AgendaOur election process is flawed: Election machines are made by partisans, procedure like range voting or IRV need full discussion, voter registration lists have been subject to manipulation, candidate selection that produced Bush needs careful examination, the Electoral College is largely deplored, redistricting can assure election outcomes, and dirty tricks have seemingly been practiced mostly by Republicans. Election rigging should be a high crime. Even if the election produces a result consistent with the vote counts, we take a gamble that the elected ones will do what they said they would. It's always a guess what they will do. Instead of voting for individuals, we should be voting for an agenda. Politicians should be working for us and it should be clear from a democratically determined procedure what direction they should take. They should not be deciding for us. Families are assuming increasing amounts of risk. The result is plain to see: falling wages, financial instability, millions losing their homes, widespread unemployment, unaffordable higher education, unprecedented bankruptcies, a currency in free-fall, infrastructure in poor condition, and social programs that are disappearing. Risk is being shifted on to individuals who are mostly without savings and accumulating debt.. R's would privatize Social Security, further aggravating the problems. It is clear that privatized health care is no solution. The family-values r's engineered all this. We have been burning fossil fuels at an accelerating rate for centuries and now we are seeing a dramatic change in climate. We know that there are limited amounts of oil resources and much of it should be reserved for future generations. For the sake of the habitability of the planet, we need to change to renewable, non-polluting resource use. R's are against this, and advocate maximum pumping now. They are not conservative. When population grows too large, it can destroy the habitability of the environment. Where there has been massive deforestation, it is often followed by desertification. Land becomes unproductive and people starve. Malthus was right. He just did not see the exponential growth that we are experiencing. Family planning, birth control, and other policies opposed by R's would mitigate the problem. McCain has promised more Supreme Court judges like Alito and Roberts, which is code for an intent to overturn Roe V Wade. In a few decades it may be necessary to impose population policies like China. R's solution is more growth. We spend as much as the rest of the world combined on the military and we are going into heavy debt to do it. R's want to spend even more on the military including the dysfunctional, provocative BMD program. As we bankrupt ourselves, go into heavy debt to other countries, and deindustrialize so that corporations can use third world labor, we are weakening economically. Our infrastructure is deteriorating, social supports are crumbling. and financial instability is obvious. If we spent less on the military, we might be able to solve some of our problems. Even though Bush has provoked gratuitous war, he has insisted on big tax cuts. The result is the cost of the war is on the tab, war profiteering is rampant, the pentagon is unaccountable, federal debt is steadily rising, and we have seen the dollar plunge. Yet R's would tell you they are fiscally responsible. It is disgusting how cavalier Republicans have been with fundamental Constitutional principles. They do not respect international law, nor have they showed leadership that might have improved its quality. They do not observe the principle that concentration of power is to be avoided: media companies have continued to consolidate over the objection of everyone except broadcasters...with the help of John McCain. Without reliable news, there can be no democracy. Due process of Law even in this country has become questionable. Republicans have shredded the Constitution. The law has been rolled back centuries to when there was no habeas corpus. The US has engaged in torture, renditions, built secret prisons, and shown the world that the US is no longer on the moral high ground. Instead of downsizing government as they said they would, they initiated a massive program of domestic wiretapping, surveillance, and tracking of US citizens. The reported activities at airports are not only counterproductive, they discourage travelers, tourism, and others with legitimate but avoidable plans. As with the Nixon administration, the targets of these investigations have been dissenters, political competitors, and peace advocates. What was criminal for the Nixon administration is now legal. Contrary to public opinion, we are embarked on a path to empire. Even though the framers wanted to avoid foreign entanglements. Worst of all R's have brought us and advocated for an imperial presidency. The President does business in secret, without oversight, and has clearly demonstrated that he is above the law. If he is not held accountable, we may get a dictatorship. See explanation. |