My 2 Cents

GOVERNMENT POWER:
It is more intoxicating than alcohol. It is more addictive than cocaine. It is more desirable than sex. Men have killed to gain it. Men have died to preserve it. The power to govern is the antithesis of the Biblical definition of love found in
I Corinthians 13: Power is impatient. Power is merciless. Power is jealous and boastful. Power is arrogant and self seeking. Power is rooted in evil and runs and hides from the truth. Power is temporary. Power is based upon lies and rejoices in deception. Power is the destroyer of hope. And the ambition for power ultimately ends in failure.

Lord Acton summarized it this way: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Many honest and God fearing men and women have gone to Washington DC to represent their state or district, elected by their constituents with promises of supporting less government, less taxes, and less centralized power. But something happens once they get to Washington. They are corrupted. They get a taste of power and they like it. Once tasted it is like cocaine to them. It takes more of it to get the same high. As a result, their honesty turns to compromise. Once God fearing men and women become masters of deception. They make promises they know they can't or won't keep in order to stay in power. They will say or do anything to preserve their addiction. Their actions become self-serving rather than serving. But that is okay because in their minds they have their constituents' best interests at heart. They have voluntarily given up their once unshakable integrity and fallen into delusion and self deception. According to the Gallup Poll released in March, 2010 Congress has a 16% approval and an 80% disapproval rating with Americans. Is it any wonder?

One would think the answer to this dilemma is simple...Just vote the bums out. But that is much easier said than done. You see, we still remember the men and women we send to Washington as they once were - honest people that love God and truly care about their homes and friends and neighbors. We tend to believe their lies. We continue to think they have our interests at heart. We think it isn't OUR Representative or Senator who is at fault but the other 534 members of Congress who are at fault. Since 1970 over 90% of the members of Congress seeking re-election get re-elected according to Wikipedia. We allow ourselves to be deceived. The truth is these are no longer the same men and women we enthusiastically endorsed when we first voted them into office. They have changed. They now serve another god. The money that keeps them in power now comes from outside their state or district. They forget whom they serve. Eventually their thirst for power and their addiction to it becomes absolute. They no longer seek to serve but to rule.

They propose bills that cost us and protect and empower them and their new friends, the lobbyists. They lecture us about these bills rather than listen to us at town hall meetings. They mislabel the bills they pass into law with deceptive titles like "The Affordable Health Care For America Act". They don't even read the bills before they vote declaring "we will find out what is in the bill after it becomes law". Despite calls, emails, and letters from their constituents running upwards of 300 to 1 against these bills, they vote in favor of them as directed by their House Speaker or Senate Majority Leader. And in the ultimate height of hypocrisy, they exempt themselves from the very laws that they say are in our best interest. It was true with the Republicans who were elected promising to cut government spending and bureaucracy in 2000, 2002, and 2004. It is true today with the Democrats who were elected promising us us honesty and integrity in 2006, and hope and change in 2008. But nothing has changed. Today the Federal Government is bigger and more powerful than ever. Our representative republic is dying and being replaced by men and women who seek to rule us rather than represent us. We are no longer the "nation of laws, not of men" described by founder John Adams. That is where America stands today.

There is a show on A&E called Intervention. The show is gut wrenching to watch. It depicts real addicts and how their addiction gradually destroys not only their lives but also the lives of their family and friends. The answer to the addiction is always the same. The first step step of any alcoholic or drug addict is to admit they have a problem. In the show the addict is always unwilling to admit he or she has problem. So they are confronted with their addiction by their loved ones and an intermediary. Its called an intervention but it is what we used to call "tough love". The addict is given a choice. He or she must either give up the drug or bottle and go to rehab willingly, or the family will throw them out of their lives permanently. Imagine that happening within your own family for a minute. Would you be willing to take the road of intervention with your own son or daughter?

America it is time for an intervention. Our Representatives and Senators are addicted to power, all of them. Their interests are no longer the same as ours. They seek to rule, not to serve. They will do anything and say anything to keep their drug of power. Their addiction is destroying us. We must give them the choice - either give up your seat willingly or we will throw you out permanently.

That's my 2 cents.

Mark Meagher