No

by Charles Q Blair

Created on: October 25, 2007

Let us look at the big picture - as the people who think it is OK seem to be missing some obvious points.

First off even in my industry - insurance - when any of us leave or jobs we are, in the main, not allowed to work for competitors in the same field, if we do then we have to sign a waiver to ensure that we do not try and contact any business we have previously done for our employer for at least a 12 month period.

If in insurance you have to sign waivers then in Congress it should be flatly not allowed.

Americans though appear to either be uninformed or uninterested or indeed just plain stupid - who do they think makes their laws? George Bush perhaps? DO they picture him sitting, thinking hard (with a wee cartoon on) and coming up with laws (to screw over the majority)?

43% of Lawmakers since 1998 have traveled through the Revolving Door between congress and lobby groups since 1998! That means that almost half of the people making laws worked directly in the fields they made laws upon.

Now you may be dumb enough to think this is not bad but, for example, lets say I was a previous director of a large multi-national firm that was responsible for making weapons. I become a politician, retain my shares in the company then, during my role as say, Vice President, I then ensure that my previous employer is awarded multi-Billion dollar contracts - mostly on a non-compete basis (which goes against the rules of such government contracts) - would you consider me to have been fair and working in YOUR best interest or mine and my companies best interest?

I think I would be jaded - well, I wouldn't be as I wouldn't do that but, say my name was Dick Cheney - then you tell me, is that a legitimate way to run your country and spend hard earned tax dollars?

What about Edward Aldridge - gives Lockheed Martin a $3Billion contract a month before he leaves the Pentagon to join them! Is HE acting in the countries interest?

We of course have James Connaughton - the chairman of the council on Environmental Quality - formerly (well they say formerly) a lobbyist for power industry and large electrical firms(General Electrics and ARCO for example). This is also the man who, contrary to popular opinion, has lowered standards and weakened legislation in such small matters as getting arsenic out of drinking water and he was a main player in advising bush to ignore and stall all issues relating to Climate Change.

Where did his loyalties lie?

Jeffrey Holmstead - an EPA administrator who was a previous lobbyist for large electrical firms too, as well as some farm groups fighting pesticide regulations - this man has, in the cutely named Clear Skies Initiative, has allowed a 520% increase in toxic mercury pollution, a 225% jump in CO2 pollution, he has delayed the Smog and soot enforcements on pollution back to 2016 and to cap that off he has also watered down the laws regarding Mercury Poisoning in regards to children - most claiming that his 'former' employee all but wrote the law itself!

Do you think that is how government FOR the people should work?

You can check plenty more out, as I said 43% - say William Horn, Ralph Ives, Paul Kaminski, Andrew Lundquist, Jeffrey Merrifield - and these aren't even the worst or most senior!

58 of 112 Republican members of congress since 1998 have registered as lobbyists.

America may fight illegal wars all it wants, Bush may talk about 'freedoms' whatever that means to him, but even the most right wing person should look at their own country - and not the stars and stripes FOX News version of it - the real america, the one that facts and figures your news doesn't show spell out and you can only come up with one answer.

America is corrupt.

America is undemocratic.

America is not the home of the free and is certainly not the land of the brave.

America IS the main point on the axis of evil.

America is state sponsored terrorism.

It does not take a corrupt money grabbing philadeplhia lawyer to work out why the rest of the world rates Bush and his cronies as the people and country they are most afraid of and are the biggest threat to peace and democracy.

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