Part 1 & 2. Misplaced Power

Part 1.

The Boston Tea Party, we were taught, came about because the people on Boston believed they were being taxed without any representation…. They didn't have a say in government and they did not see that their tax dollars were in any way benefiting them. Well, we now have elected representation… We are led to believe now is not the same as then.

The main stream press ask, "So, why are we complaining? What are we complaining about? They say nothing has changed. This is the right question to ask because our elected representatives, in fact, haven't changed. They are behaving the same an we are not being represented.

The question, what are we complaining about, is simple and valid, but the answer is not simple. When you log onto Tea Party web sites what you will see over and over are general statements concerning principles of individual rights and freedoms handed down to each of us through the Constitution and Bill or Rights. These significant documents purposes was to clearly say who were are as a people and as a nation under law. What we discovered very quickly was the language in these documents could and would be interpreted to suite the elected majority in both the House and Senate from time to time, as they responded to pressures of each new challenge throughout our history. A Supreme Court was established to see that the elected body (s) could not create laws or regulations that were in conflict or denied any aspects of life and liberty in our original foundation documents. The Court has been consistently called upon to do just that and has overturned many errors in judgment of the people we have elected to represent us.

Our elected government is still in place doing what it is suppose to do. Court is in place doing what it is suppose to do. Why then are so many people angry and frightened?

If we just look at today for the answer we can point to Congress and say the Health Care Bill, or the Cap and Trade Bill, or the New Taxes, endless Wars, and a myriad of other bills and regulations winding their way through our Congress…. But we have seen many of these same bills, over the years, in one form or another and from congress to congress but this time there is something different. Uniquely different in many ways.

The one thing that is so different is we have a majority in Congress and President who says on a daily basis, no matter what most citizens think or believe we are going to pass laws that we want to pass without regards of their wishes, hopes, and beliefs. Never before has a Congress or President behaved so arrogantly.

This is something real to fear. We ask what comes next?

The world, the government, and each of us evolve over time. What was done yesterday lays the foundation for today. So, to simply look at this Congress and this President for the answer is not going to allow us to know what has happened over time, which is where things that are wrong, started going wrong. Our history as a people is, if it "ain't" broke don't fix it…The problems associated with this mantra is we wait till problems reach a crisis before we are moved to take any actions... How this starts showing up before the crisis occurs is with our reelecting the same people to congress over and over. It is us, the voters, that has created the idea of a "career politician." It is our reelecting that has given the politician a sense of entitlement and their sense of us as the "the dumb unknowing" electorate. We give them our trust by electing them over and over which gives them reason to mistrust of us. There shouldn't be any surprise in this but there is.

(Foot note: England had already removed the "Tea Tax" before the folks in Boston had their "Tea Party." What were they so mad about that caused them to throw the "Tea Party?" This is a discussion we will all need to take up on a different day.)

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PART 2

Throw the rascals out!!!!! This may well be the first needed step… To do this we will need to replace people who have become social/political icons with others… But who? And how do we know the newbie's won't turn out the same…. If left to their on devises they may well become the same, given time, which has been the history. If we continue to believe that our responsibly ends in the voting booth then for sure the newbie's will morph into the same representatives we replaced. If this Tea Party group seems radical to the main stream press let us consider, just for the moment, even something more radical then the radical group of Americans that founded this Country. Lets us consider the notion of constantly monitoring our elected representatives behavior.

Monitoring has to start when the person running for office is asking for our vote.… At that time we need to make sure that they understand exactly what we want them to do, what we want our government to be, how we want our government to operate, and what guiding principles must always be the underpinning of each and ever piece of legislation…. Give the candidate a list of what we want them to do and not do and clearly state our beliefs, values, and goals. Make it clear that they will be working for us.. If elected they will be our employees… We are the one that will pay their salary… We are the ones that hired them and we are the ones that will fire them.. If they "blink" at these ideas don't support them.

Does anyone, reading this missive, believe that had the voters in every State taken this stance, at the beginning, with these elected officials we would be where we are today with high unemployment, banking crisis, faltering economy, national debt, nationalizing our Health Care system, and student loan funding ?

Close monitoring… How close might be asked? Daily… Every single day...The elected official must post, on a daily basis, what bills are in the works. What they think objectively about the bill. What effects will the bill have on each of us…What will the bill cost each of us.. Then as we respond the responses will be tallied and tracked… Comments and suggestions will be posted for all to see. If the elected official does not cast their vote based on a general consensus of the voters we start a "recall" to replace him… Hard ball. This is political Hard Ball and it helps our representative stay focused, meet our goals for government, leaves no room for arrogance, and serves the people who elected them. (Representative democratic government is what that’s called. He, she, it, or they are there to represent us, the American voter period.)

A Representative Democracy, in theory, should be a partnership between the elected and the folks who did the electing... If we don't meet our responsibility in this partnership it ceases to be a partnership. If we don't step up to the plate the "guide," all our representative is left with are pressures from other Congressman, the process of the Congress itself, mainstream media, small vocal niche single purpose groups, PAC's, Political Parties, lawyers, and business of every shape and size. Powerful forces each and everyone.

This Representative form of Democracy we have is messy and slow…It takes hard work and the work has to be constant on the part of the people represented. It is easy when we talk of such things to think in terms of Congressional members being our leaders…Knowing what is the right thing to do as well as doing the right thing. This notion puts us on slippery sloop. In ways it rationalizes our not being active and not taking responsibility for our life, our partnership with our representatives, and our County. Being active may not be as much fun as complaining but the first gets the job done and the second is just noise.

It seems the Tea Party folks know this…..

The vetting process for the November elections is under way around the Country….We need to know who the new potential candidates are and this can be done through the Tea Parties in each and every state. Information about the new candidates will be on their web sites. The new candidates will have their own web sites. They will need our money, which we can give, even though they won't have our vote. For new candidates early in the campaign is the most difficult time to raise money. The incumbent has money. A new candidate has to be seen and heard early in the election cycle so that the voters can get to know and talk to other voters so as to build a base for him/her. How fast and well this is done is mostly and directly linked to money.

http://theoxfordteaparty.blogspot.com/