Project Logic Ga

They say you don’t want to know how laws and sausage are made.  I have been in a slaughterhouse and worked in the U.S. House so maybe they are similar.  My sister once got upset with me for telling her children what pork really was…during breakfast.  “The filthy pig wallows in its own droppings but eventually he becomes the tasty product we are enjoying right now….care for seconds.” 

The federal law-making and budget process is not for weak- stomachs but in the end, you got to love this system of ours.  (This is the point in my blog posts where most people move on to more interesting parts of the web; so, I can write what’s on my mind without anyone knowing.)

In the mail today, my member of congress’s newsletter arrived and it appears that this representative is busy working for the people who put him in office.  While reading the details of his activities, he has done a lot to assist interests in our area that traditionally support the other major political party.  When the Dem team and President Obama is being demonized, where are those guys who could stand up and say, “They are helpful to my industry…some of those Dems aren’t half bad.”  If this were a schoolyard, kids would say, “I have been your friends since kindergarten but you get around some folks and act like you don’t know me…while they beat me up.”

Reasonable people know it is a process that involves negotiations, posturing and a certain amount of compromise.  As I have written before, it’s hard fitting a large nation comfortably into two political parties.  Ultra-liberals and ultra-conservatives jump up and down as if other views inside their party and this nation don’t exist.  I am no expert but it seems to me that the party or side that tolerates us centrists gets the balance of power. (At this point, no more than two or three people are still reading.)

I listened for hours to a radio broadcast of a health care town hall meeting with the most conservative Democrat in the Georgia congressional delegation.  While I have had issues with his lack of support for the White House, I can say he likely represents the consensus in his district since you don’t hear a peep from liberals there.  Moderates often wish for more-open minded southern Republicans and perhaps this member should consider making a party move to a more comfortable side.  Like the now-Republican and former Democrat who represents the Georgia mountains, it would likely be hard telling the difference.  

At the end of the day, we should make an effort to consider the complexity of the decision-making process; be mindful of the balancing requirements of governing and show some loyalty to those who have worked hard for our state.  For example, I don’t have a problem with Georgia’s senators but saying that publicly would tick off those who only watch Fox News and those who only watch MSNBC….thanks CNN for “fair and balance” reporting.  “And the Emmy for best T.V. acting in a drama goes to….”

What’s in sausage?  Everything.  What’s in laws and appropriations bills?  Everything.