Seriously, why are we paying congresspersons hundreds of thousands of dollars a year? Both Democrats and Republicans are more worried about jousting for the next election, than actually solving the problems plaguing each state, such as crime, education standards, and disaster prevention. No, instead these men and women who should certainly know better are voting on USELESS items, such as:

1. The Senate same-sex Marriage Amendment: regardless of whether you think this is necessary or legislating hate crime, it was a measure that lost badly, falling well short of the votes necessary--a fact they knew going into the vote.


2. The House resolution to preclude a timetable on pulling out of Iraq: listen, reasonable people dispute why we are there in the first place--notably many House democrats--but few actually advocate an immediate, unequivocal pull-out. So why vote on such an essentially meaningless measure when the contrary result would never have been authorized anyway?
3. LA Rep. Jefferson is ousted from a key House panel: by his own party, and then the House, for a crime of which he was not only presumed innocent until proven guilty for, but which he has not even been charged for!

I'm sorry, each of the above is about a partisan framing of facts, not representative democracy. It's about looking good for voters, or making others look bad to voters. It is a disgrace. We all elect these leaders to solve society's problems, to make our communities better places to live. It makes me sick. All of it. All of them. Is this really what thousands of years of "civilization" amounts to?