AGENDAS: HIDDEN OR OTHERWISE UNNOTICED

unnoticed [ʌnˈnəʊtɪst] adj  not perceived or observed

It would be rare for someone to run for political office without an agenda of some sort.  The agenda ties person to party.  However, since even within a party, people do not always agree on everything which is why votes are difficult to predict in the House and Senate...at least until the Bush eras which produced a lock step vote for Republicans.  It is gratifying when only recently Sen. Coburn defied a pledge to someone outside the governmental system, Grover Norquist.  It made me wonder what the agenda of those Republicans willing to sign that pledge might be.  Undoubtedly it was hidden since no one could sign a pledge predicting they would never allow taxes to be raised without even knowing what the fiscal situation of the country might be in the future of their having signed the pledge.

In June, CAGW (Citizens Against Government Waste) requested that peanut subsidies be stopped.  If the legislators in those states had seen to stop the subsidies earlier, they might not have been re-elected by their constituents.  Is that worth the cost to the Nation?  Mary Landrieu stood out like a sore thumb when she fought against taking away oil company subsidies.  Can it be that her loyalties are greater to the Oil companies than to the middle class tax dollars?.The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA)  On June 7, 2011, Tim Cavanaugh wrote: "The CCPOA has played a significant role in advocating pro-incarceration policies and opposing pro-rehabilitative policies in California. In 1980, CCPOA’s 5,600 members earned about $21,000 a year and paid dues of about $35 a month. After the rapid expansion of the prison population beginning in the 1980s, CCPOA’s 33,000 members today earn approximately $73,000 and pay monthly dues of about $80. These dues raise approximately $23 million each year, of which the CCPOA allocates approximately $8 million to lobbying. As [author Joan] Petersilia explains, “The formula is simple: more prisoners lead to more prisons; more prisons require more guards; more guards means more dues-paying members and fund-raising capability; and fund-raising, of course, translates into political influence.”"  For the complete article, click here.

It is commendable that legislators want to help their constituencies but they should also have the integrity to put the greater number who would benefit first.  Greed has allowed pork added to fill their own agenda.  Would we expect the Defense contractors to want to stop wars?  Only if we believe in the good of man, a view I have had to give up in our legislators and those who lobby them and vote them into office..