OPINION:
It’s only February, but aside from the almost nonstop coverage of the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping, news networks are obsessed with the November elections, despite them being more than eight months away. So much can (and likely will) change before then. Why all the attention?
When I was active on the lecture circuit, my opening line was “I’m happy to be here tonight from Washington, D.C., where the only politicians with convictions are in prison.” Another laugh-getter was “Do you know the meaning of politics? Poly means many, and ticks are blood-sucking insects.”
Why do so many put so much faith in politicians when they have repeatedly proved they can’t (or won’t) deliver on important issues? Like Social Security, Medicare reform and the massive national debt, which is at $38 trillion and counting because Washington refuses to cut spending, despite record amounts of revenue flooding into the Treasury?
Politics is a false god. Its “altar” is the Capitol, and its required sacrifices consist of taxpayer (and borrowed) money. So much of that money is wasted. Child care fraud in Minnesota is only one of many examples, and Minnesota is only one of many states with lax control of welfare spending.
We keep electing them, one party and then the other, expecting better outcomes. Instead, many of them spend too much time fundraising and cementing their careers. Few read the bills they vote on, relying instead on staff and lobbyists, the latter contributors to their campaigns.
As we approach another tax season, a prime example of the havoc Congress has imposed on the public is the U.S. tax code. It is mostly indecipherable but offers breaks to donors favored by incumbents. It is 6,871 pages long. When IRS tax regulations and official tax guidelines are included, the number of pages jumps to about 75,000.
This should violate Article 32 of the Geneva Conventions, which, among other things, prohibits torture.
The dirty little secret about politics and politicians is that if they solve a problem, they no longer have an issue to run on. Keeping their place in office with all its perks has become the primary objective of too many members. Need I mention how some members and/or their spouses become multimillionaires on a low six-figure salary?
Term limits used to be a hot issue as a means of solving the problems that accompany incumbency. It went nowhere because members of Congress are not about to limit themselves. As previously mentioned here, an Article 5 convention of the states remains the only way power will be transferred from politicians to the people, as the Founders intended.
Kansas recently became the 20th state to vote in favor of a convention of the states. Thirty-four are needed. According to Convention of States Action, the following states will be considering this year whether to vote for an Article V convention: Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.
The latest phony and unnecessary partial government “shutdown” should add to the momentum.
Democrats and the left are mobilizing to oppose such a convention because they know it would mean a loss of their power. That’s why people who are fed up with the way things are had better turn up the heat on these remaining states if they want to maintain anything resembling the nation that has been passed down to them.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
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