Government

The Governor and the legislative leaders are in the midst of ongoing budget discussions which have intensified as we have gotten closer to the budget deadline.

This was the first phrase I learned when I arrived to the US and could barely speak English. My parents were trying to protect their children because of Fidel Castro's Revolution, The Cuban Missile Crisis and issues surrounding the base in Guantanamo.

However, politics is what decides much in our lives. From how our health care is set up, which subjects schools are teaching to salaries we will be earning as adults.

The Department of Homeland Security debacle points to many more years of government gridlock, unless all Americans get mad as hell and threaten the representatives who work for US.

US Congress it out of control and voters need to put pressure of their elected representatives. The recent Homeland Security shutdown scares over immigration reform, by GOP refusing to fund the federal program established to protect the American people have pointed to a lack of planning.

The week kicks off International Random Acts of Kindness Week, when we're all encouraged to do the good deeds we know we ought to be doing the other 51 weeks of the year.

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation * https://randomactsofkindness.org/

Tuesday is the all-star Grammy salute in Los Angeles to Stevie Wonder. The show will be broadcast on CBS on Monday, February 16, a week from tomorrow.

"Stevie Wonder: Songs In the Key of Life - An All-Star Grammy Salute," at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, Los Angeles, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. PT http://youtu.be/bkMIjgKSIvE via @YouTube

Prepare yourselves for plenty of buck-passing, finger-pointing and name-calling...etc. We continue to learn more about corruption in government, politics, business and just about everywhere we look.

Now, I do not like to appear as The Grim Reaper, but I've got news for all of you. It's definitely not a world of rainbows and unicorns nowadays, and media organizations should be focusing on journalism.

US Congress, used to be the place where statesmen and political theorists would roam the halls and work together. Leaders like James Madison, the fourth President of the United States of America, or John Adams the second President of the United States, who served earlier as the first vice president of the United States, or GOP Superstar Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US President who served until his assassination, and so many other real leaders who served US well. These politicians not only persevered, but also developed a stronger and much prouder nation.

After watching the last two congressional sessions, it leaves me thinking that the system has broken down and it desperately needs fixing. These women and men who were elected to serve US are fighting like they're in the worst divorce anyone has ever seen. The political pettiness and small-minded meanness in national discourse is disheartening at best and works against our national interests at worst.

Congress is charged with drafting, debating and sending bills to the president to be signed into law. But how do USA's 100 senators and 435 representatives from 50 states manage their legislative business? They have not been doing a good job.

An effective method to measure their effectiveness is to ask whether US lawmakers deliberate on the most important issues of the day and make a decision to move on to the next pressing issue. By this standard alone, Congress has grown dysfunctional.

Please, reach out to your representative and tell them what you expect of them, or else you will see to it that they are replaced. These new breed of leaders need marriage counselors, or strict chaperones. What say you?