My First Political Post

Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate cannot be "Fired" or in any way removed from office. Americans have only two legal mechanisms to remove any politician: a process called "Recall Election" and a process most Americans are vaguely aware of, Impeachment.

Impeachment can only be brought upon: "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States." There is conflicting definitions on whether or not Senators or Representatives even qualify as "Civil officers," and additionally, only The House of Representatives can submit claims warranting impeachment, and only the Senate can try/convict. Normal Americans have very little, if any, ability to initiate or even call for an Impeachment.

Recall Elections are very limited; it is only allowed at the state level in 18 states and at the local level by 29 states. This means that it is impossible to petition for a Recall Election of any Federal-level politician.

What does this mean, exactly? It means that the Senators (100) and the Representatives (435) cannot be removed from office, and realistically neither can the President (1), Vice President (1), and the Cabinet (15) are also basically untouchable.

So, these 552 folks that basically have nothing to fear about their position for at least 2 years, and as many as 6 for Senators.

That sounds a little scary, but we can trust these people, right? We VOTED for them! They're the best, brightest, and most equipped for handling things that, potentially, impact every other American!

Well, maybe. But they're human, and humans have flaws, not he least of which is Greed. Lets take that number and extrapolate a hypothetical.

I'm a corporation with a quarterly earnings of $6.9 billion, and I'd like to ensure that I have the ear of a few politicians. Nothing ILLEGAL, mind you; just that when I call and want to talk about the weather, or how their family is doing, or how that latest bill is looking to impact my industry, that they'll have some time for me! What would it cost me if I wanted to contribute $1 million to a few of those 552 people's campaign efforts?

8% of my QUARTERLY earnings. FOR EVERY.SINGLE.POLITICIAN.

You know, nothing major or shady about that; it's just a million bucks! I mean, that Barely buys a prime-time comercial these days!. I should know; I'm a multi-national corporation! However, maybe if a few candidates are REALLY nice to me, I can throw in a free commercial on my affiliate network, or tell my news company that you're a stand-up guy!

Now, I'm not saying that happens or anything, but I'm saying that... oh, what is a Special Limit? And is there a limit they can give to a National Party Committee member? There's a lot of Greed out there, and not a whole lot of people are immune.

552 people control every federal law and regulation. What was the size of your graduating class?