Obama and A Government for the People

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government." Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration Speech, January 20, 2009

Hopefully President Obama will remember these words as he wades through the mess left by the Bush Administration and restores the Government to work on behalf of the People not on behalf of the Energy and Financial Industries which were given free reign during the Republican Years of the Bush Administration. President Obama is off to a good start issuing orders to limit the revolving door between Government and Industry Lobbyists, and also freezing the salaries of his his staff. Although the lobbyists rules should be stricter, at least there is a change in course from the Republican Bush Years and today. Congress should take a cue from the new President and rescind the pay raise that they voted for themselves in January. In Fact the Congress should vote to cut Federal salaries by the same percentage that the GDP has fallen under their stewardship while they refused to oppose the Bush Administration for the last years. Between the falling growth and the growth that was stifled by the Bush Administration that would amount to about a 7% decline in GDP. Therefore, Congress should vote to decrease all Federal salaries by 7%.

American Families have seen their real income decrease by over 7 % under the Bush Administration, so it is time that the Federal Employees who failed to oppose the policies of the Bush Administration suffer the same fate that they allowed the American Family to suffer.