I think this effort is a great idea, because all the politicians in DC are liars and thieves.  We need to send them packing.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m not just talking about the Democrats.  All of the Republicans are completely spoiled brats, too.  The entire bunch of politicians view us as line-items on their own personal budget – sources of income (e.g. taxpayers) instead of citizens of this country.  I wrote a short post about it here.

Grassroots efforts like this are popping up all over the place.  Just Google search for keywords like replace congress or remove incumbents.  These organizations are a natural progression of the underlying feelings of many citizens of this country, and they are best demonstrated by the recent reception many politicians have received from their own constituents.  Here are a few examples:

Lloyd Doggett’s meeting on Obamacare in Austin, TX – 1 Aug 2009

This guy is in Austin, Tx, one of the few blue counties in Texas.  Look at his face -he doesn’t really care about any of these people.  In fact, as you will see in the video, he just quits the meeting and tries to leave.  We don’t want quitters for our elected officials.

Russ Carnahan Gets Laughed At

This one is great. Here’s an idiot spouting off the lines he’s been spoonfed about saving money by spending money on healthcare, and his own constituents just laugh.

Obama Goes Off on a Heckler! (my personal favorite)

Footage of Barack Obama handling a few hecklers.

“While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.”

Are you kidding? No one took the proper steps to notify anyone,  If people were notified, then thousands of New Yorkers wouldn’t have crapped themselves when a plane often used as Air Force One pulled a Maverick-style fly by.

Freakin ridiculous. But that’s our government.  So if that’s not stupid enough, here are a few more less-known but equally idiotic accomplishments:

• Looking for more politically correct terminology, many lesbians championed the term “pro bush” until the results of the Presidential election in 2000.



• In February 1989, Exxon becomes an official sponsor of Noxema Acne Cleansing Pads to “clean up oily faces”
• Al Gore invented the internet, and can also be credited as the driving force behind this product and the sole reason it stayed on Amazon’s best seller list for 43 weeks.
• After being elected to his second term as President, Bill Clinton becomes an official spokesman for Grand Reserve cigars.



• Jonathan Locked Jr. was suspended after intentionally passing gas in school. A prominent New York Senator is now proposing a bill to combat situation.
ZD YouTube FLV Player
• Favorite pastime of internet geeks: click here.

What shift?  “Citizen” is now considered a secondary classification by our nation’s leaders, and instead we are each primarily considered as a “taxpayer” by those in Washington.   This new classification effectively reduces us to a revenue center, a line item on the national budget.  All other rights, wishes, goals, dreams and actions are now swept aside with regards to how much money we can provide the government in taxes.

Let’s take a look:

Taxpayer…

someone who pays taxes

and

a person who is subject to, liable for, or pays tax as opposed to a nontaxpayer who is neither the subject nor the object of revenue laws

- Definitions of “taxpayer” on the Web provided by Google.

Citizenship…

carries with it both rights and responsibilities. “Active citizenship” is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public service, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens.

- Definition of Citizenship, Wikipedia, 3-17-09

I don’t like being “subject to” or “liable for” anything not of my own choosing.  I choose pay my taxes, and consider that “economic participation” to “improve life for all citizens.”  Paying taxes is not my main purpose in this country, regardless of what our politicians might think.

The US Constitution has no provisions for a federal income tax.  In fact, the first income tax was levied in 1861 – almost 100 years into our country’s life – and it expired in 1872.  We didn’t have another income tax until 1913, and it took a Constitutional Amendment to make it so.

Since then, the federal income tax has slowly become both a crutch and a weapon.  Politicians either rely so heavily on taxes that they can’t see any greater good than merely writing a check, or they spend in ways to hurt their direct opponent or to hurt the opposite party.  (Again, I’m not siding with either party here, as both actively participate actively in these actions).  And all of these actions are taken without the consideration for the overall well-being of this country as a whole.

So although I choose to pay my taxes, I am a citizen first.  Like Arthur Godfrey said, “I’m proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money.”

In classic Saturday Night Live style, here’s a little making fun of the current guy.  I’m a fan of Roger Maynard.  This is a great one from him: