Can't get a pulse........

If anyone needed further proof that the media is completely out of touch with the American people, then look no further than their coverage and response to the recent Tea Parties. I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched CNN, and then read Frank Krugman of the NY Times analysis of these historic events. In case you missed it, they portrayed the parties as all out right-wing nut job fests patronized by "milita-wannabe" anti-Obama GOP goons. Actually the 300,000+ tea party attendees were from all political parties, some were even Obama voters, they were completely peaceful and not there to attack any political party or figure. (see Kathy's personal account of the tea parties in the post directly below this one) The party attendees were average, everyday citizens of all political parties deeply concerned at the direction of this country. I just can't fathom how the media can't get a pulse on America and the frustration we're feeling at a government out of control. Dems and Repubs are both craving COMMON SENSE and integrity restored to Washington. That's why this blog is called a common thread, because the majority of Americans do share a common desire for responsibility, common sense, and honesty from our politicians. We just want our representatives to actually REPRESENT US!!! I'm not saying the whole country is headed for happy unity, but I see glimmers of hope that maybe Democrats and Republicans will stop blaming EVERYTHING on each other, and start holding our politicians more responsible for behavior that can only be described as reckless and completely void of common sense. Here is just a very light surface-scratching of evidence:

Congress just recently passed the largest spending bill in History WITHOUT EVEN READING IT!!! That's like coming home from work at 530pm and your spouse yelling at you in full panic that you have to buy a second home today or it may be too late, and you have to sign all the papers before the bank closes at 600! Would you EVER consider that??? No way, but our Congress did just that! We were told it just HAD to be done RIGHT AWAY. Not only is it reckless and foolish, it's also completely inneffective. If anyone is still duped into thinking the so called stimulus will actually stimulate the economy, a January 2009 WSJ article helps paint the real picture quite well. According to the article, some of the not so stimulating items in the bill include: "$1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment forthe Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons".This bill was over 800 billion, but not all the atrocities have happened under Obama. George W and the GOP congress of a few years back, and the Dems in congress now, they're all mortgaging our future (i.e. enslaving our children) with debt we can't even come close to afford. In just the last year, the government spending spree amounts to over 12 trillion. That's approximately 40,000 per person!!! This bipartisan fiscal suicide has got to stop.

For a second piece of evidence, Washington can't even fill it's job slots with honest people! We're not talking one or 2 isolated events, this disease of dishonesty is a pandemic. For instance BOTH nominations for Sec of HHS, Daschle and Sebelius, as well as Tresury Secretary Geithner (who ironically now heads the IRS) were all evading taxes! And then there's longtime tax cheaters too like Charlie Rangel, head of the ways and means committee (that means he helps write the tax code). Is there an irony contest in Washington i'm not aware about? All this is like a local scout troop continually hiring new scout leaders except every one of them is on the sex offender registry, yet they want you to still trust them with your boy.

Then there's education. This is a great example, because no matter you're political party, we all want a high quality education for our kids, but Washington is so tied to special interests and teacher's unions that kids take the back seat. Case in point, the DC voucher program is being cancelled next year. Look at the #'s and you tell me if Washington has any common sense: Right now the DC public school system spends more per child than anywhere in the country, over 12,000 year! (this is yet one more piece in the giant pile of evidence that Washingtons assumption that throwing money at every problem will solve it is fundamentally flawed, but that's for another day) Back to the issue at hand: In this voucher program the government gives families 7,500 yr to give them a choice of schools, most of which have double the reading and math proficiency as the public. So, to review. Kid stays in public school costing the taxpayer over 12,000, or picks a charter school TWICE as good for almost 5,000 less to the taxpayer, which means the public school literally still gets paid without the kid!!! Despite this no brainer set-up, Washington is giving the program the axe. Why?? It's the same reason government has problems with home-schooling despite the powerful supporting statistics, it takes control away from them. Power, control, and special interests hold higher priority than the quality of the child's eductation. Shameful.

Need more evidence? As mentioned above, the government directly harms us by spending billions of our tax dollars, and indirectly by banning proven energy solutions like off shore drilling and nuclear power, all because of some bogus theory called man-made global warming. (Here's a tip global warmers, if you're going to continue this ridiculous theory, you may want to get the Earth to cooperate. In case you missed it, the earth hasn't even been warming in the last few years..it...ahh nevermind. I've rambled on about this long enough (see my other blog). Look Washington, all of us, even the staunchest conservative is totally on board with cleaner energy and taking care of the environment. We all deeply care about our planet, but for crying out loud let's not use bogus, harmful myths to re-distribute wealth under the false premise of protecting the planet from phony future doom like melting polar caps...lets actually do something crazy and protect the planet for a real reason like, I dunno.....wanting our kids to enjoy the same beautiful planet we enjoy???? Common sense works Washington...you should try it sometime.

Finally, in a post-9/11 world, our government still is doing almost nothing to secure our borders, despite the violence on our southern border being to the level where more people have been killed there than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It's insane. People who protect us, like hero border agents Ramos and Compean, get punished and imprisoned, while people who are breaking the law by sneaking into our country are rewarded with "amnesty", or at least that's what Washington is attempting.....once again not really followin your logic Washington.
When checking for a pulse, there's really only 2 main reasons you just can't get it. If you're the mainstream media, it's cause your checking in the wrong place..in this case it's like they're feeling the bottom of America's shoe. And if your most Americans trying to get the pulse on Washington's common sense...well...it may we can't cause it's just plain DEAD. We can bring it back though. The Tea Parties were just an inkling of that. JRD