On Tuesday as I was walking into the Lutheran church where I vote, a Republican party worker, who I knew, handed me a Republican “sample” ballot. Next to him was a Democrat worker with that party’s “sample” ballot. I said to her, “Can I have one from you too?” I guess she knew who I was, because she responded, “Why? You’re a Republican.”
It was only 7:35am. I was the 58th voter in my precinct. The stench of Democratic death already floated in the air.
Last night and this morning social media is filled with postings about the Republicans taking over the U.S. Senate with messages like, “As Donald Trump would say to Harry Reid, ‘You’re fired!” Radio talk show hosts today will be cheerleading how the Republicans are back and how the socialistic Kenyan national we have as President will now have to play ball with Congress or be “sued” or even better “impeached.”
It’s basic political theater done for the media and the non-thinkers who eat up this drivel.
I hate to break it to you, but little will change politically, as we’re now less than 2 years from the next Presidential election. While bloviating and pointing fingers, as usual, neither party will do much in this new Congress. There’s no reason to. Voters are stupid and politicians know it. Voters keep electing the same career candidates and best of all, voters will do the work politicians won’t do and don’t want on their records.
Don’t believe me?
Do you really think any candidate for office wants less of the taxpayer’s money…your money…to play with? Of course not. School districts, cities, counties, states and the federal government feed on money, more money and then even more money so politicians can win their next election. A politician’s main job is to get reelected. It’s all about them. They don’t care about you.
Former House Minority Leader Bob Michel – (R) Illinois once said to me in his deepest statesman’s voice, “Darryl. Do you ever see an old post office?” Back in the 80’s, it was hard to find one. Congressman Michel’s point was a “post office” is a monument a representative sent to Washington could point to and say, “See. Look what I’m doing for our district and your community.”
I am a fiscal conservative. Probably much more than the average guy. I’m about less government, less government intrusion in our lives and government not wasting the hard earned tax dollars we are entrusting politicians with.
Cincinnati, Ohio, where I live, prides itself in being “Conservative” with a capital “C.” People cheer on conservative Republicans. Here, as a candidate, you can’t be perceived as conservative enough. Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, is a place where voters say they want less government. It’s a place where few candidates are elected who aren’t so-called “fiscally” conservative Republicans, even though most are RINO’s (Republicans In Name Only).
Forest Hills School District Tax Levy supporters celebrating election night after voting themselves a massive tax increase.
On Tuesday, the Senate swung to a Republican majority. Ohio reelected a Republican governor and countless other Republicans were reelected or gained office. Voters put them in office because of their conservative ideals, while at the same couldn’t vote fast to approve additional tax levies.
People in Ohio, who want less government, voted to send even more money to local governments and tax themselves even more!
For example in Hamilton County, Ohio:
Cincinnati Schools Tax Levy (Approved) 70%-29%
Mariemont Schools Tax Levy (Approved) 66%-33%
Forest Hills Schools (Approved) 53%-46%
Union Terminal Tax (Approved) 61%-38%
Cheviot Tax (Approved) 71%-28%
Golf Manor Tax (Approved) 79%-20%
The same thing happened across Ohio and in most other areas of the country. People voting for conservative candidates, fiscally conservative principles and then voting themselves tax increases.
The “high school class president” elections held every two years are simply a diversion, a popularity contest. Who you elect to office doesn’t matter. It’s the issues that are important.
And when voters choose to tax themselves, it makes the job of any career politician that much easier.
Wow are people stupid.
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Are people stupid because they vote in ways that seem irrational?
Perhaps.
Or, maybe their decision-making is much more complex than it appears.
Ohio is a great example.
Voters effectively are limited to two choices in most elections. The #Duopoly parties of Democrats and Republicans (DeRps) write ballot access rules to make it virtually impossible for other parties or individuals to offer voters real choices.
Pennsylvania is even worse. Ask Ralph Nader.
This year, Republicans did all they could behind the scenes – and with their judicial buddies – to eliminate virtually every Libertarian statewide candidate from the ballot. Two survived, barely.
When offered a rigged choice of the lesser of two evils, what is a voter to do? Voters intuitively know that most politicians are untrustworthy.
Look at most public opinion polls about the least admired professions.
Also, it was unclear if the levies cited in this post were new ones or renewal levies.
If they’re renewals, the voters did not approve tax increases.
You make a compelling case for becoming a Libertarian (upper case L) by joining the Libertarian Party Lp.org.
You “get it.” 👍👍
As a Libertarian, you could use your stellar communication skills to educate and persuade voters.
That probably would produce better results than questioning their mental wattage. 😊
You raise some valid points – however, I maintain that there are people who actually care about these issues and want to serve. I’ve known them. Agree with them or not, their actions and beliefs were sincere – be it environmentalism, better schools, lower taxes, urban renewal, national defense – I have known liberals and conservatives who sincerely wanted to get into office and work on these problems.
The broader issue is the structure of elections. If you can get the backing to run in increasingly expensive elections, then no sooner do you get elected than it’s back to fundraising – because as soon as one election ends, the next cycle begins. The polls had barely closed before we started talking 2016!
No matter how legit a candidate, it’s the PROCESS that puts them in this position. Are there greedy politicians? Absolutely. But no matter how decent a person you are, this system puts demands on you, your time and energy, to where legislating (or stopping legislation) and reflecting your constituents moves further and further down the list – because to even be there, you have to be dialing for dollars and pleasing other masters that are not and do not represent the voting individual.
Some of this also falls on the uninformed voter. There are millions of moody voters in this country. We can barely address complex long term policy goals when the voter’s in a cranky mood about something legislators don’t even control, or haven’t had time to come to terms on, before we’re “throwing the bums out” every two years. It creates no stability and not much room for long term complexities.
Reform campaign finance, shorten the length of campaigns, or at the very least, make them all wear NASCAR uniforms with their sponsor’s logos. At least then we’d have a clearer picture.
http://happening-here.blogspot.com/2014/11/dumb-and-dumber.html
But most of the GOP says Obama is spending too little …blood and treasure…in Iraq and the Mideast.
So does Hillary. Speaking of Ralph Nader, and to this issue, Nader says Ron Paul ( a real libertarian)
should turn his son Rand Paul over his knee for also turning hawkish and betraying his dad’s non-interventionism.
And they, the GOP Elite bigwigs, are readying Jeb Bush to run to the hawkish right of hawkish Hillary.
There’s a strange confusion that conservatives yearn for liberty. Conservatives want to maintain (conserve) the status quo, i.e., order, security, and stability. The tax increases promise that the current arrangements will be maintained. Conservatives are too stupid to see the promise as a demonstrated lie.
Liberty threatens the status quo, existing orders, etc. Whenever the choice arises, conservatives reject liberty and choose stability. Looking to conservatives for anything else is delusional.
Remember Cincinnati’s famous runaway cow back in 2002, that Peter Max ended up buying? As I remember it, as the cow was headed down the chute toward the slaughterhouse, it jumped the fence and ran away. At the end of the chute, there was only one door that led into the slaughter house. Maybe if there had been two doors instead of one, instead of running away, the cow would have been content to pick a door instead of running away even though both doors led to the same slaughterhouse.