Unconstitutional Cash
Business as usual in Washington DC is a convenient term used from our collective congress to ignore the constitution and their oath of office. The other cliché you hear is, that’s just how things run on the hill. You ever wonder how politicians get rich when they only receive a modest salary. Its called special interest influence, lobbyist, donations and a dozen more descriptions which amount to kick backs to law makers from foreign entities buying influence through legislation. This is mostly done through corporate America. Some estimates are up to 40% of American companies are owned by other countries and wealthy Americans doing business internationally. They buy what they want from the law makers whos product and services come in the form of an ear marks slipped into a new legislation or laws tailored to favor the lobbyist agenda. When the mafia does this, we call it bribery. When corporate or foreign entities do this through their contacts in congress we call it lobbying. A bribe is an illegal act involving the exchange of something of value, such as money, with the purpose of influencing the behavior of public officials. You can dress it up or call it whatever you want but it’s a bribe and its also unconstitutional. Article-1, Section-9 addresses this but is hard to glean a comprehensive understanding of the founding fathers intent. This is not due to lack of content but rather, a lack of clarity due to the style in which they wrote back in 1776. I’ve included a link so judge for yourselves but paraphrased it states that America will have no kings and government officials cant use their positions of office for personal gain from foreign influence! The founding fathers tried to keep congressional salaries modest because they didn’t want representative to come to congress and senate to get rich. They wanted American representatives who would serve their constituents not themselves. I new we were off the rail back in 1986 when congress drafted and the senate approved the Federal Employment Retirement System (FERS) allowing congress to receive a pension after only 5 years of service. Just to put that into context for other government service. Our military personnel have to complete 20 years of honorable service to receive a pension. Time mostly spent away from home in combat zones risking their necks. A stark contrast from the plush halls of congress which most treat as positions of privilege, not responsibility. The word honorable is important here because, if a soldier was to receive a bribe for a favor from a foreign country it would be called espionage and he/she would be in jail and dishonorably expelled from the ranks. . Drain the swamp, I say clear the hill!
