Come Smell Iowa

...read the headline on the very front page of the CR Gazette this morning. Apparently (and it's just occurred to me that I use that word WAY too much) that's what our noble Senator Harkin would like everyone to come and do. To the tune of $1.8 million in taxpayer money to fund a study going on outside of Ames aimed at controlling that scourge of the Midwest, that drives people away in droves- the smell of manure.

$1.8 million to try and stop the countryside smelling like poop? I thought that would have been obvious- just by a big-ass can of Febreeze and go to town. But that'll probably cost even more money. At the end of the day, what I think is this:

We're a farm state.
Farmers have livestock. (Some of them anyway)
And livestock poops.

Therefore, it's gonna smell sometimes. If you can't stand the smell, I suggest moving away from farms- or maybe breaking up big, huge, enormous corporate hog lots into smaller parcels.

Some other greatest hits from this festering turd of a spending bill:

The appropriation for the manure research is contained in a $410 billion spending bill now making its way through Congress. Among other earmarks that have been criticized: tattoo removal for gang members in Los Angeles; Polynesian canoe rides in Hawaii; termite research in New Orleans; and the study of grape genetics in New York.

I'm seriously wondering if we shouldn't just fire everyone and start over. It's obvious that the political class and the money-ed elites of the country are working in what essentially amounts to symbiosis. The rich (people and companies) can fund the campaigns of both parties- average Americans can't- and therefore, since money talks and heaven forfend that a majority of Congress do something useful for their constituents for once (some of them are awesome, but the majority is, in my mind, less than impressive lately. And that's me being extremely nice.) So the rich call the tune and our government dances. Where that leaves us middle class and piss poor people, I don't know, but it's sure as heck nowhere good.

For 233 years, we've chugged along and done fairly well for ourselves. We got through a Civil War (amazing leadership there) and been through two World Wars and fought the Cold War and let's face it, we've done good. But the government just doesn't seem to be working for the people anymore- it seems to be working for the people who can buy the access and throw the fundraisers to help Representative X out in the next campaign so they can line their warchest- and unfortunately, the people who have access are the rich and powerful- an exclusive minority in the country. And last time I checked, I thought democracy was supposed to be about MAJORITY rule.

That last paragraph may come across as incredibly naive and it probably is. People go out and vote. People get involved- at an incredible rate this past election. But the underlying problem is still there- you, me and your neighbor may participate in the democratic process whenever we get a chance, but in voting for President Obama or your Congressman the question in this day and age of America becomes this: does that vote buy you access? Influence? Because those are the REAL currency in Washington today- and pragmatically, they're always going to be. But we're moving too far into the pits of money and legalized bribery- and our democracy and government is increasingly frail as a result.

You check your cars out every 3,000 miles or so, take them into the shop, pop the hood and see how she's doing, right? Well, maybe it's time for a National Check-Up- an official one, so we can ask the question: how can we make our government better? How can we make our democracy better? The Founders wanted to 'form a more perfect union', but that isn't a static thing. It's not like we achieve Nirvana and then say 'ok, we're done- perfect union. Let's have a beer.' No, it's an every day, every year, every generation struggle- always wanting to know and figure out how we can make America better.

And whether you're Democrat, Republican or Independent (like me) I think that's something we can all get behind. So it's been 233 years or so- let's call a Constitutional Convention and start asking the questions. The internet can open it up to everyone in the country who can get to a computer- and who knows- maybe we debate, we sit down and we think 'we're good to go'- and maybe that'll be the end of it. But something doesn't seem to be working as good as it used too, which sort of indicates, at least to me that we should pop the hood and check things out.

Just sayin'