Quote:Reality.. a one man wrecking ball who has alienated himself from both sides of the house is going to get rid of the life blood of every politician on the hill how exactly? By saying so? Asking?


I am not saying I disagree with the idea of getting lobbyists out of politics. I have one in my family who made a mint. Politicians are supposed to represent the people who elected them, but base the people on who they will give an audience to on what they will do for/give them. Trump is going to wave a magic wand and get hundreds of people who do not like him on one side of the aisle and about half of the other side of the aisle who do not like him to agree to stop taking the money that gets them re-elected term after term... because he says so. Seems pretty pie in the sky. I am not saying I disagree with the idea behind it. I'm saying there is no way he could ever get it done even if he was elected. Believe me.

 

If he proposes this kind of ethics reform, they won't have a choice.  As you just said so eloquently, even though you and I are at largely different ends of the spectrum we agree that we need less special interest influence in Washington so that whatever direction the country goes in, it's the objective plan thought out by our representatives, not the back room dealing paid for by the elite. 

 

consider the alternative.  Right now as a country we are spending at levels higher than at any time in the history of our country.  Like it or not that is eventually going to show up in our tax bills, through inflation or both.  Even worse, we have had little to no return on that investment.  Why?  Because even when you appropriate large sums of money by the time all the special interests have stolen their portion of it nothing is left to actually serve the citizens. 

 

We can't go another 14 trillion dollars in debt over the next 16 years of this century and survive economically.  We also can't simultaneously raise taxes and increase revenue because in the dynamism of a global economy industry just moves instead of paying more tax.  At some point you need a guy with weird hair to look a contractor in the face and say "You know what.... I'm not paying $200 for a hammer!"

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