Political New Years Resolutions by CeeJay

This is the time for starting over on everything from weight loss to relationships. Even when we know that we won’t keep them, it is hard to resist the temptation to make a new effort toward self-improvement with the blank slate of 2008 before us. So, here are some political resolutions I would like to see people make for the New Year. Wouldn’t it be great if we followed through on even a fraction of them!

Political Resolutions for Voters:

If we are going to change our political ways, we have to start here. This is a nation where the people have claimed the ultimate power, but we are rapidly giving it away by our apathy, gullibility, and greed. The only way to regain our power is through our vigilance and our vote. Ultimately, we will get the type of government we deserve, so we have to start with some resolutions for ourselves, the American voters.

1. As a voter, I have a responsibility to stay informed about local, state, national, and international political events. So, here are my resolutions for 2008:

a) I will thoroughly research ONE issue I feel strongly about each month. I will read the background on the issue, read opposing op-ed articles, and examine proposals for fixing the problems related to the issue. After my research, I will form an opinion about what I feel needs to be done and write letters to my elected representatives sharing my opinion with them. In the course of my research, I will have examined their voting record on the issue and their relationship with any interest group that has a stake in the outcome.

b) I will no longer be part of the silent majority. As a voter, I have a responsibility to speak out on the issues and share in political discourse with my fellow citizens. I will write a letter to the editor of the local paper at least twice a year to voice my opinion on an issue or candidate. Other possible options for political expression are blogging, discussion groups, online forums, etc

c) I will contribute to the campaign of one candidate I feel comfortable in supporting by monetary contribution and/or campaigning. I will support media such as, C-Span, NPR, PBS, and commercial media when they make the effort to present in-depth coverage of issues by my subscriptions, memberships, and feedback to the management and or commercial sponsors. American voters loudly complain about the influence of special interest groups, but that is what happens when expensive multi-media ads are the main means of “educating” the voters and the news media is more concerned with making money from sensational headlines and sound bites than presenting information to the people. We get what we support. If you don’t like it; don’t watch it. Complain and demand better.

d) I will vote in every election after thoroughly informing myself about the candidates and issues to be decided.

e) I will do my part to bring about the changes I advocate. One of the problems I see in this country is our increasing reliance on big government to change everything from drug addiction and dysfunctional families to our national obsession with sex and violence. It is time for us to take responsibility for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Many of the problems we face cannot be solved by laws and regulations. It takes commitment by individuals willing to do the hard work and make the sacrifices that create strong families and communities. Do I sound a bit like some of the hard line conservatives? Well, I share the view that we are selling ourselves short as a society when we place the responsibility for solving our problems on elected officials instead of recognizing that many of these problems start with individual behavior that impacts all of us. It is time to have some dialog about American values that goes beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, abortion, and prayer in school. There are values that need to be realized in our communities and imparted to our young people that transcend our religious and cultural differences. We cannot relegate the teaching of these values to government agencies. It begins with us, the adults, to live by the values we claim to hold dear. Do you believe in equal educational opportunity? Then volunteer in your local school to help struggling students gain the basic skills they will need to survive. Do you believe we have too much sex and violence in our media? Then don't watch the movies and TV shows that depict it and write letters asking for more family friendly shows. Do you worry about global warming? Recycle, learn about green energy and buy a smaller car, smaller house, move closer to your work. Get out of your house, away from your TV and computer for a bit and join with others in your community to make the changes you want to see.

Political Resolutions for Politicians:

While the voters bear the ultimate responsibility for the increasing failure of our government, our fellow citizens who have been entrusted with political power by the rest of us have let us down. Here are some political resolutions that the voters need to hold the politicians accountable for following if they want our votes.

a) When I campaign, I will address the issues instead of airing my opponent’s dirty laundry. Americans say they are tired of the negative campaigns and the slogans. It is hard to believe this however, if we compare the ratings for TV shows and broadcast personalities who deal in political dirt with those that provide actual information. If we believe in clean campaigning, we need to show it with our votes.

b) I will lead by example. There are few politicians who follow this resolution. While they tell the rest of us to conserve on fuel, they arrive for their campaign speeches in private jets, and live in mansions. While they tell us that we need to control immigration, they hire illegal immigrants to save a buck on household help. While they talk about Jesus and how Christian they are, they do little to end poverty, homelessness, or make equal opportunity available for everyone. Instead of using religion to bring peace on earth and solve our common problems, they use it to engender fear, bigotry, create controversy, and get votes. While they preach spreading democracy around the world, they take away our rights and freedoms and sell out American sovereignty with trade agreements made to provide international corporations with gigantic profits. While they say they support labor and the hard working people of the United States and around the world, they support an economic system that enslaves Americans with debt to pay for constantly hyped material goods produced by workers who are deprived of the basic necessities of life and have no right to protest their situation. While they speak of patriotism and encourage us to support our troops, they dish out hefty contracts and profits to private corporations and squander the money voted to supply our military, pay them for their service, and provide medical care for the wounded. While they speak of national pride, they pass legislation that makes us more and more dependent on foreign oil, foreign labor, foreign debt, foreign governments and international corporations whose only loyalty is to increasing wealth for the wealthy. Most of the politicians we elect, regardless of party, are part of the wealthy class that benefits from policies that have decreased regulation of businesses and financial institutions, weakened the power of unions, and lowered trade barriers. And while they have photo ops with the grieving families of soldiers who have been killed in battle or wounded troops at the VA hospital, their own children are safe at home, untouched by the war they voted to start. They aren’t rationing gas, voting for the draft, or buying war bonds to pay for the mess they got us into in Iraq. They aren’t even willing to end the tax breaks they voted for before the war. There are a few exceptions to the Washington hypocrisy. I say we need to vote for the ones who walk the talk.

c) I will tell the truth even if the people do not want to hear it. There are few politicians who are willing to risk their positions by telling the people what they need to know but do not want to hear. We need to hear that it will take sacrifice on the part of every member of society to turn this nation around, but it is easier to promise a government solution to our problems. This society has a problem with the word, no. It is pervasive in America from the individual who has lost self discipline when it comes to various addictions or overspending to a Congress who cannot say no to the latest pork barrel project. Here are some examples of what I believe are hard truths rarely addressed by politicians.

Truth #1

The earth is heating up and we are using up natural resources and polluting our environment at rate that will lead to our annihilation. We have become dependent upon stuff, stuff and more stuff to fuel an economy that has the average American overweight, depressed, and overstressed. Check out Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff online for a concise summary of our true situation. The truth is that we have to cut back on our travel or deal with more inconvenience in traveling. We need to spend government dollars on building a mass transportation system and urban housing and living environments that make it possible for much of our population to live well without driving the average 12,000+ miles each year.

Truth #2

We need to spend more money on education and healthcare, but we probably won’t be able to do this without rolling back some tax cuts and taking some of the wealth produced by this country out of private hands and putting it to work for the benefit of the community. None of us produces the wealth of this nation alone. We all deserve to share in it. The wealth produced by the many is being hogged by a few. For some interesting commentary on this situation visit Too Much

Truth #3

What we want to hear is that someone else will make the sacrifices to maintain the lifestyle to which we have grown accustomed. “They” will fight the wars to keep us supplied with oil and pay the taxes to fund it. “They” will work in the nursing homes, collect the trash, plant and pick the vegetables, slaughter the chickens, sew the clothing, drive the trucks, build the houses, etc. We want to hear that the people suffering in poverty are there because they didn’t work as hard or live as smart as we did and therefore deserve the life they are living. Maybe they are living on minimum wage or a little above the poverty line, or in some foreign country working long hours in a factory making our stuff. And when the national debt grows and we borrow from the wealthy in other nations to pay for the uneven trade in stuff and a war for oil, we want to hear that the fault lies in entitlements like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, or perhaps foreign aid, the programs that make it possible for “Them” to survive, maybe even with a little dignity. Even if we are one of “Them”, we want to believe that our children will not be. We want to believe in the Santa Claus of free trade and market forces that will make us all wealthy, and in Horatio Alger stories, lotteries, and fantastic stock market trading. We only need to look at the conditions in Rome before it fell to see some similarities with our own national attitude toward work and wealth. The lower and middle classes are the heart and soul of any society. We could exist without hedge fund managers, CEO’s, real estate tycoons, even bankers, lawyers, and politicians, but we cannot exist without farmers, carpenters, caregivers, police officers, and artisans of all types. The status and wellbeing of the working class in this country is essential to all of us.

Truth #4

We are working fewer hours than our parents' generations, have more conveniences, and a longer lifespan, but this does not seem to have made for a more satisfying life for many of us. Many of our social problems stem from this dissatisfaction with life that seems pervasive in the most privileged country in the world. The truth is that government cannot give us a satisfying life; it has to come from within ourselves and through our relationships with others, but a well functioning government will support policies that protect our freedom to act in accordance with our own values, and protect our families and communities from those who would exploit them for the sake of profit.

May 2008 bring peace and a renewed effort to work together for the common good!

"World military expenditure in 2005 is estimated to have reached $1001 billion at constant (2003) prices and exchange rates, or $1118 billion in current dollars. This corresponds to 2.5 per cent of world GDP or an average spending of $173 per capita. World military expenditure in 2005 presents a real terms increase of 3.4 per cent since 2004, and of 34 per cent over the 10-year period 1996–2005. The USA, responsible for about 80 per cent of the increase in 2005, is the principal determinant of the current world trend, and its military expenditure now accounts for almost half of the world total." Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

What if this money was spent to end poverty, to find cures for disease, to discover new ways to produce renewable energy, to improve education, to provide care for our children and elderly,....? Imgine!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Cosmic Team!