You're Fired!

With that simple line, I hope to say goodbye to my two senators from Texas. One will get to hang around a few years because Senators get cushy six-year terms. That's probably why they vote less often for the wishes of their constituencies -- they are counting on party loyalty and short memories. Like Mr. Spacely of "The Jetsons," I wanted to say "YOU'RE FIRED!"

The senators have admitted that, for the most part, the vast majority of calls and e-mails they have gotten were against the .7 trillion dollar bail-out. The American electorate is against it. So how do 3/4 of our senators arrive at the conclusion that they should support this bill anyway?

One reason is, most of them feel that they will be re-elected when the time comes. After all, they think, voters are not that intelligent. They check a party box at the top of the ballot and give it no other thought.

I hope I speak for thousands in saying that's not the way it works now. Because of the internet, constant news coverage, and rapid exchange of information, we don't have to be in the dark. As I noted in my last post, they also vote on bills with strange, non-pertinent names that only someone with a legal degree and years of experience inside the cloisters of Washington could understand. In my last post, I gave you the name of the bailout bill the House voted on. In fairness to the Upper Chamber, I would like to give you the name of their bill:

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES-110th Cong., 2d Sess.
H. R. 1424
To amend section 712 of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, section 2705 of the Public Health
Service Act, section 9812 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 to require equity in the provision of mental
health and substance-related disorder benefits under
group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the
basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance
and employment, and for other purposes.

As you can see, they may not have even known what they were voting for. And in the old days, they could rest assured that you didn't know. But whatever they called it, and Senator Hutchison from our state changed the amount and the purpose, they still voted to use seven hundred thousand thousand thousand taxpayer dollars to pay for the stupidity of greedy bankers.

The day after the house bill, the stock market had a temper tantrum and lost nearly 800 points. The next day, like a spoiled child, they went back to their playtime and recovered over half of it. Then Wednesday night, the Senate, like an overindulgent, inexperienced parent, decided to give them their toy after all, and like a spoiled child who has gotten his way, the market decided to pout some more to show us how bad we had been.

You, the reader, have information. You have power. You have several sources that can tell you how your senator voted. I found out within the hour and was able to send a pink slip to both of my senators immediately.

I recommend you do the same. These are the people who gave you Daylight Savings Time, who made it easier for credit card companies to gouge you, and now who want to take your dollars and bail out people who are supposed to know more about money than you do.

I hope my letters to my congressmen were indicative of what is happening in Texas. If so, John Cornyn will be looking for a job in January. Maybe in a bank somewhere, since he's so sensitive to their needs. And Kay Bailey Hutchison has some time to think about it. Rumors are she may be tired of the senate and be about to challenge our governor for his job. At one time I would have tried to help her, but not now. Maybe she can be a bank teller instead.

Are you going to let the people you send to Washington continue to thumb their noses at you? The vote on Wednesday night was a no-brainer. Millions of Americans jammed phone lines and websites, pleading, "Please vote no!" Seventy-four senators turned a deaf ear to them. In four years or so, we could be rid of them.

It's up to you.