hail me friends, ahoy!

*reads the paper while waitin' fer his ambien to kick in*

mateys,

whilst watchin' the rough and tumble battle in the health care reform struggle, somethin' thats always kinda bothered me has come to the fore.

*gestures to the fore*

assumin' our democratic and republican officers on the bridge are made 'o flesh and blood, like you and i...this be me question i been ponderin';

how can they rule honestly and without feelin' any conflict 'o interest when various industries give'm such tremendous piles 'o treasure? how can this be? in any business i knows, the customer who ponies up the greatest heaps 'o gold always get special consideration.

do ordinary citizens in congress get some special superpowers...some magical resistance to the lure 'o monies when they step onto capitol hill?

have they iron control 'o thar sensibilities once they ascend to public office?

in North Carolina, we have...

and...

together, them leaders 'o our state have been paid to the tune 'o 3 million dollars from the captains 'o pharma and health insurance providers.

how in blazes could they be expected to make laws that would hurt the interests 'o these major donors?

and aye...i knows i just named three republican folks, but this kinda thing happens on both sides 'o the aisle.

could any 'o you mateys write laws that effect them very industries, and somehow ferget all the fortune them industries be handin' ye?

aye?

*waves*

- MeadHallPirate

YouTube - Are Politicians Failing Our Lobbyists?

Give it a rest dude.

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." - Margaret Thatcher

In my fantasy world, I like to think that I would have no problem writing laws against these industries. Of course, in this fantasy world, I would never accept money from them in the first place.

I have trouble understanding why our lawmakers are even allowed to accept money and gifts at all. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed... but shouldn't there be laws against accepting gifts? Isn't there some... uh... conflict of interest... er somethin?

The problem with that is, the people responsible for making laws are the same ones taking the money.
IMHO the best way to deal with this is in 2010 vote them out, in 2012 do it again. Then they might get the message. The problem with that is too many people just vote party line or vote the lesser of two evils and that solves nothing.

Yeah, good point. Bastards. It's shit like this that has turned me against ALL politicians, fuck the partisan crap. They're all corrupt. If they aren't corrupt yet, they will be soon.

Hoboken NJ recently had a mayor who was forced to resign in disgrace, after only being in office for ONE MONTH. He stepped down because he got caught taking $25,000 in bribes. What the fuck?

*cheers CharlesDavenport*

welcome back me friend! imma heartened to see that ye overcame yer disillusionment and tiredness to return to the decks 'o USPO.

*salutes*

- MeadHallPirate

ps - argh, i apologize mateys, the quotes in me OP were from thecharlotteobserver.com, our local newspaper.

also...oh exhausted CharlesDavenport...

i sees this as somethin' that cuts 'cross party lines.

just to make sure this doesn't appear as a partisan post, i was thinkin' bout tort reform. almost all the swabbys here on USPO agrees that tort reform be somethin' that ought to be enacted, to put a stop to them spurious lawsuits that drive up the cost 'o malpractice insurance and weigh down hospital bills with onerous tests.

well, how can anyone expect tort reform to be enacted, aye?

trial lawyers deposited around 236 million dollars into the coffers 'o campaign contributions in the last election cycle...80% 'o that went to democrats.

them democrats control both houses 'o congress and the white house.

could you turn a blind eye to 189 million dollars? could anyone?

aye?

*bows*

- MeadHallPirate