Donations from individuals provide the greatest latitude of operation.
Party support, however, pretty well means that you accept their platform
of ideas and, if elected, will agree with what the leadership desires.
So, if one thinks you can go to Washington and tear up the place and
stop their egregious nonsense, a political trip to the woodshed is in
store.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
One of the controls that leadership uses to keep you in line are
committee assignments. An assignment to the committee of one's choice
may be initially obtained, but if you don't tow the desired political
line, unwanted changes can occur swiftly.
For an example of party cohesion and conformity in order to get and keep
the desired assignment, we might look at our newer congressman Peter
Welch. He got what he wanted - House Energy and Commerce Committee -
because of his belief in manmade climate change. Although he is not one
to want to change things, he must have subverted his beliefs in order to
conform to Nancy Pelosi's (House chairperson) desires and it looks like
he will keep his position. He voted for a bill that the Left labeled
Employee Free Choice Act of 2009. This monstrosity with this ironic name
is payback to the unions for their millions of monetary support for
Obama's election. This bill would eliminate the secret ballot when
voting on union representation. Welch voted against them to curry favor
with the House leaders. This bill would require those wanting to form a
union to sign a card (card check) in favor, allowing the union bosses to
know which ones are against unionization. Nothing secret about that.
Fortunately this fiasco did not get through the Senate and for that the
Conservatives were labeled obstructionists.
If a Congress member develops an idea and writes it up as a bill, he
needs sponsors. If he finds some it's assumed that he will reciprocate
when asked for his support. In other words, I'll scratch your back if
you'll . . ., etc.
Should the leadership find it difficult to force through a particularly
nasty bill, like Obamacare, there are various means to convince one or
two of the holdouts to change their spots. We've seen how overwhelming
the public opinion was against this plan which was advertised as a means
to reduce the cost of health care but instead was designed to pass both
Democratically controlled Houses. In spite of President Obama's promise
to run legislation debate with transparency, this 2,700-page bill was
written by unknowns and produced with a demand for a vote in just a few
days. No one had time to read it, but a few bits were leaked to show
that the bad parts had not been modified. I think it was the Nebraska
and Alabama senators that were offered state exemptions to the parts
these senators didn't like as well as million-dollar bribes to agree to
passage. So, if you are a Congressperson, it might be worthwhile to hold
your vote to see what the leadership might offer to change your spots.
This technique is tricky though; you have to know how things would play
out with your voters back home knowing that in this case you hadn't read
the bill.
OBTAIN "PORK"
Another skill that Congress people need to know is how to obtain "pork."
Pork is taxpayer money (to pay for your pet projects) that did not
originate (as required) in the House of Representatives, was not a
subject of floor debate and serves only the parochial interests of the
originator.
One favorite technique is to insert this waste into an unrelated bill
when a conference committee meets to resolve differences between House
and Senate versions. In the case of the Obamacare monstrosity, this
amounted to $1.5 billion, yes billion, of wasted taxpayer funds.
Pork is a favorite of both parties. Because of the monies that
constituents receive, they think you are a hero and vote you back into
office. Besides, you don't have to account for this monetary help as you
do for other campaign contributions. All three of our Congressional
people are great fans of pork. In lieu of our national debt structure,
they were asked to join others in foregoing any more pork for at least
two years. They flatly refused. Re-election is always on their minds.
So, you see, if you want to be a politician you do have to have some
skills, but it's like a trade - you need on-the-job training. Always
remember, determine your actions in terms of re-election potential and
forget about the costs. Meanwhile, you will become a hypocrite. If you
master all these, and more, you'll learn what it's like to help run a
Democracy.
Don't be downhearted though. Churchill saw these faults but thought it the best of all the other forms of government.
Potter lives in Waitsfield.
