I have watched listened and learned as proposed laws were presented, debated and voted into law. Some congressperson comes up with an idea to make America a better place for its citizens. The bill is presented. Then the other members of Congress discuss/debate and hold hearings on the proposed bill.

Next the bill is voted on; USUALLY ALONG PARTY LINES. Which means the heads of each party decides what is best for their party, their moneyed contributors, and their convincing lobbyists and vote accordingly. Nothing is said about what is best for the citizenship, only what is best for “The Party.” In my humble opinion, dt (Donald Trump) would not be president right now if the GOP did what is best for America and not what is best for the GOP.

They opposed dt almost every step of the way until they saw a possible winner of the election which would put them in POWER…there’s that watch word…POWER!

They aren’t supporting dt because he is a good leader or a savior of the republic. No, they see him as their way into power. Now they have control. Is their first thought about how to make America work better? Is their first thought about making the government more responsive to the needs of the citizenship? Is their first thought about making of system of government better and open to all including making voting easier and more available to all of it citizens?

The answer of course is NO…a big fat NO. Because their interests are ‘we are in POWER now and let’s do all we can to STAY in POWER, and take all the advantages that being in power avails.’

What of the American people? Well, let’s make it look like we are trying to make things better, I imagine them saying. ‘But hey if things don’t work out for the people we can always blame the other side. Meanwhile we’ll do as we please because we have THE POWER.’

It seems to me that the single guiding light in making a law should always be:

will this newly proposed legislation be the best solution to a perceived problem for ALL of America?

Now granted there are a million things to consider. This is where the political BS takes place.

• Does this proposed law affect the economy (usually the number 1 concern)?

• How much will it cost?

• Do I or my party lose money?

• Will I or my party make money?

• Is it going to affect my party’s power?

• Will it negatively affect me or my party’s appearance to the public?

• How can we spin the negatives to make me and my party look better in the eyes of the public?

• Is the proposed law honest or legitimate?

• If not how do we make it appear so and still meet our goal?

And on and on until the end where the last question (though it should be the first) is asked: will the proposed legislation be the best possible legislation for the majority of the American people and America as a country?

It seems to me these suits forget why they were sent to Congress: to represent the people, our values and us. They were sent to congress to negotiate for our best interests, to look out for us, defend us, further our interests, not negotiate for their best interests, defend and look out for just themselves, and further their interests while the publics interests be damned!

The litmus test must and should always be what is best for the people and America as a whole! As anyone with any common sense can see this is not the case.

If it were the case, we would have cut the insurance companies out of health care years ago and become a single-payer health care system like the rest of the industrialized countries.

If it were the case, we would have cut carbon emissions years ago and moved toward renewable energy sources instead of hanging on for the coal, gas, and oil industry.

If it were the case, the bankers and Wall Streeters that crashed our markets in 2006 would be in prison.

If it were the case, the people would have been bailed out of the great recession, not the banks and the wealthy.

If it were the case, GW and Cheney would have been held accountable for war crimes and starting a war on false pretense.

If it were the case, we would not now be dealing with an illegitimate president and a cabinet full of millionaires and billionaire who, for the most part, are not quality human beings and do not have the country’s best interest at heart.

If it were the case, office holders like Mitch McConnell would not have a salary of $175,000 a year and make $24 million plus in less than 6 years as a congressperson. (Gee, I wonder how he managed to increase his net worth by 24 million dollars working full-time as a public servant for his constituents.

So how do we get back to making America great again?

Education is a good beginning, but here again we now have a self-serving billionaire as head of the Department of Education whose sole interest is robbing the coffer of public education so wealthy people can get vouchers to help pay for their private schools. Public, again, be damned.

We get back to greatness by getting out more voters on election day. The democrats have designs to make election day a holiday, open poles early, and do more voting by mail. The republicans want to gerrymander for their benefit, push for voter ID laws and other ways to make it harder for people to vote, and limit early voting as much as possible because studies show the left-leaning folks vote early.

We get back to greatness by limiting Congress to 2 terms and eliminating the revolving door that so many politicians use. In Congress, they suck out as much as they can, then it’s off to the private sector where they become a lobbyist or visa-versa. Or they push bills through, then leave Congress with a big, fat cushiony job with the industry they just helped. Remember the bill that wasn’t really in the best interest of the people or of the country? Remember that one! It sure as hell was good for you, Congressperson, wasn’t it?

We get back to greatness by becoming a morally responsible society. No more out-and-out lying and getting away with it. Just like the financial institutions should never be too big to fail, so too should no person be too big to be held accountable. Think back to President Nixon. I bet he resigned so Mr. Ford, as the next president, would issue a presidential pardon thereby eliminating a prison term for Nixon.

I can imagine the conversation: Hey Gerry, I’ll resign so you become Prez and then you can pardon me. See? It’s a win-win. You’re Prez and I’m free. Great idea, huh? Ah, screw what’s right. To hell with the laws; we are above the law.

Doesn’t this conversation seem plausible also? Hey George, Cheney and I think we can get you that war you want because “they tried to kill your daddy” by just telling the people that Saddam has weapons. No, no, not just weapons but weapons of mass destruction. Sounds better don’t you think? And we can get Condi to lie and trick Collin into lying to NATO. Surely that will get the people on our side. Oh and we’ll make the public think they are unpatriotic if they don’t side with us. How does “if you ain’t with us you’re against us” sound? What? It’s not right? Who cares; we get the oil, eliminate Saddam, and make lots of MONEY. But won’t we get into trouble? Nah we’re to big to prosecute don’t you know!

To return to greatness, we need to smooth over the divide created by the Bush administrations and start respecting each other.

We get back to a great American by working with each other instead of being the party of “NO,” as in no to everything Obama.

We get back by caring for our fellow man. We need to care more and be more understanding. We need a single-payer healthy care for the people. How can we even sleep at night knowing that American citizens and veterans are without food and shelter, while guys like dt make billions (and who knows his tax liability,) and corporations get billions in subsidies. These guys are the real leeches of society; the takers and not the givers.

Most importantly, we must take off our republican and democrat hats and think what is best for all Americans and America itself. There will be decisions made that perhaps don’t benefit you personally, but are best for the country. Some may benefit you greatly while others benefit another sector of society more so. Hell, right now the wealthy in this country are way ahead in benefits compared to the working stiffs.

The litmus test in all the decisions made by Congress should be what is best for all of America and its citizenry!

But we aren’t there yet.

Feeling upset, troubled, and uneasy? Take two aspirins and call me in the morning!