars we the people will save on conventions!

I know it's a radical thought, but mull it over. I'm pretty sure you'll come to the conclusion that a no party politics can be every bit as effective as two-party politics.

How can the government be $3 trillion in debit?

December 01, 2017 - 06:42 PM EST
Benghazi panel used $150K in taxpayer money to settle wrongful termination lawsuit
BY MAX GREENWOOD for TheHill.com
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), the former chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, used $150,000 of taxpayer money to settle a wrongful dismissal suit from a former staffer, according to a report Friday.
The Washington Post reported that the former aide claimed he was fired, in part, because he refused to focus his investigative work for the committee on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The settlement appeared on a list of settlements released by the Office of Compliance (OOC) on Friday. The list disclosed that the OOC oversaw the $150,000 settlement to a claim of veteran status discrimination and retaliation.
The former aide, Bradley Podliska, alleged that he was fired because of his refusal to focus on Clinton and because he took leave to fulfil his duties as an Air Force reservist.
That Gowdy and the committee had settled Podliska's lawsuit in December 2016 was previously known. The amount of that settlement was not previously disclosed.
Podliska's attorney, Peter Romer-Friedman, told the Post that he could not discuss the details of the settlement. But he said he was not aware of any other veterans status discrimination and retaliation cases brought in the past five years.
“I can confirm that my client is one person who brought a veterans status discrimination and retaliation suit against Congress and that the case settled on terms that were satisfactory to my client,” he said.
Amanda Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Gowdy, told the Post that the congressman never met or communicated with Podliska and referred the newspaper to the House Employment Counsel, the office representing members of Congress.
The House Select Committee on Benghazi closed last year after issuing its final report. Gowdy now serves as the chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Thanks to Mr. Max Greenwood and TheHill.com

Alexandria, va shooting

6/14/2017
Why people don't like politicians and government? WOW! That's a puzzler!
There  were several news stories that ran today about the shooting of the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria Virginia. First I have to ask, what are you doing playing baseball? Shouldn't you be at work? Representing me and the rest of America? The questionable and yet funny thing that came out of this is the following. Several Congress Representatives just could not understand why the public hates them so much. You ignorant, stupid, self centered, delusional, pricks. Please, let me clarify since you seem to have no clue. Your ability to understand  why we hate you must have gotten lost when you divorced yourselves from humanity. And before I even get started, I want to recall an instance which is Well published. It involved a man trying to get in touch with his congressman to straighten out a benefit from the government. The man had called and called and got no call backs from the congressman so the man went to the congressman's office. When the man approached the congressman he was told "hey you can't talk to me, I'm United States Senator". I'd say that this and many other examples explain why the people hate the government. But let's look at that in more detail.
Why does the common person hate the government?
For starters how about the fact that the average person has to struggle to get good medical coverage. And God forbid you should have a lapse in coverage for any reason.  That opens up a whole new hell for people who have to re-establish medical benefits. But the Congress has their own secret unlimited lifetime medical health coverage. But that's not all let's keep going.
The Congress has their own secret Social Security benefits which never end. And that is why they could not possibly care less about our social security system being in disarray. That is also the reason that they will never fix our social security. Because there's is working fine.
If you want to see a really great example of nepotism, you need go no further than Washington DC. Congress men and women have their friends and relatives lined up getting paychecks for doing little or nothing.
And let's talk about the apartments. actually not Apartments but Condominiums. These condos are located at government owned properties in and around Washington DC and Virginia. These apartments are intended for guests of the United States. For prime ministers and Chiefs of state from other countries. They are also allowed to be used on the rare occasions when Congress Works late into the night. Rather than fly or drive home, they can drive the few minutes to the condos and get some rest. Better than trying to find a hotel. But that's not the only way that they're used. Let's say a congressman is in DC for an extended period of time away from his wife and family. He can just have his favorite prostitute James let into one of the condos and when are congressmen gets amorous he and James can get it on. Or if the congressman just wants to watch he can have James and Janet two of his favorite prostitutes get together while he he eats his popcorn or whatever. Or if the congressman is in the mood for something a little different he could have one or two female prostitutes there waiting for him when he gets off work. And they do.
And let's talk very briefly about guns. If some of the politicians had their way no one in the United States would have guns. No one except politicians their bodyguards, their boyfriends, their girlfriends, their wives, their children, and probably a few others. That's the way it was in Chicago and other major cities during a gun ban. The people who are unable to buy guns are the people who need them the most. Think about it.

Let's not forget the late payment of taxes. Tim Geithner who was the TREASURY SECRETARY, the boss of the IRS paid $34,023 in back taxes and $8,679 in interest. I have also heard stories that a simple Amish man had his house broken into and all of his belongings taken away by the IRS jackbooted thugs because he owed a small fraction of that amount. When Harold Washington was mayor of Chicago he had an ongoing struggle with the IRS trying to keep from paying his back taxes. I'm pretty sure they were paid by his estate after he passed away. And here's the point I'm driving at. Members of the Senate and the house in the federal government collectively known as Congress currently owe many tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes. They're immune from the jackbooted thugs, they're immune from harassing phone calls, they're immune from having their paychecks garnished. When will it end? I personally believe that anyone working for any of our governments; local government, state or federal anyone who gets their paycheck from the government is guilty of treason if they have back taxes due for longer than a year.

There's so much more to talk about. But the last thing I want to hit is lobbyists. I saw this on Facebook: congressmen and women get somewhere around $170,000 a year pay. But the lobbyists give them over a million dollars a year in benefits and cash. Whose interests do you think they serve best? The people paying them $170,000 a year or the people paying them $1000000 a year? Just saying. There should be a waiting period going from government to lobbyist and vice versa. Like 4 years. Just like if you go from one company to a competitor. You gotta wait.

5th amendment for citizens ONLY

I don't think that anyone and elected or appointed public office should be able to invoke the Fifth Amendment. As Servants of the people they are responsible to the people. No questions no games and no way out if they are doing something wrong. Invoking the fifth is an insult, a slap in the face to the constituents not only who elected the person but everyone in the country who is paying their salary. Serving as a representative of the United States or as a representative of the state or of the community is a privilege. And part of that privilege is to give up your ability to lie by omission which is what the Fifth Amendment does. LIKE IF YOU AGREE!