Here in these 50 United States, we live in a representative democracy and in a representative democracy, the people choose representatives to serve in legislative bodies (like Congress, Parliament or state legislatures/assemblies). These representatives then make decisions, enact laws and govern on behalf of the people they represent.
That being the case, why doesn’t Congress react to the wishes of their constituents instead of some reality show carnival barker?
These representatives, theoretically, at least, are expected to be held accountable to these same constituents and to act in their best interests.
Check any high school civics book (if indeed, civics is still taught in high school) and you’ll see it in black and white. So, why aren’t our senators and representatives held accountable?
There are supposed to be mechanisms for citizens to provide feedback and to actually engage with their elected representatives. These include letters and emails and supposedly town hall meetings. But only two members of the Louisiana delegation (Reps. Troy Carter and Cleo Fields) have actually held town hall meetings. Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy and Reps. Clay Higgins, Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson and Julia Letlow have not held one between them. In fact, Trump lap dog, House Speaker Mike Johnson, expressly instructed his fellow Republicans in the House to not hold such town hall meetings. So much for representative democracy.
And those of you who have written and emailed your representatives and/or senators, did you get a response and did that response come anywhere close to addressing the concerns you wrote about? More likely you just got a canned response generated by a computer. (And they were critical of Joe Biden’s autopen…)
Five separate polls over the past few days show an overwhelming opposition to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. In fact, the poll that reflected the largest support (a whopping 38 percent) was by… (wait for it) Fox News, not exactly the most precise barometer going. But wait! That same Fox News poll also showed the second-largest percentage opposed at 59 percent.
Here are the results of all five polls:
- THE WASHINGTON POST found more Americans oppose the legislation than support it, 42% to 23%
- The nonpartisan PEW RESEARCH CENTER found 49% oppose it, 29% favor it.
- FOX NEWS showed 59% opposition and 38% support.
- QUINNIPIAC says 57% are against and 27% are in favor
- A KFF POLL found 64% of the public has an unfavorable opinion of the plan, with just 35% who view it favorably
Folks, those numbers aren’t even close. That’s an average of only 30.4% in favor of the bill. That’s even lower than Trump’s approval rating. it’s nowhere near the 2 or 3 percent margin of error. It’s indisputable that the vast majority of Americans view Trump’s BBB in a HIGHLY UNFAVORABLE.
So, the question must be asked: Where is our representative democracy in Congress?
Where is the concept of representative democracy in Louisiana’s congressional delegation?
And remember, Johnson and Kennedy consider themselves to be constitutional scholars.
What has happened to our inability to think for ourselves in Louisiana that has left us with a pack of cowards like Johnson, Scalise, Higgins, Letlow, Kennedy and Cassidy?
Are Mike Johnson and his fellow Republican Louisiana congressional colleagues so remorseless that the loss of Medicaid benefits to a quarter million Louisiana citizens is of no concern to them? Is this Bible-totin’, scripture-quotin’ hypocrite so callous that he doesn’t give a damn about the fate of malnourished babies who will suffer just so he can please billionaire Trump by pushing this bill through?
Do Johnson and the others not see that Louisiana will be tied with Virginia for the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE CUT (21 percent) in Medicaid benefits when this bill becomes law?
Do they care?
Louisiana Voice 
No. They do not. They never have. They never will.
I have sent them emails and made phone calls to them, oh, so many times, and asked the same thing, “Do you care?” Not one has responded with an answer, which tells me their answer. Out of 33 Louisiana rural hospitals that are in danger of closing with this bill, 29 of them are in Johnson’s and Letlow’s districts. Sent that information to them, too. Not a word. I challenged them to listen to their constituents. Ha! They only bow to Trump and do whatever it takes to please him, the rest of us be damned!! The Constitution means nothing to them or Trump. I see not one smidgin’ of Jesus in their actions. I am sickened by it.
You are entirely correct. Unfortunately, there are too many people who believe that we have become a giveaway society for those they believe to be undeserving, and the safety net has gotten too expansive. Those people voted out of ignorance. And then some so many uninformed eligible voters do not bother to vote. We can only hope that enough of these people will come to realize how mistaken they were by the time of the midterm elections next year.
We actually live in a Constitutional Republic…not a democracy.
In a comment on the previous post I wrote about the slide into MAGA fascism greased by intellectually dishonest arguments that began at least 45 years ago. That America is “not a democracy” is another of those intellectually dishonest arguments and one surely among the first to grease the slide into fascism for MAGA voters who were just looking for an excuse to sell out. Everything about American government is based on and in democratic principles. That the United States is organized as a constitutional republic does not in any way whatsoever negate or take precedent over those democratic principles. It does mean the president is not elected by popular vote and this is the main reason why MAGA makes the argument, otherwise they would rarely win a presidential election. But it’s all a moot point now as Trump has no respect for either the Constitution or democracy.
What exactly is that supposed to mean? Do you think the Title somehow justifies the lawlessness that the maganerds operate under?
You are correct in the literal definition The difference between a constitutional republic and a representative democracy is that under the former, we have a constitution – but we still elect representatives to act on our behalf and my point was they’re not doing their jobs, they’re doing Trump’s bidding.