"The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step" -- Confucius
Howdy friends!
I am often asked by friends, family, and other people I talk with every day why I decided to start ACT NOW! and get involved with something as hairy as reforming the United States Congress. Many seem to think I'm nuts!
Maybe I am, but it's the sorry state of our nation and economy that has made me so!
I feel very deeply that our country is on the road to ruin, that something must be done to get it back on the right course, and somebody has to do it.
I didn't see anyone else stepping up to the plate, so that left it up to me! I just knew I had to do something to relieve this sinking feeling I get in my gut daily as I watch the news and see my country heading to Hell in a hand basket.
I was just a boy when I first heard John F. Kennedy's speech in which he proclaimed, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Well, I was too young to do much for my country back then, but his words have haunted me all of my life and now I'm in a position to do something positive.
ACT NOW! is my way of giving something of value back to this great country that I love so dearly and has given me so many gifts to be grateful for.
I'm no expert on government. I am just a regular, everyday American who simply cannot stand idly by and watch our country slowly destroyed from within. I'd gladly go to war to defend our country from any foreign enemy that threatened our people and our way of life. Unfortunately, the biggest threat I see to our people today is of the domestic variety.
I'm not a big shot and I'm not a lawyer. I don't have a college degree. However, I do have a fair amount of common sense, and I did receive a great public education in Texas schools. I also attended a number of college courses I was interested in and I'd like to think that I'm a fairly smart guy. I might even win on "Jeopardy" one day!
I've been working for a living since I was fourteen years old. I've done everything from flipping burger's, working construction and spreading fertilizer in my younger years; to managing large sales organizations for major corporations later on.
I've also started, operated and sold couple of fairly successful small businesses over the years, but I am currently semi-retired, and was underemployed until this issue of restoring better government for all Americans took root and inspired me to advocacy and activism. Our mission to reform Congress is now my full time occupation!
One thing I've learned by being an American is that anyone can dream and succeed at anything they want in this country if they are willing to buckle down, learn the ropes and work hard to make it a reality. And of course, just the opposite is true; nothing good happens unless you're willing to make it happen.
Although I learned how to use a PC and the Internet twenty years ago, I've never built a website before, and had to teach myself the basics very quickly to get this site online so we could share our message with the American people.
I apologize that it's not as pretty as some others you've seen, but I'm still sort of clumsy with it and I could definitely use some professional help; website design help that is. However, it does seem to work and for that I am thankful!
I've never been politically active, but was inspired by the people of the Tea Party Movement. Seeing all of those other American patriots standing up for what they believe made me ashamed that I wasn't doing anything for the good of our country.
I never even exercised my right to vote until I was in my mid twenties, but I have made it my business to vote in every election since.
Now I realize that my apathy for American politics, and not paying enough attention to what's been going on in our country during my lifetime, makes me just as guilty as the people we elect to do a job and then don't do it.
If more of us participated in our democracy perhaps our country wouldn't be in such bad shape today. I have definitely made it my business to get involved now and I hope that you and everyone you know will do the same!
Politically, I consider myself a Moderate Libertarian. I have never voted any party line, but have voted my conscience in every election at every level of government. I voted for Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, both George Bush's, and John McCain; not because I was particularly enamored with any of them as candidates, but because I considered each the lesser evil and therefore the best choice at the time.
If asked to describe my political philosophy, I would have to say that I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I believe that less government is best; I prefer low taxes to high taxes; and I don't care about the color of people's skins, their sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, or any other triviality that seems to divide us as Americans these days.
This is still a free country. I believe all Americans should have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and I want to keep it that way!
I believe that people's character and actions are the best measures of their worth, and as long as they don't infringe on my right to do what I want with my life, I support their right to do whatever they want with theirs.
I believe in the rule of law; in live and let live; in what goes around comes around; and I believe that people should mind their own business whenever possible. I am most definitely not politically correct and believe in calling a spade a spade; not "a manually manipulated implement for excavating soil".
I am an amateur political observer who has grown absolutely sick and tired of the childish partisan gamesmanship and excesses of power that have all but crippled our government's ability to govern.
I am a patriot who believes that the United States of America is the greatest nation on earth, the world's greatest champion for freedom and the single greatest force for good in this world other than God himself (herself?).
I am 53 years old, and I've seen too many of the same faces in our Congress for my entire life. Politicians like Ted Kennedy (God, bless his dearly departed soul), Robert Byrd, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel and many others that have been living off our tax dollars, and the generosity of their wealthy special interest friends, for most of my life.
I just cannot imagine how such extreme longevity in political office can be good for our government, our country, or for the world in which we all must live.
I've seen politicians spend more time, effort and wealth on their perpetual reelection campaigns than they spend conducting our nation's business. I've even seen some switch political parties when the political wind blew the wrong way, just to get themselves reelected and preserve their positions of wealth, prestige and power.
I've seen too many politicians bought and sold by wealthy special interests that couldn't give a damn about the people of this country, because they only care about achieving their own selfish goals.
I could go on and on, but I shouldn't have to describe to you all of the corrupt, illegal, stupid and immoral acts that I've seen our politicians in Congress pull, because you've seen them too! I sincerely hope that you are just as appalled and disgusted with the way these guys do business as I am.
I am gravely concerned that career politicians in Congress have hijacked our federal government and are using it to achieve some grand design of their own that the rest of us aren't aware of and may not want.
After looking into this matter for quite a while, I've concluded that our "free" election process has been rigged over the years by these career politicians who have made it next to impossible to move them out of office so someone else, who might just do us all some good, can move in.
I believe in our Constitution, and the sacrifices our founding fathers endured to bring our great nation into being, and I believe that anything that threatens our nation and our people should immediately be confronted and overcome.
I believe in the collective wisdom of "We the People", that our founders took great pains to design our government to be "of the people, by the people and for the people", and that our elected representatives should be accountable and responsible only to the people who elect them.
I agree with those that say our Constitution isn't perfect, but I know that our founders wisely made provisions for amendments to be added so we could make improvements to the Constitution as future times and circumstances demanded; and I truly believe that this is one of those times when a patriotic adjustment is absolutely necessary.
I believe that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely; and I believe that too many in Congress can no longer be trusted to govern themselves, because they have become too corrupted with their power, prestige and privileges.
Too many have held onto office for so long that they simply can't remember what life in the real world is like or what it's like to make an honest living in anything other than government. They are probably scared to death of any change that might threaten their entirely too comfortable positions or denies them their grand design.
I believe that we, as the citizens and rightful rulers of this country, must act to enforce term limits, because our career politicians have proven time and again that they don't have the intestinal fortitude to place such limitations on themselves. After all, they are simply human beings with the same sort of goals and aspirations, weaknesses and failings as the rest of us.
I think the Twenty-second Amendment, that limits Presidents to two terms in office is a good law, and that reasonable congressional term limits are equally necessary to preserve the prosperity of our nation, the integrity of our government, and return real political representation in Congress back to the People.
That's really why I decided to start ACT NOW! Although they've had several good opportunities to pass effective term limit legislation over the years, Congress has shot the idea down every time it's been proposed.
The career politicians in Congress are apparently incapable of imposing term limits on themselves, even though most must surely believe in their heart of hearts that such limits are wise and just, and good for the future of our country. We simply cannot afford to leave this matter in their hands!
I'd rather go fishing than reform Congress, but I seem to have a dog in this fight and will not shirk my responsibilities.
Like my mother always says, "If you're not willing to do something about it, then you don't have a right to complain about it". So, if it means I have to give up my comfort and free time to achieve this goal, so be it. We'll all be better off when it's done.
Please take a few minutes to explore our site. If you find that you agree with us, if you believe in our Constitution, if you believe in our rights and freedoms as Americans, and if you believe that limiting the time our elected politicians can remain in office is healthy for our government, our nation and our people, please join us!
We need all the help we can get!
Stand up with us America! Together we can end this era of corrupt career politicians in Congress and take control of our government back!
I'll sure sleep better when we do!
Best regards,
Joe Londot
