How does the U.S. Congress, as it exists in its current structure, support and/or limit authentic representation?

Unfortunately, I must start out by saying sorry, because I’m sure my opinion on our government and the way it is run is becoming redundant, since in every post I go back to the fact that I fell our government is run and influenced purely by money, who has it, where and how they can get it, and who is going to fund their campaign or special interest. I think that just like the idea of the presidency, the idea of congress, the senate, and checks and balances was all set up with the idea that it would always support the ideal democracy, and that our founding fathers truly did have our, the people’s, interest at heart, and wanted to make this the best, and most honest place to live in the world. Well, they did succeed, to an extent, because I think there is no way they could have predicted how things would have progressed the way they have. However, I think that congress, as it is today, limits authentic representation. Congress today, to, is based on political party influence, special interests, and personal campaigns. Congress members must stay true to the party that voted them in, and this is not always taking the side of the people on issues. They must also think about their own campaign and what is going to get them reelected in the next election, who will fund it. And of course, it is all about the money in the end.
Like other, I feel that this class has opened my eyes on how our government is run, I always thought it was centered around money, but this class has made me more aware of all the other parts of government that are not what people think it is.

In what ways does the U.S. Presidency support and limit the formation of an ideal democracy?

I think that the idea of a president originally was made to fully support our country as the ideal democracy. I think that expecting a president (a human being) to be perfect is our country’s first mistake. No human, not even the president is perfect, therefore will always have limits in the public’s eyes. I think that the president supports a democracy because he is not able to make decisions on his own, he must get approved by congress and senate, if it goes there. He is also voted in by the public, therefore representing what the majority of the American people believe in, and that is the face of our country to the rest of the world. I think that a president (individuals) have limited a democracy by taking advantage of their position and doing things there own way, instead of how they a supposed to be done, like the examples givin in the book regarding checks and balances. But I think these are individuals and not fair to say this of every president.

Above was my original post for the discussion question for the class.

After doing some more reading I think that we expect to much from presidents. I realize they know this is a large job when they run for president, the largest job in the country, but can one person actually fulfill the job description to the fullest without limits? I think that it is important to remember this when we are talking about everything that the president has not been able to deliver. I don’t think we should lower our expectations of our president, but I think we may want to re-evaluate the way we critique the president 

I found an article about the presidents that was written about a museum exhibit that was made to represent all of the U.S. presidents. Appropriately the exhibit is named ‘The American Presidency : A Glorious Burden’.

Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small says, "We ask a lot of our presidents. We have expected them to be father, brother, general, diplomat, arbitrator, economist, pitchman, publicist, cheerleader and a dozen things more. We take for granted that the same person who has the qualities to command armies and deploy an arsenal of awful force will also be available to launch a baseball season. This exhibition shows all these aspects of the job." I think that Mr. Small’s statement expresses the enormous amount of responsibility that is laid upon the president, and this is of course no the end of all the expectations we have for the president. Mr. Crew a historian of the museum also sates that, "There was no precedent for the American presidency when the framers of the Constitution created the office in 1787.Yet these revolutionaries—who distrusted centralized authority—entrusted near-monarchical powers to this one office. I hope that visitors will come away from this exhibition with a better understanding of this fundamental contradiction, and how it has given rise to conflicting impulses and realities that continue to shape our country’s political life even today."
http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/6a.html

The White House has been the scene of many events in the history of our nation. Here the President holds meetings that decide national and international policy, signs new legislation, and carries out the many duties of the office. Here, too, the President and First Family entertain guests and live their private lives, as every President except George Washington has done.

http://clinton1.nara.gov/White_House/Tours/White_House/Welcome.html