Our elected representatives are lying to us. Daily. All 537 of them.

[cherokeeprogressive]

When they are not overtly telling lies, they are lying by omission. "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" is a cliche created to describe how politics works. When politics became a lucrative vocation, the fate of this country was cast in stone.

To say we can effect systemic change while the people who got us to this point remain in office is to say a heroin addict can kick the habit while hanging with his/her junkie friends.

All lies, told by all politicians, all the time. Do not tell me that your elected rep is honest. They're not. When they sit in hearings concerning topics that affect the prices of publicly traded stocks and then make phone calls to their investment managers, they're lying by omission.

They are dishonest. All of them.

If a person who wants to be a cop should be given psychological testing, then so should anyone seeking elective office, for pretty much the same reasons.

[poverlay]

1. Campaign finance reform would be a good start.. n/t

[txlibdem]

4. !!!

Darn right!

[madokie]

5. Yup thats what pols do

[txlibdem]

6. We need to get millionaires OUT of politics... at all levels of gov't

Maybe it's time for some kind of affirmative action laws: that the government must match the racial, economic, social makeup of the people they govern.

[madokie]

7. No doubt about that

[txlibdem]

10. Affirmative action and Psych Tests for all would-be politicians

Keep the power-hungry and the psychopaths OUT of office.

[txlibdem]

11. And mandatory public financing with NO OPT-OUT!

This BS of having a 2 year election cycle for a 4 year office has got to go.

There should be 4 debates for each party to decide their candidate, one each week, televised for the whole nation and voted on one week after the final debate -- no advertising for candidates of any kind allowed, no advertising from outside parties: only the candidate him- or herself can make the ad and they can't go over budget from the amount of public financing.

Then after the primaries there should be 4 debates on Thursday of each of the 4 weeks before the election begins. Voting begins on the Friday after the final debate and ends at midnight the following Sunday. Same limitations on ads as the primaries.

Period. That's about a 2 month campaign cycle and no outside money is allowed, nor any personal money. Public financing only.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. They are pols, and pols lie

[txlibdem]

3. They're millionaires... that's whose interests they'll ALWAYS be working for

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Then the next question should be --

how much of our lives should we give over to them to manage?

Do I really want to trust irredeemable, near-pathological liars with my health, education and finances?

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. I don't want them "managing" ANY part of my life.

The problem as I see it is that none of my current representatives would go about protecting ME until they got a little sompin' sompin' for themselves in the transaction.

Sad that our fellow voters can't see past "I love MY Congresscritter and Senator".

After this coming election, we'll see 75% of the running incumbents re-elected and inaugurated.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

14. Not picking a fight here but only trying to square the circle --

Sad that our fellow voters can't see past "I love MY Congresscritter and Senator".

After this coming election, we'll see 75% of the running incumbents re-elected and inaugurated.

So how do you feel about re-electing Obama?

That's not snark. Supposedly we want people of principle but they will only be as principled as their constitutents. Yes, Obama has done some good things and yes he is better than 99.9% of those ideologically opposed to him but at the same time he has done some things that not only propagate the worst of his predecessor's policies but actually make them worse. It isn't enough to just say, "Oh well, that's Obama. It's OK."

No. No it's not because now it is an unopposed precedent. Libya wasn't just an undeclared war/military action void of congressional oversight, it was license to every successor to do the same for whatever whim they choose. We know how often he has acted unconstitutionally or in favor of corporations with things like insurance mandates or bailouts that would have paid for Bush's wars for 70 years. I could cite more instances but my point isn't to bash Obama.The point is: what are WE, his voters, going to do about it.

"But the GOP is worse!!!" we're told, lest we step out of line.

So we default to, "I love MY congresscritter and senator -- and president."

We deserve Obama and every GOP president after him that acts the exact same way he does.

[Upton]

9. I know they all are..and it's extremely disillusioning..

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to participate in the process...