Get Involved! It Is The Only Way To Protect Your Interest.

Time flies. It has been more than two months since I last posted, which leads me to think about one reason why we, as a nation, are so frustrated with our (federal) government.

I suspect my challenges are similar to most at a very high level. We, as a nation, have more obligations/commitments than there is time in the day to accomplish (i.e. we attempt to fit ten pounds in a five-pound sack). Consequently, higher priorities, such as family, career, staying fit, etc…, take precedent over investing time and efforts in things such as, our government. As a result of not investing our time and efforts (except on Election Day) in OUR government, we wake up to find one day that we do not like what our government is doing (Please forgive me if I do not speak for you and you are satisfied; keep doing what you are because it seems to be working).

We are to blame for this problem. We are ceding control to those we have little to no influence over. We elect politicians who typically have the biggest campaign account. If neither you nor I gave them the money, where did it come from and what kinds of strings are attached to the money? Forget the strings, donors have greater access than non-donors to our politicians. Consequently, this access gives the donors a greater ability to influence the political process.

To offset this influence, we need to get involved. I am not asking you to donate money; I am asking to do something harder. Make phone calls; go door to door. It will be enlightening, fun and most of all it will be rewarding. Find someone you like and respect that is making a sacrifice to represent you. We need citizen politicians, not career politicians. The longer a career politician is in office the more likely he or she will end up representing their financial backers’ interest, which may be (... and probably is) opposite to your interest. If you choose not to get involved, please never say anything bad about our government because if you cannot walk the walk please do not talk the talk.

Get involved!

Oh, one last thing to think about it. If we had a smaller government (i.e. we govern ourselves individually) then we would not need to get heavily involved, would we? Sounds like a post for another day on personal responsibility.

Saving Lives vs. Rail Transportation

What is more important, saving lives or advocating railroad transportation? I asked myself that question after reading Teen pleads guilty in pizza murder in the Metro section of the April 23^rd, 2010 print edition of the Florida Times Union.

Obviously, saving lives is more important. However, for Corrine Brown I believe advocating railroad transportation is more important (Ms. Brown chairs the Railroad subcommittee of the Transportation committee; the only other committee she sits on is Veteran Affairs).

Without even asking Ms. Brown, I know she would whole-heartily disagree. Who would not? Is it not human nature to have some natural instinct to care for others? However, realities of our own individual lives may leads us to take action(s) in the near-term that conflicts with this natural instinct.

In the case of Ms. Brown and the Democratic Leadership, it made perfect sense to place her on the Transportation Committee when she was elected in 1992 for 2 reasons:

1. There are railroads, airports, ports and waterways in her district; and

2. She and the Democratic Party would more likely receive donation from companies and individuals in these sectors than they would in say….early childhood development, lifelong learning, and communities.

I do not fault the individuals and companies that have donated to Corrine Brown. I would expect them to. I am all for railroad transportation, but what I do expect is for my representative, Ms Brown, to focus on representing more of the district than a select few for her and her political party’s financial well being (I say political party because the Republican Party is just as guilty). If she truly cared about the district then she would have found a way to be on a committee that would have a greater positive impact on the citizens of Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3).

The following table shows all the committees our representatives could sit on (can click on chart to enlarge).

Based on what you may know of CD-3, which do you think would be appropriate? When I surveyed voters in the district, an overwhelming majority selected Education and Labor first. Transportation was typically fourth on the list after Financial Services and Small Business.

If I have not helped you convince yourself, please look at the subcommittees for Education and Labor and Transportation shown below and think about which would have the most impact on the people in CD-3 (can click on chart to enlarge).

Back to the above mentioned news article. The story is similar to most news articles pertaining to CD-3, young black person commits a crime ….. Sometimes, news outlets report about community representatives (ministers, social workers, community activists, etc..) that speak out against the police for either going over the line or not doing enough to prevent such a crime. I could lead into personal responsibility, family unity, etc…being most important in preventing crimes, but the purpose of this bog entry is show that Ms. Brown could have done more. I could go as far as to say that she has blood on her hands. However, she is like most of our elected officials in Washington. She is concerned more about donations and running for office than doing what is right.

For the past 18 years she has spent approximately 10,000 hours (or 5 years if one assumes a full-time career) on transportation matters. Just think, if she spent that same amount of time on the Education and Labor committee then is possible that one life in the district could have been saved? I definitely think so and it is just example on why we need term limits. She and the Democratic Party are obviously not going to change. She is too well entrenched. Term limits would force her out and give us the opportunity to have better representation.