Issue 179 Entrenched Politicians October 8, 2013

Entrenched Politicians are a special breed. They think they are essential to the government and people and as such they do not ever want to leave. But what truly categorizes an entrenched politician.

The run for office forever: It is true that these individuals just keep running for political office. They will always try to be re-elected because they think that they must hold onto that seat of office and the power it contains (unless of course they can achieve a higher office). Here is the reason that we have people like Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Chuck Schumer in office. In order to keep their positions they will give kick backs to their constituents to bribe the populace to continuously re-elect them. Meanwhile the populace is none the wiser that the challenger with fresh ideas was probably a better pick. In other words the population chooses free stuff (which they actually pay for with their tax dollars) over true change.

Positions of power: Almost all the politicians who are entrenched hold some sort of seniority in their political organizations or are in select positions. Examples of such people are Republican John McCain who has a post on select committees that govern national security or Democrat Charles Rangel who sits on the committee that governs changes to the tax code. Men like these think they are needed to keep these organizations running smoothly. Unfortunately it is these same men who stagnate thought and debate. John McCain is set on his Neo Conservative views of exporting democracy to the rest of the world (a fool’s errand). Rangel on the other hand is a progressive that inaccurately believes that by maintaining a progressive income tax and making it even more progressive to the point where the rich just up and leave. As a result we middle class and lower tax payers are forced to pay off these stupid government programs. Basically, all we have are these political flops. McCain seems to actually want to go to war and Rangel drive out the countries bread winners that pay over 75% of the total income tax revenue that goes into the Federal government. Despite these obvious failings in logic, they are supported by the party leadership and all those who go against them are attacked.

When they finally leave: Well most leave (from my point of view) when they want to finally retire or die. But sadly this is not the case (well the retiring part, not the dead part). Many of these politicians, who leave office, whether by being unelected, or choosing to leave, typically end up richer still. This is because they end up as lobbyists at various political organizations and businesses. In short they become part of the crony capitalist support system. OK, they were always part of that structure, but now they get a chance to receive a larger paycheck beyond their current $175,000 a year salary. These politicians who leave office may not even leave Washington D.C. As once they become highly paid lobbyists they will need "access" to their former colleagues as they grant their new bosses “access” to various people in power in the government.

Conclusion: These men and women never leave. In D.C. they constantly lobby for one issue or another. I would not even be surprised to find that they will literally represent anyone so long as they are the highest bidder. So what is an answer to all this? Well it is the same answer that people have been asking for, for years. That answer is term limits, and in some cases the elimination of the 17th amendment to the Constitution as well. We cannot predict if this will eliminate all forms of lobbying, but it will at least make a dent in the entrenched ideologues that make up the party leadership. Yes, we can all agree (except the politicians) to wanting to kick the bums out.