A History Lesson and K Street

During the founding of our great nation, there was an argument that we would all find familiar. It was a question as to where the power shall lie. James Madison, a Democratic- Republican (Yep), was a advocate for the federal government. He wrote a number of papers called the federalist papers. I want to focus in on Federalist number 10 and how it applies today.
In Arguing for a well constructed union, he knew how important it was to control factions. The following is his definition, not mine;

"By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuatedby some common impulse, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanant and aggregate interests of the community"

The causes of factions should not be removed because the only way to do it is by removing liberty. He goes on to explain that the only alternative is to control the faction's effects. This was the basis of why the power should fall with the federal government. My friends, this is simply no longer true.

We see many factions and this is nothing new. Every group on K Street is a little faction. You and I belong to factions whether it be ACLU, ACLJ, NRA, or any other letters you can put together. They can be The Christian Coalition, Rainbow Push, or Move On.org. They are all factions. This is not the problem. Factions have always existed. The problem is that these lobbies give better gifts, promises, and deals to our representatives. Naturally, a man or woman in Washington with corrupt principles would want to see them before citizens. It seems that they all do it except for maybe a dozen good apples.

When the vast majority of representatives are putting factions ahead of citizens, we are no longer controlling the effects of the factions. Our representatives are in the penthouse of a high rise. The elevators are for K street and the stairs are for Main street.

James Madison could not have foreseen the power trip we have today in Washington. Those individual factions in great numbers have made individual citizens unnecessary in Washington. The two parties behave like a a conglomerate of factions. James Madison's Democratic- Republican Party has become The Democratic and Republican Megafactions. Do they represent us or K Street?