"Get Out Of Our House!" An Idea Whose Time Has Come!

Some say that the government of this nation is not at all responsive to the people. They say that most politicians are “professional” politicians that are firmly entrenched in “The System” in Washington that causes the Representatives of the people in Congress more interested in how they can be re-elected than how they can do the best for their constituents. This doesn’t make the Representatives necessarily “bad”, but it does lead to people putting their own self-interests over the interests of the people that they represent.

We see this in campaign donations by corporations that have no vested interest in the district the Congressman represents. We see corporations give money to Congressmen that do have an interest in the District. Either way, corporations do not really carry “personhood” and therefore under the First Amendment have no real guarantee of freedom of expression. They would like you to believe that in 1886 there was a dispute between a railroad, and that in that dispute they gained “personhood”, but that is not true, The court actually ruled against the railroad, but from a court reporters notes, they maintained they won the case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Personhood_Debate.

Whether or not you believe that corporations should have “personhood” or not, we can all agree that the money they give to politicians that make a career in the House of Representatives is a clear signal to the American people that many of our Congress people have interests that don’t coincide with the interests of the people they represent. The two-Party system in this country has caused stagnation in legislation that is needed to cure this nation’s problems. The constant partisan in-fighting has caused many good pieces of legislation to die in committees because there is no chance of these bills being passed because of the gridlock of the House. The politicians with their “special interests” won’t let these bills see the light of day.

There is an organization called “Get Out Of Our House” (GOOH pronounced “GO”) that is trying to bring ordinary folks into the House of Representatives and unseat all 435 members of the House. The political partisanship and the ineffectiveness of The House of Representatives in representing ordinary citizens is the reason this group exists. They are being led in part by Tim Cox who was on my radio show www.blogtalkradio/liberalpro.com last night. Tim is a computer engineer who once worked for Dell. He decided that this nation should come up with a different way to choose how the people should be elected to represent their districts. Tim got problem-solvers together and through brainstorming and looking at data across the nation, they decided that the two-party system is just not working.

They now have a website, www.goooh.com where people can join just by giving their e-mail address. Once they have joined they can choose to get involved by filling out a questionnaire and actually submitting their name to run for Congress. They are given 100 questions and the answers will be given to a group of 10 people that belong to GOOH in their district and through elimination based on the answers that they give on the questions, two people will be selected to run. This will happen according to Cox, throughout the 50 States and there will be a fund managed by GOOH to pay for their candidacy. This fund will come from the $100.00 fee given by all that want to run, and by donations from the web. This is an excerpt from their Website:
“Through GOOOH's Candidate Selection Sessions, you and your peers will select the candidate in your district that best represents your district's views. GOOOH will then fund the national election campaigns of all 435 candidates (one from each district) to run against the party politicians competing for each district seat. Because GOOOH is a process for selecting representatives (not an agenda-based party platform), we expect a very liberal candidate to be selected in San Francisco and a very conservative one in Colorado Springs -- but it will be up to the GOOOH members in each district to decide”.

This is one of the most novel ideas that I have ever heard of in my life. Could you imagine what we could accomplish without the Democrats and the Republicans fighting over every piece of legislation? Could you imagine what Congress would look like with ordinary people instead of professional politicians that are beholden to the “special interests”? The great thing about this is that after you fill out the questionnaire on how you will vote on specific issues, is that you are beholden to it. GOOH members are only allowed two terms and must be represent their districts and not their political party. I believe that this is an idea whose time has come. Check out their website and see it for yourself. With a Congressional approval rating of 17%, this Congress may well see this organization as a threat.

That’s the way I see it.

Corporate Donations are Now Favoring the Democrats

The fix is in. It is now official. The corporate powers-that-be have officially sanctioned the Democrats in the 2008 elections. According to The Center for Responsive Politics and their Campaign Finance website “Open Secrets”, the political gift giving program for the “own your own politician” has turned to the left. Democrats now get more of the corporate “manna” than the Republicans.

So where does that leave the corporations? Have they finally become aware of the evil mechanizations of Darth Cheney? Have they finally decided to follow the good side of “the force”? Hardly, in reality the corporate kingmakers have seen the writing on the wall and are now doing “damage control” on their swiftly sinking ship. The ship seems to be listing so badly, that instead of trying to repair a ship that surely has a date with destiny at the bottom of the political sea, they are climbing aboard another ship that seems a bit more seaworthy.

This will obviously be greeted with shouts of joy from diehard Democrats that can’t see the forest for the trees. They don’t seem to understand that they are just trading one type of dictatorial power for another one. The saddest part of this story is that now they will be controlled by the same forces that control the Republicans (not that they weren’t controlled by the corporate boys before). Now it is official. There is more to this than meets the eyes however, so let us get to the putrid mechanics of this political swicheroo.

Let us gaze at the top ten donors. This might raise a few eyebrows:

1 Act Blue $3,151,038 100% Dem 0% GOP Solidly Democratic
2 Goldman-Sachs $1,656,954 71% DEM 29% GOP Strongly Democratic
3 Citigroup Inc. $1,582,857 63% Dem 37% GOP Leans Democratic
4 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,171,720 68% Dem 32% GOP Strongly Democratic
5 AT&T Inc. $1,094,144 45% Dem 55% GOP On the fence
6 UBS AG $1,068,953 62% Dem 38% GOP Leans Democratic
7 Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $947,815 98% Dem 2% GOP Solidly Democratic
8 Laborers Union $924,500 91% Dem 9%GOP Solidly Democratic
9 Morgan Stanley $923,850 62% Dem 38%GOP Leans Democratic
10 Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $904,000 97% Dem 3%GOP Solidly Democratic

Take out the Unions and the Democratic Organizations and we are left with what else, the bankers. Surprised, don’t be, they were the largest donors to the Republicans for the last 16 years. As Bob Dylan sang; “You just want to be on the side that’s winning”. The fact is, Goldman Sachs has been the largest political contributor to political races in history. The rankings from 11-20 are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Comcast Corp, Akin, Gump et al, American Bankers Assn, Air Line Pilots Assn, Ernst & Young, American Federation of St/County/Municipal Employees, American Assn for Justice. Of these, only The American Bankers Assn, and Ernst & Young give more money to the GOP. Merrill Lynch is hedging their bet with an even number to both.

So what does all of this mean to the average American? Well to begin with, it means that your paltry contribution means squat. If your credit card debt and the spine-numbing late fees and fines are driving you to bankruptcy, don’t expect anyone to be in your corner. In fact every corner that every American owns has no supporters in it, save family and friends.

Let’s look at who the corporate guys are supporting these people in their campaign bid. These are the top ten in the House of Representatives:

Rangel, Charles B (D) $2,089,597 Democratic member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee

Hoyer, Steny H (D) $1,514,912 House Majority Leader in the 110th Congress

Gillibrand, Kirsten E (D) $1,393,205 House Armed Services Committee

Clyburn, James E (D) $1,292,435 House Committee on Appropriations

Pelosi, Nancy (D) $1,290,490 Speaker of the House

Kirk, Mark (R) $1,270,405 House Appropriations Committee

Tsongas, Niki (D) $1,266,974 New to Federal Elective Seat.

Klein, Ron (D) $1,264,593 House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services.

Boehner, John (R) $1,182,683 House Committee on Education and the Workforce, House GOP Leader

Murphy, Patrick J. (D) $1,127,818 House Armed Services Committee

In the Senate, the top ten candidates by contributions:

Watts, Mikal (D) $4,991,752 Former Democratic Fundraiser listed by news sources as “One of the Biggest Influence Peddlers in Washington”.

Durbin, Dick (D) $3,805,220 Senate Appropriations Committee

McConnell, Mitch (R) $3,327,263 Senior member of the Appropriations, Agriculture and Rules Committees.

Franken, Al (D) $3,278,313 No Record

Levin, Carl (D) $3,226,226 Armed Services Committee

Coleman, Norm (R) $3,191,705 Foreign Relations Committee

Cornyn, John (R) $3,121,962 Armed Services Committee

Pryor, Mark (D) $2,869,693 Armed Services Committee

Baucus, Max (D) $2,755,382 U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

Dole, Elizabeth (R) $2,592,765 Armed Services Committee

Isn’t it a coincidence that out of twenty Congressmen and Senators that six are on the Armed Services Committee, six are on appropriations committees, and ALL have significant influence on appropriations in general (except for two new candidates for office)?

These members of Congress have significant clout. The corporate political machines know this and will cross party lines and ideologies in order to guarantee that they can conduct business as usual in Washington in the years to come. Nothing will change, although outward appearances will make it seem as if the playing field is being leveled. Anyone that does their homework can see that the deck is stacked in corporate America’s favor. The old saying “The more things change, the more they stay the same” is very appropriate in this day and age.

Let’s see how these corporate puppets vote on bills and amendments that come their way. Charles Rangel, with his seat in Harlem, needs campaign donations like Brittany Spears needs to get herself pregnant again. He’ll use that money to spread his influence around Congress by donating to other Congressmen’s campaign coffers as Steny Hoyer did in 2006 that insured his House Majority Leader’s post. We can keep a scorecard on their voting. Pick one politician and when that person scores 10 votes that benefit his or her corporate sponsors, you yell BINGO and get instantly screwed.

Seriously though, this is no joking matter. We need corporate money out of political campaigns yesterday. Those that look at the Democrats and see saviors need to look again. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. Maybe a third party that doesn’t take corporate money is a great idea whose time has come. You won’t get these good ‘ol boys to change the rules.

That’s the way I see it.

Thanks to The Center for Responsive Politics and their website "OpenSecrets.org" for the information used in this article.