I got this story out of a book called:\r\n\r\n \"The Ruling Class Inside the Imperial Congress\"\r\n\r\nThe book is written by:\r\n\r\n Eric Felten\r\n\r\nThe book is rather old and was published in 1993 by:\r\n\r\n The Heritage Foundation
\r\n 214 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.
\r\n Washington, D.C.
\r\n 20002\r\n<\/p>
\r\n (202)546-4400
\r\n (800)426-1357\r\n\r\nThe book pretty much explains and gives details on\r\nhow the United States Congress is corrupt to the\r\ncore and how it serves it members, rather then\r\nthe people of the United States.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nI guess the book should be titled:\r\n\r\n \"Congress is corrupt and only serves the\r\n interests of its members, and certainly\r\n not the people it pretends to represent\"\r\n\r\nThe book points out that 5 to 10 percent of an\r\nincumbents vote total can be attributed to \r\ngratitude for \"constituent services\".\r\n<\/p>
\r\n\"Constituent services\" is the part of a Congressman's\r\noffice that helps people or \"constituents\" in the \r\nCongressman's district solve problems they are \r\nhaving with the government.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nYou know problems like when the Social Security office\r\ntells a person that the SS office records shows that the person\r\nis dead.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nSo smart people who don't want to deal with the government idiots\r\nin the Social Security office write their Congressman, and the\r\nCongressman gets his \"constituent services\" to solve the\r\nproblem.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe book says \"constituent services\" is a primary reelection\r\nstrategy for most Congressmen. It goes on to say that\r\n\"constituent services\" is a reelection strategy that is\r\neven more important then raising cash. \r\n<\/p>
\r\n\"Constituent services\" didn't play a big part in getting\r\nCongressmen reelected until the 1930's. Of course that\r\nis when the New Deal came along and the Federal government\r\nbecame involved in the lives of a large number of Americans.\r\nBefore that American rarely wrote their Congressmen.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe book says that half to two thirds of a congressman's \r\nstaff is engaged in \"constituent services\". Of course \r\neach of these \"constituent services\" staff members \r\namounts to a full time campaign worker who's salary \r\nis paid by the taxpayers. No wonder incumbents have an \r\nedge in getting reelected.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe book says the only thing more important than providing\r\n\"constituent services\" is getting credit for it. \r\nOf course that is the name of the game - to get the\r\nCongressman reelected.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe book jokingly says that Congressmen can \r\nintentionally screw up things to help themselves \r\nget reelected with higher margins.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nIt gives an example of how a Congressman spreads nails on\r\na highway to cause his constituents to get flats on their\r\ncar tires. \r\n<\/p>
\r\nOf course the constituents doesn't know their Congressman\r\ncause their flat tires, but the constituents are certainly\r\nhappy when the Congressman fixes their flat tires for free.\r\nAnd of course they routinely vote to reelect the jerk.\r\n<\/p>
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<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Congressmen use "Constituent services" to get 5 to 10 percent of their votes","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2011\/03\/244724.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":244725,"heading":"Here is another copy of the story","article":"Here is another copy of the story at\r\nhttp:\/\/warmweather.tripod.com\/reelection_machine.html","author":"The same Congressman","parent_id":244724,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2011-03-07 22:43:32","modified":"2011-03-07 22:43:32","fileurl":""}]}