Fiscal responsibility: Is this who you can trust?

It was their money and not ours.

But if they're going to spend their money that way, I don't want them having access to ours.

Particularly in light of the $400,000.00 the Clinton's spent decorating the White House.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-960903.html

Pols are pols. They don't have a clue about life in the 'budget tightly to scrap for existence' lane.

etu
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etu again, afterthought

Corruption isn't a Dem/Rep issue. It's a human issue.

...are the dead ones on the bills in your wallet!

Steele is an idiot. Worse, he is a hypocrite.

Of course, that makes him just one indistinguishable piece of 'pie' on the cow farm known as Washington.

Only differences between Reps and Dems are who they're trying to rip off and deceive for votes.

if it were tax dollars he was throwing around? Yes.

Throw all the bums out.

is that they should do the most for everyone, not just go after votes.

I think people should be voted for based on what they do for America, not a special interest, political affiliation, religion, gender, race, sexual orientation, physical status, hair color, or whatever.

Doing right for America is doing right for America.

Killing off who programs, departments, or even the whole government is just as bad as screwing it all up to get what you want in place.

That's why I'm voting against all but 1 politician I have in my area.

The majority of them are slackers and go along party lines or with their special interests who fund them.

Time to cut off the bloodsuckers.

I think that no non-political organization that accepts donations or handles conglomerate wealth (investment funds, public corporations, etc.) should be allowed to give.

And even then, the political organizations should have heavy restrictions. Such as a $50 limit on individual donors, and a requirement to get written acknowledgment from said donor of their approval for open political use.

That would stop a lot of the practice of using dead or disabled peoples' names to donate.

Personally, I'd like to see them be kept from campaign advertising. Want to get your word out? Make more stops, start campaigning earlier, and quit being so lazy.

I've seen some official residences be pretty shabby and embarassing, its hard to judge renovation numbers.

And how the RNC spends its money, well, that something the RNC donors and membership should be particularly focussed on.

If $31000 in catering was for a fundraiser that raised half a million, its money well spent. If it was for a bunch of old boys to sit around and pretend to discuss policy or strategy, then its a waste. Spending it at a strip club or similar would be pretty poor judgement but not a crime. It should be a crime to spend public $$ on such things though.

I hear local politicians in our current municipal elections crow about their support for a freeze in their wages, and I don't disagree with the principle, and I think its good to set an example. But when I hear some blowhard try and tell a crowd that it will save the city big bucks that they can plow into programs, well I consider that to be pandering and mathematically challenged. Saving a 1% raise on 30 city councillors pay won't keep one city pool open for a year, or even pay for one lifeguard. Not cutting the number of councillors (and their office staff) in half, now there is an idea.....

James

Q: What candidates can you donate to?
A: Who can you vote for?

"If you can't vote for them, you can't donate to them" campaign finance rules don't interfere with any voter's free speech. Extending this to "if you can't vote, you have no right to speech in the political arena" takes the corporate money right the h3ll out of the picture.

Result? local races would be locally funded. There would be more money in the statewide and federal campaigns, but it would be limited to individual contributions.

There will, of course, be unintended consequences, the most likely of which I see is an exponential increase in issue advertising. Full attribution applies here: you run the ad, you tell us who you are and why you are for or against the issue in question.

I'm technically a Republican, but both parties have lost my trust long ago. Michael Steele should be fired. His four day winter meeting at a beachfront hotel in Hawaii when the economy is in the pits says that he doesn't get it.

Its not time to go on vacation, its time to tighten your belt. What an a**hole.

AV

Do you mean you are on the take?

Or, are you saying you don't want anything to do with it, and don't want it all over you, being as we all swim in the community pool, you climbing out?

I would recuse myself. I have begun taking Social Security. I am advised by that agency that, for all I have co-contributed, in about two years I will have withdrawn it all. After that, I play with house money -- screw the hindmost.

Had I -- and, I do -- the privilege to vote on what I get, do you think I would vote for less?

______

Correction: for the last 35 years, self-employed, I pay it all.

Been receiving government money since I was born. My father was active-duty Air Force. When he was killed, the family started receiving VA and SS survivor benefits. I upgraded to VA subsistence when I started college, changed to a full-on paycheck when I enlisted, and now receive a retirement check.

I, and others like me, will use Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" justification to fight such a recusal, but we would likely have it shoved down our throats by pissant punks who have left their home towns only to attend football games.

I appreciate your bringing that to my attention.
I'm 53 years old and can count on one hand the number of people I trust. None of them are in government.

They have to report all donated monies and expenses to the FEC too and how it was spent.

That's how this got noticed. They have to account for why, where, when, and who it was spent.

woohoo

Your state allows a write-in vote.

One year for commission in my county, I wrote in my co-worker.

He said he'd consolidate the 20+ departments into 8, and eliminate about $1.4M in the process of salaries paid to overpaid directors and management.

He said he could fix more roads and afford more teachers with about $1M of that money.

Of course, then he said he'd re-invest about $250k of that for free sodas and bottled water for employees. That was pretty cool too.

He was a big pepsi drinker. :^0

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