Fix This

Let us just see if Big Brother is paying attention!

We are entering the stupid period that happens every 4 years whether we want it to or not.  I am talking about election season.  Over the next 12 months we will see commercials for everyone running for re-election from the President down to the local dog catcher. 

Somewhere I remember reading a statement by Thomas Jefferson that goes “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”  I am not calling for active rebellion or riots in the streets like those we had back in the late 60’s and early70’s, I am simply suggesting that it is time for a change.  And this is where we come in.

For years some have been screaming for term limits when they already exist.  It is called an election, and we have them quite frequently.  If you don’t like the job the person you elected 4 years ago is doing the solution is easy, elect someone else!  Change is inevitable, and it is in our hands to make it.  Even if it means voting “none of the above” as suggested by Richard Pryor in the movie Brewster’s Millions, then, together, we can make a difference.

It is time that the people we elect do what they are supposed to, and need to do:

1)      Remember that we are the ones that sent them to Washington D.C., the state capital, the county seat, or city hall.

2)      Stop adding stupid items to each recommended bill that comes before them,

3)      All political parties need to work together, seriously, on all things that come before them.

4)      Do what is in the best interests of the people, not their own wallets; stop taking pay raises every year and pay attention to the plight of the poverty stricken, the elderly, and the minorities.

5)      Make sure that Social Security will be available for the next generation who comes into the age range where they will need it.

6)      Change the tax code; make it fair for each of us.

7)      Pay our soldiers what their duty is actually worth

8)      And as much as we would hate to admit it, make sure that the equipment that is bought and paid for to issue our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines is good enough to protect them in times of war.

This is just my list of things I see that need to be fixed, I am sure there are many more out there that if I had the time to I would look around for. 

Here is something else for us to think about; almost four years ago we took a chance and elected Barak Obama president, our first real victory in the battle for equal rights.  Remember who the Republican Party trotted out before us hoping that we would vote for them.  It was the same old story a senior senator (old being the emphasized word) and the Governor of Alaska.  While it is true that too offered a new wrinkle by nominating a female for vice president, it really wasn’t that much of a difference.

However, there has been no show of faith in him by the very same people who put him in office.  The issues that he is dealing with today were left for him by an incompetent individual who ended up as president under dubious circumstances.  We have been blaming the President for every little thing that is wrong today.  I have even heard newscasters on the national level who refuse to call him the president; they refer to him as Mr. Obama.  To me this is a lack of respect that should not be allowed, we called George W. Bush, (by the way, it is pronounced duhhhbya) Mr. President, I fail to see where the difference lies.

Here is where I step on the toes of the white supremacists groups.  Racism is an antiquated idea, come on people, face it, aside from the color of our skin, shape of the eyes, and maybe a few other vague differences, we are all the same.  Given the time I am sure that each of us could trace our ancestry back to Adam and Eve.  Why should we continue to claim there are different races when in fact the difference is in ethnic and cultural diversity?  I just don’t see where being of one color makes you any better than someone who’s skin is darker or lighter.  It is time to face the fact that there is only one race and that is mankind!

Now, let me get back to where I started.  We, the people are at the mercy of those we have sent to Washington or other political offices, and I believe it is time we put them at our mercy.  Check out the records of what each politician has done since the last election, if it hasn’t benefitted you or the majority of people you know then elect someone else.  Just make sure that he is the one who will be the most help for your city, county, or state.

Our government was set up to be as stated by President Lincoln “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”  So it is up to us, we are the people he spoke of, to make the difference in what is said and done for “us” in the hallways and backrooms of our governments buildings.  We need to tell our elected representatives that they need to get back to what the founding fathers had in mind. 

Is it fair that they live so well off and we have so many people living in poverty?  NO!

Is it fair that the sleep on soft beds and clean sheets while people are huddling in doorways or living in cardboard boxes every night?  NO!

Is it fair that they eat fancy meals at $500.00 a plate dinners at pat me on the back gatherings?  NO!

Is it fair that 1% of the people control 99% of the wealth in this country?  NO!

Let’s try this, make our politicians give back some of their disposable wealth to the people.  Make the tax code fair for everyone; create a flat tax and do away with the loopholes that allow the rich to get richer.  Bring the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines home from where ever they may be overseas.  Re-open the military bases that have been closed.  Doing this saves the money that is spent to send our service men and women to foreign countries.  It also creates jobs for the civilian population that surrounds the installation.

Who said that we were the conscience of the world, or the nation who takes on the cares of others?  Get us out of the NATO pact nations; they have already proven that they aren’t willing to work with us.  Get this country back to where we build the best quality products for use by our own citizenry.  This lowers the trade deficit while at the same time raising our gross domestic product bottom line.  That’s right I said it, let’s solve our own problems and leave the rest of the world to solve theirs, no matter how they would choose to do so.

We need to clean up our own backyard before we try telling the rest of the world how to act.  So for the next 12 months pay attention to the political ads, see who fires the first round of mud, and go from there.  As for me, well, I will vote my conscience as I always do, the rest is up to you.