When did we stop being “We the People” and become “we the pawns”? Or maybe it should be “we the patsies,” or “we the marks”?

We (the People) elect 536 representatives to conduct the business of our United States, 435 members of the House, 100 Senators, and a President. They represent us, the 300,000,000 citizens of America.

We hired them – they’re supposed to work for us. Shouldn’t they answer to us when things go wrong? Looked at your 401(k) lately? What about the value of your home? Laid off or out of a job?

Aren’t things wrong enough now to take action?

The OMB recently revised the deficit figure, which now is expected to surpass $1,800,000,000,000 (that’s TRILLIONS, friends and neighbors). How’d we get here? Did YOU screw something up? Or was it ME? Nope, not even Hugo Chavez or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They didn’t do it … our own representatives did it.

Isn’t it high time that we review the job performance of our representatives? From Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid on down to the rookies in Congress. It is time to objectively assess the job they’ve done. Remember 2006 when the democrats were swept into a majority in Congress?

“The days of the do-nothing Congress are over,” declared Democrat Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, adding that Americans spoke “clearly and decisively in favor of Democrats leading this country in a new direction.”

Well, Harry was right about one thing – the democrats have been anything but “do nothing.” The problem is, a few more years of their “new direction” will turn the United States into a Socialist state and bankrupt it at the same time.

On election day, November, 2008, only 17%of poll respondents approved of Congress’ job, 74% disapproved. That was TWO YEARS after Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, et al were given their opportunity to make things better. They didn’t – practically everything they did has made life in America more difficult.

Now, after the public opted to give them yet another chance in 2009, the approval numbers are falling again. Now, only 30% approve of the job being done by congress and 60% disapprove. This only points out that it’s time that we the people ask questions of our representatives. For example:

Have you noticed that every election, the politicians tell us that they are going to pay for [fill in blank] by correcting inefficiencies in the [fill in blank] system. Have they EVER made ANYTHING more efficient? Have any cost savings EVER resulted? We need to ignore any “anticipated cost savings” in ANYTHING they propose – it ain’t gonna happen.

If both Democrats and Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits amounting to $1.8 Trillion dollars?

Have you ever wondered, if all of the politicians are against high taxes, WHY do we have high taxes now, with even higher taxes to come?

You and I don’t have the authority to vote on appropriations and spending, the House of Representatives does.

We don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

We don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t propose a federal budget, the President does.

Why does Congress exempt themselves from legislation that affects other citizens? The “healthcare” bill is a perfect example. If the healthcare that you’re pushing on us is good enough for the rest of the country, then By God, it is good enough for Congress.

Who is to blame for the $787,000,000,000 “economic stimulus” bill that isn’t working. THEM is to blame, US will pay for it. What about the “Cap and Trade” bill? And have you heard about the “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009?” Does it sound like Congress is spending OUR money wisely?

What kind of ‘bang” are we getting for our buck – our taxes? How can Congress expect we the people to sit idly by and accept spending BILLIONS of OUR money without even reading the bill specifying how OUR money will be spent?

If congresspersons won’t read bills spending BILLIONS of OUR money, that is prima facie evidence of several things:

• They are NOT doing the job for which they were elected
• The bills are purposely too complex to understand
• The resultant laws will be too complex to work and unintended consequences will be rampant
• The complexity and excessive length of bills provide easy ways to hide pork spending and political payoffs from public scrutiny
• The complexity, length, and speed of passage of bills removes any chance for the public to know what congress is spending OUR money on
• We can no longer trust our representatives to HONESTLY tell us how and why they’re spending OUR money. Lies, misdirection and obfuscation have become tools of their trade for our representatives in Washington, DC.

Seems to me that those who are tasked with managing our federal government have been looking out for themselves and their political party – not for we the people. Reelection, retaining power is their raison d'être. They have not taken seriously their responsibility to be careful stewards of OUR funds.

We cannot allow this political ponzi scheme to continue. How many times have our “representatives” sold us on a plan that will benefit us today but will be paid for by our children? Plans that are supposed to fix the problems INITIALLY CREATED by those same 536 “representatives”? We are being played for fools. We have become patsies and marks. We have been hustled. But even worse, our children and grandchildren are being saddled with an unmanageable level of debt and an increasingly shrinking level of freedom. Is this the legacy that we want to leave our children?

We have a great deal of history on many of our members of Congress. For a lot of them, it’s the only job they’ve ever held. Eighty-seven members of congress have been in their job for over twenty years. These are the very individuals who bear the most responsibility for the nation’s woes. They’re in a position to control legislation; they hold leadership positions in Congress. The majority of them couldn’t manage a donut store. How’s their “leadership” working out for us?

“With a median net worth of $746,000, most members of Congress have a comfortable financial cushion to ride out any recession,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which conducted a study on congressional pay. The 535 members of Congress, who earn average annual salaries of $169,000 (now $174,000), had a total net worth of $3.7 billion in 2007. Their average net worth soared by 61 percent from 2004 to 2007. DID YOURS? Median net worth for senators was $1.7 million. "Obama ranked as one of the biggest financial winners, with his net worth increasing from $800,000 in 2006 to $4.7 million in 2007, thanks mainly to royalties from his two best-selling books.

The point is, these people that we elect are given positions of power; most of them live a life of privilege and most of them become wealthy. They have lost touch with ordinary Americans and the things that affect our everyday life. They are “the elite” and they act like it.

And what are we receiving in return for their pampering? Scorn and deceit.

Their fingerprints and DNA are all over the failed policies, the excessive spending, the political payoffs to campaign contributors, etc. They have PROVEN that they cannot or will not be efficient managers of OUR MONEY. Are we the people stupid enough to let this rush to oblivion continue without abatement? Are we supposed to wait until recovery is impossible?

The status quo is simply strangling our country. We need a transfusion – a transfusion of new representation. Please note that my solution is not a partisan one. Regardless of political party, most have proven that they cannot be trusted with OUR money.

It is time to … THROW THE BUMS OUT.