The recent news on former Governor Blagojevich’s scandalous Illinois political machine and a roundup in New Jersey of 3 Mayors, numerous Council members and local Rabbis should come as no great surprise. We have gotten the lines between politics and money so blurred that we can’t seem to gain one without the other. No longer can a virtuous and enthusiastic American hope to thrust themselves onto the political landscape and reasonably expect to make a difference.
The name of the game today is access and the cost is enormous. To even think of gaining a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives will cost you 1 million dollars. A Senate seat will require raising about 10 million dollars, and for the grand prize, to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would cost you 100 million dollars or more. With so much money playing such deciding roles in victory or defeat, it’s no wonder our system is fraught with corruption.
The very legislators we count on to stem the tide of our deteriorating political mechanisms are some of the worst culprits. It almost feels like a no-win for the non-political class. I retain hope for change, though.
Think about whom we’re asking to impose term limits, reject the piles of soft money that shower our halls of Congress, and push for the reform of the several states’ tort laws. These seemingly simple legislative pursuits are not likely to occur without mass upheaval by their constituents. These three changes alone would go so far towards returning our government to the people.
We were clearly asleep at the wheel as we gradually let our freedoms be eroded by a hearty and ever burgeoning political class in our society. Shame on us for taking our great gifts of liberty for granted; they will be enormously difficult to regain. There is nothing, however, that an educated American public can’t achieve with a unified front. We must start now, though.
Tags: 1 Million Dollars, 10 Million, 100 Million, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Blogojevich, Constituents, Council Members, Culprits, Grand Prize, Great Gifts, House Of Representatives, Illinois, Legislators, Mayors, Name Of The Game, new jersey, Piles, political class, Political Landscape, President, Rabbis, Senate Seat, Soft Money, Term Limits, Tort Laws, Upheaval