Politics and Economic Rant!

This video is definitely a rant on Keynesian economics, but it kind of sums up the ideas that I've been having about how the government has handled recessions in the past, and how the current recession is being handled. In all honesty, I don't believe a Keynesian approach will solve all our problems. We need to go back to the tried and true methods of economic history.

With that said about our topic for Tuesday, I'm going to go on a rant about politics. I find it all very ridiculous these days. Here are my reasons why:

1. Politicians seem to go from one campaign to the next. Look at President Obama; he seems to spend more time on the campaign trail then trying to help out the public. And with the end of another election day, within hours MSNBC had posted this article about how focus now shifts to the presidential election in 2012. Seriously?? We just finished with this election! And we're already looking ahead to 2012 for another one?? Why don't we focus on the issues that we have right now??

2. Party affiliation accomplishes NOTHING. We end up with one of two governments these days. The first is one where one party controls congress and the executive branch, and can push whatever bills they want right through to law, with hardly any opposition. This does NO good to represent how the people in the country want things done. The second government is one where things are split, which is what we now have after this election. As this political cartoon depicts, nothing gets done when this happens:

Party affiliation becomes ridiculous. Why don't we just get rid of parties and hire people who will think for themselves logically, and make decisions based off of what they think, and not what their party thinks? I wish we would learn from the wise words of President George Washington:

However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796

3. The money spent on campaigning is RIDICULOUS!! Look at the race for governor in California for an example. Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, spent $160 MILLION on her campaign. And just think of all the other money that was spent on campaigning throughout the country! Why don't we put that money to good use?? Why not give it to charities??

4. Because so much money is spent on campaigning, the only people who have a chance of getting elected are those with a lot of money. As such, there is almost 0 probability that anyone from the middle or lower classes would ever be able to run for Governor or Congress. So is our government really a fair representation of the American people? Or is it just a representation of what the rich think?

For those who are interested in political science, I apologize if this has offended you. But I just feel that things have moved far away from what the founding fathers of our country envisioned when they established the US Constitution. I will welcome any comments, and would love to hear any other opinions on the matter.