Definition of institutionalized: Having become an established custom or an accepted part of the structure of a large organization or society because of having existed for so long.
Now that you know the meaning, we can now all agree that Congress fits in this category. Seven members of Congress that have become institutionalized at different levels need to be shown the door today in order of years in congress are as follows:
1. Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) 14th Congressional District, Elected 1964
2. Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) 13th Congressional District, Elected 1972
3. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) 30th Congressional District, Elected 1975
4. Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) 6th Congressional District Elected 1992
5. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) 10th Congressional District, Elected 1996
6. Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) 6th Congressional District, Elected 1996
7. Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-CA) 37th Congressional District Elected 2007
We have become so accustomed to electing the same people year after year, that it’s easy to forget that they serve at the pleasure of their constituents. The time has some to clean house and elect representatives that are going to start working for us and not for their own self interests. The seven have served 182 years of combined service from John Conyers who has served 48 years to Laura Richardson who has only served 5 years. It does not take a Rhoades Scholar to figure out career politicians should be destined for the scrap pile and this is the year to do it.
Let’s start with the newest of the seven and that would be Rep. Laura Richardson of California. She has definitely made a name for herself in five short years in Congress. Richardson was elected in a special election in 2007 to fill a vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald. In 2011 Richardson was named by Judicial Watch as one of the “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians”. In addition to this she has been accused of numerous ethics violations relating to the use government employees for political purposes when she allegedly ordered aides to work on her campaign on government time. Rep. Richardson has claimed racial bias as a reason for the charges. A change of districts means Richardson is being challenged by new democrat Rep. Janice Hahn, who was elected in a special election in June 2011.
John Tierney who hails from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had his share of problems since being elected in 1996, beating two-term Congressman Rep. Peter Torkildsen in a hard fought battle. In 2010 his wife Patrice Tierney was charged in U.S District Court to four counts of “aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns” by her brother, Robert. She pled guilty and was later sentenced to 30 days in prison and five months of house arrest. Even with this black cloud hanging over his head during the 2010 Congressional campaign and a tough challenge from Bill Hudak, the heavily democratic district decided to re-elect Tierney to office for an eighth term. Let’s not see him elected to a ninth term.
Update: On Tuesday March 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich was voted out in the primary, by fellow Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur due to redistricting. She will face-off against Republican Samuel (Joe the Plumber) Wurzelbacher in the general election on November 6, 2012.
Since Dennis Kucinich was elected to represent the citizens of Ohio’s10th Congressional District in 1996 he has been one of the most liberal members of Congress voting along party lines over 90% of the time. During his challenging years as Mayor of Cleveland from 1977 to 1979, he survived a recall election but was voted out of office by Republican George Voinovich. In January of this year Kucinich along with four of his democratic colleagues sponsored the “Gas Price Spike Act of 2012”. The tax would be from 50 percent to 100 percent of the “surplus earnings.” It would be administered by another mammoth new government bureaucracy, the Reasonable Profits Board. The issue with this bill is no one knows what “surplus earnings” means. It is just another tax that would be passed along to consumers by way of higher gas prices. What we need is less tax and spend, and more fiscal conservatism from Congress and Kucinich is not up this challenge.
Rep. Jim Clyburn has served the good people of South Carolina for almost 20 years but to what end? In 2009 when Boeing announced that they would be building a facility to build the new 787 Dreamliner he hailed the news as good for South Carolina. Clyburn said, “Boeing is a game-changer for South Carolina” and praised the move by saying “This program here is to further the top three priorities in the state: jobs, more jobs and many more jobs.” When the NLRB brought a lawsuit against Boeing for “unfair labor practices” Clyburn was conspicuously absent. His silence on the issue was deafening, because he neither objected to the NLRB lawsuit nor supported it. It was all about jobs and he did not want to upset the Obama administration’s anti-job agenda. Jobs are the #1 priority in this country and his time as an effective lawmaker has been overshadowed by his indifference to the people that elected him to serve.
Rep. Henry Waxman. What can be said about him that is not already known? At 72 years old he is one of the senior members serving in Congress since 1974. He also served from 1969 to 1974 in the California State Assembly. His current district serves a very rich enclave that includes Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. With the new congressional districts that have been approved by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission his district now serves an area that spreads from the mountains of Malibu to the beach communities south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I am sorry to say that I am now located in his district. He is probably going to win this year again. The only way that we can stop him in his tracks is to make sure that Congress remains in control of the republicans, therefore rendering him ineffective in his democrat agenda which includes “Cap and Tax.
Has anyone noticed how angry Rep. Pete Stark gets when he is addressing his constituent? These are the same people that they have elected him to serve them and not the other way around. It is profoundly noticeable when he is questioned about his policies and if he does not like the question he deflects to his default position, “anger”. Having been elected in 1972 which by the way is the same year that Richard Nixon won 49 of the 50 states against George McGovern it is hard to believe that a democrat got elected to anything that year. Since 1998 he has won his district with over 70% of the vote. He is a tough opponent in a highly democratic district but with right candidate in this volatile climate, he is beatable. You just have to ask yourself, “Is he the best for the job at hand”?
Detroit has become the poster child for 50 years of democrat control and if Rep. John Conyers has anything to say about it since he got elected in 1964, it will continue its downward spiral to oblivion. We have seen the demise of the auto industry at the hands of union control. As for the American dream of raising a family and having to live a good life, it has turned to despair and misery and one can only imagine what the future holds for the good citizens of Michigan. Detroit was considered one of the great manufacturing cities of the world. The population of Detroit dropped 25% in the last 10 Years (2010 U.S. Census). There are rows upon rows of empty houses. Neighborhoods have been decimated by the exodus and there is no end in sight. The good people of Michigan have been ignored all for the good of the unions. Until you decide to wake up and demand accountability from your representative, it will continue with no end in sight. It’s time to rid this country of career politicians and Rep. Conyers must go.
For those that are represented by this group, you have to ask yourself if they have done the job that they were elected to do. In most cases the answer will be no, but they still manage to get your vote time after time. We cannot ignore the hypocrisy any longer. We must vote the incumbents out and get new blood and new ideas flowing that will change the dangerous course that this country is on. We must change the institutionalization of Congress. It is now up to you to further your education with respect to your current representation and draw your own conclusions. It is you and only you that can make a choice, “Vote for more of the same or time for a change”. I vote for “Change”.”.
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