Comfortably Numb
Hello, Hello, Hello….
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
These are the opening lines to Pink Floyd’s 1979 rock classic "Comfortably Numb", but can be referred to as the new theme song for Congress. During a term when spending has spiraled out of control and we are wasting $24 billion in highway pork this year, and where there was arm twisting and a 2 am House session to slow the growth of government from 7.6% to 7.3%. It is easy for us to ask our representatives, "Is there anybody in there?" Congressmen have chosen to restrict themselves from standing up for their principles, and declined into a state of being "comfortably numb" That is the only explanation I can ascertain from the body’s inability to transfer funds from 2 superfluous Alaskan Bridges to help offset the reconstruction costs for the Gulf highway structure. This state of mind allows them the ability to be impervious to reason, and disillusioned from (hopefully) their true reason of going to Capital Hill, to serve their constituents.
I can recall a few months ago while meeting with a legislator discussing Social Security reform he stated, "Our strategy is to sit and wait on it." another legislator later quipped, "Well I’m going to wait to see how party leadership weighs in." Now I understand I’m an idealist, and yes I am young and have yet to be turned into a complete cynic, but don’t these two statements drive you, as a voter, MAD! If there is a plan to secure my future, and establish an ownership society and it saves me the burden of paying for a bankrupt entitlement program, why would you sit on your hands? If you are the individual that voters elected, why then are you unable to establish your own unabashed opinion free from overbearing party leadership that often does not align in the best interests of your constituents.
Sometimes I wonder if these "elected" officials realize that the monies they appropriate, and often earmark are the hard earned tax dollars of the U.S. workers. Maybe their inaction is due to the fact that they are just waiting long enough for the Death Tax moratorium to be lifted in 2010, so they can take half your money when you pass away.
It is difficult to understand the motivation of Congressmen. I wonder that Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) was extremely opposed to reappropriating the $223 million “Bridge to Nowhere†funds partly due to the fact she owns 33 acres to within a mile of where the bridge was going to be built. But she finally gave in and allowed the funds destination be determined by Alaskan transportation officials, hopefully her father, Governor Murkowski is able to stand above this conflict of interest when the time comes.
I do empathize with the few legislators who have not become drones yet, such as Senator Coburn (R-OK) who said in a debate about properly allocating resources, “We have the largest natural catastrophe (Katrina) that we’ve ever seen in our history. We have a hurricane coming on Florida (Rita). We’re at war. It is time we reassess†He was joined by 12 colleagues One of those Senators that stood up for what was best for America, was Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) who I have had the opportunity to hear speak many times, and is as principled of a man as you will find on the Hill. He recently said, “I feel like every morning, I wake up, get a concrete block and have to walk around with it all day; we can’t even address the issues.†This sounds like a man tired of individuals who were elected to work for America’s betterment, and actually are counter productive to moving the country forward. I salute you Senator DeMint and Coburn.
With the Thanksgiving Holiday only a few days away I am compelled to tell you both what I told Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), “Thank you, for standing up for your principles.†Maybe if the three of you, and the other vigilant legislators begin to hold more sway in Congress instead of having a theme song of “Comfortably Numbâ€Â, a more applicable song will be “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop†by Young Gunz.
