Faith in the American political process today resembles that of more than 30 years ago when one president resigned while his successor said: “Our long national nightmare is over.”  

Gerald Ford was speaking of fellow Republican Richard Nixon but today, based on the ineptitude of our federal government and its corrupt leaders, the nightmare has been reawakened. 

Consider this during the last six years of Republican rule:

• We were misled about Iraq and now find ourselves in a war with no end. We have nearly 3,000 dead Americans and more than 20,000 wounded. Plus there have been hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed since we started this misguided war.  

• The federal government failed us in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And in that failure, people died who should’ve been saved.

• President Bush offering illegal aliens a “path to citizenship”.

• The Vice-President’s Chief of Staff indicted and Karl Rove, Presidential Advisor, demoted over exposing a CIA agent for political reasons.

• Majority Leader Tom DeLay resigned and has been indicted. 

• California Congressman Duke Cunningham is serving a prison sentence for accepting more than $2 million in bribes from defense contractors.

• Ohio Congressman Bob Ney has pled guilty to federal corruption charges.

• The FBI is investigating Pennsylvania Congressman Curt Weldon in possible illegal activity involving lobbyist. 

• And now there’s Florida Congressman Mark Foley – who also resigned – and the investigation involving sex-talk with teenage pages on Capitol Hill. There could be a cover-up here among elected officials as there was during the Nixon debacle. 

• Now, in Georgia, we have “Disneygate”, which Republican leaders say doesn’t matter – but it does.

• “Disneygate” follows on the “United Health Care” fiasco for teachers and “Retirement Cuts” for University System of Georgia personnel, and “Sonny Lied” for those who value heritage.

• Jack Abramoff, Washington lobbyist, and Ralph Reed, Perdue confidant, linked forever while only one is serving time for “influence peddling”.

• Even Republican State Representatives at the local level have joined in the act by gutting predatory lending laws and giving developers secrecy from the press (HB 218).

There’s much more to say about the bad government we’ve been getting from the Republicans in Washington D. C. and Atlanta during the past few years, but the above list is enough to give us all new nightmares. 

Public polls have consistently showed that the country’s faith in the President and Congress are as low today as they were in August 1974 when Nixon left in disgrace. Great countries can, from time to time, create awful public policy – as we have done today.

Nancy Pelosi, demonized by the GOP, has a straightforward agenda, if elected Speaker of the U.S. House: “Congress needs to focus on an agenda that benefits the American people”:

• “Impose new rules and regulations to break the link between lobbyists and legislation 

• Allow the government to negotiate with drug companies and fix Medicare Part D 

• Stop Social Security and Medicare privatization plans in their tracks 

• Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 

• Cut the interest rates on student loans in half 

• Roll back subsidies to Big Oil and gas companies 

• Enact all the recommendations made by the independent 9/11 Commission“

State Representative Dubose Porter, should he become the Speaker of the Georgia House, has stated that he believes in “open government”, not the secrecy of the GOP, and not the misguided policies of the Republican leadership.

The vehicle to correct bad government and terrible policies is the same today as it has been since our nation’s inception: Elections.

[ED: Roger Marietta is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Darton College. He is a veteran Navy Officer, and former defense planner. Mr. Marietta currently lives in Albany, GA]

Contact Roger Marietta

 

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