travelinman67 wrote:MarkCCU wrote:
We don't know if McCain can be effective either?
The dude is out of touch with reality.
Why? Because he was a military brat, he became a national hero upon his return from 'Nam, and his 26 years in Congress? Or because he married into wealth?
He has REPEATEDLY bucked the D.C. party machines, acted to break the partisan logjam over and over, and refused to meet disreputable lobbyists in darkened corners to take bribes and "slip in" taxpayer-robbing pork to benefit special interests. When the party bosses would craft slimy rules to facilitate "backdoor" funneling of special interest money, he crossed the aisle and took on the party bosses with Russ Feingold. Many people have criticized the outcome of their bill, yet, in 50 years, no other member of congress had the guts to go after the campaign financing special interest lobby/party boss money machines.
If your implication is that he doesn't shop at WalMart, drive a 10 yr old car, and sweat over paying his bills every month while worrying about how to send his kids to college, then you better include virtually EVERY politician in Washington. I don't know of ANY elected official in D.C. who has a lifestyle and has to face the same pressures as the average American.
And if you want to "weigh" all the problems resulting from Washington that harm Americans as a result of "being out of touch", I absolutely assert that the special interest lobby does MORE damage, to every American than any other single issue. What ISN'T discussed by the press (who are a special interest), is that the party bosses (read majority leader/speaker), who control most of the party money,
PLAY SPECIAL INTERESTS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER IN A DEFACTO BIDDING WAR FOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION/INACTION, IN A LEGALIZED FORM OF EXTORTION OR (AS I PERSONALLY IDENTIFY IT), A LEGALIZED "SHAKEDOWN" OF EVERY PROFITABLE/WEALTHY PERSON/GROUP IN THE U.S.. If you think that's overstating things, ask yourself when the last time you heard Congress debate an anti-trust issue? High energy prices; airline industry collapsing; runaway market destabilization resulting from unregulated (but government insured) financial service providers; and most importantly, a broken healthcare system where a simple visit to any regional medical center for an "urgent care, non-trauma" injury, to the uninsured, results in the injured party receiving a bill for $7,000 per hour for medical services; all of these market problems that negatively impact Americans, in some way, resulted from unchecked consolidation and "price-fixing" practices, which Congress has virtually ENTIRELY IGNORED for the past 35 years.
I am a capitalist, yet our economy is not healthy because special interest have "greased" congress to turn a blind eye to traditional market mechanisms designed to IMPROVE COMPETITION, IMPROVE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, CREATE MARKET GROWTH, AND ULTIMATELY BENEFIT BOTH THE CONSUMER AND, VICARIOUSLY, OUR GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO PROTECT AMERICA, AMERICANS, AND AMERICA'S INTERESTS ABROAD.
McCain understands the severity of this problem, which is why he has broken from the tradition of "central party boss as dictator" approach to enforcing partisanship and preventing common sense Congressional representation. If you REALLY want to discuss who is "out of touch with reality", look to the politics of the NE Dems who simply "don't get it". Drive around the "rust belt" states, or any formerly industrialized NE state (NY, MA, CT) and look at all the cities with boarded up factories, shops, who now rely on defacto welfare aid from government grants and redevelopment aid for survival. I went to a Northern MA town, which had been a beautiful, thriving, city with an impressive manufacturing/clothing mill/agriculture history, prior to the 60's. Today, at the site of one of the largest closed plants in town (a massive, turn of the century clothing mill located on the waterfront), one of the plant's largest buildings, 7 floors, 200'x500' (approx), owned by the city's redevelopment agency, has been converted into leased office space. When I walked in and looked at the building's directory, of the 35-40 or so tenant's listed, all but two (one of which was my client) housed a field office of a government agency.
Rather than discussing "who is out of touch with reality", you should be discussing "who is conning America", Mark. Mr. Social Services, Barack Obama, and the KING of out of touch with reality, Joe Biden are just another in a long line of "elitists" offered by the Democrats to carry their legacy of lies into the 21st century. If sitting in the living room of every American's home, knee to knee, looking at you with puppy dog eyes and an empathetic facial expression, while muttering, "You poor soul. This has to change. I'm going to do something about it, and I really appreciate your support."...before walking down the street, getting into their union provided limousine tranportation...
...back to the airport for a charter jet flight back to the regional airport...
...10 miles from their million dollar estate in the "uptown" side of the tracks is your idea of a politician who's "in touch with reality", then Obama and Biden are the best pick.
Gotta hit the road again.
Cleets...bring your liver with you tonight...and I don't want to hear any girly crying about "early meetings" tomorrow.
..RIP Tman.
