WAKE THE HECK UP AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Politicians lie. Voters re-elect them time and time again.

The lies are pointed out, usually not very obviously unless of course the politician is supposedly a 'conservative' & then it is blared from every television, every radio, every newspaper, streamed across the internet, etc.

The politicians are re-elected.

Do we enjoy being lied to?
Are we ignoring the lies because "everyone lies"?
Are we worn down thinking that nothing can be done to change this?
Are we busy justifying a vote for the liar because we cannot be bothered to think for ourselves?

As we become more embroiled in the 'election year politics', I find myself more disgusted, more terrified, more stunned EVERY day. The information is pablum, doled out to us in bits & pieces by those surrounding the candidates. Every utterance by the candidates is 'explained' &/or clarified. Sentences are parsed by 'reporters' to find words or phrases that will create sensation/controversy/titillation or, if very lucky for the reporter 'CRISIS'.

We have the word CRISIS thrown at us daily. It seems every report contains the word CRISIS.

The housing market CRISIS.
The energy CRISIS.
The global warming CRISIS.
The Republican convention CRISIS.
The Democrat convention CRISIS.
The Myanmar CRISIS.
The earthquake in China CRISIS.
The tornadoes in the midwest CRISIS.
The flooding along rivers CRISIS.
The Medicare CRISIS.
The Iraq CRISIS.
The pharmaceutical CRISIS.

Get the point? Listening to the news, reading papers or the internet are certain to throw you into the CRISIS pool. Just pick your personal favorite & yes, it too is a CRISIS.

My personal CRISIS is the Senate, Congress, the Supreme Court, the President & of course, the CRISIS in our state of Wisconsin regarding our budget -- well actually, the lack thereof. Dealing with state issues is for another day. Right now, this concerns the federal level.

We the 'little people', the 'silent majority' had damn well better get off our butts and hold our so-called representatives accountable.

When do these idiots in the Senate & Congress begin to vote for us? When, since they have NEVER invested in US, do we DIvest ourselves of THEM?

The final straw for me in lighting this fire tonight is the "Lieberman-Warner Cap bill" that is currently being touted in the Senate & Congress. Do not be fooled into thinking this will actually cap anything other than your ability to afford gas to get to the grocery store or your children to school or to afford food. This is to 'save the environment' -- not save you or me or cut emissions. According to the EPA, this bill will increase gas costs by at least $1.50 per gallon. The GDP will be reduced by at least $3 TRILLION per year. This means far fewer jobs in America. This means far fewer businesses in America. This means more dependence on foreign products.

If this bill passes, you can be assured the costs will be passed on to you and me. The theory is that the government will auction off 'energy credits' that gas, electric, coal & oil companies will have to buy. Where will the money come from? You and me. No one else. Who do the idiots in government think will pay for this?

The people crafting garbage such as this do not actually work for money from us -- the salary & many benefits they are paid (certainly not earned) are miniscule compared to what they are paid elsewhere. Speeches, endorsements, appearances, fundraising, whatever -- they are all millionaires & will only become richer. Does it come as a surprise that most in the Senate & Congress are also lawyers?

Oh, by the way, your lawyer-friendly representative is about to vote to give lawyers an additional tax deduction -- they will be able to write off their expenses when suing someone. When you go to a lawyer who takes your case on contingency fee, he/she will get 30-50% of your award. Plus expenses. The expenses are in addition to the fee! But, now those poor lawyers will be able to write them off to aid in their enormous tax burden. WHY? They will be paid & be able to write the costs off also. How is that fair? Ordinary citizens cannot get this treatment. Not without a powerful lobby. Ordinary people do not HAVE a lobbyist.

If you don't believe me, believe a representative from Texas who was not re-elected & talked about the newly elected reps going to Austin, TX for their districts. He said (and I am paraphrasing) they will spend their first term learning the ropes & how things are done; voters cannot expect them to get much accomplished until they acquire seniority because that is when they get on powerful committees. That is where the real power lies. How sad that he is right. Maybe it is the first truly honest thing he has ever said but the media didn't even see the irony in his comments!

I believe that what he also meant was that that was where the real money lies. Seniority.

How is it that someone can take a job making just over $100,000 a year, keep the job a few years & be a millionaire? How many of these representatives file separately from their spouse so the acquisitions & benefits of their years in 'public service' are in the name of others or put into a trust just waiting until such time as they 'retire' or are (heaven forbid) defeated?

Doesn't it make you sick to think of this? Even with the best financial planner in the world, you can't live on a salary such as theirs, and wind up as a millionaire within a few years.

It is time to drill for oil in our country -- especially as CHINA is slant drilling for oil 50 miles off the shores of Florida! Yes, the state of Florida in America! CHINA! What are we doing? nothing! Why not drill off of our own shores or in Alaska in Anwar? Alaska WANTS to do this & is told NO! Thank Al Gore & his cronies & the environmentalists who care more for a fruit fly than for human life. Europe is running on nuclear energy & coal burning plants. But not us -- oh no -- not allowed. Coal burning plants are not going to be built even though modern technology has shown these plants to be unaffecting to the environment. Same story for refineries. NO. The lobby the environmentalists have is powerful & choking the rest of us. And while environmentalists pat themselves on their collective back, more people in America are finding it damn near impossible to make ends meet; to feed their children, to afford gas to drive to & from work, to pay property taxes, to even think about saving for college or a home or retirement.

The 'silent majority' sits silently.

There is no one watching out for us. NO ONE. You had better contact all of your elected representatives NOW and tell them to change.

We have to speak out NOW. To believe otherwise... you would have to be a chemo-brain, radiated, experimental-cancer-drugs-treated blonde.

Oh, wait...

I am one.