Traveling Salespeople

This entry is the first of a two-part series calling for the decentralization of our government.

You hang up on them almost every night when they call. The dreaded knock on the door is even worse. Spam blockers, shredding machines, mute buttons...we invest a lot of energy in avoiding advertisements and promotions that we find to be valueless.

What has government done for you lately? Has it improved your child's education? Has it made it easier for you to file and pay your taxes? You may be enjoying cuts now, but will the Bush tax changes last? Is Congress getting you a raise, improving your property value, lowering your gas bills, or making your neighborhood safer?

We should all be grateful for the protection of our military and security forces. We should applaud the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the DEA, and the other alphabet agencies that help keep America safe. Government can do a great job with national security.

But for handling the problems we seem to encounter everyday, our Washington, D.C. politicians just are not getting it done.

Politics has been reduced to a group of traveling salespeople. It is not about substance anymore, because the system is not being substantially changed. Other than national security and maybe cutting your taxes, what has the government done for you?

Americans' time is valuable. We do not vote enough because we do not feel it is worth our time. So little is accomplished on Capitol Hill. We are frustrated. And the result is that many of us have started to respond by tuning it out. The only way politicians can get people to the polls is to fire them up with single-issue rhetoric. "Get out of Iraq." Where was that before we went over? "Improve our schools." We're spending more now than ever before. "Save our unborn children." The Supreme Court has the decision-making power on this issue. "Health care for all." Our government already spends more per capita on health care than Canada, where they have a public system with universal coverage.

Propaganda, mud-slinging, personal attacks, rhetorical policies...this is all our national politicians offer us.

As noted earlier, however, we do have a wonderful military and security system. The infrastructure in this country is nothing short of amazing. There are brilliant minds throughout the State Department.

These are the items that require the focus of the federal government. Less talking and selling, and more results. Shifting more power to state and local governments would help accomplish this. We need fewer politicians who know little of our problems in our homes and cities, and more of the quiet, hard-working county clerk type of people in our system. More politicians who can relate to you and your issues in Scranton, PA or Peoria, IL. And we need less traveling salespeople that win elections by out advertising the competition, promising results that have not been delivered in over 70 years of big federal government.