I know what you’re thinking. A painfully long article on the U.S. Congress as you scroll down and down to see exactly how long this article is. I know, I do the same more often than I’d care to admit but I do my best to make all my articles not only informative but interesting as well. After sacrificing 10 minutes or so of your lives, I hope you agree that it was worth the read. Then immediately go to Amazon and purchase every single one of the books offered on my site. (Shameless plug).
Might as well get through the boring stuff first before going into specifics. What exactly is the role of Congress? As far as most of us are aware, the House spends all the money or allocates it into slush funds that can be drawn upon or moved around until it’s spent, stopped or returned to the people. They’re also supposed to hold the administration accountable through oversight hearings (most turning out to be nothing more than media fodder or future campaign ads than holding anyone actually accountable because no one rarely, if ever, is.) The interesting aspect about House hearings is that it all depends on who is in the majority at the time. From what I’ve seen over the last decade or so, Republicans do their best to uncover the truth behind an issue by asking pertinent questions while Democrats do their best to “get” the other guy by way of making speeches or hold incredibly biased hearings like the one on January 6th which was more of an abomination than a hearing. Remember, those Representatives participating in these hearings are under no obligation to tell the truth. Unlike those who testify, the ones making speeches aren’t under oath. Hence the speeches. Again, nothing other than future campaign ads or racing to their respective media outlets afterwards (or during) to make more unsubstantiated speeches. Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin and Eric Swalwell are great examples of this (among others.)
The Senate has hearings as well but if you didn’t hear anything about them on the news, you’d never had known they took place. What else does the Senate do? In a nutshell, they can throw a President out of office after impeachment if they desire. They confirm or deny Presidential appointments such as ambassadors and judicial court justices. Top of the list— they can kill any bill passed in the house by either voting it down or not bringing the bill to a vote at all. Don’t get me wrong, the House has the same ability which is the reason for amendments, markups and earmarks meaning (donor pork.)
In other words, the House represents the people and the Senate represents the State. If anyone feels the need to learn more about how this all works, I invite you to watch two videos (parts 1 and 2) produced by Timothy Rodman titled The U.S. Congress. Here are the links: Part One and Part Two.
Now that we’ve gotten the appetizer out of the way, let’s get to the main course. Still with me? Good!
We get the Government we vote for. That’s how it’s supposed to work, right? The question is, are we in fact, getting the Government we’re voting for? That’s the first step, voting. But since the 2020 election, election integrity has been at the forefront of people’s minds. Not so much in local elections mind you (or, it could be taking place but just not deemed important enough to be covered by national media which could be why they’re considered a rare event.) That being said— when it comes to State and national elections, it’s a different story altogether.
I’ve been bee-bopping around on this planet for quite awhile now and I have to say, I’ve never seen in my life what the U.S. has and continues to go through since 2015 regarding elections, the media, politics, education, ideology, crime and our supposed sacred court system. It’s as if those behind those behind the curtain having done their utmost (apparently through Biden and Democrats) to turn this country back to the track they had originally intended when they were sure Hillary Clinton would win only to be flipped on their heads with Trump’s unimaginable victory. Consequently, their plans were set back four years. When it comes to these people, they can do four years standing on their heads. It gave them time to further their strategy making absolutely sure Trump would not be re-elected including their plans for Biden once installed. (Yes, Biden’s nomination and election was a predetermined foregone conclusion.) Here’s where everything went sideways. While it would have been much better had Hillary won resulting in a seamless transition from Obama regarding policies, the American public got a taste of Trump. And even with never-ending investigations and two impeachments, they weren’t able to tarnish Trump’s first term with tens of millions of voters. What they did next is history and to this day, contrary to daily reminders from liberal media that there is no evidence the 2020 election was stolen, the American public knows it was. Though there are also millions of Americans who didn’t mind. Anyone but Trump, right? The ends justified the means. Nevertheless, we still got a taste of four years of Trump which is why those holding real power in this country continue to do everything possible to make sure he doesn’t win a second term. And they’re once again using the same playbook only this time (because they’re scared shitless because of Biden’s dismal polling numbers) they’ve added an extra layer of perceived security using concocted indictments from and overseen by what obviously appears to be corrupt DA’s— and sadly, Judges as well. It’s astonishing how blatant this is and what should concern us all is that they know we know how blatant this is and they don’t care.
Again, I know what you’re thinking, what does this have to do with Congress? And the answer is— everything. Although to be more clear, it has more to do with us as voters. I’ve written (or have included in) many articles doing my best to point out the tremendous amount of blind faith we place in those we give our vote to only (for many of us) to be sorely disappointed by their actions and their votes afterwards. It’s their votes representing what people who voted them into office for is what voters should be paying the most attention to. Not how good they look or charismatic they appear to be. How they voted on issues we deem important should be paramount in determining whether or not we were bamboozled into voting for them. Fool me once, shame on them… fool me twice— well, you know the rest of it.
But I can’t stress this enough. What we’re all witnessing (here in the U.S.) is unbelievably unique which begs the question I find myself constantly asking. If 80% of the American public fervently believe America is without a doubt heading in the wrong direction then how are we getting a Government that is apparently directly and defiantly bound and determined to keep us on this road? It just doesn’t make sense, does it? Although to be honest, nothing is making much sense these days.
We the People or We the Donors
Does that have any meaning any longer? Exactly who are we the people? All Ive seen over the past decade is we the Democrats on one side and we the Republicans (polar opposites) on the other with the rest somewhere in the middle with politicians elected to represent us and them. At one time, years long past, we the people had our differences but as a whole we reluctantly accepted what was passed by the majority in Congress primarily because even though we may not have agreed, we knew it wasn’t so bad we couldn’t live with it. At least until our side returned to the decision making process and made changes. The other side did the same when it became their turn. Whether we liked it or not, it wasn’t bad enough to the point where it seriously affected the lives of all Americans. Keyword: All Americans. In other words, We the People.
Sure, there were problems and major events in the past and it’s important to note that in no way shape or form am I making light of them, like LBJ’s rigged and stolen Senate elections (two of them), the Kennedy (John and Robert,) and King assassinations, the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, the Vietnam war, Kent State, Nixon’s resignation, Clinton’s overzealous libido just to name a few. And while those events were incredibly important at the time they took place, (some even to this day) no one was forcing you to buy an electric car, a particular light-bulb, AC unit, electric lawn mower, be vaccinated or allow 12 to 15 million illegal aliens enter the U.S. (illegally) and receive billions in aid while here (costing us even more as they’re deported). Back then, life went on and for the most part, Government did their best not to get deeply involved in those areas. Other than the years the events above took place, the over-all peace between government and the governed was kept.
Not that easy to say these days with many thinking, who are our representatives actually representing? We the people or we the corporate donors? The answer was a bit more clear 50 years ago but not so much today seeing as hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on elections for offices that pay somewhere around 180K a year. It used to be candidates relied on citizen supporters to fund their campaigns along with equal time provided by the media. Not true these days and I’m not going to guess what the real totals derived from what candidates like to call their grassroots supporters doing their best not to mention the totals from PACS and super PACS as if to avoid at all costs from being thought of, compared with or accused of having a political affair with them behind we, the people’s backs or at the very least being caught in bed with them. This includes both Party’s. When you look at legislation passed over the last decade and the earmarks (pork) they hide within bills, one can only conclude that for the most part, Congress represents the corporate donors and their political agendas. Biden talks about the billions going to green-new-deal initiatives failing to mention who profits the most when doling out the money to said start-ups and corporations. Trust me, the Biden administration doesn’t give a rats ass about climate-change unless it’s used to further profits of elite donors eager to jump on the money mill bandwagon. That’s the real agenda. And an expensive one but getting a corporation’s way is more than worth the price. I wrote an article not too long ago titled The Big Con: Door Stops of Deception. Want to know how garbage bills get passed? Read it.
And don’t get me started on these insane earmarks recently passed. OK, ok you twisted my arm. Here’s a few—
- (1)— $1 million to expand a LGBT community center in Philadelphia.
- (2)— $200 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund.
- (3)— $850k for “bus stop equity” in California.
- (4)— $1 million for a “citywide climate assessment” in Rhode Island.
- (5)— $400k in taxpayer dollars that will go to Garden State Equality in New Jersey, which promotes “FREE gender-affirming garments.”
- (6)— $850,000 earmarked for LGBTQ Senior Housing in Massachusetts.
The above is just a sample and I’m certain somewhere on the internet, you’ll find a page that will say it’s not as bad as others make it out to be or they’ll do their best to make it appear it’s not. Personally, I don’t care either way. These, and probably 99% of all earmarks are not essential meaning, we can live without them. Remember, none of this happens unless the right people are voted into office. I believe it’s safe to go out on a limb here and say that it’s complete insanity to think We the People wanted any of these. Moving on….
Unprecedented Times
How many times do we here that now, daily? “We’re living in unprecedented times.” Seems like we’ve been living in unprecedented times for quite some time. I’d venture to say at the very least since Obama’s election in 2009. That’s when the proverbial writing on the wall became more apparent (and surprising) than many imagined. Obama’s Affordable Care Act was like the starting gun at a race signaling the beginning of some major changes about to take place in the U.S.. But that was the premise of everything Obama, right? Change? And Congress went right along with it including many Republicans who were probably scared of being declared a racist if they didn’t go along. Huge bills passed with little to no debate or even time to read them by Congress appeared the way to do business back then. (Sound familiar?) What was it Nancy Pelosi said? “You have to pass the bill before you can find out what’s in it.” So they passed it and once they found out, regret was inevitable but there wasn’t much they could do. “Too late!,” the Left said.
To be clear, it was Obama’s mandate that changed everything. Other actions to be sure but it was his mandate forcing all Americans to purchase health insurance through Obama’s well paid bureaucracy that pissed off the majority of Americans so much, it brought about the Tea Party Movement subsequently ending the Democrat majority in the House for all but his first two years in office. Fortunately for Obama, he was able to hang on to the Senate for the first six of eight years although not by much but who cared just as long as they were in control. That’s all that really matters. Margins of a majority can indeed be a concern (as we’re seeing today) but at the end of the day, it’s about control no matter which side you’re on.
The final two years of Obama signified that America was no longer buying what Obama was selling. They had had enough of him but more importantly, his policies on just about everything. Even Democrats knew there was no way in hell a Democrat would win the upcoming election. The only saving grace for Obama’s election and re-election was Republicans offered up two of the worst candidates on the planet to run against him. McCain and Romney. Seriously? That was the best the RNC could come up with? Pathetic, which was the main reason for Obama’s success in both. But that was all about to change.
I have to also make the point that it just wasn’t the Presidency Americans were fed-up with, they were equally if not more fed-up with Congress as a whole. Americans felt those in Congress were using their role in making America a better place to live as a stepping stone to bigger and more profitable positions outside of Government. And to this day, it continues to be how Americans feel about Congress as a whole giving them the lowest approval numbers in history. Seeing that this has been the case for decades, I’m certain this comes as no surprise to any of them nor do I imagine they care. Because of this, the usual, run-of-the-mill politicians were the last thing Americans wanted to see let alone have to choose between during primaries. Remember, the choices conservatives have been given at the time were nothing to write home about. It’s from that overwhelming frustration that made Trump’s entrance into the political arena such a breath of fresh air. Anyone who honestly believed he had no chance of winning had to have been living under a rock which was proved to be true after his win.
Trump was such a powerful media force (for and against)— he literally sucked all the political oxygen out of the room for congressional races. It was like the Presidential race was all anyone thought about letting their previous votes ride on whomever the incumbent was at the time basically checking the box with an R next to it. Republicans did lose six seats in the House and two in the Senate managing to keep control of both for the first half of Trumps term. But the one important fact conservatives neglected to keep in mind is Congress was still made up of establishment politicians who played the game they had been playing for a very long time. Trump was an anomaly at best and inasmuch as many Republicans in Congress were astonished he actually won the election in the first place, they had absolutely no idea what to think of him let alone how to work with him. The Republican Congress was old guard, go along to get along, don’t rock the boat too much even though many were Tea Party hold-overs. They had no idea what to think of their new Commander in Chief. What they did know was— Trump was no politician therefore, he wasn’t going to put up with the Republican’s old ways of doing business making that very clear on day one. Some in Congress weren’t used to that kind of attitude making them even more concerned whether supporting his agenda would be a good idea for their own political futures. Their actions, not Trump’s is what lead to their own shellacking in the House during the midterms. Some intentionally giving up their seats because they refused to make the adjustment American conservatives wanted them to make? Who knows their motivations, but I will speculate a little later. Suffice to say, had there been full Republican support during Trumps first two years in office, he could have accomplished much more than he was able to although most of which heavily relied on himself and his pen. The Republican held Senate— other than confirm Trump’s nominees for the Supreme Court weren’t overly helpful either which is why they experienced the same fate in 2020 by losing the Senate as well.
Now here’s the strange part of all this and makes anyone on either side of the aisle wonder why certain parts of agendas, promises or whatever a candidate says in order to get elected aren’t accomplished. Especially when a particular side is in what I call The Sweet Spot. This is when a Party has control of the Presidency and a majority in both Houses of Congress. It’s like, break out the wish-list, right? They could pass just about anything they wanted with the only concern being some might lose seats afterwards (depending on what was passed). But it wouldn’t be the first (or the last) time a politician fell on their political sword and took one for the team. Keep in mind, politicians don’t do this without the expectation of some kind of reward for doing so. One can only speculate what that reward could be. Lobbyist? A book deal? High paying cushy job loaded with benefits on a corporate board or think-tank? Seeing as over 400 former members of Congress are now working as lobbyists or similar jobs, this should surprise no one. Remember that stepping stone we talked about earlier? But let’s get back to the sweet spot and ask the question. Why— when Biden and the Democrats had control of congress did they fail to pass that which they are running for now? They had the chance. Immigration? No problem. They could have easily passed an immigration reform bill without blinking twice. Then again, Republicans could have done so as well during their first two years of Trump but they chose not to. Why is that? I can only think of two reasons. (1) Can you imagine how much money is involved in the migrant industrial complex? Neither can I though I would guess it’s in the billions of dollars. The 2nd and 3rd obvious questions would be where is all this money coming from and where is it going? No one really knows other than so-called NGO’s who few if any know what the hell that means but I suspect there are some who are becoming incredibly wealthy in the process and I’m not referring to Mexican Cartels. Gotta keep that money train alive and well through adversity and chaos, right? (2) When it comes to the Congress of today, it’s become much easier/safer to simply punt the ball down the road until re-election comes into view once again along with the standard line coming from candidate’s mouths— “More work needs to be done and if elected….” well, you know the rest. We’ve been hearing this same shit for decades from both Party’s. Most candidates hoping the public forgets the fact the exact same lines were used in their previous election bids. For more on this, see article: Promises Promises.
But now it’s different. Why? Because we’re living in unprecedented times. And to an extent, we are. States suing to take a Presidential nominee off a ballot. Indictments galore from Democrat everything in Democrat controlled Cities and States hoping (like throwing spaghetti against a wall) at the very least one will lead to a predetermined conviction to be used as campaign fodder against Trump in the media. All they have to do is begin a trial. They are literally chomping at the bit for a criminal trial, any criminal trial to begin. Why? Because a conviction is all but assured. Sure, it will be over-turned on appeal and they don’t care. They need that conviction yesterday. And the meltdown from Democrats, more-so by their media mouthpieces when things don’t go the way they expected is not only a barrel of laughs, but kinda sad when you think about it. Again— blatant.
After giving a little thought to the term unprecedented times, I believe what this means is America is in fact in a political civil war which began close to the end of Obama’s second term. This war is between Conservatives and Liberals which includes Permanent Washington because for some reason, Democrats have joined forces with them along with any other group of people (large or small) who seem to sincerely believe in a huge socialist Government. As Ron Paul would say, being taken care of from the cradle to the grave. Congress has played no small role in this effort. To Democrats, it’s them against us with Republicans saying… “can’t we all just get along?” as they bicker amongst themselves. You see, this is Republican’s largest fault. In the dog eat dog world of politics, they keep believing in a fair system of Government. They get slapped and immediately turn the other cheek to get slapped again. If they lose a majority, they’ll continue to say they were in the right but at the end of the day, they still lost the majority. And while individualism might be seen as a noble trait, that and a dime won’t get them anywhere in a situation requiring unity. It reminds me of the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack Sparrow takes the chest containing the heart of Davy Jones right under the noses of the two soldiers guarding it while arguing between themselves. Like those guarding the heart, Some Republicans have completely lost sight of why they were elected and what was expected of them. It sure as hell wasn’t to fight amongst themselves. But they do. Even when given a second chance controlling the House, they’re blowing the opportunity to accomplish what little we expected them to, seeing as we all knew very little if anything could be done with Democrats control of the Senate. And as of right now, they’re not even doing that. The recently passed $1.2 trillion minibus bill is proof enough. It’s not only shameful, it’s down-right embarrassing. And now they’re considering removing Johnson? All I can say is WOW!
The grievances Marjorie Taylor Greene has against Johnson may very well be justified. BUT!~ Right or wrong, this is something you just don’t do so close to an election. The media is going to have a field day with this doing their best to show chaos and dysfunction in the Republican controlled House and their complete inability to unify or agree on anything. Especially with such a slim margin and seeing we just went through this a year ago resulting in sowing doubt with conservatives that those they elect do nothing but fight amongst themselves.
I’ve said it before, House Republicans should have figured all this shit out before taking control instead of creating these optics now. For the average uninformed conservative (independent or otherwise,) many will see this as political suicide or at the very least and yet again, shooting themselves in the foot with their own gun.
On the other hand, we have the Democrats— who have toeing the Party Line down to a science. You have to give them credit. They rarely waiver. The same can’t be said regarding republicans which to be brutally honest was one of the main reasons I wrote 2024: The Wreckoning for it was just as much a book about Republicans winning again as it was a warning to the Republican Party that they better get their shit together or conservatives will form a new Party and if Trump endorses the move, the RNC will join the Whigs and Democratic Republicans in the history books. Democrats elect those who will vote Democrat, no matter what. Right or wrong and many times, even to their own detriment.
Has it always been this way in Congress? The following is an excerpt from my recent book, 2024: The Wreckoning derived from the article, The Big Con: Door Stops of Deception.
Interesting tidbit about Congress
Since 1901 and the 57th Congress until 2022 marking the end of the 117th Congress— a political Party holding Congress and the Presidency has occurred thirty-five times for a total of seventy years out of 122 years. Out of those seventy years, Republicans had control for thirty years and Democrats had control for forty years. Personally— I was a little surprised by this fun fact. Don’t ask me why, I just was. Feel free to look up the particulars online. They’re out there. So you’d think the party-line vote would be an extremely common occurrence. While it has been recently, it wasn’t the norm in the past. Interestingly enough, up until the early 1970’s, party-line voting in Congress was around 60%. Now it’s upwards to 90% or greater with little if any real deliberation beforehand. It’s like— why bother? You already know the outcome. [end excerpt]
So why the change? How have we arrived to a them against us belief system here in the U.S.? The last 12 years pretty much answers that question but it’s now become much more than that. Why? Answer: Because Donald Trump will most likely win the 2024 election which makes down ballot races for Congress all the more important. His win or loss will signal a paradigm shift in America. More on this in the epilog.
Damn, it’s the Epilog already? How time flies. OK, where was I? I was saying— His win or loss will signal a paradigm shift in America. How many times do we hear… “This will be the most important election you’ll ever vote in”? Just about every election, right? Well, this is one time I can tell you with 100% certainty this upcoming election will in fact be the most important election you’ll vote in. And I’m talking about the whole enchilada. The Presidency and Congress. Both Houses. Now I’ll be the first to admit House Republicans have been disappointing but I’m hoping they’ll remedy this with perhaps a unity pledge along with a sincere apology to conservatives. As I said earlier, we all knew they weren’t going to get anything substantial passed because of the Senate but… DAMN! The infighting? You’ve already blown your chance using the power of the purse so quit fighting in public and come to a damn consensus behind closed doors and don’t come out until you fix this. I can’t be more serious— if Trump loses this election, kiss your Party good-bye. If the House and Senate aren’t Republican held at the very least for the first two years, kiss your Party good-bye. Out of all times the Republican Party has to get it right, this is the time. Why is this election so important and why is it imperative Trump wins you ask? Because this is Trump’s last shot. If he loses, that seamless transition we talked about earlier won’t be a transition, it will be a continuation and if Democrats control congress as well, all bets are off.
They’ll blow up the filibuster, and do absolutely everything in their power to control the lives of all Americans and don’t think for a second the U.S. Supreme Court will save us. Perhaps eventually but as usual, that’s at a time when the damage has already been done. The 2024 election isn’t just another battle, it’s the war. Democrats have already spent this last year setting themselves up for the next four years. They’re acting like Biden’s election is already in the bag even though the polls say otherwise. And House Republicans aren’t helping the matter.
Trump will have only five main goals for his final term in office. They will be the following.
- 1— Secure the U.S. borders.
- 2— Deport every single illegal alien who does not merit asylum.
- 3— Become energy dominant.
- 4— End the Mexican Cartels
with the fifth and probably the most important of all.
- 5— Blow the entire lid off Permanent Washington. Shine a light so bright, there would be no place they could hide.
When Trump begins achieving these 5 goals, like domino’s, everything else will begin to fall into place as all hell breaks loose in D.C. because of goal 5. For more on this, I invite you to read the article Trump 2025— After the Win where I suggest what his first 100 days in office should look like. A lot of it having to do with the help he’ll require from a Republican Congress. In essence, this is his last shot and in many ways more importantly, Republican’s last shot to get it right. Make lasting changes by setting in stone legislation that solves issues and removes loopholes Democrats have a propensity to exploit. There is a reason why 2024 is a political war. Permanent Washington knows that if Trump wins, it will set them back at the very least a decade if not longer. You thought the January 6th riot was bad? It will look like a day in the park compared to what Democrats and the Left will do should Trump win. To Democrats and the Left I’d say… so much for democracy… right?
Beware the RINOS
Why on earth would a Representative or Senator resign while in office? Baring a catastrophic incident to either themselves or an immediate family member or caught taking bribes, drugs or advantage of a cute intern, I can’t think of a reason other than to sabotage their Party. Especially when their Party has such a narrow majority. This should be a huge red flag to all conservatives who plan on voting in this upcoming election. If you support Trump and his plans for the following four years, then you damn well better make sure you’re voting for those who will give him the support he’ll require to accomplish them. Too many RINO’s in the Republican Party.
We are a country that loves to point fingers instead of taking personal responsibility. We get the government we vote for so perhaps those low approval numbers we hand out to Government are handed out to the wrong people.
After-all, it was the majority of “We the People” who put them there.
