Our Democracy Is Pathetic!
 

Here we are, after at least a year of the 535 folks the country has elected to represent them, not being able to represent us at all. We have elected a group so fractionalized by far right and far left ideology that they are incapable of providing any form of governance. Our fiscal problems are critical, the financial track we're on is unsustainable. Everyone knows what needs to be done. Spending must be cut dramatically and revenues must be increased.

The Congress and the POTUS traded plans on what should be done several months ago and couldn't reach even a small agreement. The Congress voted to kick the can down the road and let a "super committee" come up with the plan. Now it appears that the super committee is so frozen in competing ideologies that they will fail to come up with any plan to address the fiscal crisis either.

Virtually all polls for months have shown that the country is disgusted with all of those who have been elected to govern them. In the background to what's happening in Congress are the early stages of a presidential election campaign. The sitting POTUS is viewed with record low levels of approval. He is ripe for replacement in the 2012 general election.

But the field of candidates sparring to compete with him is so pathetically unqualified and disorganized that it's possible that even an unpopular president may be re-elected. The Republican electorate is so ideologically split that it can't make up it's mind on which candidate is best to compete wirth the sitting POTUS. The "favorite" has changed so many times in recent months that it's embarrassing.

Who are those candidates? Several seem to be campaigning simply to sell their books. When faced with reasonable questions in a debate format, several were so woefully unprepared as to be embarrassing. Many have made little effort to construct a political organization that has a chance of winning local elections. What they're doing with the campaign funds they're raising is a good question that maybe someone should ask. They seem happy with the notoriety and the book sales that follow a series of TV debates. A couple seem well-qualified, but are being rejected by the GOP "base" and ultra-conservative pundits for narrow ideological reasons. Many are clearly unprepared and unqualified to be POTUS. Several better potential candidates have chosen not to enter the current political fray. It is a sad and frustrating vacuum of leadership.

And here we have a "political forum". To discuss what? To argue the merits of one side of the political spectrum or the other? Both appear to be badly faulted and irresponsible. Most of those elected will seek re-election. They must be pretty good jobs. Virtually none of them appear to have any interest in actually governing the country. The current state of our democracy is pathetic!

I personally think your too harsh. These candidates have plans. What plans did your candidate have besides the slogan "Hope and Change"? Are you telling me that these able candidates are worse then that twerp you voted for in 2008? Please.

sadly, :agree:

If you cannot find one or two good candidates in the GOP group, you're buying into exactly what the leftist media and "debate" moderators want you to buy into: that they are either too far right and "lunatic fringe", or they're too much in the center.....which happens to be a key group of voters to attract (independents/moderates).

I think VK's comments above are frustration with the fact that his fervent desire to vote for Obama again contradicts his motto of "Never vote for an incumbent." Can't have both.

Some Of Your Responses Make Me Laugh
 

Let me make myself perfectly clear....again!

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008. At the time I thought he was the lesser of two evils. I thought...and I said here...that if he didn't perform to my hopes and expectations, I would not vote for him for a second term.

I won't vote for him for a second term. I fervently hope that one of the Republican candidates is able to separate themselves from the rest in the eyes of the majority of Republicans. I hope whomever emerges as the candidate that will oppose President Obama will demonstrate experience, competence and plans for the country that the majority of Americans can embrace. I think there are a couple that can do that.

But as far as what any of you might read into my posts, let me be clear. My choice is to vote for whomever opposes Barack Obama...or no one at all.

But I want to emphasize that the POTUS represents only one branch of our government. The United States Congress has a whole lot more to do with the governance of this country than the President. Combining all branches of our government I am still of the opinion that our democracy is pathetic!

Our democracy is pathetic?

Feel free to move to Cuba.

coralway - do you think that there is anyone from the president through all of the congress is leading? i feel that everyone is abdicating their leadership to some sort of committee or a special interest group like the occupiers or tea partiers. we need someone to stand up for america and its people! and sooner rather than later! politicians are too busy campaigning for reelection instead of leading!

:agree:

What I think is "pathetic" is how Congress and the President continue with their charade of pretending to care about and pretending to identify with "the little guy"...."The 99%".

With their (senate's) median net worth being 25 times that of the median American family, it is ALL nothing more than a GAME to them.

It's the hypocrisy that makes the whole thing look "pathetic" and USELESS.

"President Barack Obama's plan for a new minimum tax rate for people who earn more than $1 million a year will likely affect some of the people who will have a say on whether the rule becomes law.

Namely: Congress.

.......according to the Center's research, 244 current members of Congress were millionaires in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available. That figure includes 138 Republicans and 106 Democrats.

That lofty financial status is claimed by only about 1 percent of Americans.

The median American family had a net worth of $96,000 in 2009, according to the Federal Reserve Board.

Of course, not all millionaires make more than $1 million in income annually -- that's an even loftier financial status enjoyed by an even more elite slice of Americans.

No matter how you look at it, though, members of Congress as a whole are a wealthy bunch -- typically several times wealthier than most of their constituents.

The median net worth for a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives was $725,000 in 2009, according to the Center's research, and the media net worth of a U.S. Senator was $2.4 million."

Rank Name Party Min. Net Worth Average Net Worth Max. Net Worth
1 Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) R $156,050,022 $303,575,011 $451,100,000

2 Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) D $182,755,534 $238,812,296 $294,869,059

3 Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) D $65,692,210 $174,385,102 $283,077,995

4 Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) D $36,694,140 $160,909,068 $285,123,996

5 Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) D $89,358,027 $160,302,011 $231,245,995

6 Rep. Vernon Buchanan (R-Fla.) R -$69,434,661 $148,373,160 $366,180,982

7 Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) R $73,685,086 $137,611,043 $201,537,000

8 Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) R $38,936,114 $109,034,052 $179,131,990

9 Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) D $61,446,018 $98,832,010 $136,218,002

10 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) D $64,210,256 $94,870,116 $125,529,976

11 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) D $46,055,250 $77,082,134 $108,109,018

12 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) D $49,083,204 $76,886,611 $104,690,018

13 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) D -$7,356,915 $58,436,537 $124,229,990

14 Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) R $19,365,053 $51,833,526 $84,302,000

15 Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) R $9,778,047 $50,717,522 $91,656,998

16 Rep. Diane Lynn Black (R-Tenn.) R $14,673,049 $49,409,519 $84,145,990

17 Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) R $19,898,179 $43,797,589 $67,697,000

18 Rep. Richard Berg (R-N.D.) R $19,347,579 $39,164,515 $58,981,451

19 Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) D $14,900,036 $39,012,518 $63,125,000

20 Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) R $13,303,385 $38,204,868 $63,106,351

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011...fett-rule.html

I do NOT believe our democracy is pathetic.

I DO think we, the voters, have allowed ourselves to become very lazy and if anyone is pathetic it is US, the voting public.

We, as a nation, have become lazy and entitled and OUR LEADERS ARE A REFLECTION OF US !!!!

I think, while this did not begin in 2008, this last election reflected some sort of crescendo where we elected the worst possible person to be president at this time. He didn't begin this, but he is what he is, and we all SHOULD HAVE KNOWN it and exercised our brains and our voting power, but we sat idly by and allowed it to happen.

VK, I understand your frustration..and share it but the answer is in the voters hands.....and I am just as negative on this as you. I see nobody now being able to vote beyond their party allegiance or some strict idealogy that does not recognize any compromise or "common good".

We have become lazy...we would rather call those who do not feel the same way a name rather than debate the issue intelligently...we would rather speak than listen and maybe learn. We have all heard this before, but we now are an electorate who votes NOT for country good but personal good.

The democracy is fine...it is just not used for good of country any longer,

Much is captured by your "never vote for an incumbent" cry, as voters will march to the polls and cast a vote for the name recognition. Voters today consider posting on a forum like this to be "discussing"...not much "discussion" on this forum at all. Come November, blacks will vote as they ALWAYS do...union members as they ALWAYS do....business owners as they ALWAYS do,,because it is easy to do.

I recall pre internet, pre cable tv, when we listened to the news and read the newspapers, and while their was a share of spin included it was at a minimum...in this information age, it seems to me that we were more INFORMED in those days and certainly we cared more about this country.

Sorry for the babbling...it has been awhile for me on here to babble away.....this thread struck a nerve with me.

WE GET THE LEADERS WE DESERVE AND THEY ARE A REFLECTION OF OURSELVES

LOL Laughing too hard to even write at the moment.....

Check Politifact - you'll see they've kept a report card (not terribly flattering) on Obama's promises. It was more than a slogan. The more you ignore that it wasn't just "Hope and Change", the more it looks like simple name-calling.

They actually have something called the "Obamameter" tracking over 500 campaign promises. At the moment, it's 157 Kept, 49 Compromise, 53 Broken, 67 Stalled, 180 In The Works and 2 Not Yet Rated.

That's a chunk of change out there under the control of our "leaders". I would love to see the math on this equation-Take each of our elected officials in DC that worked to hard to "provide" us with the wonderful "healthcare" plan. Give them each the "freedom" to donate 10% of their personal net worth to the national debt. What would be the total amount taken in and how would that effect our debt?
Sweeten the deal? Give those in DC who "really care" about the American people, freedom to donate ANY amount...You know who politicians these are because they TELL us how all the time that everything they do is to HELP the American people, right? :oops:

157 kept+49 compromise+53 broken + 67 stalled + 180 in the works +2 not rated=608 total promises made
157 kept/608 made=25.8% kept? or 73.9% not kept yet?
Wow that is great for 3 years work...almost 75% of the time alloted to keep those promises. I believe that this kind of productivity would get the average person fired.

For starters we are not a DEMOCRACY. The United States is a Representatiave Republic. Big difference. Get the facts straight before calling the United States something that it is not.

Now lets start a discussion from this point on.