Letter: Elected officials are selling our rights to the highest bidder

To the editor,

I’ve been thinking about what seems to be making this country sick. What comes to mind is a time I was playing racquetball at the YMCA with a friend of mine. We were playing along, and all of a sudden these teenage kids ran into our court. They were messing around, and running all over the court. We told them to leave. That didn't work. We kept playing knowing they might get hit by a ball. Didn't work. They thought it was funny. We were yelling and running around the court after them, like a couple of dorks. I finally walked to the door and told my friend I was going to the front desk to report them. All of a sudden the fun was over. They left.

The only way our government will change is if someone makes them accountable for their actions. The president, so far, hasn't figured out how to make the unruly school kids behave. So who can do it? We the people need to do it. I believe that we must get lobbyists out of government for it to function normally. But we can't get them out without having a lobbyist group bigger than all the lobbyist groups. The Tea Party has at least some idea of this I think. But their message is too vague. They have not been effective in bringing positive change. In fact, I think they’ve done more harm than good. This lobbyist group must tell our government officials that if they don’t get rid of lobbyist groups (ours included) that they will not be re-elected.

Voting alone, I don't think, will be enough, because elected officials just tell us what they think we want to hear, then go back to business as usual once they're elected. They must know exactly what it is we the people want. If we don’t get rid of lobbyist groups in government, then our elected officials will continue to sell our rights to the highest bidder.

Debbie Jahnke

Hastings

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