Email - My Illustrious Senator Does Something I Don't Like, Then Tells Me About It

Sen. Talent Votes to Confirm Judge Alito

I wrote the untalented Senator Talent several times suggesting that I thought the worst thing he could do would be vote to confirm Senator Alito to the Supreme Court. I didn't expect this to have any effect on Talent's thinking. Afterl all, I am not an evangelical Christian nor a multi-millionaire (though with increased readership and Google Ads, who knows ;-), so why would he listen to me. But then he emails me to gloat about it. The jerk. If I hadn't already thought of him as a lackey of the Bushies, and therefore scorn worthy, he would have lost my vote with this action.

So, rubbing it in my face pisses me off. But I have a "You Paid for It" complaint here too. From Talent's site, or from the Senate's, I can watch his floor speech on my computer. I can listen to it. I can put it on my Ipod as a podcast. I can read it in PDF. And all this technology, I paid for. And you did too. While I think it's important to give people access to the government they pay for, but the Jim Talent Podcast? Doesn't he have some legislation to read? Don't we have a growing Federal budget deficit? Aren't Republicans committed to small government and reduced spending.

I propose that, if Talent is so keen to cut entitlements, he should start by cutting his own. And that starts with the Podcast, and probably goes to his Platinum Health Care and the super pension he will draw when he quits the Senate (hopefully sooner rather than later). I think our Senators and Congressmen should've benefits that bear more resemblance to those that their constituents have. And that means no pension. You get a 401K. And it should be tied to US government bonds, just as many people's 401K's are tied to company stock. Then we can have some aligned incentives, and maybe you will see the budget deficit closed and a stronger US economy from the top on down. Till then, we just have rich people getting richer representing poor people who will continue to get poorer. I'd like to see a different future.