What have we become

[davejnami]

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men that pervert the Constitution."--Abraham Lincoln

My political leanings are as follows, I am a Christian family man, small business owner, conservative and believer in small Government. God should not be excluded from our government proceedings and especially our schools and colleges.
I believe in all the amendments to the Constitution and am a strong believer in the first and second amendments. I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and that abortion is totally wrong.

I believe we need term limits for our elected officials at all levels of government (Congressmen 4 terms and Senators 2 terms). I believe that the perks our officials have at the state and federal levels of government that they voted for themselves are way to extravagant. They should have the same health plans as the rest of us and we should determine when and how much of a raise they get.

There should be no private campaign money and limits should be put on what they can spend to get elected. Lobbyists would be banned altogether and special interest groups would be given no more credence then ordinary citizens.
When legislation is up for a vote no deals (pork or add-ins to get a vote) will be made so that the legislation stands on it own for all citizens to see and speak on to their representatives.

Some believe that the Constitution is a living document that is subject to change with the will of the people. This is not true because the document language is broad enough to encompass all fads and trends. They further provided a mechanism to change the Constitution by passing amendments to it. The process to amend the Constitution is lengthy and therefore it allows for time to see if the fads and trends are indeed good for the people and the country. Therefore there is no need to "interpretation for the times we live in".

Within the framework of the Constitution it provides checks and balances which should prevent any perversion of it's ideals. The country is not a true democracy rather it is a representative republic. The difference is simple, a true democracy is one vote for each eligible citizen on all things done by the federal government. Rather we elect representatives at all levels to vote in our place, thus a Representative Republic. We are a country that is governed by the will of the people and not the will of our representatives.

One thing that the Founding Fathers never thought would happen was professional politicians so they did not put limits on how long some could serve. They felt that it would be a government of citizens who would serve for a limited time. One of the Amendments does address a president that could serve forever and "we the people" put term limits on the office. They thought that with the rigors and stress of the job that no one would want to be away from family and work for prolong periods of time year after year. That remained true until the perks of public office became so good that it is the best profession in the world. As a body the Congress votes on their own raises and benefits, no where else is that done in the free world. These job perks make the Congress the best elitist group in the free world.

When legislation is proposed it should always be a "stand alone document", not attached to any other legislation or amendments to other bills. That way it can be evaluated on it's own merits or dismissed for lack of merit. All proposed legislation should be written in finished form, then brought to the floor. It should be posted 5 days before and vote takes place on it so that "We the People" have an opportunity to read it and contact our representatives about how to vote on it. All the rules that each house has for the way legislation in proposed and voted on needs to be simplified so that the process can be more streamlined to improve the time line, with no closed door deals and all negotiations held with cameras rolling and the voters can see it all. Earmarks that are attached to legislation would not be allow, these items should be proposed on their own merits and stand by themselves for a vote. The Congress would be limited to a 6 month time period in which to take care of normal business and any emergencies, special legislation or extra work they feel needs to be done should require a 2/3 majority to extend their time. They spend more time figuring out ways to deceive us and their counterparts in the other party with the special rules then they do on actually reading, understanding and voting on a bill, that "We the People" get lost and our wishes are not even considered.

After the 2008 election there was a representative majority elected to govern, the Democrats. They (Democrats) have had an agenda that they have kept quietly to themselves for many years, now with a majority in both the House and the Senate, and there party candidate in the White House that agenda very quickly came to the surface and it took a lot of the electorate by surprise. The agenda is one of progressiveness which is politically correct language for Socialism and it involved the Socialist ideal of redistribution of wealth, taking from the "doers" and "haves" and giving it to the "have not's". This is their plan for Hope and Change, taking us from a Capitalist market economy to one where "Big Government" provides for all of it citizens wants and needs. The work they are currently doing, Health Care and Cap and Trade is to take freedoms away from us and taking the fruits of our work to pay for things that need only to be tinkered with not totally overhauled. The way this Administration is governing everything is by committee and no one is responsible for the outcome. This manner of governing and the subsequent legislation is a further sign of the radical agenda they brought with them to Washington D.C. This Administration and Congress is the most divisive and radical that I have seen in my life and it must be stopped and their actions and legislation repealed as soon as is possible.

[karenelaine]

I'm new to this site. I have just registered, so I really don't know how to post anything.
What I would like to know is there a lot of people following the "voter intimidation" case from Philadelphia going on or rather not going on right now.
Of every thing going on, this scares me to death.
Freedom to vote without any intimadation is part of our constitution. For that case to be dropped without any repercussions is frightening.
What can we do about it?