Monday, December 28, 2009

Angry voters look to government: Do something!

Apparently, 2009 wasn't a bad year to me alone. Straight from the article:

"Scenes from the year of the angry voter

Town halls: From crowds of furious constituents to congressional representatives cowering in fear, the summertime scenes of national town hall meetings on health care reform turned into a sign of America's partisan divide. Republicans said it was authentic grassroots anger while liberals likened the events to pitchfork-carrying mobs.

Tea Parties: Angry rallies about government deficits, spending and taxes abounded. But both parties may have something to fear from the rise of a renegade force: Tea Party activists are now more popular than Democrats or Republicans, a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found.

Same-sex marriage: From Maine to California, there were protests to press the issue. Supporters of marriage equality hoped for a rebound in California after the 2008 passage of Proposition 8, while religious and conservative groups celebrated voters' rebuff of same-sex marriage in Maine and the New York Legislature's rejection of it.

Anti-war protests: President Obama took heat from the left - MoveOn.org and Code Pink included - as anti-war groups backed by some of Congress' most progressive members lambasted his decision to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan.

Climate change trouble: Even as he addressed world leaders in Copenhagen, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Obama's approval ratings on the issue had dropped to 45 percent, and talk radio and public rallies highlighted growing public doubt - and political divides - over the key environmental issue."


While these problems persist and ferment between the people and their government, perhaps instead of merely bringing these problems to light, more should be done by the people. Any ideas or input? Any one for passive-aggressive? *shrug*

And as Democratic strategist and former White House spokesman Chris Lehane said, "It doesn't work if people don't trust in their government to make decisions." In my opinion, it also doesn't work if the government doesn't make decisions that the people will like.

Thoughts? Opinions? Bleh?
Read?

-Annie Yang

No comments: