Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Damned Gubmint

I'm overdue for a political rant.

High gas prices?

Who is to blame? It's pretty obvious. While we are quick to point to the government, last time I checked, we have a (potentially) complete turnover of the House every 2 years, a new President every 4, and a new Senate every 6. We elect the government, and have been doing a rather piss poor job of it.
The policies that have put us in this situation began in the 1970's. Back then, we, the people, saw that our 'nads were in the hands of the OPEC'ers. Our response? Everyone got green for 15 minutes as gas went from .29 per gallon to $1.00 after sitting in a long line.
The crisis passed, lines went away.
Rather than continue on a path that would result in lower demand, cleaner air, and every other benefit of a lesser footprint, we went out and bought freakin SUVs.

Photobucket

The bigger, the better. Escalades, Expeditions, and Hummers--oh my! Because, after all, most of us have need for an all-wheel drive assault vehicle.
And we continue to vote in representatives that represent us no more than the CEO of any major corporation does. We continue to act as if spending 15 minutes to vote every 2 years is a chore of immense proportion, the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest without sherpas.
We get what we set ourselves up to get, an unresponsive political structure, a trade deficit that is killing the dollar while putting people out of work, expensive gas, a failing economy. Point the finger at Bush, the Democrats, or whoever you wish. Just remember, you will have 3 pointing back at you.

This last bit of news is New Jersey-centric, but in a nutshell it describes the problem with government. Our DMV is open one late night per week. To save money, the offices will now be closed at 5:00 every night. Only government could come up with a solution like that. Every business I have ever worked in, if nights were necessary (and yes, nights are helpful for working people who need to go to the DMV) they adjusted the hours to provide better service to the customers. But because the government provides a mandatory service, and has no competition, they simply shut the office down.

Here's some novel idea for Governor Corzine, who apparently has his head firmly up his posterior. One day per week, say Wednesday, open 3 hours later in the morning, and stay open 3 hours later. No extra cost, no problem for anyone.


Corzine was a businessman, and many thought he would be a great leader because of his background. It turns out he is as much an elitist as any career politician ever elected. It wasn't too long ago that he was in an accident and was seriously injured. Why? Because the vehicle he was being driven in was speeding excessively (over 90 in a 65 MPH zone) and he wasn't wearing a seat belt. By the way, in NJ, not wearing a seat belt is a ticketable offense. But he didn't think he had to follow our laws. So, he did a couple PSA's and all is well.

This is just one more reason we need to throw these rascals out after two terms.

For those keeping track at home, Corzine spent 63 million dollars of his own money to buy win the Senate seat in 2000. He spent about half that in 2005 to become Governor.

Yeah, they are just like regular people.

Photobucket

I'm the Governor of New Jersey, dammit.


Humor-Blogs.com

7 comments:

Bradley said...

Clearly you are a fanatic who does not know what is best for America. Off you go to Guantanamo if it were up to me. Hopefully the gas prices aren't too high to get you there.

Da Old Man said...

LOL. If I get free medical care, I'm ready for my Caribbean vacation.

GumbyTheCat said...

Awesome post Da Old Man. Right on the money.

@ Bradley - you funny. :)

Da Old Man said...

@ Gumby: Thanks

G. said...

Nice post, and I couldn't agree more.

Your Pal Pinki said...

I like your style, Mr. Old Man sir. : )

shyne said...

Great post an right on target!