Lobbyists

I am of the opinion that the government of the United States of America is growing increasing corrupt.  The U.S. has many politicians that change opinion rapidly, almost making 180 degree turns in policies, and different companies and groups making announcements later seem to have impacted some bill or vote in the House or Senate.  The U.S. has groups like "Big Oil", the NRA, unions, PETA, etc. all pushing on the politicians, giving gifts, sending them on trips, and many other such things that are legal, and yet seem to be affecting policy.  Now, I do not believe these groups should be broken up or disbanded, but I do believe they should not be allowed to exert the kind of power they can through money and benefits for politicians.  I believe these groups do do good, but they also do much wrong.  But tell me what you think of lobbying in the U.S. government.

Budget Talks

These budget cliffs the United States keeps approaching and narrowly avoiding is starting to get tiresome.  The liberals want to increase taxes, while the conservatives want to cut spending, and yet neither side wants to give the other anything.  It's amazing, as the United States government was built on debate and compromise.  Today, there is plenty of debating, but where is the compromise?  I truly do not care whose fault it is as I feel that it is everyone's fault.  Could politicians just find some way to get together and talk, saying things like "if you give us this, we'll give you that" or some other such idea.  The problem now is that instead both sides are trying to "win" the debate instead of trying to progress the debate.  Start simple, tax a little bit here, cut a bit there and pretty soon the U.S. may actually find a solution to the problem or at least keep the country from collapsing.  Instead the Senate and Congress just pass really small amendments on bills that delay the date of whatever cliff is approaching for a few months, or a few years.  Tell me what you think though, is there a solution or perhaps at least a decent answer?

Guns Rights vs. Gun Control

This topic has been floating around for a long time in the United States.  The attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown brought this debate back to the forefront.  Many liberals argue for stricter gun control laws, background checks, and in some cases even bans on guns.  Conservatives on the other hand seem to agree with background checks but prefer softer gun control laws and no bans on guns.  Personally, I  fall in the middle, with a lean towards the liberals.  I believe better background checks should be performed on those registering for guns, I mean in many states now people have a greater challenge trying to register to vote than getting a gun.  I also believe that some of the small regulations like decreased magazine and clip size for guns should be implemented.  If you need more than ten rounds before reloading to take something down, you have a bigger problem than having to reload your gun.  I do not believe, however, that the U.S. government should try to ban assault rifles.  I agree no one really needs to have an assault rifle and that they cause more damage than good, but the same could be said of alcohol, smoking, and now in Colorado, marijuana usage, but I do not think the government should tell people they can not have them and also the decreased magazine capacity would go a long way to stop or at least lessen tragedies in the future.  Tell me what you think on the topic?