Maybe It's Not Just Me

So, here is the "scandal" that's rocking America - this week. AIG executives received bonuses after the U.S. taxpayers were forced by the "idiots in charge" - Congress - to "give" about $170-Billion to keep them afloat as part of the ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY BAILOUT everyone was supposed to believe would ease the "crisis" that financial institutions were in because of their inability to watch themselves --- you know, be accountable for their own lending practices and expenditures.

Well...I don't know if it's just me --- but are the Democrats overblowing this scandalous self-pay because the first bailout money came during a Republican presidential administration, or are the Republicans overblowing this scandal because the Democratic Congress and subsequent presidential administration didn't see the fine print in AIG's "bonus program" --- something which neither side either asked about or cared to view until the money had already been passed onto AIG without such scrutiny OR "carefully worded restrictions" placed upon the bailout money???

Somehow, I'm thinking that it's not just me who sees it this way. Not that everyone even CARES to hear it and think it through, but most people who have paid any mind to this situation is feeling very weary about the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and both the G.W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

Voting for congressional representation won't be easy this next round for almost anyone in the nation with the most freedom because we won't feel like freely trusting the candidates. In local primary elections and in the final elections to Congress it will be evident that both Democrats and Republicans need to be held accountable. This latest group called Congress surely didn't figure out financial oversight because they rushed through what must truly have been an unnecessary bailout package.

If the bailout was necessary, then - most, if not all, of us would believe - AIG wouldn't be giving out bonuses. If it really WAS necessary, then the congressional representatives and those in two presidential administrations surely WOULD HAVE KNOWN about the stipulations in the AIG executives' contracts and made legally binding stipulations in the bailout legislation which would have prevented the executives from receiving bonuses if the company received taxpayer money.

Since we are looking at a flawed system which needs a fix, I'm thinking the only way to vote next time around is to vote ANTI-TWO-PARTY-SYSTEM. State laws will prevent independent candidates from receiving an "instant pass" onto a ballot. This seems wrong, considering the "instant pass" system of giving taxpayer money to companies who cry out "we're hurting and going down...and if we don't get a bailout, the economy will FAIL miserably", or the TIFs which come to an area where jobs do not follow as promised by the companies who benefit from the tax-free years. No --- we'll have to change some state and local laws in order to get independent candidates onto the ballots for the primaries, then the elections to Congress. That, in this two-party system is not likely. But it's necessary to stem the pending collapse of our national integrity.

I would maintain that as a person who has a view that there has to be balance to "profit taking" - I am someone who doesn't believe in free passes for the rich or the poor --- we need to be electing people who are neither too liberal or too conservative, but with a clear moral compass that both left-leaners and right-leaners can see has a true Christian background which can be shown to be even-handed in giving liberties and justice for all. I believe that this kind of candidate will have their Christian principals in hand, and be unwilling to give up the liberties which are in jeopardy by the workings of "the liberal left" who are willing to claim "even handedness" but are showing propensity to be unwilling to allow continued freedom/liberty of Christians with a true moral compass. This candidate would also be unwilling to bow to "the conservative right wing" who believe that it is okay to eliminate all oversight and protections so that we can just hand over our money to big business or eliminate healthcare because they see the world as "survival of the fittest" instead of "helping out your neighbor as you would have them help you in times of need".

I would like to see hundreds of independent candidates elected - en masse - to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives over the next four election cycles, to see if we can show that most of us are "common goal, middle of the road" citizens, and not simply partisan citizens bowing to those who found a powerful platform for their own agenda, as opposed to the "agenda" set out by our forefathers --- which was set up so Congress would fairly represent the people.

Maybe it's not just me.