Congress should be able to address our major problems but they can’t, Why?
There are two Reasons
The First and most important because it is not readily apparent to most people is
The Tragedy of the Commons –see Wikipedia for a detailed expanation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_Commons
The simple explanation for this cause is that we have one national U.S. neighborhood hog trough and slop or money in that trough is limited to what we can tax our of Americans and how much other countries will lend us. We all send our hogs consisting of lobbists and individuals with contacts to insure that we get our share of the slop from that trough. Since we want our hogs to prosper it makes sense for each of us as individuals to send as many hogs to the trough as we can muster. The more money we have the more hogs we can buy and send to get more than our share from the trough.
Unfortunately there are limits to the slop (money) Americans have in taxable income and other Nations look at the ever increasing hogs at the trough and decide that the entire slop trough is not going to continue to feed the increasing number of hogs so they threaten to cut off the slop (money) they they have been providing.
Result: The infinite number of pigs at the trough start to die off because only the biggest hogs can get enough slop. This is the Tragedy of the Commons situation of our Congress — and there is one more detail that our founding fathers could not anticipate when they wrote our Constitution. Members of Congress fixed with their rules it so that incoming hogs (members) go the bottom of the seniority list (side of the trough) and they never let them get to the trough unless they play the system as the older members (hogs) are doing. So we voters (theoretical owners of the hogs) keep sending our senior hogs back to the trough because only the senior members and those who play the system get to the front of the trough have a chance at the slop (money). The end result of this failure of our Founding Fathers design is that we keep sending the same corrupted hogs back to the trough
The end result of the Congressional systemis that what the Founding Fathers intended– that competing interests in Congress would make the system rational and result in actions that “were for the good of the nation” do not occur. As individual special interests we keep adding lobbyists (hogs) and money in a rational decision to further our interests.
The Devil in Special Interests
Pogo a famous comic Strip character of several years ago once used the line “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us”. Few concepts more easily explain the reason that the problem of Special Interests persists in Congress. Our Education system performs poorly but reform is stalled because of Teachers Unions whose money goes to preserving yesterdays educational interests. The great mass of retired people are represented by AARP and the Organization of AARP has interests in preserving it’s power and perogatives which may not be the interests in National wellbeing. States send back to Congress, not those who have an interest in representing the nation, but people who bring home the bacon –otherwise known as “earmarks”.
The problems of “Special Interests “are endemic to the system and changing and improving the systems is in the hands of the corrupt Congress itself. So the question is how to remove the solution from the hands of Congress and enable honest people to serve in Congress and remain honest.
An interesting aspect of the problems with Congress is that while Congress as a body is held in very low regard Congress persons representing States and Regions are in general appreciated by their constituents — special interests and “earmarks”.
Congress Persons are caught in a [Catch 22] Improving the functions of Congress means that we must address the issue that makes Congress so ineffective, We send some good and honest people to Congress but to remain there and be effective they must enter a pact with the devils of moneyed “Special Interests” which, more often than not, want laws and money that are not in the best interest of the country.
Spurn these Special interests, spurn your collegues, and you are cut out of ability to exercise power. Worse, for those who have been in politics over time this corrupt play becomes the norm. Corrupt your principles a few times and a previously honest man become corrupt. Catch 22, play fair with the Country– you lose. Don’t go along with a Special Interest Corrupted Major Party and you are out. We must find a way to release them from this corrupt bondage.
Earmarks are an excellent example of this process.
The Devil Creeps in With Lobbying
Special Interest Groups
Take a look at the blog on the Washington Post “Special Interests”
Lobbying
Lobbying is legal under “the right to petition” but the devil of money connected with lobbying has increasingly corrupted Congress persons in recent years making it difficult for effective and national interest legislation.
We Can Change It
See Strategy in Issuewiki.us which this paragraph references
The question for this site and for the longer range objective of this site is how to use the “National Issue Convention” to both relieve the pressure on Congress Persons to do things that are not right for the country and add pressure to insure that they do what is best.
The alliance of the site with the interests of honest Journalism and Sortition selected representatives are key to this effort.
