🚀 go-pugleaf

: >Think about why Ann Richards didn't even want to let the citizens of Texas
: >make their own decision about allowing permits (it would not have been a
: >free thing) to carry guns.  Does she not trust the people?  Does she not
: >want to let people make their own decisions.

: This sounds alot like the Republicans and term limits... They apparently think
: that after a politician has been in office for a while, we voters somehow
: become incapable of deciding whether or not this politician deserves
: to go back to office. Do they not trust us? Do they not want to let us make
: our own decisions?
: This decision by the Republican party to support term limits has to be one of
: the most hypocritical political moves I have ever seen. The party that is
: always telling us how they are fighting to keep government from running our
: lives now proposes to take away the right of qualified individuals to run for
: congress and to further limit my right to choose my public officials.  
: Obviously, the Republican support for term limits is just a political move to
: gain control of congress. I hope the voters will realize this. 

Yeah, Republican support for term limits is *a lot* like there support
for the "balanced budget amendment".

George Mitchell pointed out in his speech to the Senate against the
BBA, that the writers of the bill had changed the wording so that
Congress would not be required to have a bal. budg. until 2001,
from 1999.  Why?  Because Senators who get elected this November
would've had to vote for a bal. budg. during there next term.  This
way they wouldn't have had to worry about it.

Sorta like whenever the govt. runs out of money, they give themselves
enough so that they won't run out again until a few months *after*
the next election.  Remember the Republicans saying in early 1993
that Congress shouldn't vote to appropriate more money(& some Dems)

man...examples of Congress' hypocrisy could go on forever, but I'll
just add one more...perhaps the most vital issue yet...
campaign reform.
They passed it when they knew Bush would veto it, and didn't pass
it when they knew Clinton would sign it.

Congress won't vote for reform, and Republicans prefer term limits
over reform so that they will still be able to cash in on being
a Congressman.

Gosh, ranting about Congress is just too easy!  I'm sure I'm not
the only one who is sick of them!
One of the best example of special interest control in recent times
is the increase in gas-tax.  That's when Congress told the people
that an *indirect* tax on BTU was hurt consumers to much, so they
opted for a *direct* tax on gas!

Did you catch the article the other day about how Phil Gramm single-
handenly killed a bill on credit card reform?  It was a good 
compromise bill that *both* sides supported.(ie-consumer groups and
all 3 credit reporting agencies)  Unfortunently, someone who writes
Gramm a bigger check than the govt. didn't like it, so he killed it.