I'm A Values Voter

The corporate (liberal is a misnomer) media like to discuss the "values voter," implying that those who, for religious reasons, support candidates who are against abortion (and for capital punishment), against gays (and for machine guns), for public prayer in schools (so long as it is their prayer), and for display of the Ten Commandments on government property (even though they may not be able to recite them).

Just as we have tolerated the estate tax being styled as the death tax, lowering of air pollution standards as the Clear Skies Act, so have we allowed these particular people who vote their "values" to be THE Values Voters. No more! I am a Values Voter and my values are just as American, maybe even as Christian, as those folks.

The first value I will vote will be the great American Value of minding our own business. Now, MYOB may not be in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, but "life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" depend somewhat on Americans minding their own damn business. I think we can save much conflict, money, heartache, and many lives of soldiers by applying this principle to the bodies of women, the rights and prerogatives of gays,the behaviors and choices of other peoples and governments, so long as they are not a genuine threat to the well-being of Americans.

The second value I will vote is the one trailblazed by Theodore Roosevelt--the conservation of our lands water, air, trees, and animals. Conservation is a less devisive term than ecology--probably some of us think it is probably somehow related to conservatism. So be it.

The third value I will vote is living within our means. I will seek opportunities to support leaders like Jeff Flake and Ron Paul, no matter what party label they carry. These two are examples of leaders who trust to the intelligence of their electorate and vote their beliefs, rather than selling their votes and "bringing home the bacon." I will take every opportunity to point out that Ron Lewis and Mitch McConnell may not deserve praise for "bringing home the bacon" in a defict budget, the debt from which will be bourne by our children and grandchildren.

The fourth value I will vote is people over corporations, American well-being over international "free trade," and close scrutiny of silly military expenditures based more on political earmarks and dealmaking with Pentagon brass rather than properly equipping and caring for our men and women in the services.

I will also vote the value of national service, with Vista, Peace Corps, and a modern Civilian Conservation Corps as choices in addition to the military branches. I would incentivize service with lifetime caps on Federal income tax based on years of service.

These five values seem more American than those other values and certainly are more joyful.

Why Won't My Congressman . . . ?

I want these things from my congressmen and congressional candidates. In fact, I want them from all office holders and candidates. The congressional, senatorial, and presidential levels are the most annoying.
1. Be stingy with my money, especially when spending money that increases the national debt.
2. Accept nothing from professional lobbyists.
3. Stop giving yourself raises, pension increases, and expense accounts.
4. Stop slimy campaigning. This one cannot be pithy. To point out genuine facts about an opponents voting record is fine, but to distort is is too common and is a lie. Run on your own records and beliefs instead of attacking the other guy.
5. Do not engage in practices like earmarking. When you are spending money we do not have, do not expect to be rewarded for "bringing home the bacon."
6. There is government waste in the so-called "entitlement" programs, but there is probably much more wasted in military procurement and other corporate welfare. You should be our warrior against all government waste.
7. Stop name-calling, labeling, libeling, and speaking in code. It's an estate tax, not a death tax, we all have the right to work and no one is trying to take it away.

In later posts, I will go into more detail on some of these thoughts. Enough posturing, hypocrisy, ideology, lying, and money-chasing. This 2006 election was about those things as much as about Iraq. Wait! Iraq is about all those things, too. Yes, we were angry and most of our anger was about Republican posturing, hypocrisy, ideology, lying, and money-chasing; that doesn't mean we'll go blind when or if the Democrats start it. Today, I had a disturbing exchange with a customer. I had been helping him find some hardware items and when I said, "May I help you find anything else?" he replied, "Yes, an honest politician!" My response was a lame laugh, but it is disturbing that he and so many others believe that it cannot be done. I believe that there are many honest men and women at all levels of politics, just as there are in law, medicine, ministry, education, factory, and retail jobs. Someone once said something to the effect that Caesars wife must not only be pure, but must appear to be pure. It may be time for our politicians to strive for both purity and the appearance of purity. Most of us think you guys only focus on the latter.

Election Lessons

Observing the 2006 national elections, the tv talking heads (tvth?) correctly, in my opinion, diagnosed national anger at all politicians. They were also correct when they attributed the anger to frustration with the Iraq debacle. There are other factors. In this post and the next few will be delineated a few of them. Perhaps the first and most important is that we common folk know that wealth is becoming more and more concentrated into the hands of the already rich. That money has to come from somewhere and it does--us. We have at least a vague awareness that the rich Republicans have passed legislation to protect banks from -- us! We have a suspicion that the Republicans and their well-dressed lobbyists have legislated to help the drug industry get more of our money. We are having trouble keeping track of the comings and goings in the boardrooms of Big Oil, the administration, and their OPEC (Saudi) friends. Some of us suspect that the war on Iraq might have been an attempt to solve an OPEC problem. Taking the elected leader of Venezuela out, to paraphrase Pat Robertson, would support this notion. Sending our jobs overseas, busting unions, and importing illegal labor to keep American wages low are not going unnoticed. The traditional balance between Reps and Dems is gone. When the Reps control Congress and the Executive, they will act to take care their rich peers. When the Dems control, they will -- do the same, only less blatantly. Boys (referring to pols, both Rep and Dem), we know you both for who you are, we may not be watching you very closely, but we know we need to be. Tomorrow, you Boys will be the topic.