why do we vote old lawers to congress?
453974
Basically they know the law, have the money to run, and are typically respected in their communities. Whether this is a good thing or not....
165297
Why do United States politicians run for re-election (and in Congress win re-election at a 98% rate)? For that matter why does anyone run for elected office? One could say that these people are interested in helping the people they "represent", and that may be true in some circumstances. However this is unlikely because politicians, like everyone else, tend to act in their perceived self interests (whether those perceptions are correct is another matter). The nature of politics (power and coercion) draws people who are power hungry to its cause. Once these people gain power they will do whatever they can from relenting such their positions. For a better and more in depth discussion look into public choice theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice_theory).
1010707
The reason that you pay so much in taxes is that Congress spends your money like drunken sailors. For the past ten years, it has been drunken Republican sailors. Before that it was drunken Democratic sailors. \n\nIt doesn't matter which party is in power, they all spend their time converting your tax dollars into their campaign contributions and votes. That's what your taxes buy; political careers.
86638
Sure they could. It's called voting. People need to direct more thought into voting. The American people vote their representatives into office, who in turn get to make the laws and vote for the President. Too many people sit idly by and don't make sure their voices are heard. Whenever there is an issue that I strongly have an opinion about, I make sure to call my Representative's office-be it a local, state, or Federal issue. This is the only way to make sure your opinion gets recorded! They are your elected reps. and are there for you, to vote according to the people of their districts. Signatures on a petition are just an amplification of this. Also, if more people who disagree with the system and would take action to run for office can you imagine the changes that would ocurr? I'm not saying any nutjob can get elected, but if you make sense and others agree with you then why not give it a try? People need to realize they are vested in the actions of this country whether they agree with them or not. We need to eliminate the people from office who do not represent our views as a whole. Our society needs to take action! Stop saying "It doesn't matter when I vote, so I'm not going to vote". That kind of attitude is what's gotten our system into the sorry mess it's in now. If you don't vote or take action, others who do vote will get control of things & quite possibly do things you don't agree with.
182261
Special Interest Groups rights's are defined in the constitution as bringing matters before congress.  The reason the these groups have so much power is that they are right there and are also the main contributors to some campaigns.  In order to give these groups less power would be to get more Americans out to vote and send a message to the politician that it is not business as usual.  That would have to be followed up by petitioning congress for different legislation as voters and pushing the Special Interest's to the side.  When it comes down to it the voter is what the politician is playing to, however with our apathy at the polls they feel they can do as they please.  Only about 60% of the Voting age population vote in Presidential Elections and that is not enough for the politicians to really worry about once they are in office.  The more people that vote the more that we will control the government and not the government controlling us.
104468
Your absolutely right, but don't forget that we put these people into office.  When people vote for legislators, they are voting for all the things they want to do for themselves as well.\n\nThere are many congresspersons who vote against raises, but they are often out numbered.  The goal of the people is to vote for those who aren't all about money. \n\nThanks for making me think! :)
924988
Good question. \n\nActuallly, the Democrats prefer the old way because THEY'VE BEEN USING DIRTY TRICKS. \n\nThey are scared because they know electronic machines will be more precise and will show that Democrats in the urban areas, the cities, have been padding their votes. \n\nSo, you have it wrong. It's not Bush it's the Democrats who have been cheating for many years. \n\nJohn F. Kennedy won the votes in Illinois based on votes of dead people .
649543
Many elected officials are lawyers...and they write the laws so that a normal person can't really understand what the hell they mean. So then you need a lawyer so you don't get screwed.
719617
They're called "Term Limits" and they can be voted on. The way politics work is that one builds their reputation by acheiving different levels of office until they reach their goal. Some people want to be President, so they run for treasurer, then Mayor, then Govenor, then Representative, then Senator, and then finally President. Maybe not that extensive, but that's what they do. Term limits are there so that incumbents don't hold a position until they die. Some states have term limits, some don't. I support term limits, thus, I will vote yes on term limits on a ballot whenever I see them. Tell congress to pass term limits on Congressman! We need it!
815557
why we should exercise our right to vote
1088797
Practically? Yes.\n\nThey discuss what they should vote on. They 'make stuff' to vote on and they vote. That's about it if you want the very simplistic version.\n\nIt is called representing the voter. You (if you did that) voted for that man or woman so he/she can represent you in congress. It is your congressperson. The only power he/she has is the vote realistically speaking.\n\nBut.. to be able to vote they have to know whats going on so... 99% of the time they sift though tons of information to at least seem informed. They fight of lobbyists.. or have dinner with them. Get hounded by the press because they said something stupid.\n\nBut basically you are right. What a senator is there for is to vote.
905791
Sometimes local or State laws are put to "referendum".  That means the voters have a direct relationship as to whether the law gets passed or not.  Otherwise the only thing you can do is write to your representatives and tell them how you feel about a particular law or issue and they vote to their conscience, perhaps taking the citizen's opinions into account.
1068860
congress wrote it into law as all laws are written. if they wrote it for people to vote, they wouldn't get anything. by wriiting it into the amendments along time ago, they give themselves raises all the time while wages stay the same for the rest of the country.
788465
Because that is their rules and we have ours. If you don't like the rules perhaps you should run in public office. It is smart for a Country to restrict other people from coming in to take jobs. In order to move to Florida, many years ago, we had been hired for a job and were  able to prove the any senior living there was fuly self-sufficient and not going to be a burden on their country. That is smart in my opinion.
23080
You'd be surprised.  Members of Congress spend lots of time in their district.  All of them maintain homes there, and (unlike Senators who run for reelection every six years) members of Congress are continually involved in permanent fundraising and community outreach in their districts.
1145106
because we accidently voted for thoes people who support that into office.  But I agree....it is time for people to get off their lazy backside and get a job.  My mom is legally blind and has  masters degrees and works full time.  They just want to use the government to be lazy and quite honestly it is stealing from the government....don't those people have any pride in themselves!
877869
really, you get to become a hero for screwing up everything you've been involved with in your lifetime like GWB has?\n\n In that case, we have more heroes in congress now then we've ever had the past. Most of them are Republicans mind you, but I'm sure more democratic 'heroes' will pop up now that they control the house. Here's an article all about these heroes, including the top 10 ten heroes in congress (a couple of them unfortunetly lost the last election, apparently their constituents didn't appreciate what great heroes they truly were).\n\nhttp://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/worst_congress_ever/page/1