I hear what they’re saying… free tuition for ALL, free healthcare for ALL, debit forgiveness… They want to give away the STORE! To please you… to please “THEM”… to please ME.
But how many times have they promised us THE MOON, then stuck US with the bill on a $400 HAMMER? Talked about being greeted as “liberators”, only to be kicked out by THEIR elected government.
Assuring us that there WAS WMD… but they must have DISPOSED of it.
All of them are clambering around to take a shot at the “Big Banks” and “Big Tech” and “reign in Wall St.” Just as they did after 2008? Statutes and regulations passed, then slowly degraded through DE-FUNDING, eroding protections, issuing fines that amount to “pocket change” when (and IF) laws are found to be broken… actions taken by elected officials BEHOLDEN to the SAME entities for THEIR re-election. It is a COLD HARD TRUTH-
MONEY DECIDES OUR ELECTIONS.
After the Speakership of Paul Ryan ended, for the FIRST TIME in 10 years The House held a hearing on GUN VIOLENCE. For 10 years, The House did NOT actively investigate solutions to PREVENT GUN DEATHS. The Dickey Amendment forbids the CDC to FUND RESEARCH into PREVENTING GUN DEATHS… while the NRA spent over $30 MILLION in the 2016 election, donating to re-elect politicians loyal to their FUNDS.
In 2009, our elected officials passed the TARP Act to “bail out” the banks. Most news outlets did not call out the fact that these institutions were INSURED… on top of the bailout, they were REIMBURSED for their losses.
… my mortgage is STILL underwater.
Donald Trump inflated the value on a $20 MILLION property to over $200 MILLION in an attempt to secure a loan to buy a FOOTBALL TEAM.
Meanwhile I couldn’t write off snow tires as a work expense for my wife, a PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE NURSE who was designated a critical team member, required to show up during ANY natural disaster… guess I need a better TAX MAN.
In 2003, when my wife and I purchased our home, we knew the school district wasn’t the best, but we hoped we could rehabilitate our house and turn it into a profit, then move somewhere with better schools before our kids reached that age. The housing market has not returned to where it once was, and the schools have not improved.
We decided the work on our house could wait, and we enrolled our boys in a private school. It’s NOT EASY… financially speaking. But not everyone HAS that option! Many families are STUCK with whatever their elected officials provide for education. Elected officials, who are influenced by the FUNDS of wealthy groups who have earned their wealth… in PRIVATE, FOR-PROFIT EDUCATION.
History books are compiled and decided, curriculum, accountability, and standards decided by appointees… appointed by elected officials, BEHOLDEN TO FUNDRAISING.
The DONOR over the VOTER.
The people on the ballot, when it comes time for us to vote, are there because they were the BEST FUNDRAISER. At the beginning, in the primaries, in the LOCAL race for State Rep or State Atty General. MONEY decided who COULD run, and ultimately who DID run.
Look now at the Democratic Primary Debates. The idea of FUNDRAISING deciding who should have the HONOR of addressing the PEOPLE… couldn’t they have just as easily employed a polling/survey method of SOME type?
“If you want your VOICE to COUNT, you better throw in a BUCK!”
INSERT ISSUE HERE ______. IF a politician can manipulate a particular issue in such a way that it motivates DONORS to DONATE to the PARTY, then that issue will NOT BE RESOLVED. It will continue to be “on the verge ” of being “taken away” or you will be “forced to submit” to it ANY DAY NOW…
“… so you’d better throw in a BUCK!”
The question is… are we ready to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
The system WORKS, so well in fact, the FATAL FLAWS within it have become OBVIOUS to anyone of GOOD FAITH. We must make a CHOICE.
We can either fundamentally alter our system in an attempt to legislate a solution to every possible flaw that could arise, while continuing to correct mistakes AFTER they have presented themselves…
OR
We can CHANGE the way we CHOOSE the people we elect to represent us. Ensure the VOTERS have the ultimate say in EVERY STEP of the election process…
From PRIMARY ELECTION to GENERAL ELECTION.
WE FUND THE CANDIDATES.
Every Federal election.
EVERY time.
Give EVERY candidate EQUAL ACCESS to election funding and the press, and debates will focus on solutions to issues, not stoking fear and anger… pointing fingers instead of TAKING ACTION.
Any candidate who runs on a platform like that will be CLEARLY exposed by full public scrutiny… of their message, of their policies and positions… and without the filter of DARK MONEY. FUNDS donated by people who might prefer it if… SOME people didn’t know they were donating to such a cause. Groups and individuals who DONATE to campaigns on BOTH SIDES, expecting to buy influence with whomever wins the election… because the POLITICAL PARTIES need money, too.
Over the course of the last 16 MONTHS of this campaign, I’ve posted 100 entries here on my website and Tweeted over 15,000 Tweets, clarifying my position on every topic, from Kavanaugh to Parkland. From disenfranchisement in Georgia to disenfranchisement in Dodge City, Kansas. I’ve attempted to be OPEN and HONEST about my positions and have encouraged folks to press me for clarification if needed and will continue to do so. Even though it could be seen as a political cop-out, ducking and dodging policy positions so as not to be tied down to ONE position over the OTHER… I question the entire PREMISE OF THE DEBATE on EVERY ISSUE being tossed around right now. The desire of every candidate to pin down EVERY position on EVERY issue seems premature…
Don’t forget, the United States Senate is where good legislation goes to DIE.
The president ALONE does NOT make the Law. Where do these Senators expect to find the bi-partisan support necessary to FUND all of these campaign promises? BILLIONS on Trump’s wall… TRILLIONS on tuition forgiveness?
What about the SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS that have created the ASTRONOMICAL COST of secondary education? And the financial institutions left unchecked to take advantage of the unsuspecting and vulnerable?
A Band-Aid won’t fix the KNIFE IN OUR BACK… and back ’round we go again, back to the attack on the MAIN financial tool middle class Americans have relied on for the last 75+ years for our social advancement- INCREASING HOME EQUITY. Homeowners can only do SO MUCH to make that happen. A large part of it relies on the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT to do it’s part by making communities SAFER and keeping INFRASTRUCTURE up-to-date and IN GOOD REPAIR, among MANY others.
The NEXT President of The United States should NOT be the candidate who says, “I went out and listened to what ORDINARY AMERICANS have to say.” The next President of The United States should already know what’s on the mind of Ordinary Americans… because THAT’S WHO THEY ARE. Because MY SURVIVAL is tied directly to YOURS.
WE are the BALANCE upon which the entire system is judged…
What do we want our government to LOOK LIKE?
WHO should our government work FOR?
Is our system what we want it to BE? Remove the CORRUPTION and restore HONOR in governance… and we will discover how much MORE our system of governance can BE.
THE PEOPLE, and their UNIVERSAL ACCESS to the ballot, become the SECURITY SYSTEM protecting our Constitutional Democracy. Ensuring FAIR and EQUAL REPRESENTATION, based NOT on DOLLARS… but on EACH OTHER.
ONE CITIZEN= ONE VOTE
We MUST End The Electoral College.
JC