How do Congressmen and Senators lose their perspective so easily?

[kentuck]

For example, those Congressmen that voted for CAFTA the other day, how could they not see that it was no good for working people in this country? If the workers in Central America are competing against the minimum wage workers in this country, how does that help the low-wage workers here?? How do they even argue for an increase in the minimum wage when the jobs will just go south? Are they seeing something that I am missing? Can someone give me more perspective on this?

I cannot understand how COngressmen and Senators can go to Washington and forget everything they ever knew about the problems of average working people? Are they put inside of a bubble and all their brains sucked out??

[lynettebro440]

1. It's called

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[wli]

2. bribes, blackmail, and assassination threats

Par for the course for the BFEE.

[SlipperySlope]

3. The inside of the beltway...

The inside of the beltway is a giant machine that has been perfected over years and years, dedicated to the task of sucking the integrity out of any newcomer who arrives.

Think of it as our modern version of the twilight zone.

[shraby]

4. Plain brown envelopes.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. there is something in the water and air inside of the bloatway

It poisons the rational side of the brain, it feeds the ego with steroids, it empowers the littlest kind of person with the feeling that they are better than others. In a word, it turns them into members of congress.

[OneBlueSky]

6. power corrupts . . .

absolute power corrupts absolutely . . .

and in 21st century America, absolute power is money . . .

[SoCalDem]

7. They "dance with the one who brung 'em"

Corporations PAY BIG BUCKS to get these people elected.

The corporations are in favor of ANYTHING that gives them ultimate power over their employees.. Threaten to strike if you don't get a raise? The boss will be only too happy to remind you that your job can be done for 1/4 of what you get, by a Nicaraguan...

Scared employees work harder, complain less and rarely dare to call in sick..

Corporations have been looking already for the next cheap place to relocate, so no matter what the employees do or don't do, it's only a matter of time..

[DemocracyInaction]

8. What about the assholes who will run back out in '06 and '08 to

vote for these very same bastards who just flushed their jobs??? We can't babysit them. If they are too ignorant or lazy to figure things out or too Limbaughed, then they deserve to be flushed. I was totally surprised at the local newspaper today that usually pushes the left/liberal slant and is a critic of the Repubs. Today it said that CAFTA was the right thing and just a reality of the global economy and then stated that those effected should just retrain for other jobs. There is not one ounce of intelligent thinking that says "if this keeps up, there will be no jobs of any kind to train for". Basically, it's a form of apeasement and apeasement just means you get fucked harder the next time.

[kentuck]

9. We need to simplify our message...

:)

They are not dumb...we just need to frame the issues in a better way...

[kodi]

10. get with the program, the theory is that a rising tide lifts all boats.

unfortunately most of us don't own boats.