ULISH CARTER
The U.S. is all over the globe trying to force other countries to implement Democratic governments, of which the leaders would be elected by the people, yet after the sequester, and now the government shutdown, it’s very clear that the U.S. doesn’t really have a democracy.
Why do I say this?
Everyone knows my feelings about the Electoral College, but now I’m talking about the US Senate and US House.
How can I say this about the Senate and House, which unlike the President are elected by the people?
Because if it wasn’t for one man with the support of a minority, there would be no government shutdown. What am I talking about?
When Obama was running for re-election and in the State of the Union address he challenged the House and Senate leaders to allow a vote on every major issue.
He stated that the people deserved to have their political representatives they voted into office be able to vote, either up or down, any bill coming across their desk.
Yet there was never a vote on the Government Shutdown, or the Sequester. How can this be you ask? Well the Speaker of the House doesn’t have to allow a vote on unpopular issues he’s opposed to. So literally thousands of government employees are furloughed, and that doesn’t count all the businesses that depend on these people spending money with them to stay in business.
Two parts of government that need to be eliminated is the filibuster in which one individual, or a small group, can prevent a bill from being voted on, and the fact that the Senate and House leaders can block a vote on an unpopular bill. Both parties have used these methods to block the democratic process, which is something the news media is addressing. It should be something that the American people should be outraged over and demand that it be eliminated from all branches of government on both sides of the aisle.
Most Democrats seem to believe there were enough votes to stop the government shutdown, but the Speaker of the House John Boehner would not allow a vote. He has the support of most Republicans, but there are many Republicans who would have voted to keep the government running if a vote was held. This would give the Democrats the majority to pass the budget, which is why Boehner blocked the vote.
So you ask why many people don’t even bother to vote in political elections? This is why. The games politicians play. Yes, many Republicans are going to say, well the Democrats do the same thing. And I say Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right. The filibuster should be eliminated, and the power to block votes should be taken from both the House and Senate leaders, regardless of what party they belong to. Let’s have a real democracy, where all issues are voted up or down and our representatives are held accountable for their actions by how they voted.
I really feel for the federal workers. First they were relegated to three to four day work weeks by the Sequester, now no work at all, even though they will be paid, eventually. What about their bills now? This is at every level, yet the House and Senate members are being paid in full. Aren’t they government employees?
I don’t believe all this no one is being fired. This is not what I’m hearing. A lot of people are losing their jobs, and others are leaving for the private sector, this includes some of the top scientists in the world who have been furloughed. So if you think the government is not working now, just wait until this shutdown is over. Many if not most of the top quality people will have moved on to the private sector leaving those who can’t find a job anywhere else, working for the government. And I would think some people with some serious negative attitudes would be returning.
Changing up the topic. I would like to say farewell to Phil Petite and offer my condolences to his family. I met Phil way back in the dark ages when we both lived in Westgate Village during the ‘70s, and his then wife, Adrian, worked for the Courier. We use to talk about how great things would be if Black people united and supported each other and how we were going to try to work to bring this about. Phil was dedicated to the uplifting of Black people, and did a whole lot of work behind the scenes as the top aide to state Rep. K. Leroy Irvis, and later for the city. Like most of us, there was a lot more he would have liked to have accomplished, but didn’t have the power to do so. But he continued to devote his life to doing what he could for Black people.
Even with the controversy that the Courier reported on when he issued a booklet that made the City look like it had done a whole lot more for Blacks in contracts than it had, he later stated that this was a wish list, something that he would like to see the city do, not what it really had done.
Knowing Phil, if he had the power, everything in the manual would have been accomplished, but he wasn’t the mayor, or chief executive. But I venture to say that the conditions of Black people in Pittsburgh are a lot better because of Phil, but he will never get any credit because he was one of the many people working behind the scenes in government who don’t get any recognition for the positive things they do. Just remember that he was the main voice behind State Rep. Irvis for years, until Irvis stepped down. And he has been a key voice in city government for years. No, we didn’t get and haven’t received all we would have liked to have gotten in city contracts and employment but what would we have gotten without Phil?
Your comments are welcome.
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