Just for Laughs

Just thought I would pass this on...

For the second year in a row, Al Gore's conference on Global Warming has been either canceled or badly affected due to excessive cold and ice. Last year, the one in Boston was canceled. This year he decided to host it farther south, in DC. But the cold and ice dampened his gathering considerably. I suspect next year he will plan it for Florida :o)

Just one of the pieces of "pork" in the stimulus bill concerns spending a bundle for new grass on the Washington Mall, to improve the landscape of Washington. I can think of a free way to improve the landscape of Washington - keep the lobbyists out, and get Congress doing their job.

Both my wife and I have WEATHERBUG on our computers. When she opened hers, it said we were looking at 12-20 inches of snow. At the same time, my Weatherbug said 10-15 inches. Maybe it has to do with the fact that her computer is farther east than mine - by about 25 feet.

Much of the problems we face in America today are the direct result of a serious disconnect with the political elite and the everyday folks. Politicians think with their fat wallets. The folks think with the holes in their pockets.

When a politician has an "evening out", it is likely to include a dinner at a $100 a meal restaurant, followed by a Broadway play or a Penthouse party featuring champagne and caviar. When "the folks" have an evening out, it is more likely to consist of dinner at Pizza Hut and either a movie at the local cinema or a house party featuring beer and chips.

So, when a politician writes a bill, or votes for it, he is looking at the issue from a completely different viewpoint than the folks.

Ergo, I have an idea how we might be able to help reconnect the politicians with the folks. Every state or federal politician should be required by law to spend two consecutive weeks each year living with a family of everyday folks with holes in their pockets. Much like the Foreign Exchange Student program. The politician would be required to eat what they eat, go where they go, and do what they do. He must become part of the family for two glorious weeks of reality. I'm not talking families in abject poverty - just normal, everyday lower-middle class families. Preferably with teenagers.

I believe this may provide an important new perspective to our leaders.

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