HARRY REID STILL DOESN’T GET IT

Did you see “Meet the Press” on NBC this past Sunday? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was one of the guests. He was interviewed by David Gregory, the host of the show.

One of the questions had to do with the Tea Party. No, they were not talking about the little play party that the Obama girls had the other day. And no, they were not talking about the Colonists throwing barrels of tea in Boston Harbor several hundred years ago.

So, unless you have been living in Outer Mongolia for a couple years, you know that the Tea Party Movement had a profound political effect on the makeup of our Congress in our recent elections. It had a big part in making the Republicans the majority in the House of Representatives and getting closer to majority in the Senate.

Old Harry was shaking in his boots as he was in a very close election and barely won, as was the case with many incumbents. But many other incumbents went down to defeat. Many of these defeated Congress people were Democrats but some were Republican as well.

The question put to him was: do you think the Tea Party will be a lasting part of our politics in this country? Reid’s answer was that the Tea Party emerged because of the country’s economic problems. He went on to say that the Tea Party will no longer exist when the economy improves and that it is getting better every day.

Harry, you are not listening to the people. You are not paying attention to what just happened. Are you so senile that you can’t see what is going on?

This is the point. The Tea Party is neither Republican nor Democrat. It is American! This is the point that Harry Reid is missing. The people are tired of their Congress people not listening to them. They are angry that their Congress people do not have the same rules as they do. For example, they don’t have the same health care plans, they don’t have to abide by insider trading rules (nor does their staff), they get a full pension after working in Congress for only 4 years, they vote themselves raises when they want to, they take advantage of overseas travel for themselves, their spouses and their staff, etc.

This is why so many incumbents went down to defeat and why it will happen again in the next election. If the incumbents don’t get the message, then someone new will take their place. The people want to be heard and they want to be really represented by their Congress people.

It is not just an economic issue. The Tea Party will be here as long as our Congress people do not listen to their constituents!

This is the point Harry, do you now get it?

SENATE IS IN SESSION ON A SATURDAY!

Boy, were my eyes opened by what we saw this past Saturday!

First of all, let me ask you: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make any noise? Keep this question in mind as you read on.

We were in DC this past weekend visiting relatives. On Saturday, which was a beautiful day, we toured the new visitor’s center at the Capitol. This is a new facility that is on the backside of the Capitol and is underground. In fact, it connects through a tunnel to the Library of Congress, which is also worth seeing if you are in DC.

Anyway, as we went in to the center, the attendant asked if we wanted to sit in on the Senate. That is right, the US Senate. They were in session talking about the proposed Health Care legislation. On a Saturday, no less!

Wow, what an opportunity that would be to see our lawmakers in action! We decided that this could not be passed up; that it was a “must do” thing.

Ok, to make a long story short, we passed through a lot of security and were escorted into the balcony overlooking the Senate chamber. It was in fact, in session! The cameras were on and one Senator was speaking. He was giving a presentation on the ramifications of the new health care legislation. It was a very good presentation, using charts and everything!

The only problem was that there were only three other Senators in the entire chamber! And they left just a minute or two after we were seated. So, this Senator from Alabama was giving a very impressive presentation to no one! Granted, maybe he was being filmed for C-Span or something but no one was hearing him. At least no one that counted. Out of 100 total Senators who were supposed to be in session, only one was actually in session and he was the one talking!

Maybe they do this all the time. It would certainly be an eye opener for most of America, you think?

I am thinking more and more that we need to throw all the bums out and start over! Let’s elect all new comers at each election until we can get this thing right.

Now, I ask once again, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make any noise?