Part 1, Why Current Washington Politicians Are The Lamest Ever: In Their Own Words

We have been making the case for a while that the country is currently being served by the worst and most ineffective set of politicians to ever have been sent to Washington. Chronically high unemployment, sky high national debt, failing public schools, a lost war on drugs, leaky borders, the lack of a national energy policy and strategy, the shredding of our freedoms as laid out in the Constitution, cronyism, wasteful spending, etc., the atrocities and insults that are put on our backs as a result of these poorly performing politicians has never been greater.

We have been capturing what we call “political class insanity” at the beginning of each month in this blog. Three years ago when we started writing about political insanity, the monthly political class insanity recap usually took about one post to cover. Last month, it took nine days to cover, indicating that the antics, insanity, and lunacy of our politicians at every level of government is accelerating exponentially.

We will continue to explore our theory of the worst set of politicians ever today and tomorrow, not by their actions but by their own words and quotes. As you read over the next two posts, consider what our contemporary politicians are stating, spouting, and embarrassing themselves with today. Compare that to some of the historically great American politicians and their quotes:

• Abraham Lincoln: “Four score and seven years ago...”
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…”
• John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you,…”
• Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall...”
• Thomas Jefferson: "That government is best which governs the least…."

Most Americans have heard of and can recite these uplifting and stirring quotes from politicians out of our history’s past. Now ask yourself: can you think of any memorable quote that a more recent politician has uttered that is likely to stick out in American history from a positive aspect?

Of course, there have been a lot of memorable recent political quotes that stick out but not because they were positive, they were either insulting, inane, or disgraceful quotes that we have already covered and ridiculed in this blog:

- Remember when Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi asserted that the Obama care legislation had to be passed so that we could find out what was in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To

- Remember when Congressman John Conyers got all in a huff and insulted because citizens actually felt he should have read the Obama Care legislation BEFORE he voted to approve it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbwND52rrw

- Remember when Congressman Hank Johnson spoke at a House committee hearing on how he was worried that the Pacific island of Guam would actually and physically TIP OVER if we put too many naval resources on the island:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=congressman+htnks+guam+could+tip+over&view=detail&mid=C7FF551F39BE3D728B81C7FF551F39BE3D728B81&first=0&qpvt=congressman+htnks+guam+could+tip+over

Not quite Kennedy-like or FDR-like.

This verbal pieces of insanity and others can be found at one of the original posts we did a year or so ago on dopey politicians saying dopey things:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2012/03/dopes-democrats-offering-preposterous.html

But its been a while and so many other, both new and older, insane and inane political quotes have been found that it is worthwhile to review them. They would really be funny if they were not so sad and the authors of these quotes did not have such a large impact on our lives and our freedom.

Thus, these are your politicians speaking their own words, with a few snide comments from me:

1) ''When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, Look, here's what happened.'' Joe Biden. Nice quote but for the Vice President of the United States, an educated man with a law degree, and unfortunately a graduate of my alma mater at the University of Delaware to confidently state this and be so wrong is quite embarrassing. He apparently is unaware that FDR WASN’T President when the stock market crashed in 1929 and that only EXPERIMENTAL TV sets were in use at that time in our history. Not sure what reality the Vice President is referring to when he gets two major historical events wrong in the same quote.

2) “An hour late, oh give me a f**king break.” Joe Biden. This was caught on a live microphone when he was  speaking to a former Senate colleague after arriving on Amtrak at Union Station in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2009. Nice language, Mr. Vice President…for a sailor or a Teamster.

3) “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.”  Barack Obama speaking when storms and tornadoes swept through Kansas. Actually, the death toll was a little lighter, it was only 12 dead, not ten thousand. Missed by just a little. He wonders why many Americans do not believe a thing he says or a promise or statistic he utters.

4) ''Take your f**king tampon out and tell me what you have to say.'' Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, addressing a female staffer during a meeting, as reported in the book 'The Promise' by Newsweek's Jonathan Alter. From the Joe Biden school of language communications.

5) ''It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.'' Barack Obama Mr. President, could it be that you are the antipathetic one to those that are not like YOU?

6) ''His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul.'' Joe Biden. The VP was talking about on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who was very much alive at the time of the VP’s speech, Washington, D.C., March 17, 2010. Why bother about details of who is or who is not alive.

7) “'UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? It's the Post Office that's always having problems.”  Barack Obama. The President was trying to make the case that the Federal government would be good at running and controlling all aspects of your personal health but his logic seemed to be off about...180 degrees.

8) “Today we have two Vietnams, side by side, North and South, exchanging and working. We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing, but they are living in peace.” Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee. Ms. Lee is just a little behind in catching up on her history lessons since while this quote was issued recently, there has not been two different Vietnams since, oh… 1975 or so, 38 years ago.

9) “President Obama's top priority right now is a 3 letter word...JOBS.” Joe Biden. An indictment of our education system‘s math curriculums, our political system, and unfortunately, my college alma mater again.

10) “I stand here as a freed slave because this Congress came together.“ Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee. She looks good for being about 180 years old or so and having survived slavery. Her former slave owner was unavailable for comment since he died over a hundred years ago.

11) “This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned — the Tea Party can go straight to hell.” Congresswoman Maxine Walters. Just what you want from an elected leader in a democracy, a leader who wants those that hold an honest difference of opinion from her to just go to hell. Not quite the right way to go about uniting the country and actually getting something of substance done.

12) "Let us all remember who the real enemy is. The real enemy is the Tea Party... the Tea Party holds the Congress hostage." Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. Let’s review: The Democrats control the White House. The Democrats control the Senate. In the House, only a handful of Republicans could be considered “Tea Party” candidates since the Tea Party has only been around for a few years. But somehow these few people hold Congress hostage. The real enemy is not a $17 TRILLION national debt. It is not the  Taliban. It is not Al Qaeda. It is not chronic unemployment. It is a few people in Congress. One of us is living in a different reality of who the enemy is. And remember, the small handful of Tea Party people in Congress were elected by American citizens who are not the enemy, Congresswoman Wilson.

Politicians that do not know how to count. Politicians that do not know history. Politicians that are bitter and vindictive to all with a contrary opinion to theirs. Politicians that do not understand that they are supposed to read the legislation BEFORE they vote on it. Politicians that do not understand island geology.

But these are the same politicians that write, sometimes read, and often vote on legislation that usually negatively affects every American. And the saddest part of all: we are not close to being done with stupid things politicians say and mean. More tomorrow.

In the mean time, consider visiting and joining up our drive for term limits at:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Because really, given what we just reviewed , the insanity, the ignorance, and the forgettable words and thoughts of today’s politicians, how much worse could it get with term limits?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w 

Term Limits Now! Because Really, How Much Worse Could It Get?

Think about just a fraction of the agony, pain, and frustration the American political class has inflicted on us over the past few decades:

1. A sky high national debt of about $17 TRILLION, a person debt burden of about $54,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country.
2. Annual budget deficits that have been over one TRILLION dollars a year for the past four years.
3. Economic policies that have left over 20 million Americans either unemployed or under employed.
4. Recent college graduates that cannot find a job in their field of interest, relegated to taking jobs that did not require them to rack up record amounts of student debt.
5. A government that uses the IRS, the NSA, and other agencies to harass and hinder political opponents and to spy on every form of electronic communications of every American.
6. Decades worth of government spending worth TRILLIONS of dollars without resolving any of the major issues of our times including our failing public schools, our lack of a national energy policy, leaky borders, skyrocketing health care costs, etc.
7. Politicians that are more focused on their perpetual reelection and personal enrichment than the needs and desires of American citizens.
8. Political processes that have been corrupted to almost always guarantee the incumbent’s reelection.
9. Cronyism and obscene amounts of political money that flow into our political class from PACs, Super PACs, unions, and businesses, money that drowns out the voice of individual Americans.
10. Foreign policies that are stupid, expensive, ineffective, and have turned us into the terrorist target of the world’s radicals and nut jobs.
11. Government processes and programs that are inefficient, ineffective, corrupt, and subject to massive criminal fraud, wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year in taxpayer wealth.

I could go on but it is too depressing. At the same time that all of these messes were occurring and all of these issues went unattended, consider the tenure of some of Washington’s current political figures:

• John Dingell - 57 years
• John Conyers - 48 years
• Charles Rangel - 42 years
• Bill Young - 42 years
• Joe Biden - 42 years
• Thad Cochran - 40 years
• Don Young - 40 years
• Patrick Leahy - 38 years
• Max Baucus - 38 years
• Chuck Grassley - 38 years
• Tom Harkin - 38 years
• George Miller - 38 years
• Henry Waxman - 38 years
• Ed Markey - 36 years
• Orrin Hatch - 36 years
• Barbara Mikulski - 36 years
• Nick Rahall - 36 years

Consider some factoids from a January, 2013 Congressional Research Services analysis:

1. The current average service time in Congress of sitting politicians is near an all time high.
2. Congressional tenure as been steadily increasing over time.
3. The percentage of incumbent politicians not seeking reelection has been steadily decreasing over time.
4. The percentage of incumbent politicians winning reelection has been steadily increasing over time.

A number of conclusions are obvious. First, people running for Federal office are staying longer and longer in office to enjoy the perks and benefits of being in those positions, perks and benefits that they determine. Second, they are holding onto to their seats longer despite numerous elections, leveraging their incumbency status and the ability to write and adjust our political processes.

Out of the longest serving Washington politicians in the entire history of our country, a remarkable 17% of them (the list above) are currently still in office. These people have been present and a contributor to the numerous disasters we listed above.

- Present and contributing to a $17 TRILLION deficit.

- Present and contributing to unresolved crises in education, health care, and energy.

- Present and contributing to an inefficient, ineffective, corrupt, and criminally infested government programs.

I maintain that these politicians in the list, and the rest of their long serving peers, are truly part of our problem because they sure are not part of the solution. If they were part of the solution, our taxes would be lower, our degree of liberty and freedom would be higher, and major issues of our times would have been resolved long ago.

So why do they keep getting reelected if they truly are part of the problem? Because they control the political processes, the fund raising rules, the gerrymandering of Congressional districts, etc. that ensure their reelection and the continual flow of incompetence.

That is why we need to take this matter into our own hands and impose term limits on these people if we are to have any chance of fixing what ails our political processes and the nation. That is why we ask three things of you today:

1) Read the following paragraphs from our new, grass roots term limits initiative, paragraphs that come from the first page of our “Term Limits Now!”:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

2) Answer the question posed at the end of that first page relative to your grandchildren and children

3) Join our effort to fix what long serving polticiains have broken.

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Term Limits Now!

"It can't get any worse, vote Tiririca"

Political campaign slogan used by the famous Brazilian clown, Tiririca, a slogan that helped him garner over 1.3 million votes and which propelled him into a seat in the Brazilian Congress.

The mood in America is not good. Economic conditions are bad and trending worse, our national debt is skyrocketing, the country's citizens have never been more divided against each than they are today, our world standing and prestige continue to deteriorate, and the political class in America has not solved a single major issue in the past several decades. Our schools continue to under educate our kids, we have no strategic and effective national energy policy, health care costs continue to escalate, our borders leak, and we have already lost the war on drugs.

Many of these chronic issues have been with us for decades, proving that the Washington political class has been incapable or unwilling to address and resolve these national problems. And most recently, our politicians have again illustrated their impotency and their hand in the destruction of freedom and liberty in the following, unfolding scandals:

1. It has become clear that the Obama administration and the Washington political class used and abused the powers and reach of the IRS to harass and hinder citizens and organizations who held contrary political views to this administration, violating their First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

2. It has become clear that the Obama administration and the Washington political class used and abused the powers and reach of the IRS to harass and hinder religious groups who held contrary political views to this administration, violating their First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

3. It has become clear that the Obama administration and the Washington political class have forced religious entities to break their religious tenets and beliefs to remain lawful under politically motivated legislation such as Obama Care, violating their freedom of religion rights.

4. It has become clear that the Obama administration and the Washington political class are conducting massive data collection, storage, and analysis activities on the just about every form of electronics communications of just about every American, using secret warrants issued by secret judges in secret courts without any due process, violating the Fourth Amendment rights of every American.

5. It has become clear that the Obama administration and the Washington political class have conducted illegal secret searches and confiscations of journalists telephone records and possibly other information, violating the First Amendment's freedom of the press and freedom of speech rights.

These blatant and massive violations of citizens' rights and the Constitution, our economic distress, and divisive politics benefit only one group of Americans in this bitter environment. The career Washington politicians continue to get themselves re-elected over and over again and continue to reward themselves handsomely, not for resolving issues and protecting our freedoms and the Constitution, but for the simple act of being in office. Many of them have been in office for the same decades in which the Federal government has resolved no major issues, lending themselves to the old saying, "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

Their constant need to get re-elected has perverted our democratic institutions and processes so much that political special interests and their overwhelming money power have drowned out the voices of ordinary citizens. Corporate bailouts, corporate welfare, union concessions, wasteful and useless budget earmarks to campaign donators, etc. subvert our democracy and sub-optimize the decisions made in Washington. And this perversion is most evident when incumbent politicians leverage their position and power in office to get themselves reelected.

To remove this perversion and greatly reduce the amount of special interest money that flows into our political processes, the need for term limits has never been more important. Our founding fathers never imagined or wanted a political class to develop in America. They viewed getting elected to political office as a calling and a short term service to the country, not a long term career. Unfortunately, this vision is lost on today's American political class.

Many Americans believe that we need to go back to the idea of short term citizen politicians vs. long term career politicians. We need to greatly reduce the amount of special interest money that almost always ensures that low performing politicians get re-elected, and we need a fresh set of people and ideas in Washington to deal with the crushing, unresolved issues of our times. If you agree, please join us in enacting a Constitutional amendment drive to limit service in the White House, Senate, and the House of Representatives to one term and one term only.

Our plan is gather 100,000 signers of this petition as soon as possible. Once we attain 100,000 signers, we will then go into a "crowd sourcing" mode to gather enough volunteer financial resources to take this term limits initiative to all fifty states, according to the Amendment process laid out in the Constitution. We will go the crowd sourcing and volunteer route in order to not be influenced or overcome by corporate, union, think tank, or political interests' money and resources. These entities want the status quo maintained, they will have no influence in our drive for "one and done."

Please fill out the petition form and send it to us by hitting the "submit" button. Please consider helping us further by indicating that you would be able to volunteer your time and talents for this effort. Also, we would appreciate if you would tell similarly minded friends and family to sign our petition and to "Like" us on Facebook where we are looking to get one million "Likes" to further prove our concept to crowd funding sources.

We will keep your information private and on file and will keep you informed of the process and progress we make going forward to make term limit's a reality. To contact us directly, our email address is:

UnitedStatesofPurple@gmail.com

One last thought: imagine yourself ten years down the road from today. Your kids or grandkids ask you why the economy is so sour, why it is so difficult to get a good job, why freedom in America seems like an empty promise, and why their tax burden is so onerous in order to support the ever growing national debt. Do nothing today and you will be able to tell them that when you had a chance to turn out the career politicians that were responsible for their economic distress and replace them with actual problem solvers, you passed on the opportunity.

Get involved with this effort to implement term limits and you may never have to answer their questions.

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

If you never want to answer these future, hypothetical, and depressing questions from your kids ands grandkids, consider joining us at:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Because, really, how much worse could it get it if we swapped out every politician in Washington?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w 
 

So You Want To Be My Latex Salesman: Embarrassments and Disgraces From Our Vice President and Congressional Politicians.

I became curious, after seeing the less than stellar performance of Vice President Joe Biden's embarassing debate performance last week, just how wide ranging the Vice President's idiotic quotes are. Unfortunately for the country, but fortunately for this blog, his misquotes and inane and embarassing comments  are wide ranging and unbelievable.

I find it very hypocritical how the press and those politicians on the left would go nuts when Sarah Palin said something that was disconnected from reality. However, when Biden says things that are just as disconnected and in a far more frequent manner, no one in the mainstream press or the political left have the same reaction and embarrassment.

In other words, we can make fun of the idiotic comments made by your side but you cannot make fun of the idiotic comments made by our side. Very hypocritical.

Which gets us back to the Latex Salesman reference. In one of the most popular Seinfeld television series episodes ever aired, Jerry looks at his pal, George Constanza, after a typical series of  George missteps, and declares that he would never hire Geroge as his latex salesman. After reading the following misquotes and idiocy from some current politicians, decide if you would hire them as a simple latex salesman, never mind "hiring" them to run the country:

"If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong." - speaking to members of the House Democratic caucus who were gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for their annual retreat, Feb. 6, 2009

Observation: I love his math, how did he so definitively get to his precise estimate of 30% with the information available?

"Folks, I can tell you I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately." Aug. 22, 2012

Observation: TMI (too much information!)

“Look at what they [Republicans] value, and look at their budget. And look what they're proposing. [Romney] said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks write their own rules -- unchain Wall Street. They're going to put y'all back in chains." - speaking to a largely African-American audience in Danville, Va., Aug. 14, 2012

Observation: If  a Republican would have said this with the tone that Biden said it they would be eviscerated as being a racist.

"My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be President of the United States, I could be, I could be Vice President!" - campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, May 16, 2012

Observation: Hooray! I'm number 2!

"I promise you, the President has a big stick. I promise you." - citing Theodore Roosevelt's famous quote, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

Observation: Again, TMI

"This is a big f***ing deal!" - caught on an open microphone congratulating President Obama during the health care signing ceremony, Washington, D.C., March 23, 2010

Observation: Classless, degrading behavior and speech, in public, by a so-called leader of this country.

"His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul." - on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is very much alive, Washington, D.C., March 17, 2010

Observation: Embarrassing representative for our country.

"I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that it's going to Mexico, it's you're in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation suggesting they ride the subway." - providing handy tips to protect against the swine flu  - interview, April 30, 2009

Observation: Real leaders do not foment panic like this.

"An hour late, oh give me a f**king break." – caught on a live microphone speaking to a former Senate colleague after arriving on Amtrak at Union Station in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2009

Observation: Again, so-called leaders do not speak like this in public.

"You know, I'm embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number? I should have it in front of me and I don't. I'm actually embarrassed." – speaking to an aide standing out of view during an interview on CBS' "Early Show," in the midst of encouraging viewers to visit a government-run Web site that tracks stimulus spending, Feb. 25, 2009

Observation: Website number? Please....

"Jill and I had the great honor of standing on that stage, looking across at one of the great justices, Justice Stewart." – mistakenly referring to Justice John Paul Stevens, who swore him in as vice president, Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2009

Observation: Dazed and confused in D.C. 

"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs." - Athens, Ohio, Oct. 15, 2008

Observation: Is there any doubt our public schools are failures for the most part when the Vice President of the United States cannot count to four?

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened." apparently unaware that FDR wasn't president when the stock market crashed in 1929 and that only experimental TV sets were in use at that time, interview with Katie Couric, Sept. 22, 2008

Observation: I just cannot believe how inane, idiotic, and out of touch with reality and history this quote and belief is.

"Stand up, Chuck, let 'em see ya." – to Missouri state Sen. Chuck Graham, who is confined to a wheelchair, Columbia, Missouri, Sept. 12, 2008

Observation: Classless and embarrassing act. 

"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me." - speaking at a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, Sept. 10, 2008 

Observation: Although not a big fan of Hillary, I would probably agree with him on this observation. 

"A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States — Barack America!" - at his first campaign rally with Barack Obama after being announced as his running mate, Springfield, Ill., Aug. 23, 2008

Observation: Cannot be much of a friend if you do not know your friend's name.

"A successful dump!" - explaining his whereabouts (dropping deadwood at the dump) to the reporters outside his home, Wilmington, Del., Aug. 20, 2008

Observation: TMI

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." – referring to Barack Obama at the beginning of the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, Jan. 31, 2007

Observation: How is this not a racist comment and attitude? And Democrats call people and citizens like me racists for disagreeing with the principles of Obama Care but do not call out Biden for this racist comment? How do other "mainstream" African-Americans feel out about this who came to fame before Obama? Are they all dumb, dirty, and ugly?

"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." - in a private remark to an Indian-American man caught on C-SPAN, June, 2006

Observation: More TMI

“With your help we can win North Carolina. “ - speaking to Democratic voters in Virginia

Observation: More failures from our public education processes, lack of geography skills.

"I would not refer to him (President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt) as a dictator."

Observation: If Mubarak was not the prime definition of a dictator, I cannot imagine what a real dictator is.

But the Vice President is not the only one in the Washington political class who are embarrassments to our democracy. Remember the following public statement gaffes from current members of congress that we have reviewed over the past few years:

Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia publicly stated that he was scared the island of Guam would physically flip over if too many U.S. Navy resources were stationed on the island:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs23CjIWMgA

Congressional Black Caucus members, actual members of Congress, were interviewed on camera of their opinion of Fast and Furious, the botched gun running operation that allowed heavy weaponry to get into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. This was during the time when the operation was becoming public and ugly. As you can see, these politicians were so out of touch with a major government screw up that they confused the ATF Fast and Furious connotation with the Vin Diesel Fast and Furious motion picture:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/30/attendees-of-eric-holder-event-think-operation-fast-and-furious-is-a-movie-video/

Congress really has two primary responsibilities. Pass and operate a Federal government budget and identify, develop, read, and pass legislation. Apparently, a long time Congressman, John Conyers, did not see it the same way, wondering out loud at a public event why he and others in Congress had to take the time to read the Obama Care legislation before they voted on it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbwND52rrw

These are people that are supposed to defend our borders, defend our Constitution, defend our freedom, rights, and liberties, and serve as leaders for over 300 million Americans. Instead, we get politicians, not leaders, that are foul mouthed, unaware of their surroundings and circumstances,  inane, ignorant of history, ignorant of basic geology, out of touch with one of the most tragic, unlawful, and fatal government operations of all times, etc.

The saddest part of all the quotes and video clips above are that these people get reelected over and over. These are prime examples of how our political processes have been taken over and corrupted by the American political class.

If the process worked the way it was supposed to work, people that are this arrogant, ignorant of reality and out of touch with reality would never get reelected. That is why several steps from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" need to be implemented as soon as possible to break the grip these politicians have on our political processes.

As always, Step 39 is the most important step. Step 39 would implement term limits on all Federal politicians. That way, people that think islands tip over, people that think it is not necessary to read legislation before voting it, people that are unaware of one of the biggest Federal government screw ups of all time (Fast and Furious), and people that are human gaffe machines never, ever again represent us in Congress or the executive branch of government.

I would not trust these people to be my latex salesmen never mind putting them in charge of our democracy. 

We invite all readers of this blog to visit our new website, "The United States Of Purple," at:

http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/

The United States of Purple is a new grass roots approach to filling the office of President of The United States by focusing on the restoration of freedom in the United States, focusing on problem solving skills and results vs. personal political enrichment, and imposing term limits on all future Federal politicians. No more red states, no more blue states, just one United States Of America under the banner of Purple.

The United States Of Purple's website also provides you the formal opportunity to sign a petition to begin the process of implementing a Constitutional amendment to impose fixed term limits on all Federally elected politicians. Only by turning out the existing political class can we have a chance of addressing and finally resolving the major issues of or times.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment/

DOPES: Democrats Offering Preposterous, Empty Statements, In Their Own Words

Our friend Nancy Pelosi was at it again this past week, with public comments that make you shake your head at their stupidity. This week Ms. Pelosi tried to convince the world that Obama Care was consistent with our  Founding Fathers' dream of creating a nation where "the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was a central tenet of our democracy (details and her actual statements can be found at http://www.theblaze.com/stories/pelosi-defends-obamacare-using-declaration-of-independence/).

Disregarding the massive and evolving economic fallacies and failures of Obama Care, this position seems to also fail on every dimension of our Founding Fathers' intentions:

• Life - Obama Care will set up an independent, unaccountable panel of currently unnamed bureaucrats that will determine what treatments Medicare will and will not fund for senior citizens. The potential for these 15 people to focus only on costs and not life could very easily result in the so-called "death panel" mentality that many of us worried about in the past. Thus, surrendering your ability to choose what treatments you want and may need later in life, just to hit an overall Medicare cost target, is potentially dangerous to your life.
• Liberty - forcing any American to purchase a product or service, like Obama Care does in its requirement that every American purchase health care insurance, is not consistent with the Founding Fathers' concept of liberty. Forcing any American or American organization to forego their religious freedom and freedom of speech, like Obama Care does to Catholic religious organizations with regard to birth control, is not consistent with our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Whenever the words government and force are used in the same sentence, freedom usually suffers.
• Pursuit Of Happiness - Obama Care is written so poorly that it could have serious financial implications on Americans' decisions when it comes to marriage, retirement, health care availability, and other life changing situations. The "pursuit of happiness" in this country should not be driven by a massive government bureaucracy's rules and regulations.

But such preposterous, empty statements should not be unexpected from Ms. Pelosi. Recall during the Obama Care debate how she boldly explained how "we need to pass the bill [Obama Care] so you find out what is in it." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To). This is the Speaker of The House, one of the most powerful and influential people in the country, telling the American public that the legislation has to be enacted BEFORE we know what is in it.

This statement left me with the impression that not only should the bill be passed so that Americans could see what is in it but it needed to be passed so that those in Congress could actually see what was in a 2,500 page piece of legislative monstrosity. Very scary stuff that our elected representatives need to pass legislation before they can explain it to their constituents.

But scary statements from our political class are not confined to Ms. Pelosi. Numerous times over the past few years, Democratic politicians have gone on record with some of the most preposterous, empty, inane, and just plain stupid statements and positions imaginable. It makes you wonder how did out political processes get so broken that we ended up with the current set of Washington politicians and their less than stellar views and abilities.

Staying with Obama Care, consider the words of Congressman John Conyers explaining why he did not bother reading the legislation before he voted on it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbwND52rrw

His arrogance, and ignorance, is quite unbelievable. What else do members of Congress do in Washington except to research, write, READ, and vote on legislation? One would have hoped that READING any legislation BEFORE voting on that legislation would be a basic requirement of the job. Given how poorly Obama Care is turning out, this condescending attitude of Conyers and probably many other members of congress is not surprising, as is the many failures of the Obama Care legislation that they did not read.

If you think it is unbelievable that a long term Congressman finds it below himself to read a major piece of legislation that will impact most Americans, consider the lack of understanding that Congressman Hank Johnson has on geology. The following video is real, it was not a joke or a mock up fake.

The Congressman, speaking at a Congressional hearing concerning the U.S. Navy's presence on the island of Guam, actually worries that the island of Guam could tip over if too many more Navy resources are stationed on it. Yes, that is a correct statement, you cannot make this stuff up, as the Congressman explains his concern of the island tipping over in the middle of the Pacific Ocean:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=congressman+htnks+guam+could+tip+over&view=detail&mid=C7FF551F39BE3D728B81C7FF551F39BE3D728B81&first=0&qpvt=congressman+htnks+guam+could+tip+over


 If you look at the expression on the admiral's face, you can see that he is trying to figure out if the Congressman's concerns are real or this is a Candid Camera-like stunt. The sad part of this affair, is that it is my understanding that this Congressman actually got reelected even though he obviously is very out of touch with reality and the basic tenets of geology. Again, you cannot make this stuff up when it comes to dopey political class statements.

Sometimes the timing of politicians' statements make them look dopey. Case in point: in late February, 2012 President Obama gave a speech where he talked glowingly about sitting in a Chevy Volt, GM's highly touted electric car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOoUwJV8WY8

Seems he really likes the car, if only to help justify wasting tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to bail out GM.

The bad part for the President is that within days after he made these complimentary comments about the Volt, GM decided to shut down production of the car, likely due to fire problems and the fact that most other people in America had decided against buying the car, it is a dud. Sort of makes the President look out of touch with reality. One would have thought his press and PR people would have been sure that the Volt was going to continue to be made BEFORE the President went on about how great the car is three days or so before production was halted.

This would have been the equivalent of President Eisenhower extolling the virtues of Ford's Edsel just days before Ford cancelled its production. The word "Edsel" has gone on to become synonymous with failure, a potential fate of the Volt and what turned out to be a dopey Presidential statement.

Moving on, let's talk about the failed attempt to pass a massive cap and trade energy bill a few years ago that would have been a disaster for the American economy and consumer without solving either the global warming or energy problems. The chairman of the committee writing the bill at the time was Congressman Henry Waxman. Waxman was one of the main sponsors and primary writers of the legislation.

However, much like John Conyers admitting that he had not read the Obama Care legislation, in the following clip we find out that Waxman had not read his OWN piece of legislation when he seems stunned that something was in the proposed law that he did not know about, requiring him to turn to his legal advisor for clarification:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3zIoiJc3Xc

Again, one would think that a veteran Congressman like Waxman would know what is actually in a piece of legislation he supposedly wrote. Unbelievable, what do these people do with their time and our money while in office if they do not write or read their proposed new laws?

Let's talk about my home state of new Jersey. There had been Federal plans to built a new rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan to help make it easier for commuters and visitors to get into New York City from New Jersey and would theoretically produce a lot of construction and permanent jobs for the state.


However, despite getting a lot of Federal funding for the project, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed the project, citing escalating construction costs that would have been the responsibility of the state's taxpayers. According to an Associated Press article at the time, the project's cost started at $5 billion in 2005 and grew to $8.7 billion by 2008.


By 2010, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff has made public statements that put the price tag between $9 billion and $10 billion. Christie said his advisers put the costs at $11 billion to $14 billion. Thus, within five years, the projected cost had grown between two and three times what the original cost estimate had been, BEFORE substantial work had even begun. This process is reminiscent of Boston's "Big Dig" transportation project where the initial cost had been a mere $2 billion or so but the final cost had been well over $20 billion.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. viewed Christie’s cancellation of the project as “one of the biggest policy blunders in New Jersey’s history.”  Lautenberg had helped secure federal funding for the project. However, according to the AP report, his dopey statement followed when "Lautenberg acknowledged that cost overruns on a project of the tunnel’s size were inevitable, but said Christie’s numbers are inflated."


Think about how stupid that view is: cost overruns are inevitable. Why, then, should a taxpayer trust any politicians' estimate of a major program when the chance of taxpayers paying more for what they sign up for is "inevitable?" Even if you believe this, why would a politician openly state that we cannot believe what they tell us a project or program will intially cost?


When it comes to joe Biden we could probably devote several days of posts to his dopey statements. My favorite is when he talks about leadership and how FDR was a leader when he went on television to explain why the stock market crashed in 1929:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jf17Yo7hBM


Two problems here from this leader. First, FDR was not President of the United States when the stock market crashed in 1929. Second, television did not exist in 1929, no one in the country owned a TV, they all owned radios. Makes you feel kind of uneasy that the second in line to lead this country is so ignorant when it comes to our country's history.

Again, we could go on and on about dopey statements form the Vice president. Many of these include dropping the f-bomb in public, certainly not a very mature or leadership-like trait to have. If you access the above YouTube link to see his FDR/television comment, you should be able to access other inane comments from the Vice President.

However, the queen of all dopey statements from the political class has to be Nancy Pelosi. Consider:

1) According to Ms. Pelosi's understanding of basic economic theory, the more people that are unemployed in this country and the more people that collect unemployment benefits, the more jobs will be created. Thus, in her world, if everyone was unemployed, more and more jobs would be created. But everyone would be unemployed so who would fill the newly created jobs? Dopey economic reasoning certainly not of this world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdAj8zui6ss&feature=related

2) The former Speaker also believes that food stamps are a better economic stimulus than tax cuts. Thus, why not give everyone food stamps, not just the unemployed, doesn't it seem to reason that the economy would be so much better off?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omxQuDtF1ZM&feature=related


3) Ms. Pelosi was so funny when she said that she would not allow any extraneous or nonessential programs to be loaded onto the economic stimulus legislation. Either she was not able to attain that objective or she considers funding research of insects on an island off the coast of Africa as essential for job creation, she considers replacing windows in a closed and extinct visitor's center at Mt. Saint Helen's essential for job creation, she considers the replacing of windows in a Wyoming Catholic church as essential for job creation (I never knew window replacement could be such a great economic stimulus), and she considers replacing a heating system in an Indiana Methodist church as essential for job creation, etc. You get the message. It was a ludicrous statement to make, given the hundreds of billions of dollars of waste that unfolded from the stimulus program:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwMHH2ONtbw&feature=related


4) In Ms. Pelosi's world, the counting system is entirely different, if you believe her numbers. In the following YouTube clip, the frantic Speaker boldly states that every week, 500 million more Americans lose their jobs. In our world, there are only about 310 million total Americans in the country, including kids and infants, making it impossible for 500 million Americans to lose their jobs in one week, never mind many weeks. However, in her world, the counting process must be different in order to count 500 million job losses a week.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UR5M5teyQ0


If people like these Democrats did not have such wide control over our lives, our freedoms and our wealth, they would be prime material for a Comedy Central sitcom show. Unfortunately, they have way too much control. Maybe that is why the country is in such sad shape.


When our so-called leaders from the Democratic Party do not know how to count, they do not know basic facts about our nation's history, the f-bomb is a normal part of their everyday vocabulary, they do not read the laws the enact, they endorse products that the rest of the country knows are modern day Edsels, they have bizarre and inaccurate understandings of basic economics and basic geology, and most importantly, do not even realize how dopey their statements are, it should not surprise us that the economy is in shatters, the country is divided, and major problems go unresolved for decades.


In light of these statements from Democrats in Washington, the case for Step 39 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" has never stronger.  Step 39 would impose strict term limits on any politician running for national office. Allowing these long term politicians to stay in office (Biden, Pelosi, Conyers, Waxman, etc.) results in not only these dopey statements but their dopey non-solutions to our problems. How much dopier could it be if we required term limits on all Washington politicians? (please visit the following site to actually sign a petition in favor of term limits for all Federal politicians: http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/united_states_of_purple_015.htm)


Note: I would be happy to do a ROPES post in the future where it covered Republicans Offering Preposterous, Empty Statements if enough episodes of Republican dopiness are identified. However, dopey statements from people such as Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney would not be included since these people have no impact on our lives anymore, unlike Pelosi, Obama, Conyers, Johnson, Waxman, and Biden.

We invite all readers of this blog to visit our new website, "The United States Of Purple," at:

http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/

The United States of Purple is a new grass roots approach to filling the office of President of The United States by focusing on the restoration of freedom in the United States, focusing on problem solving skills and results vs. personal political enrichment, and imposing term limits on all future Federal politicians. No more red states, no more blue states, just one United States Of America under the banner of Purple.

The United States Of Purple's website also provides you the formal opportunity to sign a petition to begin the process of implementing a Constitutional amendment to impose fixed term limits on all Federally elected politicians. Only by turning out the existing political class can we have a chance of addressing and finally resolving the major issues of or times.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment/

Remember When?

Let's get nostalgic today. Were you alive when the following events occurred:

• 1955 - Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time.
• 1959 - Ford discontinues the Edsel.
• 1962 - The Beatles record their first song.
• 1963 - President Kennedy is assassinated.
• 1965 - The second season of the New York World's Fair opens.
• 1968 - McDonalds introduces the Big Mac

These events occurred a long time ago. Prior to the Internet, iPods, cable television, fax machines, email, hybrid cars, personal computers, Google, microwave ovens, cell phones, disco, death of disco (thank heavens), prior to any terrorist attacks, prior to when we knew there were Kurds/Shiite/Sunnis, and prior to Jon and Kate.

Now consider the following, recent office holding politicians:

• John Dingell - first elected to the House in 1955 (54 years ago)
• Robert Byrd - first elected to the Senate in 1959 (50 years ago)
• Ted Kennedy - first elected to the Senate in 1962 (47 years ago)
• Daniel Inouye - first elected to the Senate in 1963 (46 years ago)
• John Conyers - first elected to the House in 1965 (44 years ago)
• Ted Stevens - first elected to the Senate in 1968 (41 years ago)

I am a great believer that if you are not part of the solution then you must be part of the problem. Given how poorly the country has been run over the past 40 years or so, (we still have a drug problem, we still having failing public education, we still have rising health care costs, we still have no national energy program, we still have Social Security and Medicare heading for bankruptcy, etc.) could it be that these folks and others like them that have long tenures in office are part of the problem? They were elected in totally different eras of world history, eras that are long gone.

Thus, one of the most important steps in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" is to limit the length of politicians' tenures in both the Senate and House. This step will ensure that 1) fresh ideas, minds, and viewpoints are constantly passing through both chambers since keeping the same minds in office decade after decade does not seem to be working and 2) it would hopefully remove much of the corrupting money that goes into election campaigns since politicians would only get one term, possibly freeing them up to make the tough decisions that benefit America rather than the short term, selfish reelection campaign financing decisions they make today.