Why Is Congress So Dysfunctional?

According to information found on simple Google searches see the listed issues and levels of public support:

Congressional Term Limits - 70%

Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices - 86%

Pretty strong levels of support for all three of these issues. And so one would expect some action out of congress in our representative democracy. Supporting these issues should generate a cinch for re-election, right? Wrong.

We all know why term limits receives no support.

Here are some facts courtesy of the Open Secrets research web site for the year 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org. This example applies to the Pharma / Medical Industry donations.

In the House of Representatives for 2018, donations from Pharma / Medical totaled just over $17 million.

Average House Democrat received $36,000

Average Republican received just under $45,000.

In the Senate, the total take was $7 million,

Average Senate Democrat received $89,000

Average Senate Republican received $55,000.

Think about it, these are the average donation totals for just one industry in one year! There is more money available from industry groups like construction, banking, finance, prisons, realtors, transportation, mining, agriculture and on and on.

The cost for getting and staying elected is exorbitant. The average cost of congressional and senate races in 2018 was just under $6 million.

I don’t know about the rest of you but if I was to donate $36,000 to a member of congress, it WOULD come with strings attached. That member would be expected to listen to what I have to say and vote in my best interest. Guess what, that is pretty much the way it works. And for me it would be worthless since I am only donating to one individual. There are 534 others.

Does it sound corrupt to you? Me too, but it is perfectly legal. These are the current rules in our democracy. Those rules need to be changed, and fast.

REPRESENT US is a group that is working to change the rules from the grass roots level up, state by state. The web site is www.represent.us.

American Promise is a group that is working to reverse the Citizens United ruling by adding the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. The web site is www.americanpromise.net.

A presentation will be held in November at the Long Valley Library. It will include a screening of the short film "Unbreaking America" featuring Jennifer Lawrence. There will also be a presentation from American Promise as well as some breakout sessions. The event will be posted as we get closer to November. Don't miss it.