Sense on Cents

Washington may think the “payoff politics as usual” is justified under the guise of working toward goals, but I would beg to differ. In my opinion, the payoffs garnered by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Chris Dodd (D-CT), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are emblematic of the broken political process in America.

Why is it that citizens of some states are not required to pay the same freight as citizens of all other states? Why is it that citizens of some states garner ‘special’ benefits and advantages not accorded to citizens of all other states?

I do not doubt for a second that this ‘payoff politics’ has been going on for a lot longer than we may appreciate. I would also maintain that a significant portion of our fiscal and moral deficits are generated from this very approach.

The fact that representatives hold out for these payoffs and then promote them as benefiting their states should be more widely broadcast as unpatriotic and divisive.

The fact that administrations from both sides of the aisle have chosen the ‘payoff’ style of politics is merely an indication as to the lack of character, courage, and political intellect needed to craft real legislative reforms.

When the ‘for sale’ sign is constantly out, that lowest common denominator will always be reached.

If this ‘payoff politics’ is the best America has to offer, then I am increasingly concerned that our collective future will be far less than it ought to be.

Where are the real statesmen?

LD

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 PM and is filed under General, health care reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.