The mugger came up behind the man and stuck his gun in the man’s side and said, “Give me your money.” The man was indignant and said, “Don’t you know that I am a United States Senator?”
“Okay,” the mugger said, “Give me MY money!”
That’s a joke, of course, but there is usually a grain of truth in funny jokes. Here are some other funny things that are going on; some are jokes and some are serious, which makes them even funnier.
A US Senator makes $174,000 a year, give or take a few million for expenses. A six year term earns a senator a little over a million dollars.
There must be something more to the job than a million dollars because some senate races are going to cost $100 million dollars, win or lose.
Here is what that’s like. Say you or I make $40,000 a year. Before we get the job, though, we’ve got to “run” for the job. We’ve got to campaign for the job. That campaign for our $40,000 job is going to cost you or me about $2 million!
Doesn’t make too much common sense, does it?
Common sense is not a prerequisite for a senator’s job these days.
Here’s another money and politics joke.
A little boy wanted $100 badly and prayed for two weeks that he would get it. Nothing happened, so he decided to write God a letter. He asked for the $100 and addressed the envelope “God, USA.” The postal service saw the address and sent it to the President.
The President’s secretary thought it was cute and gave it to the President. He also thought it was a good letter and said, “Let’s send the young boy a $5.00 bill.”
The young boy was delighted with the return letter and the $5.00 and sent God a thank-you note. He said, “Thank you, God, for sending the money.
But I noticed you had to send it through Washington, D.C. and, as usual, those crooks deducted $95.00.”
That little boy was learning the ropes at a young age.
On a serious note, I think that all the money that is involved in our political system is a huge problem.
It seems that as soon as someone gets to Washington to begin their service, the first thing that they have to think about is not what is good for the nation, but how can I raise enough money to be re-elected.
It’s a sobering realization to find out that our politicians and their offices are being bought or sold to the highest bidders. That’s nothing new and has probably been a part of politics, no matter what country or system, since the beginning.
It was Mark Twain who said, “We have the best government money can buy.” I wish we did.
It would be nice to think that the $100 million dollar senate race in whatever state would result in $100 million dollars’ worth of good sense and a revived country.
Instead, the probable result is that the one who has been there the longest and has the richest contributors will be sent back to continue the “same ole, same ole.” And the one who lost?
I’ll defer to America’s funny man of the last century, Will Rogers. “Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.”
Ain’t it the truth.