The Sad Truth About American Politics

[Jkid]

To mark my 1,000 post on Democratic Underground I decided to make a commentary on American Politics in general from my observations since I was 15.

Ever since I started having in interest in Government and Politics I realized one sad truth about politics in America. That sad truth is that most American politicians are that they do nothing or they do little. To explain this further, they do either two things: they either go for band-aid solutions to the problem or keep talking about the problem without actually doing anything.

The first thing they do is to just talk about the problem. In this do-nothing response they either talk about the problem in a variety of ways. They either talk about the problem in general but they don’t offer any type of solution. They can talk about the problem in general but do not talk about the root cause of the problem. Finally, they talk about the problem but they provide a solution that is worse than the problem.

Now, name an issue. Like now with the current occupations. They pulled the same crap, with Afghanistan and Iraq, and now they doing the same shit with Iran. We are seeing the same solutions like financial or economic sanctions or worse: Outright war. They’re doing the same crap with as they did with Afghanistan and Iraq.

With Earth Day on the way, we are hearing talk about clean energy and the environment without talk of the root causes and the solutions. We all know the real solution for the potential energy crisis. But all we are hearing is either nuclear energy, natural gas, or more drilling for oil. But the real solution is a crash course in real clean energy and conservation. But are we hearing that? NO
The second is the band-aid approach. The band-aid approach is where they treat the symptom of the problem but do not go after the root cause of the problem. The problem with this approach is that it either hides the problem until it happens again or it makes the problem worse. The recent Health Care Reform Act in my opinion is a good example of a band-aid solution. And why is it a band-aid solution? Because it does not truly control costs via insurance premium limits. There is no provision for the Federal Government to regulate insurance rates even for basic care in the Health Care Reform Act that was recently passed.

Why politicians do either of the two ways of problem solving? If they did their actual jobs, like going after the root causes of problems via legislation they would eventually be out of a job because they have little knowledge of new problems that face them and will be effectively voted out by newer people who know what problems they face. American politicians in general are less motivated by public service and they are more motivated by political careerism. Essentially how much more money and influence they get, and the more they will serve their real masters: The corporate and wealthy funders (instead of their actual constituents, THE PEOPLE)

That is the sad truth of American politics; most politicians do not actually go after the root causes of the problems we face.

[LetsgoWings13]

1. Because we don't want to hear some of the answers or wont accept some of the answers

Because it is political suicide sometimes to fix the problem. Thats the sad truth about American Politics.

[cali]

2. yes, it's really all so easy

why oh why can't politicians like bernie sanders be as smart as you are?

[BuelahWitch]

3. Because they might piss off the big corporations who give them money

Most of them like that nice, cushy job in Washington. If they rock the boat too much they might find themselves unemployed like a great many of their constituents.

[Enthusiast]

4. Our expectations have become

very low. As a nation we really do not demand good representation. We have grown complacent, Now, because of the damage these inept and crooked legislators (and Presidents) have done over the years, we are going to be forced to take this seriously.

We should demand excellence in our media coverage and in our politicians. We should expect laws to be enacted that are favorable to the citizenry.

This should be an uprising. And I mean that sincerely. We have now reached a state of crisis.