Joey’s Take: Beholden to …

Last time I checked, it was the voters who elected people to Congress and the White House. It was not Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Harry Reid or even Michael Steele. Our senators, representatives and president are not elected by a party, an agenda or special interest groups. They are elected by the people to represent the people and do the will of the people.

Yet, the POR Trio would have you believe the prime directive for a Democratic rep or senator is to blindly and unquestioningly fall in line with the trio’s agenda. Afterall, that’s what they were elected to do. Right?

Anyone who’s surprised by this tune wasn’t listening closely during the 2008 campaign. Obama summed up his view of a politician’s role in a speech that played to rave reviews in Iowa and helped him clinch the Iowa caucuses. “That’s why telling the American people what we think they want to hear instead of telling the American people what they need to hear just won’t do,” he said. While his words rang with rhythm and rhetoric, their true meaning was lost in the thunderous applause. No one questioned who would be the arbiter of what the American people NEED to hear.

Other fact-check failures from the campaign trail are coming back to bite the nation. As Game Change reminds us, the basic principles that shaped Obama’s campaign were a.) Americans were tired of divisiveness – they wanted a unifier; b.) they wanted an end to partisanship; and c.) they wanted leaders who would say no to special interests. Obama the candidate rode this rhetoric of change all the way to the White House. And yet, according to Washington Post vote tallies for the last Congress, his record in the Senate showed he was one of the most partisan, divisive voices there – coming in right behind Joe Biden. And his links to special interests ran deep.

Since the election, all we’ve heard from the POR Trio is strident partisanship as they demand that all reps and senators ignore the wishes of their constituents, who are too ignorant to know what’s good for them, and bow to the bidding of the all-knowing Democratic leadership and the special interests that fund their message.

This November, we need to show the POR Trio what change is all about. And in the meantime, remind your senators and representatives who they really answer to.

I’m Joey, and I want to bring real change to Washington.

Joey’s Take: Sticking Up for the Middle Class

UPDATE: Fisker, the company that got more than half a billion dollars to build luxury hybrid cars thanks to Al Gore's backing, has decided to make the cars at a shuttered GM plant in Delaware, Vice President Biden's state. (This company must have a thing for vice presidents.) The plan now is to produce 75,000-100,000 cars a year, beginning in 2012, that will sell for about $40,000 after federal tax credits. More than half the cars are expected to be sold in Europe. The company is letting the union tell it who it can hire at the plant, according to an AP story.

Bo Obama left his mark on Air Force One last week. I hear he created quite a stink.

If I’m elected to Congress, I pledge to leave my mark in the Capitol on behalf of the middle class. And I’m ready to clean up the stink that’s piling up in Congress.

It’s time somebody stood up for the middle class, which seems to be the bankroll our government is counting on to fund everything from healthcare to the escalating interest on our ballooning national debt. It is the middle class that gets hit by every new tax – gas taxes, income taxes, property taxes, service taxes, FICA, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes. You name it – if it’s a tax, it’s going to slap the middle class. Why? Because the wealthiest (I’m talking million- and billionaires) have the loopholes, and the poor are always on the receiving end.

What our elected officials don’t understand is that the middle class is comprised of the movers and shakers of our communities. We are the security experts, the policemen, the firefighters, the accountants, the teachers, the small business owners, the workers who keep our country functioning.

We are the ones who will invest in green technology, who will pay to make our houses energy efficient, who will buy gas-sipping cars, who will invest in education, who will seek out American-made products, who will invent better widgets, who will support dog rescue programs and other charities. In other words, we are the backbone of the nation’s economy. That is, if the government allows us to keep the money we earn. (Yes, I may be a dog, but I am every inch a middle-class dog.)

Unfortunately, our “leaders” think they know best when it comes to spending our money. Like “loaning” more than half a billion middle-class tax dollars to a tiny car company Al Gore has invested in. According to the Wall Street Journal, this company will use the money to manufacture hydrogen-fueled cars in FINLAND that will sell for about $90,000 each.

And while our leaders were being generous with our money, they “loaned” nearly $470 million to another small automaker to make electric cars in the UK that will sell for $109,000 each.

So what will the middle class get for our money? Jobs for workers in other countries. And cars that we can’t afford. Since only a relatively few cars will be sold at those prices, we will see no impact on climate change, and the companies will probably never be profitable enough to pay us back.

If you ask me, these deals stink far worse than the little pile Bo left on Air Force One.

I’m Joey. I want to clean up Congress. And I approved this message.

Joey's Take -- Obedience School

You know, I haven't seen Bo since the first week he moved into the White House. I'm figuring the president told him he had to get his book written this year or else ...

Or maybe the president sent Bo to obedience school. We can't have anyone running around out of control in the Beltway!

Speaking of which, I bet the president wishes he could get a muzzle for Joe Biden. Also on his wish list would be a shock collar -- wait, would that be considered torture? -- or at least obedience classes for some of the political animals in Congress. They just aren't doing what he wants them to do when he wants them to do it. They really need to be White House-broken.

It's bad enough that the Republicans aren't playing nice, but the Democrats should know better. According to pack behavior, they're supposed to follow the top dog.

Ah, but there's the rub. Just who IS the top dog?

While a number drink the president's water, I'm sure some of those congressional Democrats would wag their tails and point to Pelosi. Others might lick up to Reid or the show dogs from kennels backed by rich special interests. And in the Republican pack, a few are still sniffing around McCain while others are going in circles around Limbaugh, Romney, Gingrich or anyone else who tries to smell like a leader.

What all the political animals in D.C. need to remember -- President Obama included -- is that they are on a leash controlled by the American people. And that leash can be yanked, or shortened, at any time.

If you want to join my fan club, you can e-mail me at JoeyPortie@gmail.com or become a Facebook friend -- just look for Joey Serebrov.