[Mystline]

I'm a democrat. Maybe you are too, or you're a republican. This is just a small rant I want to share with you all.
Our government, or the United State's government, is breaking apart rapidly. All the time it's Democrats vs. Republicans, Left vs. Right, Up vs. Down. It hasn't always been like this, or atleast, what I remember. Atleast the D's and R's would be able to agree on some terms, and get something passed without the one of the other halve's completely flipping out.
But nowadays....Democrats and Republicans are getting farther and farther from each other. One side always has to be right, they can never sacrifice to make the other party satisfied. I'm speaking for both parties too. Nothing can get done because one side will want something, the other side will completely oppose it, the other side who wanted something won't make any compromises....
I don't know, is it just me? What do you all think?

[Matt PNiewski]

Thanks for taking your first steps towards complete Voter Apathy. Perhaps I can interest you in my newletter. We had a great article on how "You actually think something is going to change other than the name of the President?" and "Abortion: Who ever Wins, We Lose."

[Kii]

-stare-

Is there anything specific that brought this train of thought about?

[this_chick25]

::quick glance at news::

I'm guessing either... healthcare, or that new snafu over unemployment benefits.

[Voxx]

This is news?

lol

Its like the PS3 sony versus 360 microsoft

They will NEVER get along.

[sentinel28a]

What's amazing is how well our government actually does work. How do we know that? Because everybody in the world who isn't out for their own power tries to emulate it--and those who are in it for themselves try to destroy it.

Right now we're yelling at each other over health care. Okay. I hate it too, but I'd rather have them yelling then letting any President--whether his name is Bush or Obama--just do whatever they want. And we're not shooting at each other either, having already done that once and not really enjoyed it much. The nice thing about our system of government is that it can be changed. Don't like the jerks in power? Vote 'em out. Keep doing it until you get the people you want. There are a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle in Congress. We never hear about them because they're not screwups or egotistical headline-grabbers.

Heck, if you don't like it, run for office yourself. Everyone has to start somewhere. Many of our best politicians have come from humble beginnings, or were self-made people.

Or you can do nothing, in which case you have little reason to complain when things don't go your way.

Ben Da Mad Irishman

[Matt PNiewski]

sentinel28a, on Mar 3 2010, 11:54 PM, said:

What's amazing is how well our government actually does work. How do we know that? Because everybody in the world who isn't out for their own power tries to emulate it--and those who are in it for themselves try to destroy it.

Right now we're yelling at each other over health care. Okay. I hate it too, but I'd rather have them yelling then letting any President--whether his name is Bush or Obama--just do whatever they want. And we're not shooting at each other either, having already done that once and not really enjoyed it much. The nice thing about our system of government is that it can be changed. Don't like the jerks in power? Vote 'em out. Keep doing it until you get the people you want. There are a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle in Congress. We never hear about them because they're not screwups or egotistical headline-grabbers.

Heck, if you don't like it, run for office yourself. Everyone has to start somewhere. Many of our best politicians have come from humble beginnings, or were self-made people.

Or you can do nothing, in which case you have little reason to complain when things don't go your way.

Ben Da Mad Irishman

Stop trying to get my newsletter canceled.

[sentinel28a]

Matt PNiewski, on Mar 4 2010, 06:55 AM, said:

Stop trying to get my newsletter canceled.

Stop trying to be such a downer to everyone you meet, and I'll consider it.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"I might even strongly consider it"

[Matt PNiewski]

sentinel28a, on Mar 3 2010, 11:57 PM, said:

Stop trying to be such a downer to everyone you meet, and I'll consider it.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"I might even strongly consider it"

Awesome. Then its Peace love and Sunchips from now on.

[sentinel28a]

Matt PNiewski, on Mar 4 2010, 06:59 AM, said:

Awesome. Then its Peace love and Sunchips from now on.

Mmm. Sun Chips.

Along with hating Twilight, it's the one thing we can all agree on.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"And our country is better for it"

[Voxx]

Matt PNiewski, on Mar 3 2010, 11:59 PM, said:

Awesome. Then its Peace love and Sunchips from now on.

Mmmmmm sunchips....

[this_chick25]

Argh. Never liked those things... but then again I've only ever tried two flavors.

[Matt PNiewski]

sentinel28a, on Mar 4 2010, 12:01 AM, said:

Mmm. Sun Chips.

Along with hating Twilight, it's the one thing we can all agree on.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"And our country is better for it"

We also agree that George Romero has flipped his lid......


Back to the topic at hand, I'm going to clarify a few points- I am not glorifying Apathy, simply mocking it. Truth is, we don't see mass change very often. We argue, we debate, and the process slows. Nobody has created a great fix. But things do happen. Healthcare reform might not go, and if it does, it might not be what anyone expects. We don't see the immediate changes. Heck, we didn't see the Fair Trade agreements taking their toll until now. Might not be the best example, but stay with me people. Things get done.


There are major polarizing issues that are just too big to see change with over night. We think about the big ones. Healthcare. Gay Marriage. Social Security. Abortion. We don't see those change very often. When they do, it's hellish for everyone one. But that does not mean nothing is getting done.

[Neko_master_Luna]

Here's an e-mail I was sent, thought you might find it interesting.




THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!


I know many of you will say, "this is impossible". Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American hero's.. Please send any ideas on how to get this done.

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************


Congressional Reform Act of 2010


1. Term Limits: 2 terms only, like the President



Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.



4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. They will get was SS gets.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.




7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen
made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

[wrexness]

Matt PNiewski, on Mar 3 2010, 10:41 PM, said:

Thanks for taking your first steps towards complete Voter Apathy. Perhaps I can interest you in my newletter. We had a great article on how "You actually think something is going to change other than the name of the President?" and "Abortion: Who ever Wins, We Lose."

I would subscribe, but my Voter Apathy has evolved into Total Apathy, so I don't care enough to read it. (That happens at Level 43, I think.)

This post has been edited by wrexness: 04 March 2010 - 07:09 AM

[sentinel28a]

I couldn't agree with that more, Neko! That's really what we need to do.

The strange thing is that, if they put (let's say) the ACen forums in charge, we'd probably solve most of these problems.

We all agree that health care is broken; most of us realize that universal health care is great, but the country literally can't afford to have the government pay for everything. I bet given a couple of hours, some boxes of pocky, some bags of Sun Chips, and some beer we could probably hash out workable health care reform.

Gay marriage? Pretty much everyone here agrees we should go ahead and let gays marry, that it's not going to spell the end of the country, and if you believe in God, let God judge gay people. I imagine He's a lot more tolerant than some of His followers.

Social security? None of us here are old enough to take advantage of it, but all of us here are having it taken out of our paychecks anyway. Again, I bet we'd find a way to reform it very quickly. (How many people here actually anticipate that SS will still be around by the time we're oldsters?)

Abortion? Not opening that can of worms, but our arguments would be no better or worse than Congress'.

People may disagree with me on this, but I think this is what made Reagan such an effective President: his solutions were often the same ones that people in the streets came up with. Congress doesn't seem to get that, and I think it's because most of them have never had to run a business or manage their money. All of us realize (or we should) that if we run up a $60,000 credit card bill, we're going to have some real trouble on our hands--yet our government keeps running up the deficit like it's Christmas. It's crazy. My gosh--most Americans right now want health care reform, but they also want something we can afford as a nation and something that makes sense. What we keep getting out of Washington is neither!

Do we need to just give up? No. Do we need to vote in some people who aren't crooks or machine politicians? Yes!

Ben Da Mad Irishman

[Mystline]

Kii, on Mar 3 2010, 11:50 PM, said:

-stare-

Is there anything specific that brought this train of thought about?

Not really, our state senator Carl Levin came and talked to us via chat, and it's been in my head, or was in my head, the entire day.

[Mystline]

sentinel28a, on Mar 4 2010, 12:54 AM, said:

What's amazing is how well our government actually does work. How do we know that? Because everybody in the world who isn't out for their own power tries to emulate it--and those who are in it for themselves try to destroy it.

Right now we're yelling at each other over health care. Okay. I hate it too, but I'd rather have them yelling then letting any President--whether his name is Bush or Obama--just do whatever they want. And we're not shooting at each other either, having already done that once and not really enjoyed it much. The nice thing about our system of government is that it can be changed. Don't like the jerks in power? Vote 'em out. Keep doing it until you get the people you want. There are a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle in Congress. We never hear about them because they're not screwups or egotistical headline-grabbers.

Heck, if you don't like it, run for office yourself. Everyone has to start somewhere. Many of our best politicians have come from humble beginnings, or were self-made people.

Or you can do nothing, in which case you have little reason to complain when things don't go your way.

Ben Da Mad Irishman

True, I would rather have them yelling at each other then just letting the president do what he wants. Even if I do like Obama, it's better to be fair.
I guess my reason is that I'm just getting impatient, and want something to get done. But, most politicians take alot of critisizm, so I guess I should be plased that they're just trying their best to do their job. That's probably a reason I don't even consider trying politics, because it's so aggravating just being a bystander, I can't imagine what crap all of them go through.
Bahh, I'm happy our politicians are trying to do their best, but I'm impatient and annoyed on how nothing's getting done. o_o

[Mystline]

Ska_Toranpetta, on Mar 4 2010, 12:41 AM, said:

This is news?

lol

Its like the PS3 sony versus 360 microsoft

They will NEVER get along.

That is an AMAZING metaphor/simile/thing. I haven't ever thought about it that way, and it's so true too.
Whose who? ;3

[KirbyFanOne]

sentinel28a, on Mar 4 2010, 12:23 PM, said:

I couldn't agree with that more, Neko! That's really what we need to do.

The strange thing is that, if they put (let's say) the ACen forums in charge, we'd probably solve most of these problems.

I call dibs on The Director of All Things Awesome.

[Voxx]

Marikodesu, on Mar 4 2010, 04:31 PM, said:

That is an AMAZING metaphor/simile/thing. I haven't ever thought about it that way, and it's so true too.
Whose who? ;3

Its a similie (uses 'like' or 'as'...yeah I'm going to be an English major lol).

Honestly I couldnt even choose who was who. I'm terrible with politics and know very little

[Mystline]

Ska_Toranpetta, on Mar 4 2010, 05:47 PM, said:

Its a similie (uses 'like' or 'as'...yeah I'm going to be an English major lol).

Honestly I couldnt even choose who was who. I'm terrible with politics and know very little

Similie....well, I was somewhat close! Haha. An english major? Congrats! *Throws confetti.*
I'm not very good in politics either...I'm interested in it, but it all annoys me the same. xD

[Professor_Hojo @_@]

Neko_master_Luna, on Mar 4 2010, 02:27 AM, said:

Here's an e-mail I was sent, thought you might find it interesting.




THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!


I know many of you will say, "this is impossible". Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American hero's.. Please send any ideas on how to get this done.

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************


Congressional Reform Act of 2010


1. Term Limits: 2 terms only, like the President



Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.



4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. They will get was SS gets.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.




7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.



8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen
made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

While I totally agree with you here, no sane congressman would ever pass this. If it even got to the floor, all the crooked old men would whip out their rifles and shoot this till death because it basically makes them unemployed like your average joe schmo.

[sentinel28a]

Marikodesu, on Mar 4 2010, 11:29 PM, said:

True, I would rather have them yelling at each other then just letting the president do what he wants. Even if I do like Obama, it's better to be fair.
I guess my reason is that I'm just getting impatient, and want something to get done. But, most politicians take alot of critisizm, so I guess I should be plased that they're just trying their best to do their job. That's probably a reason I don't even consider trying politics, because it's so aggravating just being a bystander, I can't imagine what crap all of them go through.
Bahh, I'm happy our politicians are trying to do their best, but I'm impatient and annoyed on how nothing's getting done. o_o

Someone once said that politics is like elephants having sex. It's done at high level, there's a lot of roaring and trumpeting, and you have to wait a year before anything is produced. Oh, and somebody gets screwed.

Of course, there's always good ol' Winston Churchill's opinion: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others."

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Along with 'Americans always do the right thing, after trying everything else'"

[kahad]

I seem to recall the Term Limits being tried once.

[tweaker]

Write fiction. It's more honest;)