Politics - A Deceptive Beast

As I watch the political ads that are pasting my television, I have noticed a very curious thing. Candidates are being blamed for voting against (or for) something that is entirely against their character.

Upon closer inspection, I have found this: Every bill has a laundry list of other bills that are attached to it. Politicians do this for several reasons. Fist, it is a way to add unpopular pork to a popular bill. Since politicians tend to get re-elected when they get more pork for their own district, members will trade off their pork in a “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” manner.

Let’s say that there is a new bill proposed to raise taxes. Attached to that bill is a bill to provide more soup to soup kitchens in Detroit. If I vote against higher taxes, I am also voting against sending more soup to the soup kitchens. Come election time, my opponent will say in his ads that I voted against sending more soup to the soup kitchens.

Let’s say that there is a bill to lower taxes. Attached to that bill is a bill to provide more soup to soup kitchens in Detroit. If I vote against lower taxes, I am also voting against sending more soup to the soup kitchens. Come election time, my opponent will say in his ads that I voted against sending more soup to the soup kitchens.

I really haven’t voted against more soup, I have voted on taxes. But, come election time, my opponent will drag out a host of things I didn’t know that I had even voted on.

Congress plays this big game of “Gotcha” all the time. This leads to a real distortion of a candidate’s views and it causes a lot of confusion and wrong choices to be made.