Remember "The Contract With America"? That voter bill of rights that got so many Republican politicians elected in 1994? According to the elephants, that document was going to change the way Washington did business.Whatever happened to that? Seems many of the ideas were killed in committee, vetoed or diluted in negotiations with then president, Clinton or simply voted down when they hit the House or Senate floor. In a few years the Contract was forgotten and it was "business as usual" in D.C.

Or how about George the First's, "Read my lips, no new taxes!" Followed soon thereafter with the biggest tax hike in history at that time. There was Nixon's , "I am not a crook", followed by Clinton, who neither inhaled in college or slept with that woman, Miss Lewinski. George II swore there were weapons of mass destruction and Obama has now somehow misplaced most of his campaign promises along with his birth certificate.

Call me stupid, but ever since the 70's, I've noticed a disturbing trend in our political system. It's almost as if it's.... I don't know..... like it's...... corrupt or something. Why do we as voters put up with the constant lies, philandering, flip flops and absolute corruption of the vast majority of our political leaders? Why aren't we rioting for change? What the hell is wrong with us?

Well, let me introduce you to one word my friend; one word that we voters use that magically erases and covers up all the lies, insanity, greed, theft, sex scandals, and corruption of our elected officials. That magical word being -- DENIAL.

DENIAL folks! It's so very simple! We continue to believe that as a people, if we just close our eyes, hold our noses and vote for the most charismatic person, that somehow it doesn't matter if he or she sells our national security secrets to China. Everything will continue to be fine even if our elected officials keep passing more and more restrictive laws against their own constituents and continue to take away more and more of our freedom. For God's sake, it's called the Patriot Act! How could that possibly infringe on my freedom?

And taxes? Sure, I'll pay 50 cents more a month to help starving pop music artists in El Salvador. And then another dollar a month to make sure auto mobile execs get to keep their golden parachutes. And 75 cents more to keep my bank solvent. Welfare moms deserve two of my dollars a month and Medicare should get another 2% raise this year. What about Midnight Basketball in Manhattan? Keeps kids off the streets ya know. 35 cents a month? Sure. Bangladesh, Bosnia, Baghdad, Bolivia, Bulgaria and Botswana all need help too. And that's only the B's! And pornographic art definitely needs government tax money to fund it's important work. Just pennies folks, pennies!

But add two or three hundred more things to the list and suddenly, guess what? You're giving 20% or more of your check to...... drum roll please..... The Lobbying Business!

Yes, you knew I'd get there somehow!

You see, back in the 1950's when dad could work 8 hours a day and still afford a nice home, a car and college for the kids, and mom could stay home and raise them to be well mannered when they got there, the tax rate on his income stood at about 5%. I'm sure that it mystifies today's politicians how a country could be financed on that measly rate but somehow, the U.S. managed to not only survive at that time, but thrive.

But since the 1970's and the boom of the Lobbying Business, Dad is suddenly paying more than 20% of his check to fund programs that not even God can keep track of. Mom has been forced off to work as well; and the kids? Kids? Oh crap! Where are the kids? Oh never mind, everything will work out fine. Just close your eyes, vote for charisma or your favorite letter of the alphabet (R or D) and don't ask questions.

And like the frog that sits contently in the pan of cold water on a hot burner, we fail to feel the water slowly warming until it's too late. And as John Madden used to say, "BOOM!"  We have entered the "voter denial zone", and like that stupid frog, we are now paying for our ignorance with our lives and freedom (or the lack of it).

Our economy may be in a shambles but the Lobbying Business is booming in D.C.! Paul Ferrell writes, "There's a huge, highly paid army of mercenary lobbyists in Washington. Registered lobbyists may be 42,000 versus a mere 537 elected officials. American University political scientist James Thurber says there are actually 261,000 members of the "influence-lobbying complex" running your government. Many are former congressmen, senators and staffers. Others are ad hoc mercenaries, like the 350 hired by the GOP just to kill health-care reforms at a cost of over a million bucks a day.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans will never hear about all the day-to-day shenanigans: The buying, selling and bartering of sweeteners, earmarks, votes and senatorial seats. Most of the behind-the-scenes deals never cross the radar of Middle America."

And hey Paul, even if we do know about all this, we're not paying attention, remember?

DENIAL!

Stay tuned folks, as I continue to lobby for your attention on Lobbyists and how they're wrecking your life and stealing your freedom. It's gonna get much better. And if it doesn't? Well, you now know the one word answer to all your problems!

DENIAL; it's not just for breakfast anymore!