A little serious...

[bladestarr]

I just mass e-mailed this out to almost everyone I know, I think you got it too Justin, but I hope that you all don't mind that I post it here just this once. If it is a problem, just go ahead and delete the thread, I won't mind. Anyways, here is that e-mail I sent to everyone I know, I thought you would all be interested in it as well (maybe).

I am MAD, and you should be too!

Your government has tricked you and lied to you. Your media has tricked you and lied to you.

Both political parties in America have played against each other AND with each other to confuse and disillusion the American people. They have voted for laws that most of them haven't even glanced at, and they have abused their powers to achieve their personal goals or the goals of lobbyists in Washintgton when they should be representing their constituents. Let me give you a quick summation of how they have tricked you, so that you can understand the game that they play with your lives.

There are three branches of government, the legislative (Congress), judicial, and executive. The judicial are appointed, and most of the executive is appointed by the President. However, the President and ALL of Congress are elected by YOU.

Here is the trick. The President, as the head of the Executive branch of government, has the responsibility to EXECUTE the laws passed by Congress. That is the President's only role, and almost all of his/her powers are related specifically to this. That's it.

HOWEVER, most Americans see the President as being hugely powerful and as being the most important person in the government. That is exactly what the government and the media WANT you to think. The truth is that if anything, the President is only the most powerful SINGLE individual in the government, and even that is up to debate. The President doesn't vote on taxes or expenditures, the President doesn't pass laws, the President can't change the way things are run in America. The ONLY power that the President has in regards to forming the LAWS of the country is to veto a bill. That's it. And if a bill that is vetoed by him passes a second time in the House and Senate with a 2/3rds majority, the President CAN'T STOP IT from becoming law! That's right, the President CAN'T STOP a law that 2/3rds of YOUR representatives agree should be passed! The ONLY other power that he has in the legislative process is the power to convince people in Congress to change their minds, and if they are worried about what YOU think instead of what HE/SHE thinks, then even THAT power is gone!

The most POWERFUL people in the government are really..... the members of Congress!

The men and women of the Senate and the House of Representatives are the most powerful people in the country, because those 535 people make laws that affect 300 MILLION people. That is about a half of a million people represented by each single individual member of congress. And those senators and representative don't want you to realize just how much power they do have. The two major parties work with the media to convince the American people that the ONLY "race" that matters is the Presidential campaign, every four years. However every TWO years, ONE THIRD of Congress can be replaced. That means that every six years YOU, the American People, could have an ENTIRELY NEW CONGRESS if you so choose to!

But you never do see a change in Washington, do you? Why is that? Could it be because the media has you so focused on the Presidential Race that happens every four years that most people don't even think about the Congress and what the people there might be doing? Let's see what they are doing.

Take a look at this article, if you don't want to, I'll give you some highlights.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1955256

"Congress is on schedule to meet fewer days this year (2006) than any Congress since 1948 -- the year President Truman campaigned against what he called the 'do-nothing Congress.'"

"Rank-and-file members of Congress earn $165,200 a year..."

"Under both Democratic and Republican leadership, the work schedule has gradually decreased: In the '60s and '70s, Congress met on average 162 days a year; in the '80s and '90s, 139 days. This year the House is expected to meet 71 days."

Congress is only working half of the time, and that is giving them WAY too much credit. Wouldn't you LOVE to be able to make over $150,000 a year and only work for half the year? I know I would!

Regarding the Patriot Act, one of the largest and most nation-changing bills in history:
"Because the U.S. Senate was locked out of its offices due to the anthrax scare, few of the senators or their staff even saw the bill, so there was no debate and the bill passed 98-1 with only Russ Finegold (D-WI) dissenting. It was later discovered that most legislators hadn’t read the 342 pages of the proposal, let alone analyzed it. "

(Full article here - zmagsite.zmag.org/Feb2006/bonfiglio0206.html)

Couldn't the congress have taken at LEAST a day or two extra after the anthrax scare to read the Patriot Act and think about such a huge and important piece of legislation before they passed it? I guess not!

And this isn't a one time event either, according to many various sources (just look around!), Congress doesn't "waste" much time actually reading these bills at all before voting for them. They have a small group of congressmen/women fight it out in a small committee, then create either a "compromise" bill or two optional bills for the rest of Congress to choose from, then MOST Congressmen/women vote "with the party", not even bothering to take the time to read what they are voting for!

Are you mad enough now? I hate to say this, and you are not going to like to hear it, but if you like the truth as much as I do, you will learn to accept it. YOU have allowed this to happen with your apathy. YOU have no one to blame but yourself. You can't blame the government for this, and you can't blame the media for this, because YOU chose to remain apathetic and uninformed. You chose to not vote, or you chose to vote for a "winner" instead of voting your heart, or you chose to vote blindly for a candidate without taking a good hard look at all the candidates running. The corruption that exists in Washington today is the fault of every single eligible voter that chose not to vote, or to vote illinformed or uninformed.

Take a look at one final website for me to see the cold hard facts:

www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html

If you look at these numbers, you will see something sad and scary. Out of the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people eligible to vote in this country, only HALF even turn out for years where there is a presidential election. And barely over ONE THIRD show up in the "in-between" years, when ONE THIRD of Congress is replaced! On top of all that, the numbers of voters is actually trending downwards while our population is still going up, how much sense does THAT make??? If you DON'T VOTE every two years, this is YOUR fault.

Now you might be either mad at me or mad at yourself. I hope that you are both. Because we need feeling and emotion to change the world, and I think that YOU have the ability to make things happen, and it doesn't require very much effort at all. In fact, I have a few simple solutions for you to help make a change in our great country.

"WE are STrong! LEt Your voice BE heard! No News can be as accurate as Everyone's Tongue Telling the government how they feel!"

VOTE EVERY TWO YEARS. Don't just vote for the president, vote for the senators and representatives that MAKE THE LAW that you have to follow

KEEP INFORMED ABOUT THE CANDIDATES, and get truthful and accurate information from SEVERAL sources. You should NEVER rely on one source, or one medium, or one network to decide for YOu how you will vote. Listen to AM talk radio (which is generally considered "conservative") AND listen to Public Radio (which is generally considered "liberal"). Read the newspaper if you have it, read webpages and blogs, listen to speeches and ideas from everywhere. The information is OUT there, if you choose to go find it.

ASK that your congressmen/women actually READ EVERY BILL that they vote on! Congress should not pass any law unless every member of congress that votes either for or against that law has READ it. If they choose to abstain from voting, then so be it, but don't vote for something that you've never even looked at before, that's just insanity!

I plead with you and I beg of you to make an EFFORT to take your small part in a process that affects EVERYTHING YOU DO. If you care about what happens to you, if you care about what happens to your family or this country, PLEASE get educated and take part in our REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC!

The only way that this country will change for the better is if YOU stand up and give your voice. One voice is all it takes to change the world, Hitler and Gandhi are both examples of that on opposite ends of the spectrum. One voice can make a difference in the world, and in America. So vote EVERY TIME YOU CAN, and make sure that your one voice is heard.

Please e-mail this to anyone you know that you think needs to hear this message. Please do not e-mail it to anyone that you know that would be extremely bothered by even MORE "spam" in their mailbox.
----------

Westley H. Bennett, 09/04/2007

This message is not approved or inspired or coerced by any specific political party or elected official. This is just One Voice speaking out with his opinion.

[sirgallahad2]

Wow, The Government lies to me....... I'll make sure to lose sleep over that one.

I vote (admittedly, not as much as I should) The Government lied to my mom her whole life, and the government has lied to me my entire life. I served in 2 branches of the united states military (Marine Corps and Army) did my one and ONLY tour in Iraq, and you should SEE the lies and misinformation and utter crap THEY force you to swallow. I will take the united states government over MOST of the systems of government in the world. That being said, They will do whatever they feel like doing. They will vote themselves pay raises, the president will go on vacation whenever he feels like it, and the system will use the media to keep all the sheep good and scared so that the elite can make off with the money. The poor will always be poor, the middle class will ALWAYS do all the work, and the upper 3 percent will walk away with all the money. This whole status could have changed DECADES ago, but all the "Baby Boomer" kids decided to tune out, drop acid, follow hippy bands and quit school. Those that didn't, went to Vietnam and got ROYALLY Butt-surfed by not only the government but the V.A. office when they tried to get treatment for their Agent Orange Poisoning and their "Shell Shock" (or as it was and since been referred to as "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder") Do what you can as a citizen I.E. Vote for the CONGRESS and Senate people, Pay your taxes, do your best to abide by the laws, and by god if SOMETHING Irks you the wrong way LET PEOPLE KNOW. In Saddam Hussein's Regime and MANY other dictators like him, speaking against the leader got military men in your home to rape your wife, murder your kids and THEN beat and torture you to death. We HAVE freedom here. USE IT.

[DocD83]

I'm not so sure about your premise that the Congressional races are more important than the Presidential.

The ONLY power that the President has in regards to forming the LAWS of the country is to veto a bill.

Well...if the president wants to put a bill before congress, it's usually not hard to find a sponsor. Of course, threatening to veto a bill while it's still in debate is a (very blunt) tool for manipulating the legislative process, and no congressional lackey is needed. The branches are interdependent, not independent.

Also, over the years Congress has delegated much of its power to other entities. Some are private corporations founded by an act of Congress (e.g., the Federal Reserve, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), and others are executive branch agencies (e.g., EPA, FCC). That second group has the power to effectively enact laws completely independent of Congress, but under the ultimate authority of the President.

That's right, the President CAN'T STOP a law that 2/3rds of YOUR representatives agree should be passed!

The law can, however, very quickly find itself extremely low on the enforcement priority list.

"Because the U.S. Senate was locked out of its offices due to the anthrax scare, few of the senators or their staff even saw the bill, so there was no debate and the bill passed 98-1 with only Russ Finegold (D-WI) dissenting. It was later discovered that most legislators hadn’t read the 342 pages of the proposal, let alone analyzed it. "

This is probably the worst kept secret in a city bult on keeping secrets poorly. The system is not designed to handle bills as they are currently written, nor was it designed to handle the volume--it was designed for short bills that could be read and understood in an afternoon, with few enough bills to leave plenty of time in the year to go home and connect with your constituents. The various crises du jour of the last 200+ years have expanded the role of government to the point where it is simply impossible to keep up.

Let's tally this up, assuming all three brances were equal to start with (that's a big assumption, if you look at the history):

Executive: 1 branch divided by 1 person (effectively--the VP rides in on the president's coat tails) = 1.

Legislative: 1 branch divided by 535 members = 1/535. At theoretical mimimum numbers for the 13 original states, that's still 1/54 if I'm not mistaken.

Judicial: At the top level, 1/9.

Add into that all the powers given away by congress over the years--bringing the total for the president to something more than 1 and the total for Congress to something less than 1/535--and it's pretty clear that the Presidential race really IS more important.

Gallahad:

should SEE the lies and misinformation and utter crap THEY force you to swallow.

I'm distrustful of these kinds of argumnets. (1) People call any incorrect information a lie regardless of how truthful the government was trying to be at the time, and (2) you can't expect complete honesty and transparency because the government needs to keep secrets.

They will vote themselves pay raises,

It's still illegal for them to vote in a pay raise if they KNOW they'll reap the benefit. I believe it was president Grant who got into hot water for signing in a pay raise after his second election but before his second inauguration. If something similar happened recently, stop whining to me and go file a suit. Just remember, BEFORE an election it is perfectly legit to vote for a pay raise--otherwise their salaries could never be adjusted. Nor could the salaries of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and *cough* military personel whose maximum pay is tied to that of congress.

the president will go on vacation whenever he feels like it

There's a good bit about presidential vacations in "FahenHYPE 9/11." In short, whenever he's not in Washngton or on a high profile trip, the media says he's on vacation regardless of what he's actually doing.

and the system will use the media to keep all the sheep good and scared so that the elite can make off with the money.

I am so incredibly sick of hearing this kind of thing. Two reasons: I have enough phobias without you insisting that I live in unremitting terror of something that's got Washington's undies in a twist, and I don't like being referred to as a sheep just because I don't agree with you.

The poor will always be poor, the middle class will ALWAYS do all the work, and the upper 3 percent will walk away with all the money.

I'm sorry, bu that statement is nearly meaningless. The poor will always be poor because poor is defined as anyone who has less than most. If we paid everyone $50k a year--which is not at all poverty level--what we think of as "poor" and "rich" would simply shift up. The middle class wil always do all the work, yes--if you ignore the millions of exploited poor and the fact that it's the top 3% who employ the rest of us. And the top 3% will always walk away with the money--to buy yachts, private jets, and stock, giving the middle class jobs.

[bladestarr]

docd83 said:

Well...if the president wants to put a bill before congress, it's usually not hard to find a sponsor. Of course, threatening to veto a bill while it's still in debate is a (very blunt) tool for manipulating the legislative process, and no congressional lackey is needed. The branches are interdependent, not independent.

I already mentioned that the only other "power" that he has is political power, but I stand by my statement that if Congress cared more about what their constituents thought than the President, this would be a non-issue. But that requires that the voting population stop being apathetic about things that affect their daily lives.

docd83 said:

Also, over the years Congress has delegated much of its power to other entities. Some are private corporations founded by an act of Congress (e.g., the Federal Reserve, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), and others are executive branch agencies (e.g., EPA, FCC). That second group has the power to effectively enact laws completely independent of Congress, but under the ultimate authority of the President.

Yup, sad but true, but they can ALSO, with just a few bills, take all of that power BACK. Just like how they repealed Prohibition, they can dissolve all of those entities and take that power back.

docd83 said:

The law can, however, very quickly find itself extremely low on the enforcement priority list.

Yup, and the law is still also "interpreted" by the judicial branch, so it might get a little bit watered down by them. However, if the laws are clear and concise, they can avoid this, and if the laws come with dates to have certain things accomplished, they can prevent Executive dilly-dally.

docd83 said:

This is probably the worst kept secret in a city bult on keeping secrets poorly. The system is not designed to handle bills as they are currently written, nor was it designed to handle the volume--it was designed for short bills that could be read and understood in an afternoon, with few enough bills to leave plenty of time in the year to go home and connect with your constituents. The various crises du jour of the last 200+ years have expanded the role of government to the point where it is simply impossible to keep up.

The problem here is that the lawmakers kept what were SUPPOSED to be "temporary" laws on the books permanently and did not give them an automatic date of repeal. Thus, over time the government has gotten larger, and larger, and larger. Now it can't even govern itself properly, let alone the rest of its citizens! Congress needs to be taken back by people that DON'T want it to be a huge entity that controls and regulates every aspect of their lives. Once more libertarian (small L) Congressmen/women get into office, they can shrink the government back to the size that it SHOULD be.

docd83 said:

Add into that all the powers given away by congress over the years--bringing the total for the president to something more than 1 and the total for Congress to something less than 1/535--and it's pretty clear that the Presidential race really IS more important.

I still disagree with you here. Just because alot of power rests with one person does not make that one person the most powerful. The reason is that that one person was GIVEN more and more power over the years by 535 people - and those powers can very QUICKLY be taken away. No one can take away the powers of Congress unless Congress CHOOSES to give those powers away, and even then they can vote to take those powers back ANYTIME. Because the MAKE the laws. The ONLY thing that can truly overpower Congress and take away their powers is a revolution. That's it.

docd83 said:

Gallahad:

Yeah, I'm not quite THAT angry.... at least not that angry that my anger has overcome my reason. So good on you Gallahad for not trusting the government fully, but the government is made up of a LOT of people, and ALL of them can't be corrupt. Probably just most of them, and like I stated in my original post, the ones that MATTER can be replaced. By us.

[pfrsue]

The poor will always be poor, the middle class will ALWAYS do all the work, and the upper 3 percent will walk away with all the money.

I'm poor. Seriously poor. Are you telling me that I don't work and that I have no hope of improving my circumstances? That's not very nice.

alot

psssst, Philotix, it's spelled, "a lot".

[bladestarr]

pfrsue said:

psssst, Philotix, it's spelled, "a lot".

HEEHEE! I R TEH UBER 1337 H4X0RZ!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!1111!!!!!ELEVENTY-ONE!!!!!!!!!

;D

[sirgallahad2]

Let's see, as far as "staying poor" goes...

Every time there is an increase in minimum wage, the "cost of living" goes up. You work at a company for 10-20 years, the company gets bought out, down-sized and your job gets out-sourced to other people. So it is in fact harder to dig yourself out. As far as the "Sheep" comment, that is my OPINION of how the media and those who control the media see the people of America. If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn't fit, all the better.

As far as Iraq goes... I'm not going to do the old cop-out excuse. ("you weren't THERE man, so you don't know") I have always hated that answer, it's a TOTAL cop-out, so you will NOT hear that out of me ( I have SOME pride) All I heard over there was how we are "Defending Democracy" and "Leading the Iraqi people to a better life". The Iraqi Army hates the Iraqi Police for one thing. They actually get into fights with EACHOTHER and rob eachother in their own compund. Most of them get executed by their own towns people for helping the U.S.. Those same towns people play dumb the minute a bomb goes off in the neighborhood where we are patrolling. They do it because the people who planted the bomb are either in their own family, or the bombers will execute entire families if those families try and warn us. Yes there are "terrorists" over there, there is NO denying that. (I know, I know, thank you captain OBVIOUS) The rest of them just want us out of their country. They don't WANT democracy and they don't want America's way of life forced onto them. Their entire culture is based around Family, Clan, tribe, and so on. The Shiites and Sunni's have hated and killed one another since Jesus Christ was walking around healing the blind. Democracy will NOT get them to stop.

Now, as I have offered myself up to the firing squad, I look forward to my opinions being RUTHLESSLY eviscerated and some truly incredible counter-points offered. fun fun fun.

[sirgallahad2]

sirgallahad2 said:

Bonus addition:

I never actually LABELLED anyone as Poor or Sheep. I assure ALL of you, I am just as broke. For how hard we ALL work at our respective careers, most people will probably just barely break even. (myself included). I have no desire to be wealthy, I just don't want to scrape out a living and barely get by. Pretty reasonable actually. I really DO vote and pay taxes. I don't keep up on politics a whole lot because I know that I will never get the truth on any given situation (admittedly, all the more reason to START keeping up on it). It's hard to make a decision when no one will just come out and say what needs to happen. I (for the most part) get REALLY irritated by the media and take anything the government tells me with a grain of salt. Before anyone thinks I am government-bashing, I believe in what the government stands for. We have a democracy so that one ruler does not posess all the power and does not make all the decisions. As I stated earlier, I do not TRUST the Government. I WILL, however, take the American Government over just about ALL the other governments in the world. For all the corruption and squabbling, the double-speak and the misinformation, at least they give us SOME kind of say-so in the matter.

I am merely voicing my opinion about my Government because I live in a country where I am free to do so. I can be just as informed or just as ignorant as I choose to be. Admittdly, I will have to start getting more informed on political matters despite my rather negative outlook. I will basically vote for the person who's politics I mostly agree with and the person with whom their corruption will benefit the people most. Now without further ado....

those more educated than me (I.E. darn near ALL) commence to the blasting of said opinions. Here's hoping my skin is thick enough.

[bladestarr]

All I can say about that is two things:

1) Take your Ritalin and

The Shiites and Sunni's have hated and killed one another since Jesus Christ was walking around healing the blind.

2) Since there WAS no Islam before the prophet Muhammad who lived at least 600 years AFTER the death of Jesus, this statement is not true in the slightest.

That is all.

Oh... and Vote Ron Paul ;D

[sirgallahad2]

I'm on effexor thank you

[sirgallahad2]

Thanks for the clarifiication on the whole "Islam" thing. I have, in fact, been known to be wrong from time to time.

Seeing as how you have no real thoughts of your own there Phil, you might want to stop pasting other people's e-mails to the forum and then disagreeing with people when they *gasp* form their own opinions and arguments. By the way, REAL class act telling me to take my ritalin.

[bladestarr]

I didn't paste anyone's e-mail but my own. I WROTE that e-mail.

And I never disagreed with you at all, I just pointed out a factual error. That's all.

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HXkVJtz0bNI&mode=user&search=

[pfrsue]

Neutral corners, gentlemen.

I'm going to clarify something here. Debate is fine. Spirited debate is fine. Slinging insults or getting personal is not fine. So don't do it. Okay?

[bladestarr]

Sorry, the whole Ritalin thing was a joke, I didn't think he'd take it that seriously, I certainly don't. My wife is on at least 3 different anti-depressants, and we joke about that all the time. My bad.

[sirgallahad2]

It happens.